Like the couple that marries and divorces but marries again only to divorce a few years later, the Planning and Development Review Department is once again being broken into a neighborhood planning department and a development review department. In a memo to Mayor and Council released this afternoon, City Manager Marc Ott said that in […]
Jo Clifton
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
Posted inCity Council
City seeking 567 volunteers for commissions
In order to keep the city’s many boards and commissions running on time, City Council must make 500 appointments by June 30. Other groups need to appoint an additional 67 individuals to participate in the process of advising Council on everything from animal welfare to energy and water. As one of its final actions, the […]
Posted inWhispers
Troxclair backs Zim’s Code directive
City Council Member Ellen Troxclair has signed on as a co-sponsor to Council Member Don Zimmerman’s new resolution that would force the Code Compliance Department to pay a prevailing citizen when the department loses a case in Municipal Court. Zimmerman posted a resolution on the Council bulletin board last week that would direct the city […]
Posted inWhispers
McDonald joins Chamber of Commerce
Stephanie McDonald has gone to work for the Austin Chamber of Commerce as vice president of public policy, according to chamber Senior Vice President Jeremy Martin. McDonald, a previous aide to former Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole, has also served as executive director of the Waller Creek Conservancy. She will be working with Martin on […]
Posted inBudget, City Council
Committee reaches few conclusions on new staff
The City Council Audit and Finance Committee had a wide-ranging discussion Monday about the possibility of hiring more staff to help Council, but arrived at no conclusions. The conversation was sparked by an attempt by Mayor Steve Adler to add as many as eight new employees to his own staff. However, as Adler acknowledged during the […]
Posted inCity Council, Housing
Springdale apartment complex appeal denied
City Council has rejected an appeal by DeWayne Lofton, who was seeking to overturn a decision of the Planning Commission to grant a conditional use permit for an affordable housing complex at 5905 Springdale Road. Lofton, president of Pecan Springs/Springdale Neighborhood Association, told Council he felt that commissioners did not pay enough attention to his […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Development, Parks
Two committees to take up Decker Golf questions
After raising numerous questions about the deal it is being asked to approve for creation of two high-end golf courses at the Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park in far East Austin, City Council voted 9-1-1 Thursday to send those questions to two Council committees. District 1 Council Member Ora Houston voted no, and District 4 […]
Posted inWhispers
McGill named senior auditor
Michael McGill, chief of staff for former Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole, has been working for the Office of the City Auditor as temporary staff since January. Now he has been hired as a senior auditor, according to acting City Auditor Cory Stokes. McGill worked for Cole for three-and-a-half years. Before that, he spent 10 […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, The Code
Zimmerman: Fine Code Compliance for losing case
City Council Member Don Zimmerman has proposed a unique punishment for the city’s Code Compliance Department when it loses a case in Municipal Court: It will have to pay. Zimmerman, who has made no secret of his disdain for the department’s involvement in minor matters, has distributed a resolution that calls on the city manager […]
Posted inAustin, Development, Parks, Planning, Resources
Council vote on Decker Golf contract uncertain
At least four members of City Council expressed an interest Tuesday in sending the question of whether the city should enter into the contract for a developer to create two PGA-class golf courses at Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park to a Council committee, making it less likely that Council will actually vote on the item […]
Posted inWhispers
Former Land Commissioner Bob Armstrong dies
Former Texas Land Commissioner Bob Armstrong, 82, passed away Sunday night. Armstrong, who began his political career as a Texas House member from Austin, also served in President Bill Clinton’s administration as an Assistant Secretary of the Interior. Armstrong served as Texas Land Commissioner from 1970 to 1983. He was an unsuccessful candidate for governor […]
Posted inWhispers
Council to consider interlocal with AISD
This week City Council will consider an interlocal agreement between the city and the Austin Independent School District that will allow for administration of a proposed “Austin Promise Zone.” However, it is not clear exactly what such a designation would do absent congressional action. The purpose of the Promise Zone is to revitalize high poverty […]