Selena Xie, the newly elected president of the Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services Employee Association, has a mission. She wants to change the retirement system for EMS workers so it is more in line with the systems for other public safety workers. Xie said the current requirements for making EMS employees eligible for full retirement […]
Jo Clifton
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Better session ahead, legislators say
Senator Kirk Watson told those gathered at the Real Estate Council of Austin luncheon on Wednesday that he is “more optimistic than I have been in the past by quite a bit” about the possibility of resolving numerous problems related to public school finance during the 2019 legislative session. “As we go into this session […]
Posted inWhispers
New hires for District 1
District 1’s new Council member, Natasha Harper-Madison, has already completed one of her most important early tasks – the hiring of her staff. Caleb Pritchard will be handling communications for her office as well as land use and transportation policy. He is an alumnus of the Austin Monitor and other publications and worked as a […]
Posted inWhispers
Appraisal review board lawsuit settled
Chief Appraiser Marya Crigler, the Travis County Appraisal Review Board and two companies that represent taxpayers seeking to lower the appraised value of their homes have reached a settlement agreement that will afford a hearing for each of the 135 Travis County property owners who filed suit in October. According to a written statement from […]
Posted inWhispers
Moving on from District 1
As Council Member Ora Houston moves on to other adventures, her staff has moved on, too. Beverly Wilson, who served as Houston’s chief of staff for four years, has landed a job as executive assistant to Joel Baker, Austin’s new fire chief. Genoveva Rodriguez, who held the position of constituent liaison as well as chief […]
Posted inCity Hall
Auditors find misuse of city resources
An Austin Energy employee suspected of driving intoxicated in a deadly crash misused his city vehicle by driving to locations outside the scope of his work and misused work time to hunt on city property, according to an investigative report released this week by the Office of the City Auditor. Investigators said that Jody Wood, […]
Posted inCity Council
Troxclair looks forward to new adventures
After four years in office as the first Council member from Southwest Austin’s District 8, Ellen Troxclair is stepping down. But her departure from Council doesn’t mean we won’t see her at City Hall, she told the Austin Monitor during a recent interview. Troxclair, who was the last conservative on Council, said, “I ran to […]
Posted inCity Council
Houston: Council should be nonpartisan
In her final speech from the Council dais, Ora Houston urged her colleagues to encourage diversity at every level and to put partisan issues aside. The city’s first representative of District 1 said it is important to look at and care for the city as a whole and not concentrate so much on individual districts. […]
Posted inCity Council
Renteria looks at 2018 and beyond
As he starts his second four-year term at City Hall, District 3 Council Member Pio Renteria says he plans to concentrate on affordable housing in the coming year, just as he did in 2018 and the three previous years. Fresh off a runoff victory against his sister, Susana Almanza, Renteria told the Austin Monitor he […]
Posted inCity Hall
Cronk reflects on first year in Austin
Less than a year after taking over as Austin’s city manager, Spencer Cronk calls himself “the luckiest person in the world.” He recognizes the many challenges Austin faces, but city administration is what he has chosen to do with his life, and he was expecting some challenges. Not that he hasn’t been surprised by some […]
Posted inWhispers
Election results now official
Austin City Council held a meeting, took an important step and adjourned – all within three minutes on Wednesday. It was the special called meeting to canvass the results of the Dec. 11 runoff in which Natasha Harper-Madison, Pio Renteria and Paige Ellis were elected to serve as the Council members for Districts 1, 3 […]
Posted inCourts
Action ramps up in appraisal district suit
Action continues to ramp up in the battle between the Travis Central Appraisal District and firms representing property owners seeking hearings to lower the appraised value of their properties. Last month, Texas ProTax Austin, Five Stone Tax Advisors, 46 commercial property owners and 113 residential property owners filed suit against the Travis appraisal review board […]