The Ethics Review Commission last week voted unanimously to recommend changes to the city’s lobbying rules. The rules ensure phone calls and video conferences are properly recorded as appearances before a city official. The changes to City Code Chapter 4-8 concerning the regulation of lobbyists first came before the commission at its regular meeting in […]
City of Austin Anti-lobbying ordinance
Enacted December 2011, this ordinance provides a no-contact period for firms bidding for City of Austin contracts.
Posted inCity Council
Lobby ordinance needs revision to cover virtual meetings
City auditors have found that, while the city’s registered lobbyists are largely complying with city regulations, there is one significant gap in the reporting requirements. Although lobbyists are required to report their in-person meetings, no such requirement exists for virtual meetings, according to a report discussed at last week’s City Council Audit & Finance Committee […]
Posted inCity Council
Council approves changes to anti-lobbying ordinance
Early Friday morning, City Council approved what supporters described as a temporary solution to an ongoing battle between Texas Disposal Systems and other waste contractors over city lobbying rules. The measure approved by Council makes a few small changes to the anti-lobbying ordinance, which is designed to prevent companies seeking contracts with the city from […]
Posted inThe Code
Committee fails to endorse lobbying rules changes
The City Council Audit and Finance Committee voted unanimously on Wednesday to forward changes to the anti-lobbying ordinance proposed by the city staff to the full Council, but did so without a recommendation. Three members of the committee, Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo and Council members Alison Alter and Leslie Pool, were in attendance, with […]
Posted inResources
Dumpster contract headed to Council, hung up on lobbying ordinance rewrite
As City Council continues to debate the policies associated with the anti-lobbying ordinance, Austin solid waste contracts are beginning to expire with very little recourse for renewals. The latest casualty is city-owned facilities’ dumpster collection services. On Feb. 14, Austin Resource Recovery asked the Zero Waste Advisory Commission for a $1,511,385 increase on its existing […]
Posted inThe Code
Alter: Council is letting garbage company rewrite lobbying rules
City Council Member Alison Alter said Tuesday that her colleagues were allowing one company to rewrite city lobbying rules, suggesting that an ongoing rewrite of the Anti-Lobbying Ordinance was largely the result of bullying by Texas Disposal Systems, a waste hauler that has accused city lobbying regulations of infringing on its First Amendment rights. Alter’s […]
Posted inThe Code
Possible lobbying ordinance changes headed to Council
The Ethics Review Commission approved a series of recommendations for how to amend the city’s Anti-Lobbying Ordinance, portions of which have been criticized as too vague or unfair by solid waste and other contractors who regularly do business with the city. The recommendations on issues such as a no-contact period prior to selection of vendors […]
Posted inThe Code
Council continues to wait on new lobbying rules
On Thursday, Council Member Leslie Pool, who has been leading efforts to make changes to the city’s Anti-Lobbying Ordinance, told her colleagues that stakeholders are close to reaching an agreement over new rules. “We’re achieving really good progress,” she said. City Council voted in April to waive the Anti-Lobbying Ordinance for waste contracts, with the […]
Posted inCity Hall
Council to consider changes for waste disposal contracts
A series of recommendations made by a City Council working group seeks to address concerns from environmentalists and private waste haulers about how the city chooses the companies it pays to pick up and dispose of waste generated by its own employees and departments, from wastepaper bins at City Hall to giant piles of sludge […]
Posted inCity Council
Council OKs waiver of anti-lobbying ordinance
City Council on Thursday approved a temporary waiver of the city’s anti-lobbying ordinance for companies and individuals who wish to talk to the Council working group on solid waste issues. The vote was 7-1-1, with Council Member Ellen Troxclair voting no, Council Member Ora Houston abstaining and Council members Greg Casar and Alison Alter absent […]
Posted inCity Hall
Pool offers changes to lobby ordinance
When City Council Member Leslie Pool first proposed tightening up the city’s lobby registration ordinance last year, she encountered considerable resistance, especially from architects and engineers who said that the work they do when they talk to city officials is not lobbying. And, since a number of those people sit on city boards and commissions, […]
Posted inCity Hall
Talk with EUC chair ends consumer advocate bid
The city’s purchasing officer has disqualified the sole remaining bidder on a contract to act as the consumer advocate in Austin Energy’s upcoming rate review. City Purchasing Officer James Scarboro informed the mayor and City Council about the disqualification of Oxford Advisors LLC in a memo on Wednesday. According to the memo, “This disqualification is […]