A new study calls into question the feasibility of proposals to use the Nash Hernandez Building in East Austin as an activity center for older people and young children. The report on the legal and financial realities of the intergenerational resource and activity center (IRAC) has caused staff from the Austin Public Health Department and […]
City Legal
The City of Austin’s law department.
Posted inFire
Firefighters say city lawyers unreasonably stopped arbitration
The city of Austin’s Law Department has stopped participating in an arbitration hearing with the Austin Firefighters Association, and City Council will have the chance on Thursday to approve that decision or direct its lawyers to continue the process. Council has an executive session scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Thursday. Bob Nicks, president of the Austin […]
Posted inCity Hall
City anticipates legal challenges to race-based grants, including Live Music Fund
The city may need to roll back or adjust race-based considerations in some of its grant programs over concerns that the U.S. Supreme Court and lower federal courts may in the coming months rule against the use of such criteria. One of the city programs most under threat from that possibility is the long-planned and […]
Posted inCourts
State Bar accepts complaint against former assistant city attorney
The State Bar of Texas has determined it will be pursuing a formal investigation of former Assistant City Attorney Brent Lloyd. Lloyd was the subject of a complaint filed last month by Board of Adjustment Chair William Burkhardt and former Board Member Bryan King, with the support of Board Member Don Leighton-Burwell. The three alleged […]
Posted inCity Hall
Board of Adjustment members file grievance against former assistant city attorney
On Monday, Board of Adjustment Chair William Burkhardt and former Board Member Bryan King, with the support of Board Member Don Leighton-Burwell, filed a complaint with the State Bar of Texas against former Assistant City Attorney Brent Lloyd. The complaint alleges that Lloyd was in violation of the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct due […]
Posted inCity Charter
Changes ahead for Planning Commission?
At this week’s meeting, City Council is scheduled to consider changes to how members of the city’s Planning Commission are selected. The city attorney’s office has offered two alternative approaches – one of which could have a radical impact on the number of engineers, architects and other design professionals allowed to serve on the commission. […]
Posted inCity Hall
Council flees posted meeting place for interviews
City Council continued to try to hide the names of candidates for city manager on Thursday, taking the unusual and possibly illegal step of leaving the location advertised for its executive session with the candidates and meeting in a place forbidden to the general public and the media. Although the official notice from the meeting […]
Posted inCity Hall
City attorney presence could be scaled down at land-use commission meetings
The city’s land-use commissions may lose their on-call legal counsel, according to Mitzi Cotton, assistant division chief at the Law Department, who presented at the Nov. 29 joint meeting of the Planning Commission and the Zoning and Platting Commission. After the city adopted its 10-1 City Council system, then-city attorney Karen Kennard decided that the […]
Posted inCourts
Legal battle over Shoal Creek PUD intensifies
A few months ago, residents of Austin’s Shoal Creek neighborhood sued to stop a massive new development from going up. Now that legal battle is getting more complicated. Twenty homeowners filed a lawsuit in district court in April over a proposed Planned Unit Development called the Grove at Shoal Creek. It alleges that the city […]
Posted inCourts
Update: City loses appraisal district lawsuit
Update: Moday, Nov. 9 After Judge Tim Sulak’s ruling dismissing the city of Austin’s lawsuit on Friday, several parties weighed in. Mayor Steve Adler said, “We need a court to rule on the fairness of the property tax system. The court’s decision today did not reach this question. That’s frustrating. The city of Austin’s challenge […]
Posted inAustin
TCAD appraisal letter worries some citizens
Retired U.S. Air Force Technical Sgt. Henry Boothe was surprised and worried when he received a letter from the Travis Central Appraisal District in early August informing him that the city of Austin had filed an appeal of TCAD’s commercial and vacant land values. He was also surprised to learn that some of his property […]
Posted inCity Hall
New BoA soldiers on, despite concern
With two member appointments outstanding, the new Board of Adjustment held its first meeting Monday, despite the concerns of a former board member. Assistant City Attorney Brent Lloyd said that, as a rule, in cases that require a majority of votes to pass, that majority is calculated on the total number of seats on the […]