City Clerk Jannette Goodall on Monday certified that she and her staff had validated enough signatures to require the city to place a referendum on CodeNEXT, the proposed rewrite of the city’s Land Development Code, on the November ballot. According to Goodall, the petition comprises 9,707 pages containing 31,062 signatures. Under state law and city […]
Jo Clifton
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
Posted inCity Charter
Changes ahead for Planning Commission?
At this week’s meeting, City Council is scheduled to consider changes to how members of the city’s Planning Commission are selected. The city attorney’s office has offered two alternative approaches – one of which could have a radical impact on the number of engineers, architects and other design professionals allowed to serve on the commission. […]
Posted inWhispers
Ball leaves Austin Energy for El Paso Electric
Elaina Ball, who served as Austin Energy’s deputy general manager and chief operating officer starting in October 2016, has become chief administrative officer for El Paso Electric. With Ball’s departure, AE General Manager Jackie Sargent appointed Mark Dombroski as acting chief operating officer. Dombroski has been serving as deputy general manager and chief financial and […]
Posted inHousing
Some say city’s home rehab loans hurt them
Three Austinites have told the Austin Monitor their homes have suffered serious damage at the hands of a specific contractor hired by the city to improve their homes through the Home Rehabilitation Loan Program. And a fourth homeowner has expressed dissatisfaction with work done by that contractor under a separate city program to provide an […]
Posted inCity Council
Who’s minding the store? Alter
With four people absent, today’s City Council meeting is scheduled to start late and end early. Council Member Alison Alter will chair the meeting, which will start at 11:30 a.m. Mayor Steve Adler, Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo and Council Member Delia Garza are all attending the Equity Summit 2018 in Chicago, which started Wednesday […]
Posted inWhispers
Audit and Finance Committee changes
With Council Member Ellen Troxclair out on maternity leave, City Council will be considering adding Council Member Alison Alter to the list of appointees to the Audit and Finance Committee. In order to do that, the seven Council members expected to be in attendance at today’s meeting will waive the section of city code that […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
Task force: Bond decisions up to Council
The city’s 2018 Bond Election Advisory Task Force sent a recommendation to City Council for a November bond ballot of $851 million – more than $200 million above the amount recommended by city staff, and one that is estimated to require a 2-cent property tax increase. Tom Nuckols, chair of the task force, told Council […]
Posted inWhispers
Troxclair family welcomes new baby
Council Member Ellen Troxclair gave birth Monday to a baby girl she and her husband, Caleb, have named Margaret May, according to well-informed City Hall sources. This is the second daughter for the Troxclairs. Their first daughter, Juliette, was born in 2016. Troxclair, who represents District 8 in Southwest Austin, has said she plans to […]
Posted inWhispers
Austin Environmental Democrats endorse
Even though extreme partisan gerrymandering has meant that Austin does not have its own representative in the U.S. Congress, Austin Democrats are still vying for the chance to take on Texas’ Congressional District 25 Republican incumbent Rep. Roger Williams. On Friday, Austin Environmental Democrats voted to endorse Chris Perri, who is running against Julie Oliver […]
Posted inWhispers
Finalists named for city’s civil service commission
The City Council Audit and Finance Committee, minus its chair Ellen Troxclair, on Thursday selected five applicants to interview for the Municipal Civil Service Commission. The applicants to be interviewed include the two incumbents, Lottie Dailey, a retired theologian, and Michael Murphy, general counsel to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 520. The new […]
Posted inFire
Lack of fire station pushes some insurance rates up
Some Southeast Austin homeowners have been receiving bad news from their insurance companies – the rates on their homeowners insurance are projected to rise as much as $1,000 this year. District 2 Council Member Delia Garza told her colleagues at Wednesday’s budget work session that the reason for the big jump in insurance rates for […]
Posted inElections
DePalma announces run for District 8
Rich DePalma, a consultant who has worked on numerous environmental efforts, officially threw his hat in the ring Tuesday to represent Austinites who live in District 8. Council Member Ellen Troxclair currently holds the seat and has said she is running for re-election in November. In addition to DePalma and Troxclair, the candidates who have […]