The Ethics Review Commission voted unanimously this week to advance two campaign finance complaints to final hearings, determining that there are reasonable grounds to believe that violations of the city’s campaign finance rules may have occurred during a recent City Council election. Both complaints were filed by local advocate Adam Haynes and center on activities […]
AURA
This organization started as an advocacy group organized around the city of Austin’s November 2014 urban rail bond election. Its members have since announced their intention to broaden the focus of their work to include other issues. Its membership still holds a largely New Urbanist set of views.
Posted inElections
Ethics complaints filed against Siegel, AURA
An ethics complaint has been filed against Mike Siegel, who is running to take the District 7 City Council seat in the Dec. 14 runoff. Adam Haynes also filed an ethics complaint against a major urbanist group that has been campaigning for Siegel. The complaints were first reported Wednesday in The Austin Bulldog. Haynes supports […]
Posted inCity Council
Pro and con: HOME 2 brings out the speakers
The May 16 City Council meeting promised to be a long one, with four controversial changes to the city’s development rules and one much less controversial but important proposal creating rules for placement of electric vehicle charging stations. Many of those who signed up in support or opposition of the various aspects of HOME 2 […]
Posted inTransit
Advocates host discussion on what makes good transit
November’s transportation bond hasn’t taken shape yet, but is likely to feature the largest public transit investment residents have ever been asked to consider. In light of that, transit advocates and grassroots organizations hosted a talk Wednesday with Christof Spieler, engineer and author of the book Trains, Buses, People, in order to discuss what makes […]
Posted inElections
Council candidates offer different ideas on housing policy
The decision by Mayor Steve Adler and City Council last month to abandon CodeNEXT, a proposed rewrite of the Land Development Code, reflected the deep divisions in the community over the prospect of increased residential density in single-family neighborhoods. However, in response to a questionnaire sent out by AURA, an urbanist advocacy group that supports […]
Posted inCourts
Groups criticize Paxton for suing commissioners
The people who urged Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to file suit to remove eight members of the Austin Planning Commission on Monday have nothing but praise for Paxton; however, other more business-oriented groups are not pleased with the legal action, expressing the opinion that the attorney general has waded into a local issue. So, […]
Posted inTransit
AURA to Capital Metro: Seek new shelters
Even as it overhauls its downtown train station, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority is sticking with the same design for its MetroRapid shelters, to the chagrin of one advocacy group. Last Thursday, AURA – formerly Austinites for Urban Rail Action before the group expanded its scope – published a blog post reiterating its standing call […]
Posted inTransit
Project Connect advances despite lingering concerns over key details
The Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Board of Directors on Monday gave its blessing to the handful of staff-curated corridors that will be studied for potential high-capacity transit investments. The 6-0 vote, with Council Member Delia Garza and fellow Board Member Terry Mitchell absent from the meeting, provided Project Connect with clearance to advance to the second […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Human Rights Commission ponders CodeNEXT
The city’s Human Rights Commission is taking a look at CodeNEXT in an attempt to understand the implications of the controversial overhaul of Austin’s land development code on vulnerable populations. On Monday, the commission, which last year urged City Council to recognize gentrification as a “human rights issue,” heard from voices in support of increasing […]
Posted inTransportation
CAMPO votes to reduce Travis County representation on key panel
Travis County residents will have a smaller voice in regional transportation planning after a vote on Monday that County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said for her was “a dark night of the soul.” The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Policy Board approved a streamlining of the Technical Advisory Committee, reducing its membership from 33 to […]
Posted inTransportation
Grassroots unrest simmers over mobility bond
Mayor Steve Adler’s titanic $720 million transportation bond proposal is poised for a cakewalk to third-reading approval on Thursday, three days ahead of the state-mandated deadline to set the November ballot. And while it seems that most of the big battles to shape the plan have already been settled on the dais, some grassroots activists […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Coalition asks to keep CodeNEXT on track
A coalition of eight Austin organizations got together to ask the city to honor a January 2017 deadline for the new land development code draft on Wednesday. Pointing out that four years have passed since the rewrite was laid out in the Imagine Austin comprehensive plan, representatives from AURA, the Austin Apartment Association, the Austin Board of Realtors, […]