The city and its community partners will host a Meet-n-Greet Saturday for Austin residents to discuss new possibilities for the Colony Park neighborhood in Northeast Austin. The event will include a community discussion led by a panel of special guests, including District 1 City Council Member Ora Houston. In addition to the discussion, residents will have an opportunity to view the Colony Park Master Plan and District Park approved by Council. The Meet-n-Greet will include food, music and a bike rodeo promoting bike and safety tips sponsored by the Ghisallo Foundation. Various city departments will provide information on home, health and social services programs. The Colony Park Master Plan for the 208-acre neighborhood is funded through a $3 million Community Challenge Grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The event takes place from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Multi-Purpose Facility of the Turner-Roberts Recreation Center, 7201 Colony Loop Drive. For more information, click here.

Several East Austin businesses were defaced overnight Tuesday with racially offensive stickers. The stickers, designed to look like something official from the City of Austin, asserted that the establishments were for white people only and that “colored” patrons were not welcome in the various stores. The stickers also said “Maximum of 5 colored customers” and “colored BOH staff accepted,” referring to the “back of house” operations at a restaurant. The stickers used a City of Austin logo and said they were sponsored by the “City of Austin Contemporary Partition and Restoration Program.” The city has no program with that name. Officials said the stickers were not issued by the city and did not reflect any city policies or practices. The Austin Police Department and the Public Assembly Code Enforcement Teams are investigating, and will be monitoring local businesses for additional instances of defacement. Mayor Steve Adler condemned the stickers. “This is an appalling and offensive display of ignorance in our city. Austin condemns this type of hurtful behavior. Our city is a place where respect for all people is a part of our spirit and soul. We will keep it that way,” Adler said. City Manager Marc Ott also spoke out against them, saying they would not be tolerated. The stickers also drew condemnations from the NAACP and some members of the local legislative delegation. Though reasonable minds might conclude that the stickers are a comment on gentrification in East Austin, no one had claimed responsibility for them at the time of publication.

City of Austin officials remain busy trying to keep things running smoothly during this year’s South by Southwest festival. As of Wednesday evening, the Public Assembly Code Enforcement Team has shut down seven venues or facilities for unsanctioned events and issued 32 citations for a variety of other violations. The team, which has been responding to calls related to downtown activities since the start of SXSW and spring break, has also issued nine written warnings and 26 verbal warnings for various violations. On Wednesday, meanwhile, Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services responded to 48 incidents, 26 of which resulted in patient transports. These numbers reflect calls for assistance within the downtown footprint during SXSW and spring break events. The city’s Transportation Department has also been busy. It has issued 43 citations since March 12, not including parking citations or warnings from parking enforcement officers. Those citations were given to pedicabs, chauffeurs and taxis.

In addition to everything else that is going on this week, the City of Austin will be holding the first Music Cities Summit today and Friday. The summit is being coordinated by the Economic Development Department’s music and entertainment division. It will feature a series of roundtable discussions among music, entertainment and special events city representatives from Austin, Chicago, San Francisco, Seattle and Toronto. According to a news release, “The Summit will be the first in-person gathering of these metropolitan cities to discuss the intersection of music, film, entertainment, and economic development.”

The Austin Parks and Recreation Department is evaluating possible improvements at Battle Bend Neighborhood Park and holding a pair of meetings to gather ideas and input from the public to help shape, prioritize and implement the improvements with the funding currently available. PARD is proposing to renovate the children’s outdated play area and explore opportunities for other site enhancements. The department will also address the need for improved ADA access and pedestrian connectivity within the park. Meetings are set for 6 p.m. today and 1 p.m. on April 4, both at the South Austin Recreation Center, 1100 Cumberland Road.

In a post on the City Council message board, Council Member Leslie Pool has proposed a resolution expanding the CodeNEXT Citizen Advisory Group. Pool writes that, after talking with Austin Neighborhoods Council President Mary Ingle, she would like to expand the membership to 16 to include “two citizens of Austin” and also consider the “need for additional members from neighborhoods and the environmental community.” The last part of the resolution reads, “The City Manager is hereby instructed to cause the Code Advisory Group to not make any further recommendations regarding the CodeNEXT project until the City Council appoints the two additional members of the Code Advisory Group and the new members are seated.” The resolution asks that the Planning and Neighborhoods Committee of the City Council, chaired by Council Member Greg Casar, recommend the new members to Council.

