There have been a number of changes to city leadership, as detailed by interim City Manager Jesús Garza in a Dec. 1 memo. Mandy DeMayo, who is currently the deputy director of the Housing Department, will be stepping up as interim director, replacing outgoing Housing Department Director Rosie Truelove, who has taken a position with the city of Kyle. In addition, Chief Resilience Officer Laura Patiño has given notice of her resignation, effective Jan. 12. According to Garza, “Laura will work with appropriate staff to develop a transition plan to ensure continuation of all resilience activities coordinated through her office. This includes the comprehensive resilience plan, resilience hub network program, individual and community resilience-building, economic resilience integration, heat and other climate adaptation interdepartmental coordination, fundraising and external partnerships, and other initiatives.” Following her departure, interim Chief Sustainability Officer Zach Baumer will take on the additional role of interim Chief Officer of the Office of Resilience. Similarly, Tamela Saldaña will take on the role of interim officer for the Equity Office while maintaining her position overseeing the Office of Civil Rights. Finally, Sarah Griffin will make the change from deputy labor relations officer to chief labor relations officer.

Anyone who lives, works or spends time in Austin is invited to a series of open houses hosted by Austin Transit Partnership to register their expectations for the new light rail system and to share what their mobility experiences are like. The org will use the information gathered to help design a system to enhance neighborhoods. The first user experience meeting will take place 5-8 p.m. today at Lively Middle School, 201 E. Mary St. Register here to attend. The second in-person meeting will be held 5-8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 6, at Montopolis Recreation and Community Center, 1200 Montopolis Drive. Register here for that one. And a virtual meeting will be open to the public 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 13. Register here on Zoom.

The city of Austin is now accepting applications to join its Green Workforce Accelerator. The program is intended to help organizations develop or grow green workforce programs, and selected participants will receive a $15,000 grant to support their work in the program. Selected groups will take part in a needs assessment, accelerator program and post-program data collection. More information about the program and eligibility requirements can be found here. Applications can be submitted now through Jan. 5. Awardee selection and notification will take place by early February. Interested parties can register for a Dec. 13 informational webinar on the program. Other questions can be directed to  annabel.osburn@austintexas.gov.

Next Thursday, Dec. 7, City Council is set to vote on a series of changes to the Land Development Code generally referred to as the HOME initiative. In advance of that that vote, Council Member Leslie Pool, who is the lead sponsor of the HOME amendment, and her District 7 office have put together a website explaining and advocating for the changes. “I am very pleased about the amendments as they address two of my key priorities to meet the goals of the initiative: preserving existing housing stock, and ensuring smaller, single-family homes,” wrote Pool in a message on the City Council Message Board. “There has been a lot of information about HOME provided, as well as some key research and media coverage that informs the community conversations about this initiative. My team and I created a HOME hub for this information.” Meanwhile, a video created by opponents of the changes has appeared back online in a new, redacted edit after disappearing earlier this week. Nicole Nosek, who is a founder of Texans for Reasonable Solutions and is featured heavily in the video, requested the edits shortly after its original premiere. According to a new prelude to the video by its creators, “in the interest of time and in an effort to provide useful information about this issue, we are happy to comply.”

After serving as the interim director of the Transportation and Public Works Department since its creation in May, Richard Mendoza has officially been appointed to the position on a full-time basis. Mendoza previously served as director of the Transportation Department after leading the Public Works Department from 2017 through 2022. “Having served as the leader of both the individual departments, Richard understands their unique missions which will help bring focus to the newly formed Transportation and Public Works Department,” interim City Manager Jesús Garza wrote in a memo about the appointment.

The city has completed the payout of $3.5 million in grants to 368 recipients of the first round of the Live Music Fund. First established by City Council in 2019, the program uses a portion of Hotel Occupancy Tax revenue to provide grants of $5,000 and $10,000 to local musicians and event promoters to book live music performances across the city. With the Long Center for the Performing Arts handling some of the administrative and payment duties, the Economic Development Department used the pilot year of the program to gauge its impact throughout the year. Plans call for an increased budget for 2024, when live music venues will also be eligible to apply for awards. “Through the Live Music Fund Event Program, we stand by our commitment to Austin’s diverse artistic community, celebrating the rhythm of our city’s identity,” said Sylnovia Holt-Rabb, director of the Economic Development Department. “These grants empower musicians, bands and promoters, helping further prove that Austin is the Live Music Capital of the World.”

