Two years after losing narrowly in a runoff election to City Council Member Don Zimmerman, Jimmy Flannigan easily prevailed in a rematch with the incumbent. What changed? “Winning elections is luck and timing,” said Flannigan during an interview with the Austin Monitor. However, he added, “There’s a lot of preparation involved in luck.” The strong […]
City Council
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Kitchen hopes for longer budget process, shorter meetings in 2017
After two years in office, City Council Member Ann Kitchen, who represents District 5’s long stretch of South Austin, is happy with what she has accomplished for her district and the city but says that Council could stand to improve the way it operates in a few key ways. Kitchen is the only member of […]
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Casar cites work on labor issues for 2016
Greg Casar was re-elected to his District 4 City Council seat in November with only token, underfunded opposition – and that fact did not even make it onto the list of highlights he shared with the Austin Monitor. From his post at the Workers Defense Project, Casar was first elected in 2014 as a champion […]
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Renteria’s issues: affordability, protecting tenants
For District 3 City Council Member Pio Renteria, Council’s big accomplishments, and his own, revolve around housing affordability in 2016. That includes passage of a tenant relocation ordinance with provisions to protect mobile home park residents and funding of affordable housing through a homestead preservation district. In 2015, when Council started working on an ordinance […]
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Houston eyes community engagement in 2017
Before taking a look back over the past year, City Council Member Ora Houston wanted to make one thing crystal clear. “I consider myself a public servant, not a politician,” she said. “So I don’t talk like, I don’t do like, I don’t think like the expectations of a politician.” Houston starts the conversation where […]
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Housing, public health priorities for Garza in new year
City Council Member Delia Garza describes Council’s past year as “productive.” Specifically, Garza is pleased to report that she has begun to tackle some of her priority issues in earnest (all while handily winning re-election to the District 2 seat with more than 65 percent of the vote). “I think, overall, it was a good […]
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TickTock: Austin City Council, 12.15.16
ITEMS 6 10 46 59 60 64 66 67 71 72 73 74 76 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 TickTock for Monday, Dec. 19, 2016 Participants: MKanin 235 DanKeshet 3 nanieneavel 1 slyarak 1 SomewhereinATX 1 cynth 1 Pschmandt 1 mpusto 1 Thursday, December 15, 2016 9AM Checking […]
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Council reopens path to chauffeur’s permit for many criminal offenders
City Council took action on Thursday that could help put some disqualified taxi and transportation network company drivers back on Austin roads. The amendment to the city code tweaked an existing ordinance that Council passed in June that restricted many current and potential drivers with criminal records from qualifying for a chauffeur’s permit. Under the […]
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Council votes to fund immigration legal fees
Half a dozen posters depicting that British hit band the Beatles color the walls of Justin Estep’s office on Rutherford Lane in North Austin. It brings some levity to an otherwise tense space. “Anxiety … and just basic fear,” said Estep, describing the emotions of many of his clients in the wake of Donald Trump’s […]
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TickTock: Austin City Council meeting 12.8.16
ITEMS 2 8 9 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 39 40 41 42 43 44 46 47 48 49 TickTock for Monday, December 12, 2016 Participants: MKanin 115 DanKeshet 1 cubbie9000 1 Thursday, December 08, 2016 9AM Checking in […]
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TickTock: Austin City Council 12.1.2016
ITEMS 17 18 19 20 23 24 37 41 TickTock for Friday, December 2, 2016 Participants: MKanin 70 eraycollins 1 Thursday, December 01, 2016 10AM oh hey! I’m here at #atxcouncil and it’s under way! #atxgov December 01, 2016 10:07 AM the library thing (here for deetz: https://t.co/bit2pHR8Wi) is ppd to Dec 8 #atxgov #atxcouncil […]
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New library cost could climb to $126 million with Council’s OK
City Council will consider what is hoped to be the final spending increase for the long-in-the-works Austin Central Library on Thursday, with the total price tag for the project set to fall somewhere just under $126.6 million. The agenda item asks Council to authorize spending $5.5 million that was included from three different sources in […]