After nearly eight years as Austin’s city manager, Marc Ott remains the most powerful man in city government. But he keeps his hands on the wheel, rarely making public comments about his job or what he sees in Austin’s future. He did, however, agree to sit down with the Austin Monitor for this review of […]
City Manager Marc Ott
Ott was hired by Council members in 2008 and served in that position until his 2016 departure.
Posted inCity Hall
Sunset proposal sparks power struggle at City Hall
Those well-versed in the language of passive aggression may have recognized City Council’s work session discussion about a new city departmental review process for what it was: a fight. During Tuesday’s meeting, Mayor Steve Adler brought up the new Office of Performance Measurement, which was described in a memo from City Manager Marc Ott last […]
Posted inAustin
Reporter’s Notebook: The time she got to Arizona
Ghosts of resolutions passed… Though city officials’ trips to Paris may have garnered all the headlines last week, City Council Member Ellen Troxclair’s trip to Scottsdale, Arizona, for the American City County Exchange Policy Summit sparked the most interesting question: Was it legal? Of course it’s fairly routine for Council members to travel for such […]
Posted inCity Hall
Pay raises for Ott, other appointees likely this week
City Council is likely to vote this week to give 3 percent pay raises to City Manager Marc Ott and three other employees whom Council appoints directly. For Mayor Steve Adler, it’s only fair. After Tuesday’s work session during which the items were discussed, Adler told the Austin Monitor, “They will be treated the same way […]
Posted inBudget
Budget proposal catches Council off guard
With a city budget of $3.5 billion, there are a lot of line items that don’t get individual attention during Austin City Council’s budget talks. But on Monday, there was one Parks and Recreation Department allocation request that was curious enough to prompt questions from a number of Council members. The Parks and Recreation Department […]
Posted inBudget
Updated: Council resolution would cut wage hike for most employees
City Council members Don Zimmerman and Ellen Troxclair have crafted a resolution that would cut the proposed salary increase for the majority of city employees and save the city an estimated $6 million in next year’s budget, according to their calculations. Joining them in sponsoring the resolution are Council members Ora Houston and Sheri Gallo. […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Penalty cards and petitions
Eckhardt deals a new hand from a new deck… Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt introduced last week a new method for dealing with citizens whose comments during public communications might stray outside of the Travis County Commissioner Court’s wheelhouse. Perhaps with the stunning arrests of FIFA’s top executives fresh in her mind during Tuesday’s regular voting […]
Posted inAustin
One city employee dead, another in critical condition
One city employee has died and another is in critical condition at Brackenridge Hospital as a result of a collision that occurred in south Austin before noon on Monday. A late-evening memo from City Manager Marc Ott says that Robert Egan, an employee of the Public Works Department, was driving near One Texas Center when […]
Posted inCity Hall
Snipes resigns
Yesterday, Assistant City Manager Anthony Snipes resigned. Snipes had arranged the March training event designed to help staff deal with the deluge of female City Council members. That training drew national ridicule to City Hall and sparked widespread outrage. In a memo to Mayor Steve Adler and Council, City Manager Marc Ott explained that he […]
Posted inAustin, City Hall
Training fallout hits City Hall
Though he started the day seated on the dais, before the end of Thursday’s City Council meeting, Assistant City Manager Anthony Snipes had been placed on administrative leave. The move comes after news broke that Snipes had organized a controversial training session designed to help staff cope with a female-majority Council. Though City Manager Marc […]
Posted inCity Hall
City learns how to deal with angry women, men
An ill-advised city training session designed to teach staff how to deal with female City Council members has most of Austin talking, angry and wondering how it happened in the first place. That includes Council members. During the session, which took place in March, Jonathan K. Allen alleged that women ask a lot of questions and […]
Posted inCity Hall, Fire
City, firefighters reach tentative agreement
After years of strife, the City of Austin and the Austin Firefighters Association successfully concluded the collective bargaining process Monday. Last November, City Council agreed to settle a lawsuit with the U.S. Department of Justice over alleged discrimination in the Austin Fire Department’s hiring process. When Council voted to accept the consent decree, which allows […]