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City Council
Tovo considers changes and challenges after 11 years on Council
After more than a decade on Austin City Council, Kathie Tovo’s view on the nature of elected life is that plenty of day-one priorities and worries for new Council members are likely to remain top concerns for years to come.…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Dec 28, 2022
Ellis to push for more progress on housing in 2023
Fresh off the heels of a decisive reelection win, City Council Member Paige Ellis is ready to hit the ground running in 2023 with initiatives related to housing, transportation and workforce retention. Ellis won reelection with 58 percent of the…
City Council • By Jonathan Lee • Dec 28, 2022
Leslie Pool is ready to take on more duties in 2023
December was a busy month in the busy year of 2022 for District 7 City Council Member Leslie Pool. As chair of the Council Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee, her most important duty was shepherding through the utility’s rate change,…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Dec 28, 2022
Before passing baton, Kitchen reflects on eight years in the housing trenches
In her eight years on Austin City Council, Ann Kitchen has navigated both the thrills and the growing pains of the second-fastest-growing city in the country. Kitchen has spent 2022 refining policies she hopes will continue to address Austin’s housing…
City Council • By Kali Bramble • Dec 27, 2022
In D5, Ryan Alter hopes to bring momentum to city operations
Ryan Alter will bring a state-level perspective to City Hall next year when he takes over representing District 5 from Ann Kitchen, the two-term City Council member who was term-limited and unable to run in November. As a policy analyst…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Dec 27, 2022
Mackenzie Kelly: ‘Hyper-focused on public safety’ in 2023
Over Mackenzie Kelly’s two years as City Council’s lone conservative, she has made a point of finding common ground with those she often disagrees with and avoiding the charged rhetoric employed by politicians at the state and national level. “That’s…
City Council • By Jonathan Lee • Dec 27, 2022
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Renteria reflects on his time on Council as D3 prepares to usher in a new member
On a Thursday afternoon in mid-December, District 3 City Council Member Pio Renteria is packing up his office. Council had its last meeting for the year the week before and now he’s clearing out the space for his successor. “I…
City Council • By Andrea Guzman • Dec 23, 2022
José Velásquez promises to deliver access to D3 residents
The overarching theme of 2022 for the residents of District 3 was access, according to newly elected City Council Member José Velásquez. Outgoing Council Member Pio Renteria served the central eastside district for eight years and hit his term limit.…
City Council • By Nina Hernandez • Dec 23, 2022
Vela ready to take action to create more housing in 2023
City Council Member José “Chito” Vela has been hard at work since he was sworn in to the District 4 seat in February following his election in January. He’s been holding down two jobs, serving as a Council member and…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Dec 23, 2022
Harper-Madison looks to spark D1 civic involvement in 2023
After completing her fourth year in office, City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison wishes she’d known from her first day roughly as much as she knows now about the workings of city government. Her thinking: There should be an apparatus that…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Dec 22, 2022
Fuentes put her focus on working families in 2022
Elected to represent Southeast Austin’s District 2 in 2020, City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes has quickly become one of the more accessible and well-known members of the dais within the community. That was intentional, Fuentes told the Austin Monitor. It’s…
City Council • By Nina Hernandez • Dec 22, 2022
City, restaurants partner to reduce single-use plastics
City Council wants the local hospitality industry – including restaurants, bars, food delivery services and the tourism bureau – to curb its reliance on single-use plastics. Council members recently directed staff to incentivize such behavior, including by working with the…
