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Quote of the Day
“At the heart of our work is a commitment to our mission to provide impartial oversight of the Austin Police Department… Oversight is not rooted in opposition. It is about partnership, integrity, and making systems better.”
— Office of Police Oversight Director Gail McCant, from Public Safety Commission clashes with Office of Police Oversight.
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Recycled Reads Bookstore could close central location as city looks at budget cuts
From Luz Moreno-Lozano, KUT News:
Recycled Reads, the Austin Public Library used bookstore on Burnet Road, will close by next spring if the proposed city budget is approved.
The store opened in 2009 as a way to help raise money for Austin’s library system. Anna Paola Ferate-Soto has worked at the store since 2021. She said the concept has also kept tons of books and other material out of local landfills.
But the store could close its doors when its lease ends next March. The change is part of the proposed city budget for 2026. Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax presented a balanced $6.3 billion budget to City Council that would eliminate an expected $33 million deficit.
Public Safety Commission clashes with Office of Police Oversight
From Mina Shekarchi:
The OPO was scheduled to present an overdue annual report for 2023 (which has been a source of tension for the commission in the past) during the meeting. However, most of this presentation was postponed as appointees voiced other frustrations with the office, which investigates civilian reports about police interactions and makes policy recommendations.
Commissioners were particularly dissatisfied with the OPO’s complaint management process. Bernhardt told Complaint Supervisor Kevin Masters that she had looked him up on LinkedIn. After Masters confirmed that he had spent 27 years with the Kansas City Police Department, Bernhardt expressed her discomfort with placing someone with nearly three decades in law enforcement at the helm of civilian complaints.
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A message from your Austin Monitor team:
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Local Newsroom updates
Hello!
We are deeply grateful for your continued support of the Monitor for all these years and through this period of thoughtful transition. Our goal is to help you become even more informed about the city we all love. As part of our transition into our new newsroom, we’re excited to share a few more updates on our progress towards that goal and towards building a new, local newsroom for y’all.
As you may have heard, we’re actively in the process of hiring an editor-in-chief who will work alongside our current leadership to make the vision of our new newsroom a reality. The EIC will focus on ensuring our coverage continues to be the high-quality news and information that our deeply-connected, informed-community-member readers expect.
We will also be bringing on a community engagement manager that will focus on reaching out to diverse community members across the city to help empower and engage them for public-service journalism. This position, and the person who will ultimately fill it, reflects our commitment to strengthening the vital connection between our newsroom and the communities we serve.
Speaking of communities, we are continuing to reach out and ask for help in shaping how we move forward. This August, we plan to host focused sessions with stakeholders in our coverage areas.These conversations will help ensure our journalism addresses the issues that matter most to Austin residents. And one of these sessions will be dedicated to our strongest Monitor supporters—because we recognize the importance of preserving the core elements you’ve come to rely on us for. Your loyalty and trust have been foundational to our work, and we want to ensure that remains central to our evolution. (Plus, you guys have really good ideas!)
More widely, we’ll also be sharing a comprehensive survey to gather your input on how we can enhance what we’re already doing well. Your feedback will help inform our strategic decisions moving forward, so keep an eye out for that and, as always, feel free to send any of your thoughts on any of this to info@austinmonitor.com
Till next time,
Liz
Alliance pushes for equity plan funding
The Diversity and Ethnic Chamber Alliance (DECA) is requesting $1 million in annual operational support and $5 million in capital funding from the City of Austin to support the implementation of its Regional Equity and Economic Development (REED) Plan. The proposal was presented during a recent meeting of the City Council’s Economic Opportunity Committee, where DECA leaders outlined a range of initiatives aimed at increasing access to capital, training, and procurement opportunities for minority-owned businesses across the Austin region.
Leaders from DECA, which represents the city’s Black, Hispanic, Asian and LGBT Chambers of Commerce, emphasized that the REED Plan is designed to complement existing economic development strategies by focusing specifically on historically-underserved business communities. The alliance has already launched a $1 million loan fund, supported by a contribution from Wells Fargo, and is seeking to grow its reach through public-private partnerships, technical capacity-building programs, and a potential future DECA Business Center that would serve as a dedicated support hub.
The group’s recommendations are based on data gathered through more than 12,000 community surveys and 180 focus group participants. DECA’s leaders stressed the importance of aligning regional economic planning with workforce development, childcare access and place-based procurement initiatives. Council members responded with general support, highlighting opportunities to further integrate DECA’s efforts with city departments and regional workforce initiatives, particularly around manufacturing, hospitality training and international economic engagement. The proposed funding would be considered as part of city budget discussions, which are currently taking place.
— Chad Swiatecki
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Elsewhere in the News
Austin City Council has approved a new, four-footed robocop for the police
Community Impact also checks in on the impact of the HOME initiative and finds hundreds of new residences have been created as a result of its approvral.
The Austin Chronicle takes a look at how much water the data centers that are springing up around Texas are using (it’s a lot! And is increasing!)
And MoveOutATX 2025 is underway on campus — check out the details here.
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