The Planning Commission has elected a new interim chair because the current chair, Todd Shaw, will be leaving the commission at the end of the year. Shaw is completing his fourth term and is ready to move on to other endeavors. He nominated Claire Hempel, who has served as vice chair. Commissioner Jennifer Mushtaler expressed some concern about whether it would be wise to choose Hempel, a landscape architect and urban planner. According to Mushtaler, Hempel has had to recuse herself on several occasions to avoid a conflict of interest. The other nominee was Commissioner Awais Azhar. Commissioner Greg Anderson urged everyone to vote for Hempel, noting that Azhar crafts many complicated motions and he might not be able to continue to do so if he were chair. Hempel, who will serve in the interim position until April, was elected with seven votes, the minimum. Staff wasted no time in announcing on the city website that Hempel is now the chair.

City Council Member Ryan Alter and his wife, Rita, are pleased to announce the birth of their third child. Alistair Wolf Alter was born Tuesday, a few days earlier than expected. Dad said both mother and baby are doing fine and were still resting at St. David’s hospital Wednesday afternoon. Alistair joins 4-year-old Aurora and 2-year-old Atticus in the Alter family. Ryan Alter said he would probably not be attending much of today’s Council meeting.

Run as fast as you can to catch Gingerbread History Heroes ornaments from Dec. 1-31 at historic sites all around Austin. Stop by to decorate an ornament as your favorite figure from Texas history – past examples include Elisabet Ney, Lydia Mendoza and Sam Houston. The program is free of charge for all participants. As part of the fourth annual Gingerbread History Heroes program, salt dough ornaments and a variety of decorating supplies will be distributed to participating museums and cultural centers, including:

Brush Square Museums (O. Henry Museum and Susanna Dickinson Museum)
Asian American Resource Center
Elisabet Ney Museum
French Legation State Historic Site
George Washington Carver Museum and Cultural Center
Oakwood Cemetery Chapel
Old Bakery and Emporium
Park Ranger Station at Zilker Caretaker Cottage

Be not afraid (but be careful) of smoke near Southeast Metropolitan Park today. Travis County Parks will be conducting a prescribed burn at the park between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. that will take up to four hours to complete. The burn, which is done in cooperation with the Fire Department, is designed to reduce wildfire danger and bolster the park’s ecosystem by removing debris and invasive shrubs and creating a space where the health and diversity of native species can thrive. According to a press release from the county, north winds are expected tomorrow and those winds may carry smoke across Highway 71 to the south, but its impacts “are expected to be relatively light.” The park will remain open.

Central Texas’ transportation management association, Movability, is conducting a community survey on travel patterns to learn how best to enhance the transportation system in Hays, Travis and Williamson counties. The 10-minute survey will remain open through the end of this month, and participants will be entered into a drawing for a chance to win a $500 prepaid VISA gift card. Find the Movability survey here.

A public comment period is now open for the approximately $14 million in federal grant-funded housing programs at the city of Austin. Each year, the city receives money through four grants administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and, each year, the city creates a performance and evaluation report assessing the effectiveness of those programs. That report is now available for review by the public. The four programs this year, according to a news release from the city, are:

• $7,362,354 in Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), administered by the Department of Housing, Austin Public Health and the Department of Economic Development, funded child care services, senior services, mental health services, child development assistance, affordable housing, home repairs and tenant rights assistance.
• $3,601,868 in the Housing Investment Partnership HOME Program, administered by the Department of Housing, funded rental assistance for tenants, down payment assistance and financing for Community Housing Development Organizations (CHDOs).
• $658,196 in the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), administered by Austin Public Health, funded rapid rehousing programs for homeless people, as well as the operation and maintenance of shelters.
• $2,670,278 in Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS (HOPWA), administered by Austin Public Health, funded housing and supportive services for low- and moderate-income people living with HIV/AIDS.

The public comment period will remain open through Dec. 5. The consolidated plan for this year is available for online review and comment at www.SpeakUpAustin.org/CAPER or in print at: Austin City Hall, 301 W. Second St. (Central); Austin Central Public Library, 710 W. Cesar Chavez St. (Central); Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, 500 E. Seventh St. (Central); St. John’s Library Branch, 7500 Blessing Ave. (Northeast); and the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, 1124 S. I-35 (South). In addition to SpeakUp Austin, comments can be submitted via mail (Housing Department Attn: FY 2021-22 CAPER P.O. Box 1088 Austin, Texas 78767), email (Housing@austintexas.gov) or phone (512-974-3100) by Dec. 5.