The head of the city’s Fleet Services Department told members on the Council Audit and Finance Committee last week that his department has numerous unmet needs, noting that department is short 60-80 repair bays for the city’s vehicles, including nearly 2,000 public safety vehicles. “We have about 87 bays right now,” Gerry Calk told […]
Public Safety
Posted inLocal Politics, Public Safety, Uncategorized
Council, police chief clash over district representative assignments
Austin City Council members continued to do battle amongst themselves and with Police Chief Art Acevedo Tuesday over lingering issues associated with the opening of three segments of city hike and bike trails to 24-hour traffic. It all comes against the backdrop of the continuing dispute over how many officers it takes to serve the […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Public Safety Commission criticizes Special Events Ordinance
Members of the Public Safety Commission, upset that they could not get information on the amount of money Special Events were costing the city, passed a resolution on Monday asking that the city monitor such expenses and seek reimbursement. The action came following a presentation on the city’s proposed new Special Events Ordinance, which […]
Posted inLocal Politics, Public Safety, Uncategorized
Cole, Morrison question use of employee criminal background checks
An audit designed to examine the effectiveness of the city’s approach to criminal background checks has raised the ire of two City Council members, who thought they had removed such checks from city hiring protocol in 2008. At last week’s Council Audit and Finance Committee, Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole and Council Members Laura […]
Posted inPublic Safety
Audit: EMS personnel report high fatigue rate
An audit performed by the City Auditor’s Office suggests that Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Service rank-and-file employees are overly fatigued. The document also hints that a policy of allowing patients to decide which hospital they are delivered to adds to employee fatigue – and costs taxpayers extra dollars. Auditor Ken Mory’s team presented the […]