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Council members debate public input plan

The future of public input at City Council meetings remains unclear ahead of possible action Thursday, as Council members continue to discuss whether and how to limit it in favor of moving it to committee meetings. During a Tuesday work…

Suicides highlight rift between EMS staff, managers

A second suicide by an Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services first responder within the past seven months has heightened visible tensions between the department’s leadership and its employees. And while multiple EMS first responders took to Facebook earlier this month…

Police Monitor says citizen complaints up in 2013

The Office of the Police Monitor, which works to improve relations between the Austin Police Department and the public, is preparing to issue a report showing that citizens filed more complaints against police officers in 2013 than in 2012. Police…

Price of Council changes still unknown

Though there are no hard numbers yet, Austin’s budget office has begun to review the potential fiscal impacts associated with proposed changes to City Council’s committee and meeting structures. According to a Jan. 23 memo from Deputy Chief Financial Officer…

When is a carport a garage? Ask the BOA

At its last meeting, the Board of Adjustment considered whether staff had made an error by issuing a building permit at 904 Jessie St. David King, on behalf of the Zilker Neighborhood Association, made the appeal. In the end it…

Council hears feedback on restructuring proposal

The new City Council tested out a lot of ideas at Thursday’s meeting, giving members of the public the opportunity to comment on proposed legislative changes via Twitter, call-ins and online polls in an environment evocative of a television program.…

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Lone Star Rail kicks off environmental study

A decade-old project to build a passenger rail line between the San Antonio and Austin areas picked up steam Wednesday with a public meeting of the Lone Star Rail Project. The meeting served as the kickoff to the project’s environmental…

Council postpones salary debate until next week

On Thursday, City Council temporarily backed away from a plan that could have members voting to reduce their own salaries. Council members voted 11-0 to postpone action on the resolution until their Jan. 29 meeting. The resolution directs the city…

Union reps address Council on employment issues

City Council listened to representatives of the firefighters, police and EMS unions Thursday. Bob Nicks, president of the Austin Firefighters Association, and his attorney took the lion’s share of the time to complain about the city’s failure to listen to…

Who Are the Powerful People in Your Neighborhood?

This story comes to us courtesy of our City Hall reporting partners at KUT. As you might have heard, and most probably have felt, Austin is one of the fastest-growing cities in the country. But how it should handle that…

City plans to repair cyclo-cross damage at Zilker

City staff has revealed a one-year plan that they hope will remediate tree and turf damage related to a national cyclo-cross championship held in Zilker Park earlier this month. Watershed Protection Department Environmental Officer Chuck Lesniak told the Environmental Board…

Austin firefighters to again seek input on hiring

The Austin Firefighters Association will have an opportunity at this morning’s City Council meeting to voice concerns to the new Council about its lack of input on a new process for hiring fire cadets. The firefighters’  hope is that this Council…

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