Stories by Jo Clifton
Council approves St. Elmo zoning with promise of affordable housing
City Council gave its final blessing Thursday for a new multifamily complex in the St. Elmo area as developers promised that 10 percent of the 370 rental units would be affordable for families earning 60 percent of the median family…
Zoning • By Jo Clifton • Mar 29, 2022
Council pushes for plans to hire more lifeguards
The city of Austin, which operates 45 aquatic facilities, is desperately seeking lifeguards. Parks and Recreation Department spokeswoman Kanya Lyons told the Austin Monitor Thursday that her department still needs to hire 614 more lifeguards. Ideally, the city would like to have…
Parks • By Jo Clifton • Mar 25, 2022
Community leaders release 'red flags' report on Central Health
Leaders of the NAACP Austin and Texas League of United Latin American Citizens District VII released a scathing report Wednesday on Central Health’s financial and operational activities. The organizations called on the Travis County Commissioners Court to order a “comprehensive,…
Public Health • By Jo Clifton • Mar 24, 2022
City office working to prevent violence
Austin is seeking strategies to prevent gun violence, help at-risk young people avoid the pitfalls associated with violence, and assist victims of trauma. It’s all the job of the Office of Violence Prevention, which is a part of Austin Public…
Public Safety • By Jo Clifton • Mar 23, 2022
City loses Land Development Code lawsuit appeal
On Thursday, the Texas 14th Court of Appeals upheld a ruling by Travis County District Judge Jan Soifer invalidating two votes by Austin City Council rewriting the city’s Land Development code. Soifer ruled that the city had violated property owners’ procedural…
Land Development Code • By Jo Clifton • Mar 18, 2022
Chamber of Commerce offers rosy jobs report
Austin has once again come out as a top city in the country economically, as shown by a new report on job growth and unemployment from the Austin Chamber of Commerce. Researchers at the chamber found that Austin ranked number…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • Mar 16, 2022
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City seeks solutions to Barton Springs lifeguard problem
Spurred by news that Barton Springs Pool will soon be closed two days a week, City Council Member Paige Ellis will be asking City Manager Spencer Cronk to come up with additional strategies to address the city’s lifeguard shortage. In…
Parks • By Jo Clifton • Mar 15, 2022
Council OKs 85-foot height for Plaza Saltillo area lot
City Council gave first reading approval last week for a request to rezone a property at 1400 E. Fourth St., within the Plaza Saltillo transit-oriented development plan for the area. The applicant requested to increase the allowed height of a…
Development • By Jo Clifton • Mar 11, 2022
Ledesma-Woody says she won't ask for recount
Susanna Ledesma-Woody, who came very close to defeating longtime incumbent Travis County Precinct 4 Commissioner Margaret Gómez in the March 1 Democratic primary, said she is withdrawing her request for a recount. As of Wednesday, Gómez had 11,021 votes and…
Elections • By Jo Clifton • Mar 10, 2022
Report finds Hill Country suffering the demands of rapid growth
Wide open spaces, vistas of wildflowers, dark night skies full of stars, and the charms of country living have all led to unprecedented population growth in the Texas Hill Country. That growth, and the growth that will inevitably follow, have…
Environment • By Jo Clifton • Mar 9, 2022
Commission recommends moving APD forensics lab
With little fanfare, Austin’s Public Safety Commission voted unanimously Monday to ask City Council to move the Forensic Science Bureau out of the Austin Police Department, making it independent both in structure and budget. Commissioners signaled last month that they…
Public Safety • By Jo Clifton • Mar 8, 2022
After razor-thin loss, Ledesma-Woody says she’ll seek a recount
After losing to incumbent Margaret Gómez by just 219 votes out of 21,677 cast in the Travis County Commissioner Precinct 4 race, challenger Susanna Ledesma-Woody announced Wednesday that she would seek a recount. During most of Tuesday night’s ballot counting,…
