Michelle Jimenez

City Manager Marc Ott was scheduled to spend today in California, along with a group of Austin community members, to visit the utility run by Larry Weis, now Ott’s top pick to head Austin Energy.   According to the city’s public information office, half a dozen community members and city staff members were scheduled to […]

Travis County employees who want to kick their smoking habit could get hypnotized, free of cost, under a proposed pilot program with Baylor University.   Dr. Hari Dhir, medical director of the Travis County Employee Wellness and Health Clinic, asked county commissioners Tuesday to consider allowing employees to participate in a two-year pilot program and […]

City Manager Marc Ott has decided Larry Weis is the best fit to become Austin Energy’s next general manager.   He told City Council members and others in e-mail late Friday, “I have concluded that Larry Weis, from the Turlock Irrigation District, is the best fit for Austin.’ David Wright, general manager of the City […]

With little room in the budget for new spending next year, Travis County Commissioners have directed staff to again significantly shorten the 2011 budget process.   Instead of seven days of hearings, during which departments can plead their case for additional funding, the court will hold a single afternoon meeting, on Aug. 12. Budget mark-up, […]

The city is making the Palmer Events Center a greener place thanks to $7.5 million in federal stimulus money that officials are using to make municipal buildings more energy efficient.   The city announced this week that it has begun installing high-efficiency lighting at the events center and plans to do the same at half […]

Questions about who should manage the renovations to the first two floors of a newly acquired high-rise were among the issues that led Travis County commissioners to hold off on a decision about the project on Tuesday.   The county bought the 30-year-old downtown building, located at 700 Lavaca Street, last month and plans to […]

Depending on the interest group, the two finalists for the job of general manager of Austin Energy either are experienced candidates who can lead the utility through future growing pains or aren’t qualified enough to play in the big leagues of utilities.   The city assembled two eight-member panels, one comprised of environmental activists, the […]

It’s a given that Travis County officials will consider cost when selecting one of three potential designs for a central downtown campus.   But there are a host of other factors county commissioners will take into account in the coming months, such as whether the design includes meeting places and gathering spaces, is pedestrian-friendly, and […]

More than 100 people packed a room at Austin Energy headquarters Wednesday evening to meet and ask questions of the two remaining finalists in competition to become the city-owned utility’s next general manager.   Larry Weis, general manager and chief executive officer of the Turlock (Calif.) Irrigation District, and David Wright, general manager of the […]

If the city can ink an agreement with the YMCA, North Austin residents will get a bigger, better recreation center than originally planned in 2006, when voters approved issuing bonds for the project.   That’s the way city staff members are looking at the potential partnership, which the City Council signed off on June 10, […]

Ronald Davis, one of three candidates named as a finalist for Austin Energy’s general manager position, has withdrawn his candidacy, the recruitment firm handling the selection process confirmed Monday afternoon.   City Manager Marc Ott alerted Mayor Lee Leffingwell and Council members to Davis’ withdrawal in a memo Monday. In the memo, Ott also told […]

Ronald Davis, one of three finalists for Austin Energy’s general manager position has withdrawn his candidacy, the recruitment firm handling the selection process confirmed Monday afternoon.   Davis is general manager of Burbank Water and Power, a community-owned utility that serves the City of Burbank, Calif.   Scott Fry, managing director for the Colorado-based Mycoff, […]