The first Public Safety Council Committee meeting will take place at 4 p.m. March 23. City Council Member Don Zimmerman, who chairs the committee, sent out a release Tuesday about its first agenda. According to the release, the committee will tackle three issues: the need for a new Municipal Court clerk; towing dispatching, impounding and fees; and the city’s Code Department. The last item, the release says, will feature “Briefings, public testimony, and policy discussion on Austin Code, with case history from Austin Code and constituents,” and is expected to take an hour. Given that Zimmerman has already tipped his hand about his feelings toward Code, we look forward to what promises to be a lively discussion.

The City of Austin Public Assembly Code Enforcement Team has responded to numerous calls related to downtown activities since the start of the South by Southwest Conference and spring break. The majority of citations and warnings issued have been at venues hosting unofficial SXSW activities.

Code Enforcement numbers as of 2:30 p.m. Tuesday were:

• Venue/Facilities shut down: 3
• Citations issued: 15
• Written warnings issued: 9
• Verbal Warnings issued: 19

The Conversation Corps program has scheduled its first 12 discussions offering citizens the opportunity to engage with local government. These conversations are a joint effort among the City of Austin, Austin Independent School District, Capital Metro and Leadership Austin. This will be an ongoing program that will provide regular opportunities for citizens to have hosted discussions about local government. The first round of conversations will take place between Friday and March 30. The topic will be, “How can Conversation Corps add value to our community?” These discussions will seek input from participants about the issues they’d like to see as future conversation topics.  For more information and a schedule of events, go here.

With so many city boards, commissions, task forces and working groups it should come as no surprise that even someone as knowledgeable as Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo mixes up one task force with another occasionally. Last week, Tovo posted a request on the Council message board that the Council Austin Energy committee hear a presentation from the Low Income Advisory Task Force on the utility’s policies regarding how to deal with low income customers having trouble paying their bills. Consumer advocate Paul Robbins has a deep and abiding interest in those policies and has pointed out problems associated with the current policies. He and Tovo do not see eye-to-eye on the matter. Robbins noticed Tovo’s request and emailed her to say that  particular task force has nothing to do with arrearage policies. He even attached a copy of the resolution setting up that task force, which references weatherization and solar energy for low income homes. Austin Energy’s Toye Goodson told the Monitor that what Tovo was actually referring to is an Austin Energy working group that has been meeting for several years to develop procedures for payment management. It includes services providers like Habitat for Humanity and Meals on Wheels. Some members of the task force are also part of the working group. Tovo said Monday that she wants the Council to hear Austin Energy’s recommendation “and I also want to hear from the working group.” Tovo provided a correction on the message board on Monday and apologized, noting, ” I believe AE staff are clear on the request as we spoke to them last week, but at least one member of the public was not.”

On Monday, Council Member Don Zimmerman announced the introduction of Senate Bill 1719 by State Senator Donna Campbell (R-New Braunfels). If enacted, the bill would allow more local input into the scoring of tax credits in the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs process. Zimmerman’s proposition (which the Monitor addressed at length here) would allow individual City Council members, County Commissioners and members of the Boards of Directors of Municipal Utility Districts (MUDs) to affect the scoring process, rather than only allowing them to endorse (or not endorse) affordable housing projects as a group. In a statement, Zimmerman said, “I investigated the TDHCA’s scoring process, I personally met with TDHCA staff, and arrived at the conclusion that the scoring process is rigged in favor of approving these tax credits.” The legislation can be read in its entirety here. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick has not yet referred it to committee.

District 10 City Council Member Sheri Gallo is inviting residents to a town-hall meeting Saturday. It will focus on “Your Neighborhood Park: Learning how to partner with City departments and other organizations.” The meeting will include representatives from the Parks and Recreation Department, the Public Works Department and Alison Alter, chair of the Ramsey Park Renovation project.  Constituents will have the opportunity to raise issues or concerns related to public parks and open spaces in their neighborhood. The meeting will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Austin Board of Realtors, 4800 Spicewood Springs Road.