With Delia Garza leaving the city to become Travis County Attorney, there is an opening for the largely ceremonial position of mayor pro tem. District 4 Council Member Greg Casar said on the City Council Message Board Wednesday that he had the support of Council members Leslie Pool, Ann Kitchen and Pio Renteria, as well as incoming Council Member Vanessa Fuentes. He also told the Austin Monitor that Mayor Steve Adler had indicated he too would support Casar. Casar, who easily won reelection in November, said, “This year the job of being in local government has been more important than ever.” He said in the new role he would still represent his district but would also plan to take on “a new role citywide to make sure I’m supporting Council members to get their work done across the city.” Casar said he is interested in addressing issues throughout the city, including homelessness. As a press release from his office said, “At 31, Casar will become Austin’s youngest-ever mayor pro tem.”

Wondering what the city plans to do with the 2016 mobility bond funds in 2021? The draft 2021 Mobility Annual Plan and online interactive map are now available for review and comment. Every year, the city releases a MAP to outline projects that will be funded through the bond. This year’s MAP includes projects involving Intersection Safety/Vision Zero improvements, Safe Routes to School, sidewalks, bikeways, urban trails and more. The planned projects align with City Council’s Austin Strategic Direction 2023 Mobility Strategic Outcome of getting Austinites where we want go, when we want to get there, safely and cost-effectively. “We’re now four years into the 2016 Mobility Bond program and we have hundreds of projects on the ground around Austin, providing our community better and safer ways to get around our city,” said Assistant City Manager Gina Fiandaca in a press release. “The 2021 Mobility Annual Plan outlines a big year of planned transportation infrastructure work citywide.” The feedback form is now open on the Mobility Annual Plan website, and comments will be accepted through Feb. 7, 2021. The final 2021 MAP will be published in early March 2021.

This winter break, Austin Independent School District is partnering with the Central Texas Food Bank to make sure Austin families have access to healthy food. Prior to the break, today the district is setting up curbside meal sites to serve free seven-day meal packs. There will also be two mass distribution events where families may pick up an additional seven days’ worth of meals on Monday, Dec. 21, and Wednesday, Dec. 30, at Nelson Field, 7105 Berkman Drive, from 9 a.m. to noon. These meal packs are free for any child younger than 19 as well as those older than 19 who utilize special education resources or who are enrolled in school to complete the requirements for a high school diploma. There will be other food available in addition to the meal packs. Parents or caregivers may receive seven-day meal packs without children present by providing documentation – such as a birth certificate, student ID card, report card or attendance record – at the point of meal service. The meals are well-rounded and feature foods that have been cooked and prepared by staff in AISD kitchens. They will be served cold to be taken home and reheated.

City engineers and departments have been working for two years to design improvements to Colony Loop Drive, including connecting the missing portion and upgrading existing sections of the street between Loyola Lane and Decker Lane. The project will also provide access to the planned Colony Park Sustainable Community. The public meeting for the project was livestreamed on Dec. 3 – if you missed it, you can watch a recording of the virtual meeting on YouTube. Tomorrow is the deadline for submitting public comment on the project. Email your feedback to colonypark@austintexas.gov or call (512) 974-3394.

Have a good idea for making our community healthier? Apply for a healthy living mini-grant from Austin Public Health, which is funding health projects to prevent chronic disease. Grants of up to $2,500 are available for projects that will “make a lasting change” in Austin and Travis County. In addition, “Projects should address health disparities by reaching people who face higher rates of chronic disease, such as people with lower incomes, and people who are Black/African American, Hispanic/Latinx, Asian, or Indigenous.” APH suggests focusing on the following topics:

• Active living (physical activity)
• Tobacco-free living
• Healthy eating
• Community gardens
• Healthy food access
• Breastfeeding support
• Overall wellness

Lynn Boswell and Noelita Lugo will be the newest members of the Austin Independent School District’s Board of Trustees. Boswell will represent District 5, which covers parts of Central and Southwest Austin, and Lugo will be the newest at-large trustee, a seat covering the entire school district. Boswell, a documentary filmmaker who earned her law degree from the University of Texas, is the former president of the Austin PTA and an AISD parent. Lugo is also a parent to kids in the district and helped start Save Austin Schools, a group that fought against school closures in 2019. She has a master’s degree in social work and works in public policy, focusing on family issues like workforce development and young parent programs. In a press release, Lugo thanked the voters of Travis County, saying she decided to run because of her “serious commitment to educational equity,” adding that it “is imperative every kid across our city has equal access to success in the classroom and in life.”

