City Council informally decided during Tuesday’s work session to change one of the rules for City Council meeting speakers. Starting at the July 28 meeting, speakers who sign up to address Council remotely about non-zoning items will be allowed to speak first, followed by in-person speakers. City Clerk Myrna Rios explained that she has a […]
City Hall
Posted inAustin
Shelter leader gets vote of no confidence from commission
The city’s Animal Advisory Commission has passed a vote of no confidence in Don Bland, chief animal services officer and the director of the Austin Animal Center. At Monday’s meeting the commission voted 8-1, with two abstentions, to approve a 17-point resolution outlining the ways they feel Bland has underperformed in his role since taking […]
Posted inTipSheets
TipSheet: Austin City Council, 6.9.22
Today is City Council’s penultimate meeting before a summer break, which means the meeting is jam-packed with odds and ends that need to get in order before then. This TipSheet is an educated guess as to what might be important in the upcoming meeting. To make your own guess, head over to the city website […]
Posted inBudget
City must raise wages to $22/hour, working group says
Members of the city’s living wage work group urged City Council Tuesday to raise the city’s living wage to $22 an hour for the upcoming fiscal year. They said the wage should apply to all regular and temporary city employees except employees of the summer youth program, regardless of position or number of hours worked. […]
Posted inBudget
Public safety departments present budget proposals to Public Safety Commission
Austin’s public safety departments – police, fire and EMS – are preparing for the annual budget process in July and August by forecasting budgets and drafting wish lists, all of which include additional funding to fill vacant positions. Meanwhile, a group of more than 30 community organizations has drafted a Community Investment Budget for Fiscal […]
Posted inAustin
Bird pays its bill
Although the city of Austin apparently enjoys a good working relationship with the scooter company Bird, the same could not be said for Travis County. Bird Rides Inc. appeared at No. 7 on Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector Bruce Elfant’s list of top 10 delinquent property owners. According to Elfant, as of Monday, the company owed Travis […]
Posted inCity Hall
Staffing issues cause slow rollout of arts, historic preservation programs
The Economic Development Department plans to wait until fall to begin spinning up three programs for music, arts and historic preservation that are funded by proceeds from the city’s Hotel Occupancy Tax. Portions of those programs aren’t slated to become active until mid-to-late 2023, with some contracts not expected to begin until the 2024 fiscal […]
Posted inCity Hall
Cultural Arts continues revisions for arts contracts funded by hotel tax
The city is moving ahead with further revisions to its process for awarding contracts for Cultural Arts funding, with the rollout of the first phase of a three-tiered pilot program expected to take place in October. Cultural Arts staff members gave an update last week to City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee on their progress […]
Posted inCity Council
Vela plans resolution to prevent police from investigating abortion
In light of a likely U.S, Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision legalizing abortion, City Council Member Chito Vela is working on a resolution that tells Austin police they should not investigate or solicit information regarding women who get abortions or abortion providers. The resolution will be called the GRACE […]
Posted inCity Hall
Council eyes possible trimming, merging of some boards and commissions
City Council appears ready to take a comprehensive look at the makeup and purpose of the many boards and commissions currently advising Council on city policy, with the possibility of dissolving or merging some of the groups. At last week’s meeting of Council’s Audit and Finance Committee, a recommendation passed unanimously to have Council vote […]
Posted inCity Hall
Audit report finds city making slow progress on website accessibility, usability
The city has moved slowly in making its website as accessible and useful as possible for residents and falls short of federal principles to ensure usability for people of all abilities, according to a recent report from the Office of the City Auditor. At Wednesday’s meeting of City Council’s Audit and Finance Committee, staff presented […]
Posted inCity Council
Public divided over proposed development rules
Members of the public weighed in Thursday on changes to Vertical Mixed-Use (VMU) zoning and the potential for relaxed development rules along busy streets as City Council continued discussions on the proposals. Opinions were split among those who spoke at the Council meeting. Some showed support for the proposals while others opposed any changes that […]