The City of Austin has received the 2014 Robert C. Larson Housing Policy Leadership Award for its efforts in meeting future affordable housing needs. The Urban Land Institute’s Terwilliger Center for Housing named Austin and Pasadena, Calif., winners of this year’s awards. The institute’s program recognizes exemplary efforts of real estate and public policy leaders to expand affordable and workforce housing opportunities. The awards honor model programs that provide affordable, well-designed and accessible housing choices for a mix of incomes. Winners were recognized recently at the ULI’s fall meeting in New York City.

A lot of Austinites apparently woke up on Thursday morning and decided it was time to vote. With 14,660 voters casting ballots on Thursday, the early vote total stands at 121,077, or 18.56 percent of those registered in Travis County. The number will probably be even higher today, which is the final day to vote early. At the most popular place to vote, the Randalls at Braker and MoPac, nearly 1,500 voters cast ballots Thursday, bringing the total for that location to 12,055. Another popular spot was the Randalls at Brodie and Slaughter in District 5, where 300 more voters cast ballots on Thursday than on Wednesday. The overall total at that location is 7,328. The Dan Ruiz Public Library at 1600 Grove Blvd. in District 3 had its best day this early voting season, with 190 people casting ballots. Still, the total there is only 1,231. However, it’s easier to cast a ballot at the grocery store and pick up some dinner than it is to stop at the library where you might not otherwise have business. We can anticipate that there will be at least as many, and probably more, voters casting ballots today, so it might be wise not to wait until the last minute. Tuesday is Election Day, of course. In May 2012, the last time Austinites elected a mayor and Council members, only 10.7 percent of the electorate participated. So, assuming those voting early get that far down on the ballot, this election might already be considered a success.

After several months, Preservation Austin has settled on a new executive director, Kate Singleton. In a news release announcing Singleton’s new position, the group explained her background, touting “over 30 years of experience in historic preservation, downtown revitalization and economic and community development.” The statement says: “(Singleton) has served as Chief Preservation Planner for the City of Dallas, Planning Manager for Downtown Dallas, Inc. and State Coordinator of the Arizona Main Street program as well as Main Street Manager in Waxahachie and Grapevine.” Preservation Austin also bid adieu to interim director Angela Reed in that same announcement, noting that she had “decided to pursue other professional opportunities outside of Preservation Austin.” The statement said that although Reed’s last day will be Nov. 5, she will continue to volunteer with the organization.

Members of the Austin-Travis County EMS Special Operations rescue team, accompanied by Chief Ernesto Rodriguez, traveled to Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, recently to accept the Higgins and Langley Team Award at the 2014 National Association of Search and Rescue conference. The team was given the award for its work during the 2013 Halloween Floods in Austin and Travis County. A night of heavy thunderstorms had unleashed torrential flooding in several parts of the city and the county, destroying property and threatening the lives of hundreds of residents. During the incident, which occurred one year ago today, ATCEMS Special Operations members rescued 22 people by shallow water crossing, 57 by rescue swimmer and 80 to 100 people and numerous pets by boat. The Special Operations team has been the recipient of the Higgins and Langley Team Award three times since 2001.

The Monitor is again joining forces with our reporting partners at KUT and the LBJ School of Public Affairs to produce a half-day seminar designed to look at key issues facing the City of Austin as it moves into the post-10-1 world. It’s set for Dec. 5 at UT’s Thompson Center. The topics for the day will be mobility, planning and revenues (read: how we pay for it all), each covered by its own panel. Attendees can expect to come away with a better understanding of the issues and some ideas about how to deliver on impact. Registration begins at 9:30 a.m. The event is set to conclude at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $15-$20. Sign-up is here. Panelists for the three sessions will be announced Nov. 10.

Former Austin Mayor Frank Cooksey (1985-88) has endorsed Sheryl Cole to lead the new 10-1 Council. Cooksey is just the latest in a series of mayors to endorse in this hard-fought race. Mayor Lee Leffingwell endorsed Steve Adler on Monday, and former mayors Gus Garcia and Will Wynn have endorsed Mike Martinez. Cooksey will join Cole at a coffee meetup for supporters at 10 a.m. today at Chez Zee, 5406 Balcones Drive. St. Edwards University’s student newspaper, Hilltop Views, has announced endorsements in the mayor’s race and two Council district races. Mike Martinez won the nod for mayor. Like The Daily Texan, Hilltop Views chose Chris Riley as the District 9 candidate best suited to represent student positions. And in District 3, which surrounds St. Ed’s, the editorial board endorsed Susana Almanza.

