For the second year, HousingWorks Austin has taken a close look at the city’s household affordability crisis in each City Council District. The study has found some startling disparities. Perhaps the greatest contrast is the difference in distribution of subsidized housing between Austin’s eastern and western Council districts. Currently, Districts 1, 2 and 3 contain […]
Austin City Council
The Austin City Council is the body with legislative purview over the City of Austin. It offers policy direction, while the office of the City Manager implements administrative actions based on those policies. Until 2015, the body contained seven members, including the city’s Mayor, all elected at-large. In 2012, City of Austin residents voted to change that system and as of 2015, 10 members of the Council are elected based on geographic districts. The Mayor continues to be elected at-large.
Posted inBudget
Tovo proposes budget adoption process
Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo on Wednesday signaled that she would like City Council to use a budget adoption process similar to the one used by the previous Council over the past two years. Council Members Delia Garza and Leslie Pool immediately signaled their interest in using the same type of process, with Garza saying, […]
Posted inBudget
Council gauges interest on proposed budget items
City Council inched closer to adopting the city’s Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget at a work session on Tuesday when it took a “straw poll” – in the words of Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo – of the concept menu items that members have put forward. Though the votes were taken quickly and ultimately have no […]
Posted inResources
Citywide compost pickup plan faces resistance
Based on comments that a few City Council members made at Thursday’s budget work session, it appears that a proposed citywide, curbside organics collection rollout could get transformed into an opt-in program – if it remains in the forthcoming city budget at all. “I think it’s great for people who want to use it,” said […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: A pornographic departure
We make news… Capital Metro Transportation Authority’s Twitter account went off the rails last week after an apparent security breach led to a decidedly non-family-friendly detour. Shortly after 11 a.m. on Thursday, Community Impact’s eagle-eyed reporter Jennifer Curington noticed that @CapMetroATX had quietly started following scores of adult-oriented profiles, including porn stars, adult film production […]
Posted inPremium Types
TickTock: Austin City Council Meeting 8.27.15
TickTock is the sortable-by-item-number transcript of Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin’s Twitter feed from City Council. Simply click on the item number to scroll to the corresponding tweet. ITEMS 1 2 3 4 Tick Tock Participants: MKanin 271 lizpagano 2 BrandonTucker 1 tcb 1 GinSingh 1 Thursday, August 27, 2015 11AM checking in from #atxcouncil, […]
Posted inPremium Types
TipSheet: Austin City Council, the lowdown
This week, the Austin City Council will focus its meeting energies on a day-long budget work session on Tuesday. According to Mayor Steve Adler’s remarks Thursday, it will be at this meeting that Council will winnow down the 119 items on its “budget concept menu” in preparation for passing a budget next week. The Austin […]
Posted inBudget
Council sets tax rate, talks budget
On Thursday, City Council tackled the city budget once again. Though a deadline to finalize the budget is fast approaching, Council members opted to keep all of their budget proposals on the table for the time being. Although Council covered a breadth of issues during its discussion, Mayor Steve Adler explained it was not the […]
Posted inCity Hall
Pool proposes changes to rules for lobbyists
If City Council Member Leslie Pool and her cadre of ethics reformers have their way, any number of people who are currently working to persuade city officials to take action, or not, will have to register under a revised city lobby ordinance. And there may be a shakeup at city commissions as well. At a […]
Posted inAustin
City to file suit, announces cooperation with TCAD
The city of Austin will file suit in state district court this afternoon against the Travis Central Appraisal District challenging what the city calls the undervaluation of commercial and vacant properties in the city of Austin and seeking a declaration that the current tax appraisal system is unconstitutional. Mayor Steve Adler and Mayor Pro Tem […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Precious moments
ICYMI, a rebuttal… On Friday, we mentioned City Council Member Sheri Gallo’s unusual callout of City Manager Marc Ott, who wasn’t physically present on the dais for the conclusion of the short-term rental discussion. As a refresher, Gallo concluded her thank-you speech by saying, “To the city manager, who is not here — because I […]
Posted inPremium Types
TickTock: Austin City Council Meeting 8.20.15
Tick Tock is the sortable-by-item-number transcript of Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin’s Twitter feed from City Council. Simply click on the item number to scroll to the corresponding tweet. ITEMS 4 5 6 12 14 17 19 22 23 35 41 44 50 51 53 58 59 60 63 64 65 66 67 68 70 […]