Council Member Laura Morrison has had a difficult time staying warm in the ice-cold Council Chambers. (And she’s not the only one.) So she is sponsoring a resolution “to promote energy conservation by establishing standard temperature settings during summer months in all city office buildings.” Morrison and Mayor Lee Leffingwell have disagreed about the temperature setting for several years. Neither will be on the dais to enjoy the new higher temperature by next summer, when a new Council will be taking their place.

AFSCME leader Jack Kirfman said Sunday that the local Central Labor Council had made endorsements in 10 of the 11 Council races on Saturday. Kirfman said the labor council interviewed 36 candidates in a daylong meeting. Like AFSCME, the larger group endorsed Ora Houston in District 1, Delia Garza in District 2, Sabino “Pio” Renteria in District 3, Greg Casar in District 4, Ann Kitchen in District 5 and Jimmy Flannigan in District 6. Members made no endorsement in District 7. In District 8, the group chose Ed Scruggs, and Kathie Tovo won the endorsement in District 9. Mandy Dealey is the labor council’s choice for District 10, and unsurprisingly, Mike Martinez is its pick for mayor.

In his budget recommendations for Fiscal Year 2015, Austin Community Technology and Telecommunications Commission Chair Lemuel Williams told Council members Wednesday he would like to see more money in the Grants for Technology Opportunities Program. Williams asked the Council to increase annual funding from $200,000 to $300,000 to help boost the competitiveness of the grant funding application. The grants program is a funded match program designed to support “local organizations in their efforts to include all our citizens in an emerging digital society,” according to the city website. Williams noted that in 2012, recipients of the $175,000 awarded by the program raised almost $1.2 million in matching funds, citing that as a reason to increase funding.

Thursday’s City Council agenda currently contains 150 items, including the frequently amusing Citizens Communications. We can expect to see candidates making an effort to present their issues on Channel 6 through this method for the next couple of months. This week, Council will hear from Susana Almanza, running for District 3, whose topic is “make Austin affordable,” and CarolAnnRose Kennedy, a District 5 candidate who will talk about “PRECEDENTIAL ASPIRATIONS.” Prepare to be entertained.

As different political clubs around town become engaged in planning for the November election, there’s bound to be a lot of heat and light. Glen Coleman, president of Central Austin Democrats, notes that his club endorsed the $600 million rail bond proposal Wednesday night after considerable discussion. Coleman said, “We had a spirited discussion which I would characterize, frankly, as a mix of anti-rail heat and pro-rail light. Rail prevailed, but it was pretty close.”

Hays County Commissioners have proposed a tax rate of 0.4690 per $100 of assessed valuation for Fiscal Year 2015 and a county budget of $157 million, and have set hearing dates for public comment on both. The proposed tax rate is the same as the current tax year, but since more improved property is on the tax rolls, there would be about $3.6 million more in tax revenue collected. The budget includes $225,000 to complete implementation of a new Computer Aided Dispatch System, $150,000 to continue a new jail facility study, $525,000 for 15 new law enforcement vehicles, as well as funds for upgrading server storage, Wi-Fi for county buildings and video magistration. The funds are also marked for law enforcement personnel raises, a 4 percent cost-of-living raise for elected officials and a 4 percent merit/market adjustment pool for employee raises. Public hearings on the proposed tax rate are set for Sept. 2. and Sept. 9 at the Hays County Courthouse. A public hearing on the county’s proposed budget is set for Sept. 16 in the same location.

As part of its budgetary wish list given to the city’s Emerging Technology and Telecommunications Committee, Austin Public Library is hoping to get $3,000 for a bikemobile, a greener alternative to the commonly used bookmobile. The bikemobile would include a custom bike with a Wi-Fi hot spot that could both check out books and issue library cards, said Toni Lambert, the library’s assistant director for public services, to committee members Wednesday. The library is hoping for a total budgetary increase of $349,000, which would allow the library to hire a programmer to build mobile apps. But Lambert said that any one item within its requests would make a difference.

As part of the budget process, Transportation Director Robert Spillar mentioned some new parking meter districts could be on the horizon. These districts come at the behest of neighborhoods, who asked the city to consider their areas for meters to address parking congestion. Spillar said his department is currently considering meters in near-East Austin between Eighth and Sixth Streets (presumably along the fairly new and congested East Side bar district) and in an area of the Mueller development near the commercial zone. Spillar said his department responds to requests from neighborhoods and only determines whether they will get meters after conducting a study. Amazingly, the discussion circled back to the Butler Park Pitch and Putt, which has metered street parking along Lee Barton Drive. Spillar explained that these meters were not part of a parking meter district, but a response to people parking on that road long-term for work and use of street parking by nearby businesses.

Tuesday’s budget talks sparked a trip down memory lane for Mayor Lee Leffingwell, who chaired the 2007 Water Conservation Committee. During a discussion about individual water meters for multifamily housing, which was a recommendation from the committee that has yet to be implemented, Leffingwell noted that it might be interesting to see what recommendations had actually taken hold in the past seven years. “I would be curious. The city actually got a Conservationist of the Year Award from the American Waterworks Association for that program. I would be interested to see how much we have done, and if we have to give that award back,” he said. Austin Water Utility Assistant Director David Anders said that, as far as he knew, all of the “major” recommendations had been implemented, but Leffingwell recalled several, presumably “non-major” ones that had not. Those included water-free rinsing stations for dentists, carwash appliance transitions, and soil depth regulations.

At Tuesday’s budget work session, Assistant City Manager Sue Edwards said Austin Bergstrom International Airport is the third-fastest growing airport in the country and has surpassed 10 million passengers. Airport Executive Director Jim Smith laid out more good news for the city, with ABIA revenues climbing to a projected $122.8 million for 2015. Budget writers are projecting more money from terminal rentals and related fees, continued growth in the number of passengers and more revenue from concessions.

The Austin City Clerk’s office will conduct the much-anticipated 2014 Ballot Draw on Wednesday afternoon at City Hall. The drawing will determine the order of candidates’ names on the November ballot for the mayoral and City Council elections. City Clerk Jannette Goodall will do the honors by randomly drawing candidate names by district. Officials expect the drawing to attract more interest than past ballot draws, since it is being held for the first election under the city’s new 10-1 single-member district system. The event is set for 1 p.m. in the Boards and Commissions Room, but if you can’t make it, you can catch it live on ATXN (Cable Channel 6) and on the city website.

The department that receives and responds to complaints about nuisances and dangerous structures shall henceforth be known simply as the Austin Code Department. Department Director Carl Smart unveiled the new name at Tuesday’s budget briefing. The department is expecting to investigate 19,000 complaints this coming year. In 2013, the department investigated 17,779 complaints, and the projected number for 2014 is 18,500. In the coming year, Smart said, the department intends to establish a program for enforcing the universal recycling ordinance and will continue to expand the multifamily inspection and repeat offender programs.