Council Member Pio Renteria is questioning the payment that the city is receiving in return for vacating a 20-foot-wide alley in East Austin. Renteria brought up the matter during Tuesday’s work session, noting that there was a great disparity in the appraised value for two different parcels. Council is poised to approve the vacating of […]
Jo Clifton
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
Posted inCity Hall
Cronk announces finalists for two ACM posts
On Monday, City Manager Spencer Cronk announced the names of 10 finalists who will be interviewed in the coming weeks for two assistant city manager positions. The interim assistant city managers in those two positions, Joe Pantalion and Sara Hensley, are among the finalists. In July, Cronk outlined the restructuring of his office around specific […]
Posted inWhispers
City Council runoff endorsements
Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is over, politics again becomes a dominant theme in Austin, with early voting beginning this Thursday for runoff elections in Districts 1, 3 and 8. District 8 candidates Frank Ward and Paige Ellis are attracting the most attention. Ward was previously endorsed by the Travis County Republican Party and Ellis […]
Posted inZoning
Berkman zoning sparks quiet argument
Council Member Ora Houston joined her colleagues Thursday in a unanimous vote to rezone properties on Berkman Drive, but she was clearly conflicted about it. The decision will allow a developer to build 40 rental units and assorted retail in the middle of a residential block. Houston said she was concerned that development of the property, […]
Posted inTravis County
TCAD not giving taxpayers timely hearings
Faced with an unprecedented number of property tax protests, the Travis Central Appraisal District is scheduling formal hearings through the month of December – months after the appraisal roll was certified and tax bills set. Attorney Bill Aleshire told the Austin Monitor that there were 8,881 Travis County properties on which appraisal protests were filed […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: City Council, 11.15.18
Welcome to this week’s TipSheet. In the interest of space, we’ve decided not to post the entire City Council agenda, but here are the items we have our eye on today. The Office of the City Clerk posts a copy on its website, here. Item 6. Authorize negotiation and execution of a design-build agreement with […]
Posted inWhispers
Tynan reports on Harding complaint
Attorney Matt Tynan said Tuesday he had received word from the Texas Ethics Commission that the agency would investigate former District 1 candidate Vincent Harding’s campaign finance forms based on allegations Tynan made in a complaint filed with the commission. Tynan also filed a complaint against Natasha Harper-Madison, who is in a Dec. 11 runoff […]
Posted inCity Council
Ellis picks up important endorsements
Paige Ellis, the top vote-getter in the Nov. 6 race for City Council District 8, announced Tuesday that her two Democratic opponents in the race, Rich DePalma and Bobby Levinski, had endorsed her. Ellis will face Republican Frank Ward in the runoff on Dec. 11. In a news release, Ellis said, “During the course of […]
Posted inWhispers
Ethics Commission rejects complaint
The Texas Ethics Commission has rejected a complaint filed against District 1 candidate Natasha Harper-Madison, but the attorney who filed the complaint indicated Thursday that he would rewrite his complaint and submit it to the commission next week. Harper-Madison will face Mariana Salazar in a Dec. 11 runoff to represent the Northeast Austin district. The […]
Posted inWhispers
Looking at the numbers in Austin’s vote
According to unofficial results released by County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir early Wednesday morning, Mayor Steve Adler won re-election with more than 59 percent of the vote. There were 297,687 votes cast for all mayoral candidates. And yet, Propositions J and K, even though they were at the bottom of the ballot, attracted considerably more voters. […]
Posted inElections
Tovo campaign complains about PAC spending
District 9 Council Member Kathie Tovo’s re-election campaign filed an ethics complaint Monday against the Center for Austin’s Future Political Action Committee, a group supporting Danielle Skidmore, Tovo’s most significant opponent. The complaint alleges that the committee, which calls itself CAFPAC, violated a section of city code requiring such committees to file their treasurer designation […]
Posted inElections
Tovo easily wins third term
Kathie Tovo will serve her third term on the Austin City Council after winning a relatively easy victory over three opponents on Tuesday, finishing with almost 53 percent of the vote. Her closest challenger, Danielle Skidmore, garnered less than 32 percent of the vote, with two other candidates each winning less than 10 percent of […]