Local consumer advocate Paul Robbins has filed an appeal challenging the effectiveness of the conservation program being used by Texas Gas Service. As a customer of the utility, Robbins asserts that he has a right to challenge what is called the Conservation Adjustment Clause for Central Texas. In his appeal, Robbins says that the gas […]
Jo Clifton
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
Posted inPlanning
Champion tract returning to Council
Because neighborhood activists won their open meetings lawsuit against the city last month, City Council will be reconsidering an ordinance that amends an old settlement agreement related to development on the Champion tract at 6409 City Park Road at next week’s meeting. District Judge Scott Jenkins ruled that the city violated the Texas Open Meetings […]
Posted inEnvironment
Two districts now oppose sewage permit
The board of directors of the Hays Trinity Groundwater Conservation District voted Monday night to protest Dripping Springs’ draft permit to discharge 995,000 gallons of wastewater per day into a tributary of Onion Creek. The vote means that the district will request that the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality hold a contested case hearing and […]
Posted inWhispers
Kevin Johns announces retirement
Kevin Johns, who has served as director of an extremely busy Economic Development Department for the past eight years, has announced that he will be retiring on Dec. 22. Interim City Manager Elaine Hart notified employees of Johns’ decision to retire in a memo praising his work to grow small business as well as large […]
Posted inZoning
After rejection, Council OKs liquor store zoning
After the first vote to change the zoning on property at 12611 Hymeadow Drive fell short of the votes needed to allow a liquor store, Council Member Jimmy Flannigan took the unusual step of getting the item on another agenda just three weeks later so that the three members of City Council who had been […]
Posted inCourts
Judge finds city violated open meetings law again
Litigation about the Champion tract never really goes away. Originally filed in the early 1990s, the litigation simply morphs from one issue to another and one venue to another. It has cost the city of Austin an almost endless amount of trouble and untold dollars. On Tuesday, District Judge Scott Jenkins ruled that the city […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit: City jobs programs disorganized
The city’s workforce development programs are neither well-planned nor well-coordinated, and the city does not have reliable data to evaluate the success of the programs, according to an audit released last week by the Office of the City Auditor. The audit, which was presented to the City Council Audit and Finance Committee by Assistant City […]
Posted inCity Hall
Auditor voices concern about erosion of trust
On Friday, the Office of the City Auditor turned over the name of and allegations made by a whistleblower, as well as the identities of several witnesses, in the investigation of alleged violations of city regulations by Margo Frasier, the city’s former police monitor. The documents were turned over to the City Attorney’s Office in […]
Posted inEnergy
Fath retiring from Electric Utility Commission
After 40 years of fighting for consumers and small businesses on Austin’s Electric Utility Commission, Shudde Fath this week announced her resignation. Fath, who is often referred to as the grande dame of Austin’s environmental movement, is 101 years old and was first appointed by Mayor Carole Keeton McClellan in 1977. In a letter to […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit: City lacks system to track fee waivers
Some city departments are doing a good job of tracking fees they waive, while others fail to track those fees or do so inconsistently, according to a report that Office of the City Auditor staff presented at the City Council Audit and Finance Committee meeting on Wednesday. As a result, auditors could only estimate that […]
Posted inCity Hall
Commission subpoenas whistleblower notes
The city’s Ethics Review Commission has sent a subpoena to Nathan Wiebe, chief of investigations at the Office of the City Auditor, demanding previously protected information, including the name of and allegations made by a whistleblower against Margo Frasier, Austin’s former police monitor. It has also demanded witness interview memos and recordings. The auditor’s office […]
Posted inThe Code
City regulations may create more homelessness
City ordinances prohibiting panhandling in certain areas, criminalizing camping in public places, living in a car or tent, or sitting or lying on the sidewalk in parts of downtown are creating barriers that make it more difficult for people to overcome homelessness. That’s the conclusion of an audit from the Office of the City Auditor […]