Michael Kanin

Council members continued to grapple Thursday with the proliferation of potentially unregulated rideshare services. The heated atmosphere turned what might otherwise have been a mere formality into a discussion riddled with accusations from the local branch of the taxi industry.   At issue was a resolution brought forward by Council Members Chris Riley, Laura Morrison, […]

A clerical oversight by a city contractor is forcing deeper consideration of an Austin Energy waste-handling contract. And Austin City Council members are questioning the procedural operations of two city departments in the wake of that development.   The immediate issue is a $264,000 deal to process class-two non-hazardous waste. According to materials from the […]

A pending lawsuit aimed at a perceived lack of accessible parking along two stretches of Sixth Street and a portion of South Congress Avenue could affect the City of Austin’s attempt to eliminate parking requirements in the central business district.   Council Member Laura Morrison brought up the lawsuit at Tuesday’s Council work session. “It’s […]

Members of the group behind the push for 10 geographically elected Austin City Council districts touted Monday what they consider to be the initial success of early steps toward that arrangement.   “We have over 500 applicants for the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission (ICRC); the overwhelming majority are qualified,” said attorney Fred Lewis, who is […]

City officials continue to struggle with their ability to fully collect Austin’s Hotel Occupancy Tax.   The office of City Auditor Ken Mory reports that all five of the anonymous hotels examined in a February 2013 audit were delinquent on some portion of the tax. All told, the lapses in payment cost the city more […]

An economic development agreement with National Instruments could bring the City of Austin 1,000 new jobs, a net fiscal profit of $7.6 million, and the creation of a pipeline project to create the next generation of local engineers.   Still, concerns linger about the potential deal. Some of these come from Council Member Bill Spelman, […]

Austin City Council members Thursday delayed for three weeks a vote on a sweeping change in the city’s Project Duration Ordinance. The break will allow members of the city’s Planning Commission to review the move, and hold a public hearing on it, before it comes back before Council members on March 21.   As currently […]

Key Austin Energy rate settlement points:   ·       The utility agrees to reduce its revenue requirement for out-of-city ratepayers by $5.75 million. ·       $4.3 million of the reduction will come from energy charges, $1.2 million will come from reductions in community benefit charges, including the Customer Assistance Program ·       Out-of-city ratepayers retain a $10 monthly […]

Members of the Austin City Council Audit and Finance Committee consented Wednesday to an audit of the Austin Travis County Emergency Medical Service’s delivery of patient service.   Their action comes as the EMS employees union and Public Safety Commission vice chair Mike Levy trade barbs and accusations, and as Levy continues to hammer away […]

A Highland Lakes interest group is pushing for Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) officials to acquire rice-farming rights from downstream agricultural interests.   The Central Texas Water Coalition suggests that the move would be far more cost effective than the construction of off-stream reservoirs in southeast Texas.   LCRA officials are hesitant about the idea. […]

With the busy lodging season of South-by-Southwest fast approaching, city officials report that only 200 short-term rental properties have completed the new registration process enacted in 2012 for such facilities. City officials put the total number of those properties between 600 and 1500.   Now, for the second time since the original set of short-term […]

Ongoing worries about the management of the Austin Travis County Emergency Medical Services appear to have turned into a political squabble in advance of negotiations for a new contract for service field personnel.   The immediate result is a call from Austin Travis County EMS Employees Association president Tony Marquardt for Public Safety Commission Vice […]