Stories by Josh Rosenblatt
Council agrees to multi-year TLAC agreement with Austin Pets Alive
When dozens of representatives and supporters of nonprofit animal-rescue group Austin Pets Alive! showed up at City Hall yesterday, they were merely hoping Council would approve their request to move their operations into the old Town Lake Animal Center (TLAC)…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Apr 27, 2012
Budget office forecasts small tax hike for coming year
It was three years ago that Budget Director Ed van Eenoo sat before City Council and broke the bad news that the city was looking at a $30 million deficit that only long-term, sustainable corrections could hope to address. Today,…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Apr 18, 2012
Mayoral challengers: APD has a “race relations problem”
Just over a week after Austin Police Officer Eric Copeland shot and killed Ahmede Jabbar Bradley, an African-American man, during a traffic stop, mayoral challengers Brigid Shea and Clay Dafoe pointed to the incident as proof that there need to…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Apr 16, 2012
Spelman raises twice as much as most viable opponent
Candidates for City Council turned in their campaign finance reports from the first three months of 2012 yesterday, and if it’s true that the best way to determine who’s going to win a political contest is to count the money,…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Apr 13, 2012
Council approves down-zoning for Burnet apartments on first read
City Council approved on first reading Thursday the rezoning of a property on far north Burnet Road that will turn what is essentially a large parking lot and a single discount clothing store into the first multifamily residential complex the…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Apr 6, 2012
Tejano Democrats split between Spelman and right-leaning Chavez
Members of the Tejano Democrats are so disenchanted with Place 5 City Council Member Bill Spelman and his position on the 10-1 single-member district plan, apparently, that the group came within a single vote last night of taking the rather…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Apr 5, 2012
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Council members clarify approach to charter revision process
Council Member Bill Spelman is pushing for a fast-tracked charter revision plan that would mean Council elections, and possibly a new approach to city elections in general, happening by November 2013. At their work session yesterday, Council members threw their…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Apr 4, 2012
Texans for Accountable Government endorses Council challengers
Monday’s Texans for Accountable Government City Council candidate forum – the group’s first – was a spirited affair, if ultimately unfriendly for the two incumbents brave enough to attend. Their bravery of Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole and Council Member…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Mar 29, 2012
Council incumbents defend choosing Chase Bank over credit unions
Less than a week after Council voted to approve a three-year depository services contract with JP Morgan Chase, much to the disappointment of the Occupy Austin movement, Council members up for re-election have been busy defending their votes at candidate…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Mar 28, 2012
University Dems make no endorsements in Place 5 and 6 races
Saturday was a good day for Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Council Member Mike Martinez as they won endorsements from both the Central Austin Democrats and University Democrats at a forum held on the University of Texas campus. That means the…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Mar 26, 2012
Council approves $8.6 million Apple development agreement
As expected, the City Council approved an economic development agreement with Apple Inc. yesterday that will set in motion the computer giant’s investment of more than $282 million to build 1 million square feet of new office space in North…
Uncategorized • By Josh Rosenblatt • Mar 23, 2012
Council tackles Charter Revision Committee recommendations
At Tuesday’s Council work session, Council members, city staff, and outside counsel started the heavy lifting on several proposals that would radically change the way the city is governed and how it holds elections. Though no votes were taken or…
