ZAP! Pow! Bang!… People paying attention to the membership of the Zoning and Platting Commission (if you are out there, you are probably reading this) may have noticed change has come/is on the horizon. As we reported, now-former Chair Thomas Weber has left the commission, with former Austin Neighborhoods Council President David King taking over […]
Reporters’ Notebook
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: More on Agenda 21
Alternative facts? In our media? It’s more likely than you think… Over the weekend, Zoning and Platting Commissioner Jim Duncan seized the rhetorical zeitgeist in a letter to City Council members, wherein he warned them that the commission had not, as initially reported by the Austin Business Journal, “reject(ed) Milestone Community Builders’ request to rezone a portion of […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Dead, alive and in-between
Dead zoning… There was a lot of debate on Thursday over whether Capitol View Corridors should be extended to the east of the city. And there was even more debate over whether those east-projecting radii should project over the Brackenridge hospital site that Central Health hopes will soon be developed. But there wasn’t nearly enough […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Just more fake news
Alt-facts… The national press has caught wind of Travis County’s skirmish with Gov. Greg Abbott over immigration policy, for better and worse. Reputable outlets such as CBS News and the Washington Post have deigned to talk to County Judge Sarah Eckhardt about the imbroglio that was sparked by Sheriff Sally Hernandez’s decision to no longer […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Pardon
Vote kills Entrada annexation for now… City Council voted 10-1 on Thursday to indefinitely postpone annexation of the Entrada property, approximately 246 acres in northeastern Travis County south of Wells Branch Parkway, with Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo opposed. Mayor Steve Adler said the current Council needs to reconsider the city’s annexation policy. That policy has […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Regarding Twitter
Vela to Dukes: Time to go… Embattled state Rep. Dawnna Dukes (Austin) has reneged on her promise to step down from her seat, leaving in limbo those who were hoping to replace her and actively campaigning to do so. One of them, Chito Vela, released a statement Saturday that said Dukes’ indecision “hurts the people she […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s notebook: Old endings, new beginnings
Love actually… Bob Gedert, who has served as director of Austin’s Resource Recovery Department since 2010, is retiring for love. Following his final appearance before City Council on Thursday, Gedert was standing outside Council chambers when the Austin Monitor caught up with him. He said he was moving to Cincinnati and would become a consultant […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Kerfuffles big and small
Behold the future… Rejoice, for this Tuesday will at last bring to a close 2016’s relentlessly sadistic cycle of political campaigning. Despair, however, for the events leading up to it may also presage a ghoulish spectacle of local tactics to come. In other words, the marquee runoff race – the battle between District 10 City […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Cheating? Deals? Numbers?
Cheating or just honest mistakes?… On Thursday, the first day of early voting for the Dec. 13 runoff elections for City Council District 10 and two places for the Austin Community College Board of Trustees, the Austin Monitor received a complaint from Jeremi Suri, the husband of Alison Alter, who is running against Council Member […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Fuel for the fire
Austin Energy prepared for Trump’s coal revival… During a presentation on Austin Energy’s financial health at the Electric Utility Commission meeting on Monday, Commissioner Stefan Wray asked AE Deputy General Manager Mark Dombroski a question about the elephant in the room: “What possible impact will the new federal government under President Trump have?” President-elect Donald […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Sore losers and sour grapes
Ghosting on reporters… It’s probably never fun to take reporter’s calls after losing an election, but usually candidates are good sports about it. However, former City Council District 7 candidate Natalie Gauldin managed to ignore more than five phone calls throughout the day from multiple reporters at the Austin Monitor (and several other news outlets). Nearly […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Apocalypse later
Must be Tuesday… There are a lot of details that will be needed to be sorted on Tuesday. (Most pressing, probably: Is it the end of the world or not? And: Where’s my bug-out bag?) Thankfully, one of the details no longer on the table is keeping track of what happens at the City Council […]