Travis County’s cost to determine just how much of its Palm School building is truly historic has reached the six-figure mark. On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court unanimously approved peeling off $140,964 from a larger earmark in the current budget set aside for the historical assessment of the building that sits at Cesar Chavez […]
City Council
Posted inCity Council
Council nixes daytime juvenile curfew, extends late-night curfew through summer
City Council Thursday decided to nix the city’s 27-year-old daytime juvenile curfew, extending instead the city’s nighttime curfew for young people until Oct. 1. At that time, members expect to have a report back on alternatives to a criminal curfew and will consider the late-night curfew again. Most Council members appeared ready to decriminalize the […]
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Council rejects gun rights advocate for commission
City Council took the rare move Thursday of rejecting a nomination to a citizen commission over the nominee’s controversial statements. Only two of the nine members of Council present voted to support appointing Michael Cargill, the founder of Central Texas Gun Works and the executive director of Texans for Accountable Government, to the Bond Election […]
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Budget stresses show in child care discussion
Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo faced strong resistance at Tuesday’s work session to her resolution directing the city manager to find funding to continue a child care services program for homeless families. Tovo and her cosponsors, City Council members Delia Garza, Leslie Pool and Pio Renteria, noted in their draft resolution that the city provided […]
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Council hopes new rules will shorten meetings
Meetings that stretch into the wee hours of the morning, lengthy work sessions, budget briefings and additional special called meetings have taken a toll on the 10-1 City Council, those feisty newcomers who thought they could reinvent the wheel when they came into office at the beginning of 2015. During 2016, Council spent about 557 […]
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Council considers providing rental assistance to Austin arts groups
Today, City Council is set to consider a plan to provide rental assistance to arts organizations. That’s after Mayor Steve Adler made a series of proposals aimed at strengthening the city’s music scene last year. For many Austin artists, some of the most pressing concerns were finding space and being able to afford it. If […]
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Council outlaws vaping, postpones demolition case
At its abbreviated meeting on Thursday, City Council directed the city manager to make changes to the city’s smoking ordinance to clarify that “smoking” includes electronic smoking devices as well as regular cigarettes, so that vaping will no longer be legal in public places such as bars and restaurants. It also directed the city manager to […]
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Council ponders how to pay for golf
Most of Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department programs operate on money from the city’s General Fund, but at some point in the past City Council designated golf as an enterprise fund. City staff reported to Council at last week’s budget work session that the Golf Enterprise Fund would have “a significant negative ending fund balance” […]
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Council Member Flannigan seeks to revise Austin’s drainage fee system
For much of her life as a homeowner, Joan Reames never noticed the drainage charge on her monthly utility bill. That was until the city revised the system in 2015. Reames said the monthly fee for her condo complex suddenly increased by more than $2,000. The city sends the bill to her homeowners association. Then […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: It’s the little things
Honorifics Olympics… Mayor Steve Adler appears to be having a tough time deciding how to refer to Council Member Alison Alter on the dais. The mayor tends to address his Council colleagues as “Mr.” or “Ms.” during meetings, but on at least one occasion during the most recent Council meeting he began to say “Ms. […]
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TickTock: Austin City Council 4.20.2017
TickTock is the sortable transcript of @austinmonitor Tweets from the most recent Austin City Council meeting. ITEMS 6 11 16 18 26 28 30 31 32 48 49 50 TickTock for Friday, April 21, 2017 Participants: austinmonitor 191 eraycollins 1 austin78753 1 PointAustin 1 ndhapple 1 Thursday, April 20, 2017 9AM All Access Readers! Get […]
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Sleep researchers cheer on Council members as they consider ways to avoid late nights
Early on June 24, 2016, City Council Member Delia Garza checked her watch. “We’re making a decision about $720 million at 1:35 in the morning after lengthy discussions,” Garza told her colleagues. “After in my opinion, no real agreement on this.” Despite the Council member’s misgivings, members voted to approve the $720 million transportation bond […]