Josh Rosenblatt

Longtime Electric Utility Commissioner Shudde Fath is pushing for a charter revision election this November to allow Austin Energy to emulate San Antonio’s municipally owned CPS Energy. As part of their June 7 vote on the electric rate increase, Council approved a resolution directing the city manager and the EUC to study and evaluate governance […]

Austin’s three major taxi companies are not serving the needs of the city’s disabled citizens, and it appears the only way they’re going to do so is if the city changes the criteria for handing out special permits and sets up new performance measures for drivers. At Thursday’s meeting, a unanimous Council approved moving forward […]

Final edition: Council unanimously voted to adopt the Imagine Austin Plan shortly after 1am this morning. The Council rejected staff’s suggestion that they retain SH45SW as a dotted line to indicate that it may be built, signaling Austin’s continued opposition to construction of the roadway over the environmentally sensitive land in southwestern Travis and northern […]

The redrawing of boundaries for a proposed single-family development in the Oak Hill area has only increased skepticism between the developer and a local homeowners’ association. The property, a 12.5-acre stretch of unspoiled green space in the city’s southwest corner that is owned by Austin Independent School District, has become something of a lightning rod […]

Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Council Member Mike Martinez presented proposals on Tuesday to change the city’s election system to adopt a geographic representation model. During the City Council work session they said they plan to bring the competing proposals to Council for a vote on June 28, the last Council meeting before it goes on […]

Just after midnight, after nearly four hours of public input, Council voted 5-2 to approve on first reading a compromise plan to regulate short-term property rentals. Council Members Laura Morrison and Kathie Tovo voted no. The plan, put forth by Council Member Chris Riley was a variation on recent proposals put forth by the Planning […]

The battle to save seven large trees facing destruction as part of the development of what once was the Green Water Treatment Plant spilled into the debate over the future of the neighboring Seaholm Power Plant at Tuesday’s City Council work session. Council Member Kathie Tovo asked city staff members if proposed amendments to the […]

A presentation of the Austin Water Utility’s FY13 financial forecast during Council’s budget work session this week became a discussion about the possibility of easing watering restrictions. Austin is currently under Stage 2 drought restrictions, the consequence of the 2011 drought, but success in AWU’s water conservation programs, and rising water levels due to rain, […]

Highlighted by major economic development deals with Apple Inc. and U.S. Farathane, FY2012 was a big year for the city’s Economic Growth and Redevelopment Services Office. At yesterday’s budget forecast presentation, City Council members wanted to make sure FY2013 is just as big but more equitable for those getting the jobs those companies will bring. […]

An audit of HIV grant contracts with the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services from the last three years has turned up numerous inconsistencies, weaknesses, and failures, not to mention misunderstandings between city departments concerning proper adherence to the city’s anti-lobbying ordinance. The Office of the City Auditor initiated the audit of the contracts after […]

After a year spent dealing with reduced federal funds and a new competitive-bid social service contract process, the Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services Department is heading into FY2013 requesting more than $2 million to address unmet needs and slightly behind on several of its key performance indicators. However, department Director Carlos Rivera believes HHS […]

Council members took another big step forward in the regulation of controversial payday lending institutions at their meeting last week, unanimously approving the kind of geographic dispersal guidelines critics claim are needed to reduce dependency on the businesses in working-class communities. Last August, Council voted to impose restrictions on the amount of money an individual […]