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- How Trump’s federal funding freeze is beginning to affect Austin
- APD won’t enforce SB 14 as Paxton and Trump further attack gender-affirming health care
- After shutting off mental health care for Austin musicians, SIMS Foundation restarts services
- Council approves call for better coordination, planning among downtown projects
- Austin ISD announces hiring freeze as budget deficit grows to $110 million
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- Council Member Mike Siegel will speak out against cuts to federal services
- City manager hosts community meetings on next year’s budget
- DAA offers a look at future of Sixth Street entertainment district
- RRCD names Klepadlo as executive director
- Zero Waste Advisory Commission adds own ‘no’ rec on merge with RMC
City Council
Casar finance report shows new supporters
District 4 City Council Member Greg Casar, who is locked in a legal battle with his former opponent, Laura Pressley, raised $35,785 to help pay legal expenses between Jan. 1 and June 30. Casar’s report, filed Wednesday, shows a wide…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • Jul 16, 2015
Council adopts new drainage fee structure
If all goes according to the city’s plan, Austin residents can expect some significant changes to their monthly drainage fees in October. While City Council has adopted a new underlying methodology for that fee, it still has to decide exactly…
City Council • By Tyler Whitson • Jun 26, 2015
New Council introduces era of more meetings
In January, there was a shake-up at City Hall, with Austin ushering in its first geographically based City Council. Now, six months later, what has it meant? Most obviously, a lot more meetings. Videos available on the city’s website show that…
City Council • By Elizabeth Pagano • Jun 24, 2015
Alcohol waiver approved, policy review promised
City Council approved an alcohol waiver for a planned Tiny Boxwoods restaurant on 35th Street at its meeting Thursday but not without giving the subject serious scrutiny and planning a discussion on Council’s larger policy in committee. Council approved the waiver 10-1,…
City Council • By Sunny Sone • Jun 22, 2015
Council to disperse quarter-cent fund "equitably"
On Thursday, City Council took the first step in a plan to disperse the $21.8 million remaining in the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Quarter-Cent Fund “equitably across all Council districts” for transportation and mobility improvement projects. In a resolution, Council…
City Council • By Tyler Whitson • Jun 19, 2015
Council cuts 2.3 city positions
City Council approved cuts to long-vacant city positions Thursday, but the result didn’t come close to the budget savings first envisioned. The effort to eliminate positions that had been vacant for more than a year was led by Council Member…
City Council • By Elizabeth Pagano • Jun 19, 2015
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Committee circles accessory dwelling unit changes
The City Council Planning and Neighborhoods Committee took on accessory dwelling units at its Monday meeting. Though members acknowledged they had a lot of work to do on the ADU ordinance, at their most recent meeting they largely steered clear…
City Council • By Elizabeth Pagano • Jun 18, 2015
Concrete pouring ordinance may need more time
City staff’s proposed restrictions on notoriously loud and bright overnight concrete pouring at downtown sites may not be ready to hit the ground yet. That’s according to a discussion City Council had at its Tuesday work session ahead of a…
City Council • By Tyler Whitson • Jun 17, 2015
Transition group will begin posting meetings
It was never intended to be a committee. But the City Council committee on committees, also known as the transition committee and the Transition Work Group, has met at least twice without the usual notice to the public, video recording…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Jun 17, 2015
Austin Monitor Radio: King, Rockwell, Pagano, and Kanin on the new Council
The Austin Chronicle‘s Michael King and the Austin American-Statesman‘s Lilly Rockwell join Monitor editor Liz Pagano and publisher Mike Kanin to talk about life under the new Austin City Council. Show is embedded below.
Austin • By Michael Kanin • Jun 15, 2015
Houston comes out against sole-source contracts
At the June 4 City Council meeting, Council Member Ora Houston voted against an Austin Water Utility contract with Austin White Lime that would allow the company to provide about 21.5 tons of lime per year to soften the city’s…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Jun 15, 2015
Closed captioning costs city $10,000 per month
Austin’s switch to a 10-1 government is costing the city money in unexpected areas. At a budget work session Wednesday, the city’s Support Services Department forecasted a $131,000 expenditure increase to fund ATXN, the city’s government access channel, as a result of…