In what was by far the closest race in Tuesday’s City Council runoff elections, District 8 candidate Ed Scruggs finally conceded the contest to Ellen Troxclair late Wednesday. Scruggs, a Democrat, lost by just 57 votes out of more than 12,000 cast. On his Facebook page he wrote, “Out of respect for the process, the voters of District 8 and so many who have given so much time and effort, we spent the day examining the returns and consulting with elections officials. It is very clear the result withstands scrutiny and the outcome will not change.” Troxclair, one of three Republicans elected to the new 10-1 Council, wrote on her Facebook page, “I am so humbled and overwhelmed by the incredible outpouring of support, and cannot wait to get to work for District 8.” The new mayor and 10 Council members will be sworn in on Jan. 6.

Austin Energy staff will brief the Electric Utility Commission at its Jan. 26 meeting about the automated screening process that is allegedly giving wealthy residents utility discounts intended for low-income residents. Austin Energy local government relations division director Jeff Vice said that there were no staff members prepared to comment at Monday’s EUC meeting. “I did want to assure you, though, that we’re aware of this issue,” he said. Activist Paul Robbins told the Monitor on Wednesday that he cross-checked property appraisal records and found, based on preliminary results, that more than 1,100 of 19,000 Customer Assistance Program participants studied resided in homes valued at more than $300,000. Robbins said Monday that customers are automatically enrolled in the program if they live at the same address as someone who is enrolled in one of seven other financial assistance programs such as the Children’s Health Insurance Program. “Foster children are automatically enrolled in CHIP, but, as you know, not every person that takes in a foster child is poor,” Robbins said. “I’m really here to urge Austin Energy to come up with a plan next month to give to the new City Council to change this so that the money is going to the people that need it.”

Austin Mayor-elect Steve Adler visited multiple media outlets Wednesday, just after he collected a significant victory over opponent and City Council Member Mike Martinez. Among other themes, Adler noted that he was already working with other Council member-elects to get the ball rolling on what will be a very tight post-holiday turnaround. Adler and his new colleagues will be sworn in on Jan. 6 — when the unlucky two-year termers and a mayor pro tem will also be selected. The first Council meeting is Jan. 29.

On Sunday, birders and bird enthusiasts are invited to take part in the Fourth Annual Lost Pines Christmas Bird Count. The count will take place from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday at the Lost Pines Resort, though volunteers are not required to stay the whole time. The event is part of a nationwide bird count and one of 50 counts taking place in Texas. The resort is in a region that is home to about 250 bird species. Last year, volunteers counted 122 different species among the 9,843 birds tallied. Online registration closes today, but birders can continue to register by phone. The count is a collaborative effort among the Lower Colorado River Authority’s McKinney Roughs Nature Park, Hyatt Regency Lost Pines Resort and Spa, Bastrop County Audubon Society, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s Lost Pines Master Naturalists, and the National Audubon Society. More information can be found here.

This weekend, the Austin Symphony will continue its free performances through the new program “Christmas in the Community.” The program has been running since late November, and there are only a few chances left to hear the symphony play holiday songs, free of charge, throughout the city. The program concludes Monday at the State Capitol. The entire schedule can be found here.

All along, one expected positive result of the 10-1 change was the potential to increase voter interest and participation in local Austin elections. Good news and bad news on that front: Austin did see a significant increase over ballots cast in previous Council elections. In the June 2011 runoff, just 9 percent of registered voters turned out to select then-candidate Kathie Tovo over then-Council Member Randi Shade. Similarly, in June 2008, only 5 percent of the population showed up to hoist Council Member Laura Morrison over Cid Galindo. In 2005, a shade under 8 percent of voters turned out to pick Jennifer Kim over Margot Clarke. By direct measure, then, Tuesday’s turnout was indeed an improvement: 15 percent of the population took part in eight runoff elections. Still, the ratio remains a low one — and, as such, keeps Austin in line with at least one national trend.

It reads like something of a fitting farewell to the sitting Austin City Council: The Austin Water Utility will “toast the opening” of Water Treatment Plant 4 this Friday at 2 p.m. Expected dignitaries include Mayor Lee Leffingwell and City Manager Marc Ott. The construction of the plant was a hotly contested debate over a period of decades. We’ll see if the next Council can continue the tradition.

