Although a Travis County emergency management official told commissioners Tuesday morning that the current boil water advisory for Austin Water customers could continue for 10 to 14 days, city officials said Tuesday afternoon that such a scenario was unlikely. Mayor Steve Adler told a news conference gathering at City Hall that the boil water notice […]
Jo Clifton
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
Posted inElections
What does early voting’s first day mean?
Election officials across Texas reported record turnouts for a nonpresidential election on Monday, and the first day of early voting for the midterm elections in Travis County was no exception. In Travis County, 6 percent of registered voters cast ballots – including 34,737 who cast ballots in person and 12,668 voters who mailed in their […]
Posted inPolice
Casaday scolds Council over lack of contract
The president of the Austin Police Association lashed out at City Council during Thursday’s meeting over the city’s failure to reach an agreement with the union over police officers’ pay and benefits. “I want everybody on the Council to know that we’ve been waiting over 290 days to sit back down and work out our […]
Posted inEnergy
AE seeks code change to support fast car charging
Austin Energy estimates that there were 5,873 electric plug-in vehicles in its service territory as of Sept. 30. Karl Popham, AE’s manager for electric vehicles and emerging technologies, told City Council during Tuesday’s work session that about 85 percent of those vehicles’ owners do their charging at home and most of that is done at […]
Posted inTexas State Legislature
Property taxes, Austin Energy top city’s worry list
Once again, the city of Austin, along with other large Texas cities, will face a grueling task as the 2019 legislative session begins in January. Intergovernmental Relations Officer Brie Franco told City Council during Tuesday’s work session that she and the city’s outside lobbyists would be concentrating on protecting Austin Energy and preventing passage of […]
Posted inWhispers
Environmental hero Stuart Henry dies at 77
Stuart Henry, one of Austin’s most respected environmental lawyers, passed away on Oct. 11 at the age of 77. Henry, who served as the city of Austin’s first environmental officer and was a founder and chair of the board of the Save Our Springs Alliance, was a well-known advocate for environmental causes. His obituary notes, […]
Posted inWhispers
A look at green groups’ endorsements
Texas Clean Water Action has joined the list of groups endorsing Mayor Steve Adler for re-election. In addition, the group has announced its endorsements in the other Council races: Vincent Harding in District 1, Susana Almanza in District 3, Ann Kitchen, who is running unopposed for re-election in District 5, Bobby Levinski in District 8 […]
Posted inElections
IndyAustin raises funds to fight Precourt, Adler
IndyAustin’s specific-purpose political action committee reported raising nearly $30,000 in their campaign finance report filed on Tuesday. IndyAustin recently started gathering signatures for a petition to trigger an election on the city’s deal with Precourt Sports Ventures, which plans to bring a professional soccer team to city-owned property at McKalla place. The largest contributors to […]
Posted inPreservation
Council denies West Austin historic zoning
A divided City Council declined last week to zone a West Austin house as historic, but the owners have agreed to renovate the house in Italian Renaissance Revival style, so that it satisfies them as well as the neighborhood and the city’s historic preservation officer. Jay Riskind, who with his wife owns the Bryson-Krueger-Critz House […]
Posted inWhispers
Notes from the campaign trail
Reports from each candidate for mayor and City Council were due at the Office of the City Clerk on Tuesday. Mayor Steve Adler reported raising nearly $140,000 for the latest time period. His total raised for the current race is more than $714,000, according to a press release from the campaign. Laura Morrison, his major […]
Posted inCourts
Taxpayers sue appraisal district, chief appraiser
Two companies who employ appraisers to represent residential and commercial property owners to challenge appraisals before the Travis County Appraisal Review Board and 159 of their clients have sued the review board and Chief Appraiser Marya Crigler in her official capacity. The lawsuit, which was filed on Monday by attorney Bill Aleshire, alleges that the […]
Posted inWhispers
Garza opposes court collections contract
With City Council Member Delia Garza dissenting and Council Member Ellen Troxclair absent, Council on Thursday approved a five-year contract with GILA LLC, which does business as Municipal Services Bureau and MSB. The company has had a previous contract with the city, and a representative of the Linebarger law firm, which also specializes in collections, […]