Arguments over development of the Austin Country Club’s 179-acre tract did not end with last Thursday’s Council meeting as was expected. The item will be back on the second agenda of 2019, on Feb. 7. The country club sued the city when the city’s environmental staff insisted that the club abide by current regulations, as […]
Jo Clifton
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
Posted inCity Council
City’s federal housing funds in jeopardy
The city of Austin could lose a significant amount of federal funding if President Trump follows through on his threat to shut down the federal government on Dec. 21. Various national publications reported Trump making the threat if Congress refuses to authorize $5 billion for a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border. At about the same […]
Posted inElections
Ellis handily wins District 8 election
Paige Ellis won the runoff for Southwest Austin’s District 8 City Council seat Tuesday night, defeating Frank Ward with 56 percent of the vote in a race that drew considerably fewer voters than the Nov. 6 election. Ellis received 6,115 votes and Ward received 4,799, for a total of 10,914 votes cast in District 8 […]
Posted inCity Hall
Home repair problems continue to surface
After our story last week highlighting problems in the city’s Neighborhood Housing and Community Development home loan repair program, the Austin Monitor received information from another homeowner who says the contractor hired to refurbish his home in 2014 did a bad job but was still paid for the work. Dave Hernandez, who lives on Holly […]
Posted inCity Hall
Transportation Dept. faulted in right-of-way audit
When Austinites are asked for their top complaints about the city, one of the most frequent responses relates to traffic. The central city is particularly congested and contractors working in the right-of-way exacerbate the problem. According to a report released by the Office of the City Auditor this week, efforts by Austin’s Transportation Department to […]
Posted inCity Hall
Homeowners share stories of home repair anguish
Austin city auditors found the Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department home rehabilitation loan program left a significant number of homeowners unhappy with the work contractors did and frequently missed its own goals over a three-year period, fiscal years 2015-2017. Andrew Keegan was the audit manager and Henry Katumwa was the auditor-in-charge of the audit. […]
Posted inElections
Candidates dissatisfied with polling places
After all the excitement about Austinites’ heavy participation in the Nov. 6 election, there has been a huge drop in the number of voters participating in runoff elections. News outlets across the state reported heavy turnout throughout the November election’s early voting period, beginning with the first day. Locally, 58.29 percent of Austin’s registered voters cast […]
Posted inWhispers
Audit report to highlight home repair problems
Members of the Council Audit and Finance Committee are scheduled to hear a scathing draft report from the city auditor’s office this afternoon about the home repair program administered by the Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department. Auditors found that between fiscal years 2015 and 2017, the department’s home repair programs ended each year with […]
Posted inZoning
Asian center zoning change moves forward
On Thursday, Council Member Alison Alter offered a zoning solution to satisfy the needs of the Asian American Cultural Center at 11713 Jollyville Road, yet placate neighbors fearful of increased traffic and apartment buildings looming over their single-family neighborhoods. Amy Wong Mok, CEO of the cultural center, and architect Gary Wong laid out the changes […]
Posted inWhispers
Public safety endorsements for Ellis
Following District 8 candidate Frank Ward’s announcement that he had won endorsements from two public safety organizations, the Austin Police Association and the Austin Firefighters Association, his opponent, Paige Ellis, announced her own list of public safety endorsements. On Friday, the Ellis campaign announced that Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez and the Austin-Travis County EMS […]
Posted inWhispers
Cronk gets ‘glowing’ review
Following an executive session evaluation of City Manager Spencer Cronk on Thursday, Mayor Steve Adler announced that Council had given Cronk “a pretty glowing review.” He added, “We’re excited and pleased that you are here and right now you’re making us all look pretty wise in our manager selection.” Naturally, Cronk responded that it has […]
Posted inElections
Ward, Ellis offer contrasting views
Early voting starts today in City Council District 8, as well as Districts 1 and 3, for the Dec. 11 runoff elections. Frank Ward, the outspoken Republican seeking to represent Southwest Austin’s District 8 on the Austin City Council, believes a substantial portion of Austin’s city government is broken. He also believes that the representative […]