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 […]
Ora Houston
Austin City Council member for District 1
Posted inDevelopment
County PID project hits yet another snag
City Council Member Ora Houston urged the Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday to tap the brakes on a proposed massive project in far East Austin. Houston personally visited the court’s regular weekly voting session to tell the commissioners that she had been kept in the dark about WildHorse Ranch, a project that could bring […]
Posted inZoning
One Two East gets Council preview
The battle over One Two East has been brewing on the east side for months. On Thursday, it will finally land at City Council, and this week’s Council work session offered a glimpse of what might be to come. The property that spans 1109, 1105 and 1107 on the I-35 Frontage Road is home to […]
Posted inAustin
City takes a look at Expo Center plans
Amid talk of the potential pluses of an expanded Austin Convention Center, some City Council members Monday heard for the first time publicly about a recent consultant review of the Travis County Exposition Center. Brian Block, the development administrator for the Parks and Recreation Department, summed up the consultants’ findings, starting with a count of […]
Posted inAustin
Reporter’s Notebook: We’re back
Lyft approach riles some in Barton Hills… Last week, members of the Monument Group – a public relations firm representing the transportation networking company Lyft – began contacting neighborhood groups to see if they could bring Lyft’s case in support of Proposition 1 to a neighborhood meeting. Proposition 1 will be on the May 7 […]
Posted inPreservation
Rosewood Courts preservation fight finds new life
Anyone who thought the bid to save Austin’s Rosewood Courts was over just lost a bet. This Thursday, City Council will consider initiating historic zoning on the East Austin housing project. Council Member Ora Houston has sponsored a resolution supporting both the zoning change and the nomination of Rosewood Courts to the National Register of […]
Posted inCity Council
Ora Houston recalls challenging but rewarding year
In an interview with the Austin Monitor, City Council Member Ora Houston called her first year on Council “extremely rewarding” but said that the job had a “steep learning curve.” In addition, the changes to city government that 10-1 promised may take much longer to materialize than advocates of the new system expected. Certain advocacy […]
Posted inReporters' Notebook
Reporter’s Notebook: Departures and Debriefings
That’s that, then … On Friday, the Austin Monitor learned that Richard Viktorin has resigned from his part-time position in City Council Member Ora Houston’s office following her vote on tax incentives for the Circuit of the Americas. Word of his resignation spread quickly after he sent letters to those Council members who did vote […]
Posted inAISD
AISD changes school naming policy, barely
On Monday, the Austin Independent School District board of trustees unanimously tweaked its facilities naming policy. Although the change clarified the district’s ability to abolish controversial school names, it provided little guidance on if and how such a process might unfold. Trustees agreed to strike out a clause in current policy that restricts the board […]
Posted inParks
City mulls free swimming for some Austin seniors
Plans to waive pool fees for all Austinites ages 80 years or older at Barton Springs Pool and other city pools are moving forward. Previously, the “Lifetime Pass” program – which grants free entry to Barton Springs for seniors who meet certain requirements – was a way to honor Austinites ages 85 and above. The […]
Posted inAustin
Courthouse proposal gets shut down in committee
A city proposal to relocate the county courthouse from downtown to East Austin didn’t gain any traction at the Audit and Finance Committee on Wednesday, but it did spark a heated conversation. Though City Council Member Ellen Troxclair moved to approve the resolution, she did not receive a second. The resolution will not move on […]
Posted inDevelopment, Planning
Council may revise Mueller Commission eligibility
Though residents of any Austin neighborhood can currently join the commission that guides City Council on the Mueller development, a proposed ordinance would limit membership to those who live in that community and 24 surrounding neighborhoods. Council members debated the merits of such a change at a work session Tuesday as they consider making it […]