Two weeks after approving an ordinance that will require private employers to provide paid sick leave, City Council is scheduled to vote on a similar measure to extend the same benefit to all city employees, including its many temporary workers. Throughout the debate over the paid sick leave ordinance, opponents accused Council of hypocritically imposing […]
City Council
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Council puts off decision on digital contract
Faced with the question of whether to approve a digital education contract for an out-of-town bidder chosen by city staff or extend the contract of a tried-and-true local company, Austin Free-Net, City Council decided last week to postpone the decision. Council Member Leslie Pool flagged the item for discussion, saying she did not understand why […]
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Council approves paid sick leave ordinance
Shortly after midnight on Friday, Austin became the first city in the South to require employers to provide workers with paid sick leave. The ordinance, authored largely by City Council Member Greg Casar, will require businesses and nonprofits to provide employees with one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked. Workers at […]
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Sick leave arguments heat up
An ordinance that would force all private Austin businesses to provide paid sick leave for their employees may prove to be the most divisive issue to come before Council since 2015 when the Council district system started. Sponsored by Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo and Council members Greg Casar, Ann Kitchen and Delia Garza, the […]
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City Council considers prescribing paid sick leave for private employers
Mornings at Hoover’s Cooking are spent hammering beef to make it thin enough for the restaurant’s best-selling dish: chicken-fried steak. “Other things that are good sellers are our fried catfish … and pork chops,” said Hoover Alexander, who has owned the restaurant on Manor Road since 1998. Alexander said he’s weathered the highs and lows […]
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Another postponement for Champion case
City Council decided Thursday that a legal and political battle surrounding the Champion tract in Northwest Austin that has spanned two decades will be extended yet another two weeks. Council voted 7-4 to postpone action on an amendment to a settlement agreement from over 20 years ago that would allow a developer to build a […]
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New negotiations for police, EMS contracts
Several City Council members, particularly Jimmy Flannigan and Alison Alter, sharply criticized city staff during Tuesday’s work session discussion of the Austin Police Association contract, with Flannigan and Alter claiming staff failed to communicate as the contract was being crafted. As a result, they said, by the time they knew what was in the contract […]
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Equity Office tries to make good on year-old institutional racism report
Austin’s Equity Office is considering how to make good on a report published last April that laid out more than 200 recommendations for how the city can combat institutional racism. “We sent out the report to all of our city departments and requested that they actually review and read the report and also to respond back […]
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Resolution: Wall builders need not apply
Led by Council Member Delia Garza, five Council members are sponsoring a resolution directing the city manager to study the potential impacts on Austin of construction of President Donald Trump’s threatened wall between the United States and Mexico. According to the resolution, President Trump’s executive order directing the U.S. Department of Homeland Security “to take […]
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City parkland could vanish from soccer stadium consideration
A resolution is in the works that would remove two city parkland sites from consideration as possible locations for a proposed soccer stadium. Council Member Ann Kitchen is sponsoring the resolution, out of concern about and growing opposition to Butler Shores Metropolitan Park and Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metropolitan Park as stadium sites. The […]
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For Adler, 2017 was busy, successful
It was another very busy year for Austin Mayor Steve Adler. He represented the city both in the United States and abroad on climate change. He joined with other Texas mayors in fighting Senate Bill 4, the Texas legislation to punish cities and local officials for failing to cooperate completely with federal immigration officials. Adler […]
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Troxclair continues to fight
In 2018, Council Member Ellen Troxclair will be having a baby and running for office in addition to continuing to serve as the lone conservative on City Council. Despite a crowded agenda ahead, Troxclair sat down with the Austin Monitor to take a look back at the past year’s wins and losses. She started with […]