Two former aides to Council Member Ellen Troxclair have landed jobs in the same legislative office. Brian Thornton, who served as Troxclair’s chief of staff, is now the senior policy adviser for Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels. Alice Claiborne, who also worked for Troxclair, has become Campbell’s communications director. Troxclair, of course, worked for state […]
Jo Clifton
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
Posted inCity Hall
Updated: Human Resources director faces ethics complaint
Joya Hayes, director of the city’s Human Resources Department, misused city resources and abused her position by directing staffers to care for her child while Hayes attended meetings, according to a complaint filed by the Office of the City Auditor. The allegation came to light last week when the Ethics Review Commission posted its agenda […]
Posted inAustin
City, UT to work together on moving Red River
City Council unanimously agreed Thursday to enter into an agreement with the University of Texas to facilitate the relocation of Red River Street between East 12th Street and East 32nd Street in order to develop a new arena to replace the Frank Erwin Center. That was the easy part. The harder part came during the […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Local officials unite to fight property tax caps
Just hours after Gov. Greg Abbott delivered his State of the State address on Tuesday, declaring school finance reform, property tax relief and teacher pay raises to be emergency items on the legislative agenda, county officials from around the state held a news conference to say they support school finance reform but revenue caps will […]
Posted inCity Hall
Harper-Madison removes three commissioners
After just one month in office, District 1 Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison has signaled her intent to remove three sitting commissioners from their respective commissions, and a fourth is already gone. One of those commissioners, Bryan King of the Board of Adjustment, pointed out to the Austin Monitor that under the city charter, members of […]
Posted inCity Hall
Firefighter off for one day for ‘disrespect’
After finding that a male firefighter under his command spoke in a disrespectful manner to a female firefighter, Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker suspended the firefighter for just one day, to the dismay of the female firefighter. Baker did not characterize the language as sexual harassment or intended to create a hostile work environment. Baker […]
Posted inCity Council
Who’s serving on City Council committees?
It’s finally time for the first City Council meeting of the year – and consequently, time to reconstitute Council committees. But anyone expecting big changes in the membership of those committees would probably be mistaken, though there will be some new committee chairs and vice chairs. Under city ordinance, “Council committee membership will be determined […]
Posted inCity Council
Council considering emergency shelter resolution
The number of homeless people in Austin continues to grow, yet shelter for these people has not kept pace, according to data gathered by the city and the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, or ECHO. On any given day, there were 836 “unsheltered individuals” in Austin last year, with 7,498 individuals experiencing homelessness from 2017-2018. As […]
Posted inDevelopment
Development fees could help parks department, study shows
The city of Austin could collect approximately $360,000 from development reviews done by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department, according to a cost of service study done by the Matrix Consulting Group at the request of City Council. Currently, the department does not charge any fees for development review activities, even though staff members spend […]
Posted inWhispers
Fire draws attention to homeless problem
It’s cold out and homeless people are taking shelter in some unusual places, including stormwater sewers and culverts. It may be shelter, but when you add a candle to a mattress the result can be disastrous. Council Member Pio Renteria took a ride with members of the Austin Police Department as they visited two underground […]
Posted inWhispers
Estrada returns to City Hall
Deena Estrada, who worked for Council Member Bill Spelman under the city’s at-large system of electing Council, has taken the job of chief of staff for District 8 Council Member Paige Ellis. Estrada served as boards and commissions coordinator in the city clerk’s office after her stint with Spelman. Since then she has worked in […]
Posted inWhispers
Matthews moving on
Doug Matthews, who has been director of the city’s Communications and Public Information Office for the past 10 years, will be leaving the city at the end of January. According to a memo from City Manager Spencer Cronk, Jessica King will serve as interim director for the department starting on Feb. 4. Cronk’s memo says […]