City Council Member Laura Morrison decided in March that she would not run for mayor. That, of course, did not mean that the decisions by four of her colleagues to seek elected office in 2014 played out far from Morrison’s seat on the dais. Indeed, Morrison told the Monitor that the opposite was true. “For […]
Michael Kanin
Mike Kanin is the Publisher of the Austin Monitor. As such, he doesn't report on much--aside from the workings of the Monitor--any more. In his previous life as a freelance journalist, Kanin has written for the Washington City Paper, the Washington Post's Express, the Boston Herald, Boston's Weekly Dig, the Austin Chronicle, and the Texas Observer.
Posted inCity Council, Development, Local Politics, Resources, Transportation
Riley looks beyond rail bond loss to Austin’s future
Council Member Chris Riley started his look back at 2014 with an examination of the transportation situation faced by the City of Austin. Rather than lock on to the November failure of a $600 million rail bond that would have included promises for $400 million more in road construction, however, Riley looked at the larger […]
Posted inAustin, Elections, Local Politics, Radio
Austin Monitor Radio: Election Result Analysis
Jo Clifton and Mike Kanin analyze the final results of the 2014 Austin City Council elections. The show is posted here, below: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/182171388″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Posted inWhispers
Adler makes the media rounds
Austin Mayor-elect Steve Adler visited multiple media outlets Wednesday, just after he collected a significant victory over opponent and City Council Member Mike Martinez. Among other themes, Adler noted that he was already working with other Council member-elects to get the ball rolling on what will be a very tight post-holiday turnaround. Adler and his […]
Posted inMonitor News & Media, Videos
Video: Austin City Council 2014 Runoff Election Results Analysis
Monitor Publisher Mike Kanin joins KXAN‘s Brian Sanders for a quick rundown of 2014 Austin City Council runoff election results. Video embedded below:
Posted inWhispers
Turnout low but not like before
All along, one expected positive result of the 10-1 change was the potential to increase voter interest and participation in local Austin elections. Good news and bad news on that front: Austin did see a significant increase over ballots cast in previous Council elections. In the June 2011 runoff, just 9 percent of registered voters […]
Posted inWhispers
WTP Fore!
It reads like something of a fitting farewell to the sitting Austin City Council: The Austin Water Utility will “toast the opening” of Water Treatment Plant 4 this Friday at 2 p.m. Expected dignitaries include Mayor Lee Leffingwell and City Manager Marc Ott. The construction of the plant was a hotly contested debate over a […]
Posted inWhispers
Pace, Gordon, Saldana win AISD seats
Kendall Pace, Paul Saldana and Ted Gordon were elected to AISD board seats as part of Tuesday’s runoffs. Pace, who got 65 percent of the vote, beat Hillary Procknow. Saldana collected 53 percent of the vote to Kate Mason-Murphy’s 46 percent. Gordon beat David Thompson 55 percent to 44 percent. In the race for a […]
Posted inWhispers
Tovo, Morrison, Cole, Shea at Pool party
Departing Austin City Council Member Laura Morrison and Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole joined returning incumbent Kathie Tovo and incoming Pct. 2 Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea at what turned out to be newly elected District 7 Council Member Leslie Pool’s victory party Tuesday. That Pool would be the likely winner was reflected in what […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Local Politics, Public Health
Council backs new social service contract metric
Austin City Council members Thursday approved a resolution from Council members Mike Martinez, Laura Morrison and Chris Riley that instructs City Manager Marc Ott to tie the city’s social service contract spending to the Consumer Price Index. The action, approved by a 5-2 vote, also calls on Ott to increase the budget of Austin’s Health […]
Posted inMonitor News & Media, Videos
Video: Council rundown, December 11, 2014
Monitor Publisher Mike Kanin joins KXAN‘s Sally Hernandez for a quick rundown of Council’s final meeting of 2014. Video embedded below.
Posted inAustin, Local Government, Local Politics, Transit, Transportation
Council OKs changes to Lone Star Rail agreement
Austin City Council members Thursday approved a set of amendments to an interlocal agreement with the Lone Star Rail District. The action clears the way for rail district officials to count the city — and funding derived from special taxing districts around eight potential Austin stops — among its support as it moves forward with […]