As Covid-19 cases rise, so do concerns about about community spread, hospital admissions and ICU capacity. While Austin is still at Stage 4 on the Covid-19 risk-based guidelines chart, health officials have stated their concern that the continued rising of these indicators could trigger a move into Stage 5, especially as folks navigate the holiday season. Yesterday, Travis County Judge Andy Brown and Mayor Steve Adler sent a letter to Austin’s faith leaders urging them to move their services to the virtual realm. “We need your continued diligence to prevent reaching a crisis point and urge you to consider taking your holiday services virtual. We are particularly concerned for the elderly and those whose compromised physical condition leave them more vulnerable. We are so close to getting the vaccine to these neighbors that we feel it is especially necessary to urge their protection now to the greatest extent possible,” the letter says. Brown and Adler go on express their understanding for financial barriers to moving church services online, and request that if virtual services are not feasible, for masking and social distancing to at least be strictly enforced. “If your congregation has the digital capabilities, it would be helpful if you could once again consider virtual worship. If your congregation does not have that as an option, we ask that you consider other necessary changes to holiday services to allow for maintenance of masking and social distancing guidelines. We urge special and renewed discipline and enforcement of masking, social distancing, and avoiding multiple sustained contacts among those in larger groups, especially to protect those most vulnerable.”

Editor’s Note: Andy Brown is on the board of the Capital of Texas Media Foundation, which is the parent nonprofit of the Austin Monitor.

Last month, in the face of continued dry weather and declining humidity levels, the Travis County Commissioners Court issued a burn ban for the unincorporated areas of the county. That ban expires today, so yesterday the Commissioners Court voted to issue a new prohibition on burning, this one effective through Jan. 13. As Travis County Chief Fire Marshal Tony Callaway explained, “We received some rain, but it wasn’t enough to improve our drought conditions. Unfortunately, we don’t expect there to be relief anytime soon. Therefore, in order to ensure public safety, it’s necessary to issue a new burn ban for the unincorporated areas before the current ban expires.” According to the announcement, the new ban on outdoor burning “does not affect prescribed burns conducted under the supervision of a prescription burn manager. It also does not affect outdoor welding, cutting or grinding operations, and outdoor hot works operations conducted in accordance with the guidelines established by the Travis County Fire Marshal’s Office.” Those who are  grilling or barbecuing outdoors are urged to use caution and have a source of water nearby in case of fire.

The Parks and Recreation Department is seeking input from the community as it develops a long-term guide for the restoration of Zilker Park. If you have a vision for the future of Austin’s beloved park, you are invited to share your thoughts through PARD’s survey, which is available in English, Spanish and Mandarin. More translations of the survey are planned. You can also share your favorite stories of the park at Speak Up Austin.

Want to participate in the citywide effort known as “reimagining public safety”? These community meetings have been so popular that the initiative has scheduled four new community conversations in January for those who want to share their ideas for policing reform. The meetings are all virtual, of course, held on Zoom. During the meetings, the facilitator poses a series of real-life policing scenarios and then asks attendees how the situations should ideally be handled. Attendees discuss their thoughts and opinions and may then record them in an online survey. The feedback “will be shared with city leaders to help guide their decisions on public safety priorities and policies.” RSVP here for any of the following meetings:

• District 1: Jan. 7, 5-7 p.m.
• District 3: Jan. 13, 5:30 -7:30 p.m.
• Citywide session 1: Jan. 20, 5:30-7:30 p.m.
• Citywide session 2: Jan. 28, 5:30- 7:30 p.m.

Here’s some good news for doggos and the humans who love them: It’s finally safe for Fido to splash around in Lady Bird Lake again. Thanks to the cooler weather, the harmful algae that poses a risk to dogs is no longer present in the water. Watershed Protection staffers who have been monitoring the lake weekly say the blue-green algae is unlikely to return until next summer. Adds the department in a news release, “Thankfully, we did not receive any reports of dogs becoming ill or dying due to algae exposure after swimming in the lake this year. We credit this success to the care dog owners took in following recommendations and keeping their pets out of the water during the long, hot summer and fall.” You can check the current status of the monitoring program here.

The city has been working on a project to enhance safety and mobility for everyone who uses Stassney Lane, and it is now ready to start construction in spring 2021. The project design was created with input from the community and is made possible by funding from the 2016 mobility bond, Safe Routes to School programs and the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Among the planned changes, new protected bicycle lanes will be installed on Stassney Lane, creating an east-west All Ages and Abilities bikeway. Intersections will be revamped to improve safety for all modes of travel. In addition, the city will work with Capital Metro to move bus stops closer to safe pedestrian crossings at multiple locations on the corridor. Those interested in following along with the project’s progress can sign up for email updates on the project website.