The Travis County Children’s Protective Services Board is seeking to fill several vacancies. The board’s mission, according to the announcement from the county, “is to provide financial support for the special needs of children in the care of the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services, to educate the community about child abuse and neglect issues, and to support and provide a liaison between Travis County Child Protective Service workers and the public by increasing the community’s awareness of child welfare program policies and needs.” Candidates who have some leadership experience as well as knowledge and direct experience of the child welfare system and the CPS legal system will be given preference. The deadline for applications is Friday, May 14, at 5 p.m. Find more information and the application packet here.

Photo of golden-cheeked warbler by Bettina Arrigoni, made available through a Creative Commons 2.0 license.

The next Wild Neighbors webinar couldn’t be more timely, coming right in the midst of the spring bird migration season. In “Behind the Music: Rare Birds of the Balcones Canyonlands Preserve,” Travis County Natural Resources biologists Dave Morgan and Nancy Sandoval will offer a “behind-the-scenes look at the golden-cheeked warbler and black-capped vireo, two of the animals the BCP was created to protect. They’ll show you a day-in-the-life of a field biologist on the preserve, and all the work that goes into making the BCP a good home for these rare birds.” The presentation will be followed by a Q&A. Friday, May 14, noon-1 p.m. Register here.

Austin voters have resoundingly embraced moving the city’s mayoral elections to sync with presidential elections. Just over 66 percent of voters – 102,070, to be precise – endorsed the move, which is intended to increase turnout in mayoral elections. To enable the switch, Austin’s next mayor will be elected for a two-year term in November 2022, before getting on pace for the new cycle starting in November 2024. This also means that the mayoral election will join the cycle of City Council districts 2, 4, 6, 7 and 10. That leaves Council districts 1, 3 5, 8 and 9 paired with the Texas governor’s race. For comparison, the four most recent presidential elections (starting with the most recent and going back in time) saw turnout of 78.89 percent, 64.56 percent, 60.34 percent and 65.08 percent of registered voters, according to the Office of the City Clerk. The two mayoral elections held under the single-member district system saw turnout of 60.5 percent in 2018 and 40.4 percent in a 2014 race that had candidates from all of the Council districts.

Supporters of Proposition H, which was defeated Saturday 57.2 percent to 42.7 percent, want City Council to consider ordinance language that could implement the so-called Democracy Dollars system to fund campaign finance in city elections. Council action is one possibility for a reboot of the effort led by Austinites for Progressive Reform, which could also attempt to revise the proposal and put it back in front of voters as early as 2023. Democracy Dollars would have provided city-funded vouchers of $25 to registered voters to use in support of City Council and mayoral candidates in election years. In theory, that model would lessen the impact of high-dollar donors on local elections and increase the participation of the general electorate in supporting candidates for office. Proposition H as worded received some criticism from advocates for green card holders and the formerly incarcerated, who wouldn’t have received vouchers unless Council took steps to amend the implementation of the program. Still,  supporters think the conservative makeup of the early voting electorate had the most impact on the defeat because of the alignment of those voters in favor of the successful Proposition B. “Democracy Dollars won the votes on election day, and it is a worthy idea that addresses some of the more pressing problems in our electoral system here,” said Jim Wick, campaign manager for Austinites for Progressive Reform. “It is an idea that deserves additional consideration. That could be from City Council in the form of an ordinance or pilot program. For the cost, the benefits are a great bargain.”

If a unifying issue still exists in this polarized age, it might be support for firefighters. More voters got behind Proposition A, which amends the City Charter to allow the local firefighters union to initiate a binding arbitration in negotiations with the city, than any other ballot measure this election cycle. According to preliminary results, 81 percent (124,215 people) voted in favor with just 19 percent (29,089 people) against. Ever since voters approved collective bargaining for firefighters in 2004, wage and benefits negotiations with the city have proven unsuccessful, with discussion between the two sides often reaching an impasse. The only agreement, a modest wage increase, the union still deemed unfair. Though the union called for binding arbitration during these talks, the city always rebuffed the demand. With the passage of Prop A, firefighters can force the city to sit down with an arbitrator, meaning no one leaves the table until an agreement has been reached.

The LGBTQ Quality of Life Advisory Commission and the city’s Equity Office invite community members to complete a survey designed to help the city better understand the needs of Austin’s LGBTQIA+ communities. All responses are confidential and any quotes left in the comments section will be attributed anonymously. The survey takes about 25 minutes to complete and is available in English and in Spanish. The survey period ends on Friday, May 7.

