⚪️ Quote of the Day “We’re trying as much as we can to bring our experience and our needs, especially the needs of fire, police and EMS, to all of the places we can so that autonomous vehicle deployments become safer in Austin, and everywhere.” — Rachel Castignoli, who is with the city’s Smart Mobility Office, […]
Newsletter
Austin, Monitored: Austin vs. Texas and West Austin zoning
⚪️ Quote of the Day “It’s a shovel-ready, for-rent multifamily development.. And if you’re wondering if we’ll be on it… Well, I shouldn’t say this, but we’ll be on it like a tick on a dog when it comes to enforcing that restrictive covenant.” — OWANA President Steve Amos, from West Sixth Street neighbors endorse industrial […]
Austin, Monitored: Remembering Bill Spelman
⚪️ Quote of the Day “My strongest memory and feeling when I think of Bill will always be how he taught us. He was a teacher to his core. Not just at the LBJ School, although his reputation as a prof was great. On any issue that we faced on the dais, he taught. He […]
Austin, Monitored: Rate hikes and campaign funds
⚪️ Quote of the Day “It is my humble opinion that any rate increase is almost pre-approved… The Railroad Commission, which seems to be a very industry-friendly venue, is going to approve the vast majority of (a rate case), and it becomes a de-facto rate increase that there’s no say in.” — Resource Management Commission Vice […]
Austin, Monitored: Slow police response times and new life for Palm Park
⚪️ Quote of the Day “It’s … definitely a challenge,” he said. “It’s not a unique challenge to Austin, but it’s certainly one that I think is quite a hurdle to be overcome.” — National crime data expert Jeff Asher, from Study finds Austin police response times continue to lag. ⚪️ City makes initial moves for […]
Austin, Monitored: A call for help and (some) budget cuts
⚪️ Quote of the Day “The road to full recovery will be long, but with partners like the Central Texas Community Foundation, we can make this road a little easier for those who need the help.” — Travis County Judge Andy Brown, from Travis County Establishes Flood Relief Fund, Volunteer Center ⚪️ City looks to cut […]
Austin, Monitored: Band-Aid budgets and a new South Congress PUD
⚪️ Quote of the Day “I believe we have before us a Band-Aid budget, a budget that has Band-Aid solutions,” she said. I just want to make sure we take time to unmask all of the changes that have been made as part of this proposal.” — Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes, from Council takes first […]
Austin, Monitored: Housing plans, staffing updates and hundreds of carp
⚪️ Quote of the Day “As someone who’s experienced homelessness and is now trying to bridge some of these gaps, I think that should be something that the Community Development Commission focuses in on, even if it’s a formal recommendation to City Council around day labor opportunities… That will help with some (dignity) for people […]
Austin, Monitored: Growth slows, budget grows
⚪️ Quote of the Day “If we’re not seeing much change in our job growth, we may continue to see lower levels of domestic migration. If (we) are now facing additional countries on travel bans, more restrictive immigration policies that really curb humanitarian and undocumented migration…. it could mean population decline, which is something that […]
Austin, Monitored: Sexual assault and high-profile gates
⚪️ Quote of the Day “We find that between 10 and 14 percent of reported cases have a nexus to a bar or nightclub… We are asking those bars to truly be guardians of their patrons.” — Deanna Lichter, commander of APD’s Sex Crimes Unit, from Austin’s sexual assault response: small steps forward despite federal challenges. […]
Austin, Monitored: Downtown landmarks and narrower roads
⚪️ Quote of the Day “12 feet is wide enough that you start having very high speeds, but it’s not quite wide enough to have what we would call ‘forgiving infrastructure… So, they actually found that 12-foot lanes are the most dangerous option, especially when we’re talking about these arterial streets.” — Commissioner Spencer Schumacher, from […]
Austin, Monitored: Musicians get straight, city officials defend fire chief
⚪️ Quote of the Day “Looking at the progress from 2024, things are pretty much on track and we are not going to run into this kind of a situation again. For the pilot year, we are talking about a 15 to 20 percent delinquent status at this point and it doesn’t seem like a […]
