With her first term and a smooth reelection behind her, Vanessa Fuentes returns to the dais in January with a fresh to-do list and aspirations of becoming the next mayor pro tem – a symbolic yet highly sought-after position. Taking stock of her work in 2024, the District 2 City Council member reflected on a […]
Vanessa Fuentes
Posted inElections
Incumbent Fuentes has just one challenger for the Council D2 seat
Austin voters living in District 2 will get to cast their ballots for Vanessa Fuentes or challenger Robert Reynolds in the upcoming City Council race. District 2 encompasses the neighborhoods of Dove Springs, Del Valle, Pleasant Hill, Dittmar, Easton Park and Goodnight Ranch. Additionally, it includes the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, Circuit of the Americas racing […]
Posted inTransportation
Austin airport’s safety is under scrutiny after a string of near misses
A disturbing string of dangerous incidents at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport – including near misses and two tarmac deaths this year – has elected officials clashing with city staff over safety at an airport where passenger volumes have more than doubled in the last decade. Now, some of those frustrations are boiling into public view. City […]
Posted inBudget
Equity Action slams budget proposal as ‘throwback to the ’90s’
Some community advocates are decrying interim City Manager Jesús Garza’s budget proposal as a “throwback to the ’90s.” Garza released his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2023-24 in July. The $5.5 billion budget represents what Garza calls a “Back to Basics” approach to city government that focuses on core city services and reorganizes the city’s […]
Posted inCity Council
Council member asks for analysis of Austin Tourism Public Improvement District plan, including homelessness aid
The plan for an Austin Tourism Public Improvement District is set for a deep-dive analysis, after City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes requested a briefing on it during a work session Tuesday. The draft plan would create an agreement with local hotels that could generate about $7 million a year for the next decade to fund […]
Posted inThe Code
Board of Adjustment struggling with vacancies
Vacancies on the Board of Adjustment, coupled with a strict requirement for a supermajority vote in order to approve variances, are causing consternation among the members who have tried to address the problem. But one fix proposed by longtime Board Member Michael Von Ohlen conflicted with other city regulations. Austinites go before the Board of […]
Posted inCity Council
Fuentes put her focus on working families in 2022
Elected to represent Southeast Austin’s District 2 in 2020, City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes has quickly become one of the more accessible and well-known members of the dais within the community. That was intentional, Fuentes told the Austin Monitor. It’s notoriously difficult for residents of Southeast Austin to regularly visit City Hall. “It was really […]
Posted inCity Council
Vanessa Fuentes: Putting health and equity first
City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes stepped into a rather busy first term in office – this year, an unprecedented winter storm took Travis County by surprise and the pandemic continued to surge despite hopes for Covid-19’s retreat. But Fuentes, who now represents Southeast Austin’s District 2, took the challenge head-on. “No amount of preparation can […]
Posted inCity Council
Vanessa Fuentes: Building a pipeline to community power
Vanessa Fuentes, like all of us, had no idea what 2020 would entail when she ran to become the District 2 City Council member. But the issues that the pandemic have exposed were less of a surprise. “I didn’t realize the extent of what 2020 would include,” Fuentes told the Austin Monitor. “(But) certainly, the […]