Place 4 candidate Marco Mancillas suspended his campaign Wednesday and endorsed one of the better known candidates in the race, Laura Pressley. In a news release entitled “Collaboration is more powerful than competition,” Pressley said Mancillas had “made the decision to halt his campaign” and support Pressley. In the release, Mancillas told Pressley that out of the eight candidates running for District 4, “you’re the right person for the job, and that’s why I’m jumping on your team to help you get there.” In addition, the duo took aim at the other presumed front-runners in the race, Katrina Daniel and Greg Casar. Mancillas criticized Daniel for allegedly taking money from lobbyists and Casar for taking money from donors who live outside of Austin. Asked to comment, Casar responded, “It’s unfortunate but not surprising (based on his policy positions) that Mancillas is standing alongside tea party leaders and Ron Paul activists supporting Pressley.” Although Pressley got the Statesman endorsement, Casar and Daniel have received the majority of other endorsements. According to their latest campaign finance reports, Casar and Daniel each maintained about $20,000 in the bank. Casar had raised about $15,000 in the last month, and Daniel about $13,000. Pressley reported that she had raised about $5,000 and maintained $15,000 as of last weekend. Mancillas’ most recent campaign finance report showed that he had spent more than $13,000 and had a little more than that left in the bank. However, he received only $350 in the last month, according to his report.

If you are planning to vote in the Nov. 4 election (and you know you should), there’s an app for that. There are also voting guides, candidate profiles, district maps and lists of polling places, all online. The League of Women Voters is sponsoring  “The Voting App” in Austin for this election. You can download the app to your tablet or smartphone from iTunes or the Google store. Once installed, enter your address, and the app will provide you with information on all the candidates in your district. The app was developed by ThinkVoting for the League of Women Voters, who say if the Austin test goes well in this election, they plan on taking it nationwide. In addition, the City of Austin is providing online information for the 10-1 Council elections. Go online to find information about each district’s Council and mayoral candidates, their official video statements, and demographic information for each district. It will also show you a map of your district. If you like your election information with an environmental spin, check out the Austin EcoNetwork’s Election Navigator. It provides each candidate’s environmental record as well as environmental issues in each Council district. And for basic information such as where to find your voting precinct on Election Day, there’s the always the reliable Travis County Elections page.

As of Tuesday night, almost 14 percent of the registered voters in Travis County have cast early ballots for the Nov. 4 election. According to the Travis County Clerk, 13.9 percent — which translates to 90,712 voters — have participated in the election so far. The busiest polling place continues to be the District 10 Randalls at Research and Braker, which saw 1,297 voters. Coming in second place, once again, is the Ben Hur Shrine, which saw 861 voters cast ballots Tuesday. All told, 10,407 voted on Tuesday. Early voting ends Friday. For more information and a list of polling places, go to the Travis County Elections website.

The Parks and Recreation Board voted unanimously at Tuesday’s meeting to recommend that City Council approve PARD staff’s proposed code amendments to allow people – but not dogs – to swim in the Barton Springs Spillway. That’s the area of Barton Creek between Barton Springs and Lady Bird Lake. The amendments also advise taking other measures to enforce the existing off-leash dog restrictions and continue monitoring water quality in the area. Staff presented the results of a study that found there is a consistently higher level of fecal-matter-indicating E. coli bacteria in Barton Creek below Barton Springs than in Barton Springs Pool. The study showed that the levels spike during the weekend and occasionally — but not on average — exceed the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s contact recreation safety standard. The spillway, also known as “Barking Springs,” is a popular location for people to swim and allow their dogs to play and swim off-leash, despite the fact that city code currently prohibits both actions. Council directed the city manager to seek code amendment recommendations from the board and the Animal Advisory Commission in an August resolution.

As has been widely reported, a consultant hired by Circuit of the Americas reports that the facility is responsible for $897 million worth of economic impact on the Austin area. According to Greyhill Advisors, that figure includes events held at the track, including music performances and other sporting activities. However, Greyhill put the F1 event — its headliner — at $507 million. All told, the combined direct “visitor spending” for track events was worth $423 million.

Mayoral candidate Sheryl Cole has won support from the national political action committee EMILY’s List. The group supports pro-choice Democratic women running for office. Cole is currently serving as mayor pro tem and hopes to take over as mayor of the new 10-1 City Council in January. Denise Feriozzi, political director of EMILY’s List, released the following statement: “Sheryl Cole has been a champion of affordable housing, education and ending gender discrimination in pay during her three terms on the Austin City Council, and we need more mayors across the country like her.” The group’s name means Early Money Is Like Yeast. Cole’s major opponents are Steve Adler and Mike Martinez.