Kendall Pace, Paul Saldana and Ted Gordon were elected to AISD board seats as part of Tuesday’s runoffs. Pace, who got 65 percent of the vote, beat Hillary Procknow. Saldana collected 53 percent of the vote to Kate Mason-Murphy’s 46 percent. Gordon beat David Thompson 55 percent to 44 percent. In the race for a Place 2 on the Austin Community College board of trustees, Gigi Edwards Bryant polled 54 percent to win out over Jade Chang Sheppard.

Departing Austin City Council Member Laura Morrison and Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole joined returning incumbent Kathie Tovo and incoming Pct. 2 Travis County Commissioner Brigid Shea at what turned out to be newly elected District 7 Council Member Leslie Pool’s victory party Tuesday. That Pool would be the likely winner was reflected in what appeared to be blue script on a chocolate cake.

Today is Runoff Election Day for candidates in the Austin mayor and City Council races, for three Austin Independent School District board seats and for a seat on the Austin Community College board. In Austin city elections, all voters will cast ballots in the mayoral runoff between Mike Martinez and Steve Adler. Voters will also settle several district Council races. In Council District 1, they will choose between DeWayne Lofton and Ora Houston; in District 3, the candidates are Sabino “Pio” Renteria and Susana Almanza; in District 4, the candidates are Greg Casar and Laura Pressley; in District 6, candidates are Don Zimmerman and Jimmy Flannigan; in District 7, candidates are J.E. “Jeb” Boyt and Leslie Pool; in District 8, the candidates are Ellen Troxclair and Ed Scruggs; and in District 10, candidates are Sheri Gallo and Mandy Dealey. In the AISD runoff, voters in District 1 will choose between David Thompson and Edmund Gordon; in District 6, Paul Saldaña and Kate Mason-Murphy; and in At-Large District 9, voters citywide will choose between Kendall Pace and Hillary Procknow. In the ACC Place 2 Trustees race, voters will choose between Gigi Edwards Bryant and Jade Chang Sheppard. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Election officials say voters can cast a ballot at any polling place as long as they can properly identify themselves. Voting precincts are listed on voter registration cards and a list of polling places is available on the Travis County Elections website.

A Building and Development Fees Audit, which evaluated whether the Planning and Development Review Department assesses land development-related fees in accordance with the City Council-approved fee schedule, revealed some problems Monday. Specifically, the audit found that 40 percent of transactions in the tested sample were incorrect. Most of the errors came from the department collecting lower fees than it should, though. Planning and Development Review Director Greg Guernsey explained that, previously, fees were easier to apply because they had been the same since 1993. Since 2012, the department has implemented fee changes in phases, leading to them being “in flux” for the past two years. He added that the AMANDA system “isn’t as flexible as they’d like,” and trying to work with— or around — that inflexibility  can lead to trouble. He said that in some cases, the system was in conflict with what the actual fees are, and applied fees incorrectly. Guernsey said the department hopes to have a new system that will make it easier to adapt to the new fees in place by next year. In terms of plans to refund the handful of customers who were overcharged — given the anonymous nature of the audit — that will require some detective work. Customers who suspect they were overcharged might want to do that work themselves.

Passengers arriving on international flights will have a new experience at Austin Bergstrom International Airport. On Monday, a new state-of-the-art customs facility opened at ABIA with the usual ribbon cuttings and speeches. The facility doubles the airport’s capacity to process international arrivals from 200 passengers an hour to 400 an hour, with a maximum capacity of 600 arrivals. Its opening marks the completion of the lower level of the terminal addition project known as the Terminal East Infill. The upper level of the project will bring more TSA screening lanes for departing passengers and aims to improve passenger flow through the airport. Completion of the Terminal East Infill is scheduled for next summer. The number of international flights to ABIA has increased significantly in recent months. In addition to several direct flights to destinations in Mexico, British Airways now has nonstop daily service to London Heathrow Airport, and Air Canada will add nonstop flights from Toronto to Austin in May.