A roiling public hearing at Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday muddied the waters on an already complex bond package, part of which voters could decide on this November. More than two dozen speakers signed up to air their thoughts on the $234.5 million recommendation delivered to the court by the Citizens Bond Advisory Committee […]
Elections
Posted inLocal Politics
Political action committees quietly file reports
Although much-maligned in certain circles, political action committees help spread the word in local elections for candidates, bonds and other propositions. Among the PACs filing with the Office of the City Clerk this month was the Our City Our Safety Our Choice PAC, which supported the successful election to pass stringent rules for governing transportation […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions
Talk starts for 2018 city bond election
City Council got a first look during its work session on Tuesday at an initial list of staff bond proposals that could go to voters in November of 2018. That list included a total of $640 million in bonds, with reinvestment in facilities and city assets pegged at $240 million and transportation infrastructure at $190 […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Democrats call on Dukes to step down for failing to show up
Democratic House Rep. Dawnna Dukes of Austin was already in hot water at the start of the legislative session. She had walked back a promise to resign and, soon after, was indicted. But Travis County Democrats say she then failed to do a major part of her job: show up. According to Community Impact, she’s […]
Posted inTravis County
TravCo bond talk takes explosive turn
Travis County is quietly but quickly approaching a major deadline in its runup to a potential 2017 bond referendum and if Tuesday’s Commissioners Court meeting was any indication, members of both the court and a citizens advisory council are deeply divided on the list of potential projects. Staff members along with three members of the […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Water conference raises open meetings questions
An attorney for the nonprofit League of Independent Voters of Texas warned the Texas Water Development Board on Sunday that the agency was in jeopardy of violating the Texas Open Meetings Act. However, by the end of the day Monday, it appeared that the agency and the nonprofit had reached an accommodation. The board is […]
Posted inRadio
Austin Monitor Radio: Harvey Kronberg of the ‘Quorum Report’
The Quorum Report‘s Harvey Kronberg joins Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin to chat about the upcoming Texas legislative session. Post is embedded below: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/303971565″ 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 inElections
Nucleus Learning Network Data Vis Series: Exploring the election
Join Sarah Morris, a librarian who co-directs an educational nonprofit called Nucleus Learning Network, as she explores data visualization in a new series. So much of this past election season was spent poring over maps: from electoral college projections to historic election results to those memes that showed what the electoral map would look like […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Candidates commit to challenging Dukes
State Rep. Dawnna Dukes was sworn in to her 12th term of office to represent much of Eastern Travis County on Tuesday, despite an announcement from Travis County District Attorney Margaret Moore that her office plans to present evidence to a grand jury that the veteran Democrat abused her office. Dukes has been dogged by […]
Posted inElections
Nucleus Learning Network Data Vis Series: Voter turnout
Join Sarah Morris, a librarian who co-directs an educational nonprofit called Nucleus Learning Network, as she explores data visualization in a new series. Travis County, and much of Texas and the country, saw record voter turnout levels during the 2016 election. That begs the question: How have voter turnout numbers looked in Travis County and […]
Posted inRadio
Austin Monitor Radio: Polling and local elections
Longtime political advisors Mark Littlefield and Jim Wick join Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin to chat about polling and how it is used in local elections. Audio is embedded below: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/301567047″ 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 inElections
Alter claims win in District 10
Alison Alter trounced incumbent City Council Member Sheri Gallo on Tuesday with the help of an energized Travis County Democratic Party, as well as neighbors angry over development proposals for the Grove at Shoal Creek and the Austin Oaks planned unit developments. It was clear from the moment the early votes came in that Alter […]