The Austin Monitor asked the Office of the City Clerk on Tuesday for all of the financial information statements filed by City Council candidates running for election and re-election on the Nov. 8 ballot. Although there are 14 candidates, the clerk’s office was able to produce financial statements for only 12 of those candidates. Candidates […]
November 2016 elections
Posted inTransportation
Mobility bond talks turn to sidewalk regrets
City Council Member Ora Houston says fatigue, a lack of information and compassion for a colleague led her to a bad decision for her constituents toward the end of a late-night City Council discussion in June over the proposed $720 million transportation bond. Houston now regrets casting the deciding vote to divvy up $27.5 million […]
Posted inElections
Gallo to remove opponent from Parks board
District 10 City Council Member Sheri Gallo has informed her appointee to the Parks and Recreation Board that she will be removed and replaced at today’s Council meeting. Alison Alter, who announced that she would run against Gallo in this November’s election, has been Gallo’s appointment to the board for the past year and a […]
Posted inLocal Government
Ruben Becerra, downtown business owner, enters San Marcos mayoral race
Businessman Ruben Becerra filed paperwork today to enter the race for San Marcos mayor, setting up a spirited contest at the top of the Nov. 8 municipal election ballot. Becerra said he is a political moderate who is well-positioned to build consensus among the factions that perennially fight for control of San Marcos City Hall. […]
Posted inTransit
PAC’s poll shows big support for light rail
A grassroots effort to put a light rail referendum on the November ballot is adding one more curve to the course as City Council members sprint to decide whether to send Mayor Steve Adler’s $720 million mobility bond proposal to voters. The Our Rail political action committee took it upon itself to personally conduct a […]
Posted inTransportation
Corridors that cure cancer? Preventing it, maybe
Could streets be like doctors? A streetlight that diagnoses ulcerous colon. A sidewalk that administers chemotherapy. That question is what City Council Member Delia Garza levied at the oft-optimistic Mayor Steve Adler during the last Council meeting before members broke for the month of July. Garza was criticizing Adler’s push for a $720 million mobility […]
Posted inTransportation
Urban Transportation Commissioners dissect mobility bond proposal
Members of the Urban Transportation Commission aired doubts about Mayor Steve Adler’s $720 million mobility bond proposal and also clashed on the vision for light rail in Austin on Wednesday Tuesday night. Three appointees to the advisory body let fly terms such as “disappointing,” “frustrated” and “problem” to describe their reactions to the massive package […]
Posted inElections
Updated: Contribution reports show who’s giving to City Council candidates
Today marks the deadline for filing contribution and expenditure reports for City Council members and candidates, and most have chosen not to file early. However, District 6 Council Member Don Zimmerman was among those who filed a report on Thursday, showing that he has collected nearly $36,000 since May 12, the date candidates were allowed […]
Posted inElections
Alter planning to run for District 10 seat
Alison Alter, a member of the city’s Parks and Recreation Board as well as the steering committee for the Rosedale Neighborhood Association, on Tuesday filed the first paperwork necessary to run for the District 10 City Council seat. That document names August “Happy” Harris as her campaign treasurer. The only other candidate in that race […]
Posted inElections
Why a little line on campaign websites might make a candidate look like a cheater
Natalie Gauldin’s backyard plays by its own rules. The grass tickles our calves and her almost 3-year-old daughter has left some toys scattered around. Dogs bark at us from inside her house in Austin’s District 7. But all these distractions, we tune out. We’re here to talk about one sentence on her campaign website. “‘This […]
Posted inRadio
Austin Monitor Radio: Getting into the Council transportation bond vote
Austin Monitor reporter Caleb Pritchard joins publisher Mike Kanin to chat about Council’s recent transportation bond vote. Post is embedded below: [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/272338594″ 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 inTransportation
Council moves $720 million mobility bond forward
While most of Austin slept early Friday morning, City Council gave the green light to a mobility bond with little historical precedent. Just after 1:30 a.m., following a tortuous and fraught discussion marked by simmering tensions that at times neared outright hostility, Council voted 8-3 to direct staff to prepare ballot language for a $720 […]