Life after SB 4… Following Texas’ Senate Bill 4, also known as the “Sanctuary City bill,” Austin City Council asked that all instances of city collaboration with Immigration and Customs Enforcement be tracked. A Feb. 28 memo from Austin Police Chief Brian Manley sheds light on events from 2018, revealing, “There were 581 instances where APD […]
Reporters’ Notebook
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Reporter’s Notebook: Chinese Democracy
The press release is made of cheese… How best to follow up a City Council meeting that saw unanimous action to ease the development of affordable housing? If you’ve got the big office on the second floor at City Hall, the answer is getting farcical and sending the recipe for Kerbey Lane Cafe queso, along […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Clarifications
The devil (or the donut) is in the details… When it comes to zoning and platting, make no mistake that the commissioners who sit on ZAP pay attention to the details of each and every case. In fact, this was never more apparent than at the commission’s Feb. 5 meeting. While reviewing cases for consent […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: At long last, an end
Casar wins!… Friday’s news that the Texas Supreme Court has ended the long-running legal battle over the 2014 District 4 City Council race between since-re-elected Greg Casar and former opponent Laura Pressley broke quickly on Twitter, and came with a straitlaced official statement from Casar about all the voter support he has received and how […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: The bonus no one wanted
Violations that make lawyers giggle… On Jan. 9, the Ethics Review Commission heard the preliminary case of DeShawn Scott, an administrative specialist in the Public Works Department, who used his city computer for purposes related to his own outside businesses: Texas Go Freezee, a shaved ice stand; and Taco Sweets, a truck that offers ice cream […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: We’re back, and so is this
Taking her talents… Ellen Troxclair, whose term on Austin City Council concludes with today’s swearing-in ceremony that’ll install Paige Ellis as the new representative for District 8, is taking her focus on property tax issues to the state level. News broke Friday that Troxclair has joined the Texas Public Policy Foundation as a senior fellow. […]
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Reporters’ Notebook: On tacos and cities
Bullish on tacos… Anyone who’s heard Mayor Steve Adler invoke his civic pride at events over the past four years has undoubtedly heard him praise the availability and variety of breakfast tacos as a badge of honor for the city. Adler has also been pretty frank about Austin’s mobility and transit challenges, which means an […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Urgent plodding
District 3 gets into it… The gloves are off in the race for the District 3 City Council seat between siblings Susana Almanza and incumbent Pio Renteria. The long-combative candidates have taken their campaign charges to the digital and physical realms with charged attacks on each other’s level of community involvement and the contributions they’ve […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Lord of the files
Pig-headed politics… At a recent City Council work session, Council members were discussing proposed changes to the ordinance that dictates the extent to which people can exercise their First Amendment rights on library grounds. Specifically, what limits, if any, should be placed on those canvassing for candidates or gathering signatures for petitions outside of libraries. […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: Carrying on
A bump in the road… As long expected, the state’s Austin-based 3rd Court of Appeals voided the city’s paid sick leave ordinance on Friday. The 24-page opinion by the three-judge panel found that the ordinance – which was passed in February but placed under injunction prior to its Oct. 1 efficacy date – is unconstitutional […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: More tales of the city
The tale of the errant Prop K sign… Mayor Steve Adler’s former law partner, Mike Barron, found it hard to believe when a reporter from the Austin Monitor informed him last Thursday that there was a sign promoting Proposition K in the right-of-way next to his driveway, next to a sign supporting Adler. “We did […]
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Reporter’s Notebook: The more you know
Today in unsurprising news… The Circuit of the Americas has issued a statement on its position and involvement in the ongoing petition drive that could impact the city’s ability to complete a deal to build a soccer stadium on a piece of city-owned land. On Friday the blog on the COTA website published “A Statement […]