In 2016, City Council voted to close a loophole that allowed houses to be built on smaller lots than intended when the Land Development Code was adopted. At the time, some North Austin neighbors were complaining that they had been fooled into agreeing to small-lot amnesty. They did not anticipate that developers would “exploit this […]
City Council
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Changes expected for city’s minority business hiring ordinances
Proposed changes to the city’s procedures for hiring minority- and women-owned businesses will likely come before City Council this spring or early summer, with consultants and a working group recommending 21 adjustments or substantial revisions to the hiring practices. A memo published last week details the results of the two-year review of the city’s Minority-Owned […]
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Council signals plans to review, revise new Cultural Arts grant program
City Council’s approval last week of nearly $4 million to fund a new Cultural Arts grant program came with an indication that the evaluation and allocation criteria may get a hard review and revisions to address loud concerns from arts groups that didn’t receive any awards. Council unanimously approved the Cultural Arts Division’s plan for […]
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Notley/Monitor Poll: Austinites feel disconnected from Council on city priorities
As a new City Council continues to adjust to its roles and responsibilities, new data show a large portion of Austin residents feel disconnected from the priorities and concerns of their elected leaders. Those were some of the conclusions from a January/February poll of 429 voters commissioned by Notley and conducted by national pollster Change […]
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Council fires City Manager Spencer Cronk in wake of winter storm response
Austin City Council members have fired City Manager Spencer Cronk, the city’s chief executive. The vote Wednesday followed criticism of his leadership during an ice storm that left hundreds of thousands without power earlier this month. “I ran (for mayor) saying I was going to shake things up at City Hall,” Mayor Kirk Watson, who […]
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Council members signal they could fire City Manager Spencer Cronk
Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk could be on his way out. City Council is slated to vote on the employment and a possible severance package for Cronk at its meeting on Feb. 15. Council initially planned the Wednesday meeting to discuss the city’s contract with the Austin police union, but over the weekend added two items to discuss Cronk’s […]
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Council OKs tree trimming audit in lieu of larger study
In response to complaints from the public about Austin Energy’s response to the extreme ice storm that knocked out electric power for at least 173,000 AE customers, City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly asked her colleagues Thursday to approve a resolution directing City Auditor Corrie Stokes to perform an extensive audit. Ultimately, the other members of […]
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Council to make zoning variances more accessible to low-income homeowners
City Council passed a resolution Thursday to make it easier for low-income Austinites to seek zoning variances from the Board of Adjustment. The proposed program would help low-income and other qualifying residents put together an application and pay application fees. Jessica Cohen, chair of the Board of Adjustment, said low-income homeowners rarely seek variances. “I […]
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Ice storm communication sparks emergency performance review of city manager
The breakdown in the city’s communication to residents and employees during last week’s disastrous ice storm appears to be the main motivation behind City Council’s push to evaluate the performance of City Manager Spencer Cronk. Mayor Kirk Watson added the emergency discussion item regarding Cronk’s performance to the agenda for Thursday’s Council meeting, which will […]
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Ice storm damage to get Council attention at Tuesday work session
Tuesday’s City Council work session looks like it will be heavily focused on discussion about the impact of last week’s ice storm, which disrupted power to more than 250,000 people at some point during the three-day freeze. The city and Travis County signed emergency declarations over the weekend, potentially opening up federal resources to help […]
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Makeup of City Council committees slated for change
In addition to their work on City Council, Council members also serve on a variety of special committees, both within the city and with members from other entities, such as Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the Travis County Commissioners Court. In a City Council Message Board post, Mayor Kirk Watson indicated that he would be […]
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Mayor Watson and others reveal staff appointments
Mayor Kirk Watson told the Austin Monitor Monday that he has hired his chief of staff as well as a number of other new employees. Colleen Pate, who left her position as chief of staff for the Austin Chamber of Commerce to come to the city, will continue to have that title. Before joining the […]