City Council Member Ann Kitchen, chair of the Council Transition Committee – often called the committee on committees – is hoping that the other four members of her committee will show up at this morning’s 8 a.m. meeting but that other Council members will stay away. That’s because, Kitchen said, the city’s agenda office failed […]
City Council
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Mayor Steve Adler says it was a very good year
One year into his term, Mayor Steve Adler says there are so many things to do that being the top elected leader of the city requires his attention 18 hours a day. He took one of those hours – on a Sunday – to talk with the Austin Monitor about 2015 and some of his […]
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Mayor Pro Tem Tovo reflects on an “interesting” year
As the sole returning member of City Council, Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo is able to offer a unique perspective on the past year. Tovo was re-elected to represent Central Austin’s District 9, which includes downtown, and was later elected mayor pro tem by her fellow Council members. “It’s been an interesting year,” said Tovo. […]
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Gallo touts tax cuts, bemoans traffic after first year
In her first year on City Council, Sheri Gallo occupied a unique place on the 11-member body. After triumphing in a close runoff election against longtime progressive activist Mandy Dealey in December 2014, Gallo was widely perceived as one of the three right-leaning members of the new 10-1 Council. Although she repeatedly rebuked partisan labels, […]
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Pool looks back at past year, outlines future plans
City Council Member Leslie Pool made the environment, city services and transparency major issues in her 2014 campaign, and based on her look back at the freshman year of Austin’s first 10-1 Council, she remains concerned about those issues. The District 7 representative talked with the Austin Monitor on Dec. 15 about the new Council’s […]
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Troxclair keeps focus on District 8 through year one
In 2015, City Council Member Ellen Troxclair’s most gratifying moment came when one of her District 8 constituents told her that the things she had talked about during her campaign were consistent with the change she has since worked to effect at City Hall. “They said that I made them proud,” said Troxclair. “I get […]
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Kitchen reflects on past year, looks forward to next
City Council Member Ann Kitchen has a long list of what she considers to be the first 10-1 Council’s achievements in its first year, but she also has ambitious plans for what she hopes the body will accomplish next year. Kitchen, who represents a central chunk of South Austin by way of District 5, ticked […]
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After a year at City Hall, Zimmerman reflects
For City Council Member Don Zimmerman, 2015 was a year of some triumph and a great deal of frustration with city staff. During an interview with the Austin Monitor about his first year on Council, it became clear that Zimmerman’s biggest sources of agitation seem to be the way the city is run and the […]
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Casar counts his victories for 2015
District 4 City Council Member Greg Casar came to his job as a workers’ rights advocate. So it is unsurprising that he chose as his favorite accomplishment of this first year in office helping his constituents at a North Lamar mobile home park form their own neighborhood association and successfully negotiate against their landlords, who […]
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Renteria sizes up new Council’s first year
The inaugural year of Austin’s brand-new single-member district City Council is getting high marks from at least one man on the inside. “I would give it an A-minus,” Council Member Pio Renteria, who represents District 3, told the Austin Monitor recently at his office in City Hall. Looking back on 2015, Renteria dished on the […]
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Garza recounts “rookie” year, outlines goals ahead
City Council Member Delia Garza had a busy freshman year on Austin’s first 10-1 Council, working on city issues and serving on bodies with officials from other jurisdictions to take on some of the most pressing issues facing the region. She talked with the Austin Monitor on Dec. 16 about Council’s accomplishments and challenges this […]
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Ora Houston recalls challenging but rewarding year
In an interview with the Austin Monitor, City Council Member Ora Houston called her first year on Council “extremely rewarding” but said that the job had a “steep learning curve.” In addition, the changes to city government that 10-1 promised may take much longer to materialize than advocates of the new system expected. Certain advocacy […]