Former Austin City Council Member Chris Riley joins Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin to chat about Riley’s time in New York, his new urban planning degree, and Austin’s CodeNEXT efforts. Audio is embedded below: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/313239613″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
City Council
Posted inCity Council
Some seek to protect manager applicants’ names
A group of Austin citizens is urging City Council to do something out of the ordinary when they hire the next city manager – keep the names of the applicants a secret and only reveal the name of the person they want to hire once they’ve made a decision. According to a letter destined for […]
Posted inCity Council
What really happened with the new ethics ordinance?
An ordinance approved by City Council last month aims to strengthen the Ethics Review Commission, the citizen panel tasked with investigating and judging ethics complaints made against city officials. The ordinance, which had been in the works for about a year and a half, will give the commission a number of new powers, including to […]
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TickTock: Austin City Council meeting 3.2.2017
TickTock is the sortable transcript of @austinmonitor Tweets from the most recent Austin City Council meeting. ITEMS 25 32 34 38 40 61 70 77 78 TickTock for Friday, March 3, 2017 Participants: austinmonitor 178 cubbie9000 2 TopherJNeely 1 breathesgelatin 1 muelleratx 1 DanKeshet 1 hoffberger 1 brennangriffin 1 Thursday, March 02, 2017 9AM City’s […]
Posted inCity Council
Plaza Saltillo survives near derailment
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Plaza Saltillo development survived a harrowing journey at City Council on Thursday night, but just barely. Council eventually voted early Friday morning to approve the zoning request sought by the developer, Endeavor Real Estate Group, after a protracted discussion that featured two impassioned and opposing monologues from Council members Ora […]
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Council OKs rules for expedited permitting
Working with advocates for developers and construction workers, City Council Member Greg Casar carefully negotiated the details of an ordinance requiring developers of large commercial projects to pay a living wage and follow other rules set forth in the Better Builder Program in order to qualify for expedited permitting. The ordinance applies to commercial projects […]
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Council members slam Troxclair’s affordability plan
At City Council’s work session yesterday, several Council members hammered on District 8 Council Member Ellen Troxclair’s Austin Affordability Action Plan. The plan proposes that Council focus on affordability in the areas of housing, transportation, budgeting, cost of living and the economy. Troxclair pulled the item from the consent agenda to allow Council members to […]
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New campaign finance rules in the works
Two City Council members, Ellen Troxclair and Jimmy Flannigan, are collecting campaign funds in anticipation of re-election campaigns that seem far in the future. Troxclair is likely to run for re-election in November 2018 for her District 8 seat, but Flannigan will not be up for re-election until November 2020. Both are taking advantage of […]
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Confusion and frustration continue over Council committees
City Council appears united in the belief that its committee system must change, but debate on Thursday about who will serve on what committee shows that Council members have still not reached a consensus on what exactly the new system should look like. While a measure that cut in half the number of committees (from […]
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TickTock: Austin City Council meeting 2.16.2016
TickTock is the sortable transcript of @austinmonitor Tweets from the most recent Austin City Council meeting. ITEMS 10 12 18 32 34 60 67 TickTock for Friday, February 17, 2017 Participants: austinmonitor 219 DanKeshet 2 jenniferinc 1 SomewhereinATX 1 karawaane 1 Thursday, February 16, 2017 9AM Austin teachers union pushes back on AISD immigration memo. […]
Posted inCity Council
Plaza Saltillo advances amid accusations of broken promises
After years in the making, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Plaza Saltillo is only one vote away from its ultimate fate. City Council on Thursday night gave second-reading approval to the zoning change that will clear the way for the project, albeit slightly shorter than the developer, Endeavor Real Estate Group, originally proposed. The vote […]
Posted inCity Council
Immigration sparks Council fight
After a heated exchange between City Council members Ellen Troxclair and Greg Casar, Council voted 10-1 Thursday to approve $200,000 in emergency funding for immigrant legal services. Troxclair, Council’s only Republican, offered the only no vote and the only negative commentary about increasing funding to Catholic Charities of Central Texas to aid people seeking legal […]