City Council put the final touches on the latest iteration of its committee system on Thursday, voting to define where public testimony will be held and how long that testimony should be. Since the new Council has taken office, the rules addressing whether public comment should take place at Council committees or in front of […]
City Council
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Council OKs relief measure for water customers
City Council on Thursday voted to make remediation easier for customers who are accidentally soaked by the local water utility. The resolution brought forth by Council Member Ellen Troxclair directs City Manager Marc Ott to cobble together a set of amendments to city code that would allow Austin Water utility customers who experience a spike […]
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TickTock: Austin City Council Meeting 3.31.2016
TickTock is the sortable-by-item-number transcript of Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin’s Twitter feed from City Council. Click on the item number to scroll to the corresponding tweets. ITEMS 4 11 13 16 19 20 29 51 55 66 67 Tick Tock Participants: MKanin 118 lubomudrov 1 cubbie9000 1 LegiSteve 1 Thursday, March 31, 2016 9AM […]
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Austin Monitor Radio: Arif Panju
Sometimes-controversial Historic Landmark Commissioner Arif Panju joins Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin to talk about historic zoning in the City of Austin. Sponsored by Austin Water. Post is embedded below. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/256957647″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
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Council debates social service spending
Divisions within City Council over spending on social services were put into sharp relief Thursday as the Health and Human Services Department asked city leaders to approve a 6 percent boost in funding for nonprofit agencies with which the city contracts for a variety of services. The immediate effect of the funding boost, which Council […]
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Council votes to retain vacant positions, for now
How big of a problem is an unfilled position in city government? Is it even a problem at all? A brief City Council debate on Thursday illustrated some strong differences of opinion among city leaders on the issue. Prompting the discussion was a proposed ordinance that would have reappropriated funds allocated for seven city positions […]
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TickTock: Austin City Council Meeting 3.24.2016
TickTock is the sortable-by-item-number transcript of Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin’s Twitter feed from City Council. Click on the item number to scroll to the corresponding tweets. ITEMS 6 14 17 18 20 21 22 23 24 25 27 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 41 42 43 44 45 46 53 […]
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Kanin on Council: anti-discrimination, fair hiring ordinances passed in labor-focused meeting
The Austin Monitor‘s Michael Kanin speaks with KUT’s Jennifer Stayton about the Austin City Council’s passage of two labor-centric items – one to bolster anti-discrimination in the workplace and another that would prevent employers from asking prospective employees about their criminal background until later in the hiring process. Post is embedded below. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/254987917″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” […]
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Council extends living wage to subcontractors
City subcontractors – such as airport food vendors and construction workers – will now be paid $13.03 an hour after City Council extended the city’s living wage requirements on Thursday to everyone working on a city contract. Two ordinances that closed the loophole that left subcontractors out of previously passed living wage requirements passed on […]
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Council poised to pass fair-chance hiring ordinance
Despite the fact that Jacqueline Conn has a master’s degree, it took her 10 months to find a job in Austin, a delay she attributes to a 15-year-old felony conviction. On Tuesday, Conn, 34, stood behind Council Member Greg Casar and other elected officials as they celebrated Casar’s fair-chance hiring proposal, which Council will likely […]
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Ethics complaint filed against Council Member Renteria
The owner of a short-term rental business has filed an ethics complaint against City Council Member Pio Renteria, alleging that he violated city conflict-of-interest rules by pushing for an ordinance approved last month that will eventually phase out short-term rental units in Austin that are not owner-occupied, otherwise known as Type 2 STRs. Thomas J. […]
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Kitchen: Spirit of innovation still alive in Austin
This year’s South by Southwest Interactive conference kicked off with a cloud of doubt hanging over the city of Austin’s relationship with the tech sector that has helped spur the regional economy for lo these many years. Recent efforts by City Council to take a less than laissez-faire approach to ride-hailing services and short-term rentals […]