City Council will consider a resolution today asking Hays County to reconsider a road plan that would include two major road projects that could be detrimental to the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer district and damage Barton Springs. The Travis County Commissioners Court sent a letter in September to Hays commissioners notifying them of Travis County’s opposition […]
Jo Clifton
Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
Posted inWhispers
Council to honor historic preservationists Sadowsky, Baker
City Council Member Kathie Tovo is sponsoring a resolution on this Thursday’s agenda to honor two people important to preserving Austin’s history. The resolution proposes naming the Austin History Center Reading Room in honor of the late Betty Baker, who led efforts to create the city’s Historic Preservation Office, and the late Steve Sadowsky, who […]
Posted inCity Council
Changes likely for City Council speaker rules
City Council has been operating under rules designed for a city living with a pandemic. Now that Covid rates have declined significantly, some Council members are thinking about how the rules for speakers addressing Council might be changed to allow better communication between citizens who want to weigh in on the meeting agendas and Council. […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Council adopts new stormwater rules
After considerable delay and discussion, City Council finally approved new environmental regulations related to drainage, landscaping and green stormwater infrastructure on Thursday. Mackenzie Kelly was the only Council member to vote no, and Natasha Harper-Madison was off the dais. Last week’s vote had been postponed from Oct. 14 to give Council more time to consider […]
Posted inWhispers
Enthusiasm for early voting varies from east to west
As of Sunday night, 166,439 Travis County voters had cast ballots in the Nov. 8 election. That’s close to 19 percent of the registered voters in the county. Southpark Meadows saw the highest number of voters (9,660) as of Sunday night. The next two places in Austin with the heaviest vote were the Austin Oaks […]
Posted inPolice
Chief says city working hard to get more 911 employees
Reporting to City Council Tuesday, Police Chief Joseph Chacon stressed the department’s commitment to returning the number of 911 call takers and police dispatcher staff to normal levels as soon as possible. The city has attempted to address the vacancies, primarily through increasing wages. But headlines about callers being placed on hold during an emergency […]
Posted inWhispers
‘Statesman’ joins ‘Chronicle’ in endorsing Israel
The Austin American-Statesman has endorsed state Rep. Celia Israel for mayor, rejecting former Mayor Kirk Watson as a man rooted in the status quo. In doing so, the Statesman joined The Austin Chronicle, which endorsed Israel on Thursday. The other candidates in the race are Jennifer Virden, Anthony Bradshaw, Phil Brual and Gary Spellman. Of those, […]
Posted inWhispers
Save Austin Now endorses 3 (or so) races
Save Austin Now, which brought us the successful referendum to reinstate the city prohibition against camping as well as the unsuccessful proposition that would have required the city to hire more police officers, has issued what might be described as an anti-endorsement. In addition, the group has endorsed three conservatives for City Council seats. The […]
Posted inWhispers
Chronicle weighs in on local elections
On Thursday, the Austin Chronicle released its list of endorsements just ahead of Monday’s first day of early voting. The editorial board chose Celia Israel over Kirk Watson to lead the city for the next two years. (The other candidates in the race include Jennifer Virden, Anthony Bradshaw, Phillip Brual and Gary Spellman.) Although Israel has […]
Posted inWhispers
Doggett helps get out the vote
Austin Congressman Lloyd Doggett has organized a concert in support of the Travis County Democratic Party’s campaign to get out the vote. Turn Up the Vote will feature local performers Shawn Colvin, Kelly Willis, Ray Benson, Marcia Ball, Darden Smith, Rosie Flores, The Derailers, Ian Moore, and The Bluebonnets. Advance tickets are $30/$40 at the door. […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit criticizes city’s services for older adults
The team from the Austin city auditor’s office scrutinizing services for aging adults found numerous problems with how the city communicates about its programs and lacks a plan for measuring the performance of those programs. Auditor-in-charge Kelsey Thompson reported on the findings to the Council Audit & Finance Committee Wednesday. According to a survey of […]
Posted inWhispers
Auditor to scrutinize Animal Services
The Office of the City Auditor is starting work on an audit of the city’s Animal Services Office as directed by Council in a resolution this summer. As part of the audit, community members are invited to talk about their experiences with the shelter at one of three public meetings, starting next Monday from 6:30-8 p.m. […]