“Is Austin becoming less like itself?” As four local politicians – Travis County Judge Andy Brown, County Attorney Delia Garza, Mayor Steve Adler and state Rep. Sheryl Cole – attempted to answer Austin American-Statesman reporter Ryan Autullo’s question at the Texas Tribune Festival Saturday, they reflected on their introductions to Austin. During Delia Garza’s first visit to […]
Delia Garza
Mayor Pro Tem and Austin City Council member for District 2
Posted inTravis County
County Attorney Garza’s first priority is public safety
Delia Garza’s life as Travis County Attorney is a lot different than when she sat on Austin’s City Council. But the one thing that has stayed consistent, she said, is that no two days look alike. Since Garza took on the role of county attorney earlier this year, she has been able to dive deep […]
Posted inCity Council
Delia Garza is on the move
Delia Garza is blazing a trail of firsts: first Latina on Austin City Council; first Latina mayor pro tem; and soon, the first Latina Travis County Attorney. “I stand on the shoulders of other Latinas,” Garza noted. “There were four before me who tried,” she said. “Even my own (seat) on the City Council would […]
Posted inCity Hall
Split commission rejects complaint against Garza
The ethics complaint against Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza will not move forward to a final hearing after receiving the thumbs-up from just five members of the city’s Ethics Review Commission. A majority of the commission, or six members, was needed to take the complaint to a final hearing on whether she violated city ethics […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Lawyer says Garza should follow city finance rules
Within hours of signing up to run in the March Democratic primary for Travis County Attorney, Delia Garza had an opponent whose name will not be appearing on the 2020 ballot. Bill Aleshire, who retired from his job as county judge at the end of 1998, sent a letter via email to Garza urging her […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Garza says code needs ‘equity overlay’ to address historic development patterns
Reading through the draft Land Development Code over the last several weeks, Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza noted that, for all its pages and nuance, the draft has a blind spot around housing equity. Realizing there was no single tool to address displacement of the city’s most vulnerable residents, Garza consulted with her office and […]
Posted inElections
Garza not running for reelection, others eye seat
Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza, who represents District 2 on City Council, announced Tuesday that she would not be seeking reelection in 2020. The announcement is Garza’s next step in her likely run for Travis County Attorney. As the deadline for filing for office on the March primary ballot is Dec. 9, that is Garza’s […]
Posted inLocal Politics
Group pushes Garza to run for county attorney
Council Member Greg Casar and community activists Martha Cotera and Brian McGiverin are leading an effort to encourage Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza to run for Travis County attorney – and to raise campaign funds for her before she officially announces her candidacy. David Escamilla, the current county attorney, has announced he will not seek […]
Posted inHousing
Council wants to help homeowners resist ‘predatory home flipping’
City Council Member Delia Garza has no interest in selling her home in Southeast Austin, but she was intrigued by a letter she received in the mail recently from somebody interested in buying it. An ominous all-caps headline on the yellow card reads, “THIRD NOTICE” – language one would expect on an overdue bill. Below […]
Posted inCity Council
Child care, CodeNEXT, grocery stores: Garza focuses on economic justice
Before walking into an executive session where City Council members decided unanimously to select Spencer Cronk as Austin’s next city manager, Council Member Delia Garza spoke to the Austin Monitor about her thoughts on her third year on Council. Although she didn’t disclose who she planned to support for the position, she volunteered that all […]
Posted inLand Development Code
Austin wants to make it easier to build garage apartments
City Council took a step yesterday to streamline the process of building and remodeling homes by approving the Family Homestead Initiative. The resolution calls for the city to identify all the regulations and costs associated with the process. Council Member Delia Garza, who sponsored the measure, said she wants to create a separate permitting process […]
Posted inCity Council
Housing, public health priorities for Garza in new year
City Council Member Delia Garza describes Council’s past year as “productive.” Specifically, Garza is pleased to report that she has begun to tackle some of her priority issues in earnest (all while handily winning re-election to the District 2 seat with more than 65 percent of the vote). “I think, overall, it was a good […]