Each week, the Explainer offers a closer look at stories we have been following. This week, we look at City Council action from last week that restarts negotiations between the Austin Firefighters Association and city management. It what amounts to its first major non-Council-operations act, City Council members Thursday approved a resolution that instructs Austin […]
Public Safety
Posted inCity Council, Fire
Council OKs restart of firefighter negotiations
As its first major action, the Austin City Council on Thursday approved a resolution directing city management to go back to the bargaining table with the Austin Firefighters Association. But it did not, as initially proposed, direct staff to stop the RFP process for finding a vendor to design a procedure for recruiting a racially […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Public Safety
Not all firefighters support pulling RFP
The president of the Austin African-American Firefighters Association told the Austin Monitor that the city would be making a mistake if it stops the RFP process for a plan to recruit new firefighters and returns to the negotiating table, as set forth in a resolution from City Council Member Greg Casar. The item is on today’s […]
Posted inPublic Safety
APD says fingerprints need more staff
On Monday, the Public Safety Commission addressed a situation that has crime scene fingerprints in Austin waiting years to be analyzed. According to Ed Harris Jr., chief of support services at the city’s forensics lab, the city has 1,693 latent assignments pending. Harris said that, with the addition of three senior examiners, the latent fingerprint […]
Posted inEnvironment, Local Government, Public Safety, Resources
BSEACD debates annexing unregulated wells
Water supply company Electro Purification is planning to pump 5 million gallons of water per day from an unregulated area just outside the Barton Springs/Edwards Aquifer Conservation District, causing neighbors to question whether EP could deplete water in the area. At a meeting Thursday, nearby residents asked the district’s board of directors to annex the […]
Posted inBonds & Propositions, Elections, Local Politics, Public Safety
Travis County sets bond election for November
On Tuesday, Travis County Commissioners chose November over May to go to the voters with a bond election to fund construction of the planned Civil and Family Courthouse project. Plans for the facility call for a 14-story, 511,000-square-foot building with 28 courtrooms and a 500-space underground parking facility. Commissioners have not yet settled on a […]
Posted inAustin, EMS, Public Safety, Travis County
Suicides highlight rift between EMS staff, managers
A second suicide by an Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services first responder within the past seven months has heightened visible tensions between the department’s leadership and its employees. And while multiple EMS first responders took to Facebook earlier this month to blast the departmental leadership following the suicide of a medic, Austin-Travis County EMS Association […]
Posted inMusic & Entertainment, Public Safety
City plans to cut back event permits during SXSW
On Friday, the city of Austin announced that how they do business during South by Southwest will be changing. The changes come from suggestions made in a SXSW after-action report released in September. That report was commissioned after last year’s event, which in addition to larger-than-ever crowds, also saw the deaths of four people. In […]
Posted inAustin, Public Safety
Police Monitor says citizen complaints up in 2013
The Office of the Police Monitor, which works to improve relations between the Austin Police Department and the public, is preparing to issue a report showing that citizens filed more complaints against police officers in 2013 than in 2012. Police Monitor Margo Frasier told the Austin Monitor on Friday that 2012, which had fewer overall complaints […]
Posted inPremium Types
Tip Sheet: Travis County Commissioners 1-27
The Travis County Commissioners Court meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday in regular session. In the interest of space, we have decided not to post the entire agenda here. The County Clerk’s office posts a copy at its website. Items of interest for Commissioners Court include: Consider and take appropriate action on the dedication of a […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Fire, Public Safety
Union reps address Council on employment issues
City Council listened to representatives of the firefighters, police and EMS unions Thursday. Bob Nicks, president of the Austin Firefighters Association, and his attorney took the lion’s share of the time to complain about the city’s failure to listen to his group’s input in designing a process to hire new firefighters. The city issued a […]
Posted inAustin, Fire, Public Safety
Austin firefighters to again seek input on hiring
The Austin Firefighters Association will have an opportunity at this morning’s City Council meeting to voice concerns to the new Council about its lack of input on a new process for hiring fire cadets. The firefighters’ hope is that this Council will be more receptive than the previous one to their complaints about U.S. Justice Department […]