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City Hall
Evaluation will resume this month on proposal to consolidate and eliminate some boards and commissions
Discussions about a proposal from Council Member Ryan Alter to revamp the city’s citizen advisory boards are set to continue. In a City Council Message Board post on Wednesday, Alter provided an update on his December resolution (which Council unanimously…
City Hall • By Mina Shekarchi • Feb 14, 2025
Panelists explore AI's growing role in Austin's economy and policy space
With artificial intelligence quickly penetrating more facets of public and private life every day, policymakers and technology observers in Austin want the city to take advantage of the opportunities presented by AI while also safeguarding against the potential threats from…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 13, 2025
TipSheet: Austin City Council 2.13.25
Today, the Austin City Council will convene for a regular meeting with a manageable agenda that has some issues worth diving into. As usual, we’ve taken a minute to highlight those issues and, as usual, the whole agenda and backup…
TipSheets • By Elizabeth Pagano • Feb 13, 2025
Resource Management Commission recommends against proposed merge
Members of the Resource Management Commission voted unanimously to recommend against a resurrected proposal to merge the RMC with the Zero Waste Advisory Commission, or ZWAC, at a special called meeting on Feb. 3. In their resolution making the “no”…
City Hall • By Miles Wall • Feb 10, 2025
Push to consolidate city boards and commissions draws criticism from UTC
The Urban Transportation Commission (UTC) voiced opposition to a City Council-backed proposal to consolidate several of Austin’s boards and commissions, including a plan to merge the Bicycle Advisory Council (BAC) and Pedestrian Advisory Council (PAC) into the UTC. The proposal,…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 6, 2025
Study of arts, music grant programs finds gaps among award recipients
A new study examining how Austin distributes Hotel Occupancy Tax funds for arts and culture programs found that some groups and areas of the city are missing out on the progress being made in helping some historically underserved communities. The…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 4, 2025
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Council vows to make homelessness a top financial priority
City Council last week reaffirmed its commitment to tackling Austin’s homelessness crisis, pledging to use a recent data-driven report to guide housing and services investments over the next 10 years. City officials will work with Travis County, service providers and…
City Council • By Amy Smith • Feb 3, 2025
Arts Commission questions changes to Nexus’ $500K grant process
With the city’s next round of Nexus cultural arts grants open to applicants, members of the Arts Commission recently discussed how to improve the selection process for awardees so the program better serves emerging and disadvantaged artists. At last week’s…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Feb 3, 2025
Council OKs plan to remove, demolish artwork as part of convention center rebuild
Four large murals and art installations from local artists will be removed from the Austin Convention Center and destroyed ahead of the facility’s forthcoming demolition and reconstruction, despite calls from the artists and supporters to find a way to preserve…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Jan 31, 2025
Real estate leaders hear options for assisting Austin's threatened creatives
Members of the Austin real estate and development community got a look Wednesday at how unstable many local arts and cultural organizations are – and how they are being threatened by the growth pressures in the city’s hot market for…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Jan 30, 2025
TipSheet: Austin City Council 1.30.25
After a long holiday break, it’s time to turn our eyes back to local politics, with the first regular meeting of City Council in 2025. It’s also the first meeting for Council members Marc Duchen, Mike Siegel and Krista Laine.…
TipSheets • By Elizabeth Pagano • Jan 30, 2025
Austin scrambles to assess local impact of federal grant freeze
President Donald Trump issued a directive on Monday ordering a sweeping freeze on federal grants, including money to state and local governments. This action caused an immediate uproar, as well as lawsuits to put the order on hold. A federal…