Three voters who signed a petition to cut sales taxes collected by Emergency Services District No. 2 have filed suit against the district’s board, which refused to call an election on cutting those taxes for Pflugerville residents. Jennifer Pakenham, David Rogers and Kristi Powell are among more than 7,000 petitioners requesting an election to lower […]
Jo Clifton
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
Posted inElections
Equity Action announces long list of supporters
Equity Action, the group that gathered signatures to put the original Austin Police Oversight Act on the May ballot, unveiled a list Tuesday of more than 100 community organizations and local leaders who endorse the APOA. The list includes Mayor Kirk Watson, former Mayor Steve Adler, and seven current City Council members including Mayor Pro […]
Posted inWhispers
Watson’s special gift to his colleagues
Mayor Kirk Watson certainly knows how to start a meeting. In addition to being on time, he has provided flowers for all of his colleagues on the dais. Kate Alexander, Watson’s communications chief, says he pays for the touch of brightness personally and that the flowers come from Central Market.
Posted inPreservation
Council declines historic zoning for Westgate building
Nine of 11 City Council members voted last week to deny city historic landmark status to the clearly historic Westgate Tower at 1122 Colorado, on a motion by Council Member Zo Qadri, whose District 9 includes the building. Council Member Alison Alter opposed the motion and Council Member Mackenzie Kelly abstained. The 25-story residential building, […]
Posted inCity Council
Council OKs tree trimming audit in lieu of larger study
In response to complaints from the public about Austin Energy’s response to the extreme ice storm that knocked out electric power for at least 173,000 AE customers, City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly asked her colleagues Thursday to approve a resolution directing City Auditor Corrie Stokes to perform an extensive audit. Ultimately, the other members of […]
Posted inWhispers
Public information requests delayed
On Thursday, citizens making public information requests were notified that the city of Austin had asked the Texas attorney general’s office “to suspend certain deadlines under the Texas Public Information Act for seven calendar days. This notice and the suspension will allow city departments involved in the response to last week’s winter weather to have […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Fire, EMS stations lost power during ice storm
The leaders of the unions representing Austin firefighters and EMS employees both said Wednesday that many of their members had worked through the recent ice storm in stations that had lost power, depriving them of basics like warmth and light. Bob Nicks, president of the Austin Firefighters Association, reported that he had surveyed firefighters about […]
Posted inWhispers
Austin sales tax collections up
Sales tax collections for Austin are up 9.77 percent for the year, according to data released Wednesday by Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar. So far, the city has collected more than $61.5 million in sales tax money. Capital Metro’s tax revenues have increased by close to 9 percent, giving the transit agency $67.4 million for the […]
Posted inEnergy
Questions of the day: When will power be restored? Will Cronk keep his job?
Two questions hung over City Council’s abbreviated work session Tuesday, one arising frequently and one never mentioned. First of all, Council members wanted to know how many Austin Energy customers were still without power and when their power would be restored. The unspoken question was whether City Manager Spencer Cronk would retain his job after […]
Posted inWhispers
Huffman announces new venture
Former Austin Chamber of Commerce President Laura Huffman, in partnership with Steven Pedigo, has a new venture called CivicSol, a consulting firm to help communities “develop their economies to benefit all.” Huffman, who resigned as president and CEO of the chamber late last year, previously served as an assistant city manager with the city of Austin […]
Posted inAustin
Council approves measures to help child care providers
At its first meeting of the year, City Council voted unanimously to direct the city manager to work on ways to lower the barriers to setting up new child care facilities and reduce parking requirements for such businesses. Council Member Vanessa Fuentes led the charge, with co-sponsors Alison Alter, José Velásquez, Natasha Harper-Madison and Mayor […]
Posted inTransit
Canally named sole finalist for ATP amidst confusion
Members of the Austin Transit Partnership Board of Directors have unanimously recommended that ATP interim Executive Director Greg Canally be presented to the community as the sole candidate for the permanent executive director job. Canally has served as interim director since Randy Clarke resigned last May to take a job in Washington, D.C. ATP Board […]