After three terms on the Austin City Council, first from 1997 to 2000 and then from 2009 to present, Council Member Bill Spelman is retiring from his nonpaying city gig. Professor Spelman, who also teaches courses in applied math and statistics, urban policy and public management at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at the […]
Local Politics
Posted inCity Council, Development, Local Politics, Resources, Transportation
Riley looks beyond rail bond loss to Austin’s future
Council Member Chris Riley started his look back at 2014 with an examination of the transportation situation faced by the City of Austin. Rather than lock on to the November failure of a $600 million rail bond that would have included promises for $400 million more in road construction, however, Riley looked at the larger […]
Posted inPremium Types
Tip Sheet: Travis County Commissioners 12-23
The Travis County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday. In the interest of space, we’ve decided not to post the entire agenda here. The County Clerk’s office posts a copy at its website. Items of interest for Commissioners Court include: 14. CONSIDER AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION REGARDING RATIFICATION OF MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN TRAVIS […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Local Politics
Adler talks about his agenda for new Council
Mayor-elect Steve Adler has proclaimed that his administration will give Austin “a new way forward.” He has talked of the 10-1 system as a restart for city government. Now Adler has to put forth some concrete ideas and get his new City Council colleagues on board with a plan that he believes will be more […]
Posted inCity Hall, Courts, Local Politics
Zimmerman drops lawsuit, but case goes forward
On Thursday, after hearing from attorneys for District 6 City Council Member-elect Don Zimmerman and the Austin Bulldog about Zimmerman’s lawsuit against the website and its publisher, Ken Martin, Judge Amy Clark Meachum ruled in favor of the Bulldog on the question of whether the court has jurisdiction to hear the journalist’s motion for award […]
Posted inAustin, Elections, Local Politics, Radio
Austin Monitor Radio: Election Result Analysis
Jo Clifton and Mike Kanin analyze the final results of the 2014 Austin City Council elections. The show is posted here, below: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/182171388″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Courts, Local Politics
Zimmerman v. Bulldog case going to court today
Attorneys for District 6 Council Member-elect Don Zimmerman and Austin Bulldog publisher Ken Martin will face off in a Travis County district court this morning over a lawsuit Zimmerman filed related to a Bulldog story that outlined court proceedings in which Zimmerman relinquished managing conservatorship of his daughter. Zimmerman claims in the lawsuit that Martin […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Elections, Local Politics
New Council set; Gallo, Troxclair, Zimmerman all in
All the players in the new 10-1 Austin City Council are finally in place after Tuesday’s runoff elections. There is a lot that is remarkable about the city’s first Council elected from single-member districts. For starters, 10 of the 11 members are holding a city office for the first time, with only one returning member […]
Posted inAustin, Development, Local Politics, The Code
Audit finds short-term rental enforcement lacking
Members of the Council Audit and Finance Committee learned Monday that, though the city has had success in bringing illegal short-term rentals into compliance, those that do not come into compliance are falling through the cracks. On a positive note, a city audit found that the Code Department had been largely successful at bringing unlicensed […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Local Politics, Public Health
Council backs new social service contract metric
Austin City Council members Thursday approved a resolution from Council members Mike Martinez, Laura Morrison and Chris Riley that instructs City Manager Marc Ott to tie the city’s social service contract spending to the Consumer Price Index. The action, approved by a 5-2 vote, also calls on Ott to increase the budget of Austin’s Health […]
Posted inAustin, Elections, Local Politics
Election night is tonight, parties are here
There is only one way to celebrate getting through this long election season, and you might as well celebrate at a party with those who have been in the trenches with you. We have included as many post-election parties here as we could find, below. Mayor Steve Adler Midway Field House (2015 East Riverside Drive) […]
Posted inAustin, Local Politics
Reporter’s Notebook: Council gets a big send-off
What was wrong with David Bowie’s “Ch-Ch-Changes”? … Thursday was the last meeting of the current City Council. Maybe it was a case of managed expectations, but given the length of the agenda, when the meeting ended at just past 1 a.m., it seemed almost reasonable. The meeting ended with a burst of good cheer […]