City Council approved a measure Thursday to move forward with a joint effort between the city, Travis County and the Austin Independent School District to provide affordable housing on publicly owned land. The measure authorized city staff to submit a bid to purchase 10 properties currently owned by the school district for an amount not […]
Travis County
Travis County is the urban county that includes, notably, Austin.
Posted inHousing
Austin teams up with Travis County and AISD on affordable housing
The city of Austin, Travis County and the Austin Independent School District are poised to enter a three-party partnership aimed at using publicly owned lands to address the shortage of affordable housing in the area. City Council did its part Thursday, when it approved a resolution (on its consent agenda) directing the city manager “to […]
Posted inPublic Safety
County, city shake hands on sobriety center agreement
Both Travis County and the city of Austin have ratified an agreement that will form the basis of a new venture aimed at both battling substance abuse and unclogging the county’s central booking facility. On Tuesday, the Commissioners Court voted 3-0-1 to approve the interlocal agreement with the city to create and fund a new […]
Posted inTravis County
Sobriety center advances, but location still up in the air
Everything is falling into place for an innovative facility designed to battle addiction and substance abuse, except for one key detail: where to put it. The Travis County Commissioners Court on Tuesday heard from members of the working group tasked with ironing out a plan to create the so-called sobriety center, a project backed by […]
Posted inCity Hall
No new members for animal advisory group
The City Council Audit and Finance Committee on Monday postponed for one month a vote to recommend adding members to the city’s Animal Advisory Commission from Travis County, as requested last year by County Judge Sarah Eckhardt. In doing so, they had the support of the current chair and a past chair of the commission. […]
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 inResources
Coyote debate howls through committee
Debate over the region’s coyote policy continued at City Council’s Public Safety Committee on Monday, where public comment on the city’s policy took center stage for about an hour. In November 2014, the city passed a coyote management plan, and as part of the plan’s implementation, a few changes have been made at the city […]
Posted inElections
Travis County committed to downtown courthouse
The downtown block at the center of Travis County’s proposed Civil & Family Courts Complex proposal won’t necessarily be freed up for private development if voters reject the $287 million bond today. Opposition to the proposal has sprouted from downtown advocates, including the Real Estate Council of Austin, which argues that dedicating a large portion […]
Posted inCourts
County responds to music festival’s lawsuit
Travis County has fired off its first volley in its legal fight against an electronic music and camping festival. County Attorney David Escamilla put his imprimatur on a motion filed Wednesday in the 98th District Court asking the judge to throw out the lawsuit brought by the organizers of the Euphoria Music & Camping Festival. […]
Posted inMonitor News & Media, Radio
Austin Monitor Radio: James Nortey
James Nortey, attorney and 2016 Candidate for the TravCo Commissioners Court Pct. 1 seat, joins Austin Monitor publisher Mike Kanin to talk about his campaign, issues facing Travis County, and more. Show is embedded below. [soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/230051616″ 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 inCity Council
Council urges restraint in reporting immigrants to ICE
City Council is putting pressure on the Travis County Sheriff’s Office to stop reporting undocumented immigrants who are processed at the county jail to immigration authorities. While the body voted Thursday to approve a one-year, $6.58 million interlocal agreement with the county that will allow those detained by city police to continue being processed and […]
Posted inBudget
County approves budget, restores jail visitations
On the eve of Fiscal New Year’s Eve, Travis County commissioners voted to adopt a brand-new budget that will keep the lights on through 2016. Along the way, they managed to inject some last-minute drama into the proceedings by restoring in-person visitations at county jail facilities. For weeks, it appeared that, unlike City Council’s recent […]