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City Council
Council moves to put a stop to wage theft
Austin is taking a step toward joining El Paso and Houston in punishing employers that engage in wage theft, with a resolution City Council approved unanimously on Thursday. A dozen people signed up to tell Council members to approve the…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Jan 28, 2022
Council appears ready to hit pause on downtown court relocation
City Council appears set to delay a decision on relocating the Downtown Austin Community Court to the former City Hall building on West Eighth Street. At Tuesday’s work session, Council Member Kathie Tovo said she planned to ask Council to…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Jan 27, 2022
Mayor emphasizes Austin’s knack for rising to the occasion
The Austin Monitor sat down with Mayor Steve Adler in early December to recall the highlights – and lowlights – of 2021, including Covid-19, homelessness, Winter Storm Uri, police reform, and the rising cost of housing in Austin. At the…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Jan 3, 2022
Tovo 'strongly considering' a run for mayor in 2022
As Council Member Kathie Tovo enters her last year as District 9 representative, she sat down with the Austin Monitor to discuss what she hopes to accomplish in 2022, including a potential run for mayor and how she responded to…
City Council • By Jonathan Lee • Dec 27, 2021
Alter says resilience has been the theme of 2021
Reflecting on her fifth year serving District 10, City Council Member Alison Alter recalls confronting significant obstacles, but maintains that Austin has come out the better for it. “It’s been an incredibly challenging year, but we’ve set a lot of…
City Council • By Kali Bramble • Dec 27, 2021
Pool’s 2022 priorities include district-level plans, increased EV use
With City Council set on implementing building code changes by individual plans and priorities, Council Member Leslie Pool said in 2022 every member of Council will get their own “time to shine” with the chance to push the changes important…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Dec 23, 2021
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Ellis sees opportunity for growth amidst 2021's challenges
Despite a year that brought both public health and environmental disasters, District 8 City Council Member Paige Ellis has pushed forward in her efforts to rethink transportation, parks and affordability solutions in our rapidly growing city. While the Covid-19 pandemic…
City Council • By Kali Bramble • Dec 23, 2021
Casar says 2021 was about helping people in crisis
From community organizer to City Council member to congressional candidate, Greg Casar exudes the energy of someone eager to get things done. Since taking office in January 2015, he has accomplished much of the social agenda he put forward as…
City Council • By Amy Smith • Dec 22, 2021
Kitchen: 'We could write a whole book about the last year'
Ann Kitchen thrives from the many challenges of being a City Council member. “It’s a combination of being really proactive and trying to address the problems that we’re having as a city,” she told the Austin Monitor. “It’s always new, it’s…
City Council • By Seth Smalley • Dec 22, 2021
Mackenzie Kelly: A collaborative conservative among Democrats
Since the creation of the 10-1 City Council, the Council members who have represented District 6 in far Northwest Austin have stood out for one reason or another. The first two – conservative Republican Don Zimmerman, followed by progressive Democrat…
City Council • By Amy Smith • Dec 22, 2021
Natasha Harper-Madison’s focus in 2022? ‘Housing, housing, housing’
Mayor Pro Tem Natasha Harper-Madison’s tenure on City Council has been marked by crisis. Elected in November 2018 as the District 1 representative, Harper-Madison barely had a year in office before Covid-19 struck. “What a time to have your first…
City Council • By Jonathan Lee • Dec 21, 2021
Vanessa Fuentes: Putting health and equity first
City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes stepped into a rather busy first term in office – this year, an unprecedented winter storm took Travis County by surprise and the pandemic continued to surge despite hopes for Covid-19’s retreat. But Fuentes, who…
