The Travis County Commissioners Court meets every Tuesday at 9 a.m. To help our readers stay informed, each week we offer a selection of interesting items from the voting session agenda. The entire agenda can be found at the Travis County website. 2. Receive comments regarding changes to Travis County Code Chapters 464 & 482 […]
Ryan Thornton
Posted inTravis County
Gómez acknowledges challenges ahead, says county is equipped to handle them
Looking back on 2018 and at the year ahead, Travis County Commissioner Margaret Gómez says she is feeling pretty good. The past year brought some frustrations for the commissioner with the time-consuming necessity of briefing new county employees and residents on processes that have been in the works for years or even decades. The recent […]
Posted inTravis County
Commissioners Court annual retreat expands to include community expertise
On a to-be-determined Friday in February or March, the Travis County Commissioners Court will convene to consider its vision and purpose on a larger scale than is appropriate during its weekly Tuesday morning voting sessions. Near the beginning of each calendar year, the court holds a retreat in an effort to consider the myriad pieces […]
Posted inTravis County
Court makes move toward public defender’s office
No final decision has been made on the creation of a Travis County public defender’s office, but the Commissioners Court demonstrated firm support for the idea in Tuesday morning’s voting session. Gathering momentum after a rocky start, the court finalized a 14-member indigent legal services workgroup on Dec. 4, 2018. Tuesday morning, at the request […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: Travis County, 1.8.19
The Travis County Commissioners Court meets every Tuesday at 9 a.m. To help our readers stay informed, each week we offer a selection of interesting items from the voting session agenda. The full agenda can be found on the Travis County website. 17. Consider and take appropriate action regarding: a. Setting a public hearing on […]
Posted inTravis County
Eckhardt welcomes wave of political momentum in Travis County
For years, when County Judge Sarah Eckhardt would try to talk to the community about the justice system, someone would quickly change the subject to transportation or other unrelated issues. Although it accounts for 50 percent of the overall county budget, Eckhardt said only recently are people beginning to see the relevance of the justice […]
Posted inTravis County
Travillion pushes for streamlined processes, services for the underserved
When Commissioner Jeff Travillion joined the Travis County Commissioners Court in 2017, he brought with him a rigorous attention to governmental process. “When I came here I said, ‘I don’t want to know that it runs; pull the hood up and let’s see how it runs,’” Travillion told the Monitor in a late-afternoon interview on Dec. […]
Posted inTravis County
Shea stays busy accepting what can’t be changed, fighting for what can
On June 24, 1988, this sentence appeared on the front page of The New York Times: “Higher temperatures can now be attributed to a long-expected global warming trend linked to pollution, a space agency scientist reported today.” The scientist was NASA’s James Hansen. His historic testimony to Congress, Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea told the […]
Posted inTravis County
Commissioner Daugherty still working to pave the road ahead
Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty is not in the business of telling Travis County residents what they should want or need. Instead, both on the dais and in conversation, the Precinct 3 commissioner, businessman and longtime Austin resident resists the allure of silver-bullet solutions, looking primarily to market-based answers to the complexities of our given […]
Posted inPublic Safety
County weighs its jail diversion strategies
A lot has happened since the Commissioners Court last saw the Travis County Justice Planning Department’s asset map of strategies for jail diversion on July 31. Fortunately, in terms of keeping people out of jail and connected to their communities, most of it is good news. Justice Planning updated the court on these strategies Tuesday […]
Posted inTransit
CapMetro approves Project Connect vision plan
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s long-term vision plan was adopted by the agency’s board of directors Monday afternoon. As per Project Connect program manager Dave Couch, the map – an array of intersecting and parallel lines of various colors and styles – is the result of a decision made two years ago to study the transportation […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: Travis County, 12.18.18
Travis County Commissioners Court will convene Tuesday morning for its final voting session of the year. Below are some of the more interesting items featured on the agenda this week. The entire agenda can be found at the Travis County website. For those following closely, last week’s discussion on the merger between the District Attorney […]