Travis County Commissioners voted Tuesday to raise fees for visitors to Travis County parks, but it is not clear exactly when that hike will happen. Commissioners approved the increase to close a potential budget gap. This is the first adjustment to any county parks’ fees since 2009 and officials say many of the affected […]
Local Politics
Posted inDevelopment, Elections, Local Government, Local Politics
Eckhardt criticizes McCombs for seeking tax breaks, suing appraisal district
Travis County Judge candidate Sarah Eckhardt continued her verbal campaign against billionaire businessman Red McCombs Thursday, taking him to task for asking taxpayers to contribute millions of dollars to build the Circuit of the Americas race track but going to court to get his property tax bill on the facility lowered. Eckhardt, a former […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Uncategorized
Council members sign letter supporting reproductive rights law
Three Austin City Council members have sent a letter to members of Congress and the Texas Legislature, urging the passage of the Women’s Health Protection Act and the repeal of House Bill 2. Council Members Bill Spelman, Laura Morrison and Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole signed the letter, which was dated Jan. 7. The […]
Posted inLocal Government, Local Politics, Uncategorized
County, promoter at impasse over background checks at gun show
Travis County Commissioners and the promoter of the Saxet Gun Shows reached an impasse Tuesday over a contract provision that would require the promoter to perform background checks on all gun sales. Negotiations for a year’s lease to hold eight gun shows at the Travis County Expo Center have broken off. Background checks for […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Remembering highlights of 2013
As we begin 2014, the Austin Monitor is taking a look back at 2013 in the thoughts and words of City Council members and City Manager Marc Ott. For most of them, 2013 was an important year with many major issues. We asked them to talk about what they thought were the most important events […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Riley cites heavy lifting in 2013 to get ready for 10-1 Council
Council Member Chris Riley offers a broad frame for the 2013 Austin City Council. “Trying to look at it from a perspective of how this year will be viewed historically, I think the most notable thing about it may well be that it will be viewed as the last full year of regular operation of […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Spelman wants to leave city in good shape for new 10-1 Council
For his part, Council Member Bill Spelman likes Council Member Chris Riley’s “clearing the decks” metaphor for the past year in Council activity. “I like the frame of clearing the decks,” he began. “It’s something that’s been on my mind – I think it’s something that’s been on all of our minds in the last […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Tovo puts affordability issues at top of her 2013 list of successes
For Council Member Kathie Tovo, a lot of the successes in the past year have to do with affordability. “I think we are hearing from the community that they are very overwhelmed by taxes and by other increases, and that we need to hold the line on property tax increases,” said Tovo. “I think […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Resources
Morrison calls Austin Energy governance debate top 2013 issue
Though, in her estimation, it “wasn’t so much an event as it was a long, drawn out conversation,” Council Member Laura Morrison puts the Austin Energy governance discussions toward the top of her list of major 2013 events. She says the discussion between the Council and the community about the utility’s oversight was important, […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Ott says 2013 brought both personal, professional accomplishments
City Manager Marc Ott says that, for him, 2013 had a lot of highlights. Some were personal, like being the recipient of the Mark E. Keane Award for Career Excellence, which he received early in the year. That award came with a stipend, which he will donate to the city for something related to […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Politics
Austin’s continuing success biggest story for Leffingwell
Mayor Lee Leffingwell likes to point out that Austin, by most measures, has an extremely successful economy, gets high marks for job creation and has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation—4.7 percent, according to numbers released late last month. In December it was rated the top performing city in the United States […]
Posted inDevelopment, Elections, Local Politics, Resources, Transportation
Looking back at 2013
No doubt one of the most significant events over the past year was the drawing of Austin’s first geographically-based single-member City Council districts. In November 2012, Austin voters approved a charter amendment to create 10 single-member districts in the city. Those Council members will be elected this upcoming November and, as of last November, we […]