Council approved a complicated set of Planned Unit Development regulations at their March 22 meeting for the piece of property at Riverside Drive and South First Street currently occupied by a Hooters and a surface parking lot. As Planning and Zoning Assistant Director Jerry Rusthoven explained to Council, “We have renamed this PUD the Snoopy […]
Jo Clifton
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
Posted inZoning
Neighbors support one Champion rezoning
City Council approved a zoning change for a second Champion tract last week, but this time the developer had support from several neighborhoods that opposed the zoning change on the other one. With Council Member Alison Alter dissenting, Council approved the change on first reading that will allow Endeavor Real Estate Group to build public […]
Posted inCity Hall
Judge considers dismissing police union suit
Attorneys for the city sparred with attorneys for the Austin Police Association, its president Ken Casaday and police Sgt. Robert Miljenovich during a court hearing Monday over whether the police union’s suit against various city officials should be dismissed without a hearing on the merits. Judge Amy Clark Meachum took the matter under advisement. The […]
Posted inEMS
Council OKs short-term EMS contract
City Council approved without comment a six-month contract with the Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services Employee Association on Thursday that essentially duplicates their previous contract. Members of the union approved the contract in voting that ended Wednesday night. Between now and the end of September, the two sides will try to negotiate a long-term contract. […]
Posted inWhispers
Hayden named Austin Public Health director
City Manager Spencer Cronk announced Wednesday that he has selected Stephanie Hayden as director of Austin Public Health. Hayden has served as interim director since April 2017, and prior to that she was the assistant director with responsibility for oversight of “multiple human service units, as well as the management of social services contract development […]
Posted inWhispers
Library parking rules changing
Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo and Mayor Steve Adler are proposing changes to the use of the new Central Library’s parking garage. The city currently offers 30 minutes of free parking for library patrons but community members have requested more. In addition, people who use the library have been concerned because there have been so […]
Posted inPolice
Adding more cops part of APD planning
The Austin Police Department currently has 69 vacancies, Assistant Chief Troy Gay told City Council Tuesday, but with so many officers retiring each month it is nearly impossible to catch up. In addition, the Matrix Consulting Group recommended in 2016 that APD hire 144 new patrol officers, and in 2017 APD proposed adding 329 new […]
Posted inElections
Travis Duncan, new candidate for mayor
There’s a new face in the race for Austin mayor. Travis Duncan, 28, joins Mayor Steve Adler and former Council Member Laura Morrison in a quest to lead the city. Morrison plans to make a formal announcement on March 26. Duncan said he had recently left a job in the solar division of Tesla. “I […]
Posted inWhispers
Rainforest group raises profile at SXSW
Austinite Niyanta Spelman, executive director of the charity Rainforest Partnership, is passionate about rainforests. She describes them as “magical, mystical, full of the unknown,” and points out that there is much that we humans do not know about those forests, which are also sometimes called “the lungs of the Earth.” 2018 marks the ninth year […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit raises questions about on-call pay
Although Austin has a citywide procedure governing on-call and call-back pay, the Office of the City Auditor has found that the procedure is not consistently applied, and the city’s Human Resources Department has apparently not evaluated call-back pay since 2012. That’s according to an audit approved by the City Council Audit and Finance Committee last […]
Posted inZoning
Council torn on height of east side project
Even though they expressed a wide variety of opinions on the East Fourth Street zoning case, City Council members voted unanimously on first reading Thursday to grant a 60-foot height on the proposed office building and sent the developer off for more discussions with the East Cesar Chavez neighborhood. Attorney Michael Whellan of Armbrust & […]
Posted inCourts
Party boat owner wins injunction against city
Watertight Endeavors Inc., the owner of three party boats used for weddings, family reunions, high school graduations and similar occasions, has won its first court battle against the city to keep using the Walsh Landing public dock for loading and unloading passengers on Lake Austin. District Judge Karin Crump granted the temporary injunction on Tuesday, […]