Whispers

Tuesday’s budget talks sparked a trip down memory lane for Mayor Lee Leffingwell, who chaired the 2007 Water Conservation Committee. During a discussion about individual water meters for multifamily housing, which was a recommendation from the committee that has yet to be implemented, Leffingwell noted that it might be interesting to see what recommendations had […]

At Tuesday’s budget work session, Assistant City Manager Sue Edwards said Austin Bergstrom International Airport is the third-fastest growing airport in the country and has surpassed 10 million passengers. Airport Executive Director Jim Smith laid out more good news for the city, with ABIA revenues climbing to a projected $122.8 million for 2015. Budget writers […]

The Austin City Clerk’s office will conduct the much-anticipated 2014 Ballot Draw on Wednesday afternoon at City Hall. The drawing will determine the order of candidates’ names on the November ballot for the mayoral and City Council elections. City Clerk Jannette Goodall will do the honors by randomly drawing candidate names by district. Officials expect […]

The department that receives and responds to complaints about nuisances and dangerous structures shall henceforth be known simply as the Austin Code Department. Department Director Carl Smart unveiled the new name at Tuesday’s budget briefing. The department is expecting to investigate 19,000 complaints this coming year. In 2013, the department investigated 17,779 complaints, and the […]

Travis County Commissioners met with county attorneys in a morning executive session Tuesday to discuss County Sheriff Greg Hamilton’s approval of and participation in the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Secure Communities Program. The program asks local officials to detain immigrants who entered the country illegally and have completed their jail term for ICE. There […]

The Austin Environmental Democrats are holding an endorsement meeting today. The group will be reviewing and voting on candidates in City Council Districts 1, 2 and 3. Candidates’ answers to questionnaires were distributed to members via the club’s website. Only members whose dues are current will be allowed to vote. The group will hold endorsement […]

Tree Folks, the Central Texas nonprofit that promotes urban forests, has hired Thais Perkins as its executive director. Perkins, with 10 years of experience in environmental research, policy, and organizational management, was most recently a project coordinator with Austin’s Watershed Protection Department. At the city, Perkins managed environmental commissioning and environmental impact monitoring for Water […]

Craig Smith, longtime member of the Barton Springs Edwards Aquifer District board of directors, is the lone candidate to file for the Precinct 5 seat in the November election. District General Manager John Dupnik said Monday there are three candidates on the ballot to fill the vacant Precinct 2 seat: Blaine Stansberry, Terry Newton and […]

The Let’s Go Austin Political Action Committee, formed to campaign for Austin’s November rail and roads bond proposition, will formally kick off its campaign Wednesday with a noon rally on the plaza at Austin City Hall. Let’s Go Austin campaign manager Lynda Rife said the event is the beginning of a three-month effort to educate […]

The city’s Ethics Review Commission and the League of Women Voters of the Austin Area are co-hosting a series of public City Council candidate forums in September, as well as a forum for mayoral candidates in October. All candidates for mayor and each of Austin’s 10 geographic districts have been invited to participate. The dates, […]

The International Association of Fire Chiefs has named Chief Chris Barron of the Manchaca Volunteer Fire Department as the 2014 winner of the Fire Chief of the Year awards. Barron has served as volunteer fire chief of Manchaca Fire/Rescue and executive director of the State Firemen’s and Fire Marshal’s Association of Texas, both since 2006. […]

Eight more sanitarians and support staff will soon turn out to inspect Austin restaurants for health violations. According to Carlos Rivera, director of Austin/Travis County Health and Human Services, national standards call for each “fixed food establishment” to receive two inspections a year. Austin’s restaurants are only logging about 1.6, in part because the number […]