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City Council
City Council approves 10% raise for city manager, Austin's top executive
Citing a much-delayed cost-of-living adjustment, Council members on Thursday bumped Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk’s salary from $350,000 to just over $388,000. The move represents an 11 percent increase in pay and the first change to Cronk’s base salary since…
City Council • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Dec 13, 2022
Council backs senior center plan for Nash Hernandez building
The city will move forward with plans to convert the long-idle Nash Hernandez building in East Austin into a senior activity center that could also offer programs for area schoolchildren. Last week, City Council approved on its consent agenda an…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Dec 13, 2022
Council members irked at low appraisal of parkland for Oracle expansion
City Council members pushed back against some of the steps taken by staff over the past year to work out a complex swap of city parkland approved by voters last year. During Tuesday’s work session, Mayor Pro Tem Alison Alter…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Dec 8, 2022
Extended Statesman PUD deliberations end in approval
After years of discussions, City Council approved a redevelopment plan Friday for one of the city’s most prominent tracts of land – the 19-acre lakefront property at 305 S. Congress Ave., formerly home to the Austin American-Statesman. Approval of Planned…
City Council • By Jonathan Lee • Dec 6, 2022
Council enacts stronger wage theft protections
City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Thursday to help prevent wage theft by employers. “Violation of wage laws harms workers and their families,” said Council Member Ann Kitchen, who sponsored a resolution initiating the ordinance. “This ordinance helps ensure they…
City Council • By Jonathan Lee • Dec 2, 2022
Council working on rules for city-owned property
City Council Member Kathie Tovo has been working on resolutions intended to ensure that city staff follow certain policies when renting or selling city property. The policies relate to the requirements for construction projects, living wage, minority and women-owned business…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Dec 1, 2022
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Statesman PUD nears final approval
The redevelopment proposal for the former Austin American-Statesman site is headed for final approval in the coming weeks after City Council on Thursday approved the planned unit development, or PUD, on second reading. If Council approves the PUD ordinance on…
City Council • By Jonathan Lee • Nov 8, 2022
Changes likely for City Council speaker rules
City Council has been operating under rules designed for a city living with a pandemic. Now that Covid rates have declined significantly, some Council members are thinking about how the rules for speakers addressing Council might be changed to allow…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Nov 2, 2022
Council to close tenant relocation ordinance loophole
City Council approved a resolution requesting that staff review the tenant relocation ordinance and propose changes ensuring the protections apply to tenants at mobile home parks. The tenant relocation ordinance, which Council passed in 2016, requires that landlords provide notice…
City Council • By Nina Hernandez • Oct 28, 2022
Council opts to make Austin a friendlier place for backyard chickens
Chicken enthusiasts have cause for celebration, as a proposal to loosen setback regulations for chicken coops passed last week on City Council’s consent agenda. The move stems from a collaboration between the Public Health Department and the Office of Sustainability,…
City Council • By Kali Bramble • Oct 21, 2022
Council considers overnight concrete pour exceptions for South Congress HEB project
Among last week’s packed agenda, City Council debated a resolution that would grant the HEB redevelopment at Oltorf & South Congress a permit to pour concrete overnight. The project, which aims to open a new grocery by 2024, has the distinct…
City Council • By Kali Bramble • Oct 18, 2022
Council facing tough decisions on Austin Energy charges
Facing an increasing deficit in its collections for fuel costs to run Austin Energy, City Council must quickly make a decision about increasing the power supply adjustment that all customers pay. The matter is on this week’s Council agenda. While…
