Austin announced Tuesday night that it will offer the city manager job to T.C. Broadnax, the outgoing city manager in Dallas. Upon his arrival later this year, he will have a full plate of duties and projects to oversee. Broadnax is joining City Hall during major reform in the housing and policing sectors. The city will also […]
City Hall
Posted inCity Hall
Fleet department works to electrify city’s many vehicles
Austin’s Fleet Mobility Services Department wants to lead the way in the use of battery electric vehicles, following the Austin Climate Equity Plan to cut communitywide greenhouse gas emissions to net-zero by 2040. According to a report from the fleet department, the transportation sector accounts for more than one-quarter of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions […]
Posted inCity Hall
Animal Services working to fix problems revealed by audit
Last September, the city’s Office of the City Auditor released an audit highly critical of the city’s animal shelter operations, saying there was a conflict between its priorities of providing humane care, operating as an open intake shelter and maintaining its live-release goals. On Wednesday, Assistant City Manager Stephanie Hayden-Howard and Animal Services Officer Don […]
Posted inAustin
Downtown Commission revisits funding bid for anti-graffiti policy
Downtown Commissioners are once again asking City Council to address Austin’s ongoing battle against vandalism, with the hope of seeing funding for a dedicated anti-graffiti task force on the budget this August. The proposal dates back to March of last year, when commissioners unanimously recommended that the city allocate $2 million toward the creation of […]
Posted inCity Hall
Austin to offer city manager job to T.C. Broadnax, mayor says
City Council is recommending T.C. Broadnax as the next city manager. Mayor Kirk Watson said Tuesday that Council will finalize his hiring April 4. Broadnax resigned as city manager of Dallas last month after calls from a majority of that city’s council. He had had a tense relationship with the mayor and some council members for […]
Posted inCity Hall
City manager candidates talk public safety, homelessness, transparency in town hall Q&A
The two candidates for Austin’s city manager position each made their case to the public Monday for why they should be chosen for the job. Sara Hensley, the current city manager of Denton, Texas, and T.C. Broadnax, current but soon departing city manager of Dallas, fielded questions for about 30 minutes each in an interview […]
Posted inAustin
New report quantifies the state of Black life in Austin
On March 11, the community organization Austin Justice Coalition and data activism nonprofit Measure jointly released a report titled “The State of Black Lives in Austin.” Drawing on Austin Justice Coalition’s deep community ties and Measure’s statistical expertise, the dossier’s 64 pages condemn the city of Austin for its failure to invest in and address […]
Posted inCity Hall
Study finds city employees distrustful of city’s ethics conduct
City employees who responded to a survey on the city’s behavior with regard to ethics gave the city lower marks for trust and accountability as compared to how city management rated the city. Employees surveyed also showed a greater fear of retaliation for reporting ethics violations than management respondents did. These are two major conclusions […]
Posted inCity Council
Council members seek changes to food truck permitting
City Council Member José Velásquez knows what it’s like to work with food for a living. According to his website, “José went to work at age 11 in a local panaderia to help his mother with bills. That same year he wrote his first petition to help a classmate out of an unsafe environment. José […]
Posted inTipSheets
TipSheet: Austin City Council, 3.21.24
Today, City Council will convene again for a regular meeting. We’ve taken a look at the reasonably sized agenda and picked a few things that might be of interest. As usual, the entire agenda is also online and can be read in its entirety here. A couple of high-dollar items on today’s agenda have definitely […]
Posted inBudget
Parks Dept. looks to move forward with new, scaled-back Dougherty Arts Center
The replacement for the deteriorating Dougherty Arts Center will move forward in a phased approach, without the underground parking called for previously by City Council, in an attempt to dramatically reduce the cost of the new facility. During the Tuesday work session, Council heard a presentation from Parks and Recreation Department Director Kim McNeeley detailing […]
Posted inAustin
For the first time in 20 years, more people are leaving Travis County than moving in
Lee esta historia en español Between July 2022 and July 2023, roughly 2,500 more people moved out of Travis County than moved in. This figure, which comes out of population estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau last week, marks a reversal in population trends over the last two decades. “I haven’t seen negative net […]