Opportunities for getting your very own lifesaving, get-things-back-to-normal, Covid-19 vaccination are proliferating. No appointments will be needed this weekend at Circuit of the Americas’ drive-thru clinic, which is operated by the Central Texas Counties Vaccine Collaborative. Those who are 16 and older qualify to get their free first shot of the Pfizer Covid vaccine. (Sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds will need consent from a parent or guardian and the parent or guardian must be present and in the vehicle.) Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m.-3 p.m., 9201 Circuit of the Americas Blvd. Also, Austin Public Health’s walk-in Covid vaccine clinic at the Delco Activity Center, 4601 Pecan Brook Dr., is now open five days a week. Those over 18 may get their Covid vaccine between noon and 8 p.m., Tuesday-Saturday. Appointments are not necessary but if you make an appointment, you may move through the line faster.

Editor’s Note: This event has been canceled due to the possibility of inclement weather. A new date has not yet been announced.

Mendez Middle School at 5106 Village Square Dr. invites the whole community to come enjoy Día de Los Niños, a drive-thru celebration promoting literacy, culture and language. The Austin Public Library Bookmobile will be on-site giving away books and kids can play on a real fire engine, courtesy of the Austin Fire Department. There will be walk-up stations, kid-friendly giveaways, safety and education tools, and pre-K registration for the upcoming school year. Austin Public Health staffers will be on hand to administer the Covid vaccine to anyone who needs the lifesaving shot. The event is courtesy of a partnership with Council Member Vanessa Fuentes and Austin ISD District 2 Trustee Ofelia Maldonado Zapata, along with Parks and Recreation, the Austin Police Department, First Church, Mission Capital and others. Friday, April 30, 5 to 7 p.m.

After nine days of early voting, 103,832 Travis County voters had cast ballots in the May 1 election. More than 26,000 of those voters cast their ballots on the final day of early voting. Overall, 13.67 percent of the county’s registered voters have already voted. The Ben Hur Shrine Center hosted the most voters, with a total of 11,737. More than 8,000 voters cast ballots at the Shops at Arbor Walk in Northwest Austin and the Austin Oaks Church in Southwest Austin. More than 7,000 voters cast ballots at the Eanes ISD administration building, indicating an interest in the district’s two school board races. Only 2,622 voters had cast ballots by mail as of Wednesday, but more could still come in. The majority of city of Austin voters who went to vote early were probably most interested in Proposition B, which would reinstate criminal penalties for camping in most public areas. But propositions A, C and D-H all have their proponents and detractors as well.

In a move that may or may not indicate a Land Development Code rewrite will never happen, the city is proposing to streamline its floodplain regulations. The Development Services Department is proposing to add “Flood Hazard Areas” to Chapter 25-12 of the code. It’s an effort to simplify things by relocating the regulations from four sections of the code to one place – no new requirements are being added and nothing is being removed. Public comment on the change is open until May 3 and may be given here.

Starting May 10, Stephanie Hayden-Howard will be the city’s new assistant city manager for health & environment and culture & lifelong learning. Hayden-Howard, who has worked for the city for 20 years, served most recently as director of Austin Public Health throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. In her new position, she will oversee Parks and Recreation, Austin Resource Recovery, Austin Public Library, Animal Services and Austin Public Health. “I look forward to the challenges and opportunities in this new role to provide solutions that are cross-departmental in nature and involve collaboration with community stakeholders to meet the needs of area residents,” she said in a news release from the city. Austin Public Health Assistant Director Adrienne Sturrup will serve as the interim director while a search for the next APH director gets underway in the coming months.

A record number of Austinites are riding bicycles these days, another silver lining of the pandemic – or should we say green lining, as in environmentally friendly. Since we’re riding our bikes, we might as well learn how to maintain and repair them, and that’s where Austin Resource Recovery comes in, with Bike Repair Basics, an installment from its free online series, Fix-It at Home. Along with basic maintenance tips, you’ll learn to fix a flat tire and do other on-the-road repairs. “Don’t miss out on the fun of biking because of fixable items. This workshop will give you the confidence to overcome minor hurdles and get back on the saddle.” The class is offered in English and in Spanish. Get free tickets on Eventbrite. May 10, 6:30-7:30 p.m.