Another light agenda by previous Council standards. Still, a revamped staffing proposal from Mayor Adler, the return — again –of the Garza tract, the proposed Decker Lake golf facility, and much more seem to point to what could be, at the least, a long day. As always, the Austin City Council meets in an agenda […]
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 inAustin, City Council
Adler gives up on foundation funding for office staff
After hearing strong opposition from his colleagues as well as others, Mayor Steve Adler is proposing a complete revamp of his plan for additional staffing in the Mayor’s office. Adler told the Austin Monitor Thursday that he would be pulling down his proposal to fund additional staff for the Mayor’s office through the Better Austin […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, City Hall
Council set to discuss committee logistics today
The Austin City Council will have an opportunity this afternoon to discuss and possibly vote on a proposed new Council schedule, including committees. Mayor Steve Adler’s Chief of Staff, John Michael Cortez, posted the proposal on the Council bulletin board after 5 p.m. Wednesday, giving the majority of Council members little time to digest the […]
Posted inMonitor News & Media, Radio
Austin Monitor Radio: CM Garza on the Homestead Tax Exemption
District 2 Austin City Council Member Delia Garza joins Monitor publisher Mike Kanin to talk about the proposed 20 percent City of Austin homestead tax exemption. Sponsored by Kerbey Lane. Track is embedded below: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/191945793″ params=”auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=true&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true” width=”100%” height=”450″ iframe=”true” /]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Development, Planning, Preservation, Zoning
Council limits Spicewood Springs project footprint
City Council voted Thursday to approve a zoning change that would allow a new professional office building on Spicewood Springs Road. Council limited the size of the structure to 12,000 square feet, despite protests from the applicants. The vote was 10-0, as Mayor Steve Adler recused himself, saying his law firm had dealings with one […]
Posted inAustin, Bicycles, City Council, Transportation
Bike signal debate triggers acrimony at Council
Some Austin City Council members grew irritated while debating the problems of bicycles at intersections and whether to accept grant money that could ease those problems at Thursday’s meeting. At issue was a proposal that the Austin Transportation Department accept $200,000 in federal grant money already awarded by the Texas Department of Transportation to install bike-visible […]
Posted inCity Council, Planning, Zoning
Angry neighbors welcome Council to zoning
City Council heard its first zoning case on Thursday night. The hours-long battle between neighborhood and development interests on Burnet Road was, most likely, an accurate welcome to the process. In the end, plans for a multifamily project at 8528 Burnet Road continue to crawl forward. The developer, C.J. Sackman of Sackman Enterprises, is asking […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Local Politics
Explainer: Open Meetings and the new Council
On their way to postponing an item that would have allowed Mayor Steve Adler to fund office staff positions via dollars raised by a 501(c)3 organization, Austin City Council members Thursday expressed a handful of concerns. As Kara Nuzback reported Friday, power imbalance and questions over whether the Texas Open Meetings Act would apply to […]
Posted inAustin, City Council, Monitor News & Media, Videos
Video: 2.12 Council rundown, KXAN
Monitor Publisher Mike Kanin joins KXAN‘s Sally Hernandez for a quick rundown of Council’s February 12 discussions of Mayor Steve Adler’s plan to fund additional office staff with (c)3 dollars and a now-in-process study of a potential 20 percent homestead tax exemption for Austin residents. Video embedded below:
Posted inAustin, City Council, City Hall
Council members challenge mayor on privately-funded staff positions
Austin’s new mayor is proposing to hire additional staffers to at no cost to taxpayers. But the idea doesn’t sit well with some council members, who voiced concern over paying for city employees using private funds, as well as the implication that more staffers for the major would shift the balance of power in his […]
Posted inCity Council
Council swiftly adopts new salary rules
A change that will allow City Council members to shift their salaries in order to pay for extra staff passed with little opposition Thursday. The ordinance will allow individual Council members to waive their salaries each year and apply those funds toward other operating costs of their office, including additional staff. Council members voted 10-1 […]
Posted inCity Hall
For Council, Art is a $3 million word
Prompted by about $3.1 million worth of art-related contracts on today’s meeting agenda, City Council had a far-reaching discussion about art, spending and the local economy on Tuesday. Council Member Don Zimmerman referred to $3 million in contracts that would go to public art at the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport as the “ultimate blank check.” “I […]