Reyne Telles, media manager for the city’s Public Information Office, has accepted the position of executive director for the Department of Communications and Community Engagement with the Austin Independent School District. Telles is a seven-year veteran at the city and most recently has served as director of communications for Mayor Lee Leffingwell. “I am thankful for the opportunity, excited and know that the challenges will be great,” he told the Monitor on Wednesday. City Manager Marc Ott said, “I wish Reyne the best of luck, thank him for his nearly seven years of service to the City of Austin and look forward to working collaboratively with him in his new role.” Telles has a Bachelor of Science in communication from Eastern New Mexico University and is currently pursuing a master’s degree from the University of Texas LBJ School of Public Affairs. Telles will start with AISD on Sept. 29.

Friends of Amy Everhart, who has worked as Mayor Lee Leffingwell’s policy director for the past five years, gathered at the mayor’s office Tuesday night for a farewell celebration. Everhart is starting her new job next week as director of government relations for Hahn Public Communications. “I will probably be working on a lot of the issues that I’ve been working on here: transportation, water, energy, that kind of thing,” Everhart said. “It’s been five years, and this has been my favorite job so far.” Everhart explained that she entered city politics by running the successful 2005 campaign of Jennifer Kim, and then worked in Kim’s office for a few months. In 2006, she managed the successful campaign of Mike Martinez. “After that I just did campaigns for a few years,” she said. Everhart worked for both the ACLU and the Sierra Club before joining Leffingwell’s mayoral campaign in 2009. She said her new position will bring her to City Hall frequently, so she won’t lose track of many of the people she has worked with. Leffingwell said he was happy for her but also described her departure as “bittersweet.” He said he would not hire anyone to take over as policy director because, with him having only four months left in office, the job would be “not much of a career opportunity.”

Austin Bergstrom International Airport passed a major milestone in July, logging a record one million passengers traveling through the Barbara Jordan Terminal that month. The airport has experienced passenger growth for 54 of the last 55 months, since January 2010. It is on track in 2014 to pass its 2013 record of 10 million passengers. Part of the reason for the increase has been the addition of flights at the airport. In just the past few weeks, Virgin America announced it is adding a new nonstop flight to San Francisco, Delta is adding a new nonstop to Los Angeles International (LAX),  American is also adding a flight to LAX, and Southwest is planning nonstop service to Cancun, Mexico. In recent months, several new airlines have begun flying into ABIA, including British Airways, Aeromar and Allegiant Air.

The Austin Parks and Recreation Board heard a presentation Tuesday evening on revisions made to the proposed Special Events Ordinance. Under the revisions, neighborhood block parties would not fall under the ordinance. Instead, block parties would require a separate permitting process that would be easier to get than a permit under the Special Events Ordinance. Most of the other revisions discussed  involved definition changes. The Parks and Recreation Board had little discussion on the item.

Travis County Commissioners will consider action today on an agreement that would bring funding to the county for continued buyouts of flood prone homes in the Timber Creek neighborhood. County voters approved a $3.9 million bond to act as a county match for a $10 million federal buyout program in 2005. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced in early 2014 that it would fund $12 million more during the fiscal year toward the project. The county has been buying properties in the Timber Creek area since 2007 and has exhausted its county match. If commissioners vote to enter into the agreement, the county would be reimbursed for any buyout expenses past the $3.9 million match.

Central Health, Travis County’s health care district, will bring its proposed Fiscal Year 2015 budget of $270.8 million to Commissioners Court today. The district will also present its proposed 12.64-cent tax rate, which is lower than last year’s 12.9- cent rate. Central Health’s Board of Managers is in charge of adopting a budget each year, but the county is responsible for approving its tax rate. Central Health works to provide health care to low-income Travis County residents and operates the University Medical Center-Brackenridge Hospital and Trauma Center.

Council members have a few items to chew on today during their work session ahead of Thursday’s Council meeting. That includes items from Council Members Kathie Tovo, Laura Morrison and Mayor Pro Tem Sheryl Cole, who are sponsoring a resolution asking city management to bring back an ordinance by Dec. 1 that would establish a small homestead exemption. That exemption, according to the resolution, would result in “not more than a $5,000 tax exemption” for local homeowners. Some members of the Council may point out that such a tiny exemption might save the average taxpayer about $25 a year but cost the city perhaps as much as $3 million. It seems like an item made for the political season.

Kerry O’Connor, the city’s new innovation officer, is seeking $180,500 to provide “end to end innovation management services.” According to the backup material for this item, the professional services contract with BrightIdea Inc. of San Francisco would help the chief innovation officer to “mobilize energy, create momentum and drive toward viable ideas and projects to further the city’s goal of being the Best Managed and Most Livable City.” The software package, aptly named Innovation Suite, is touted as the latest software package for “innovation administrators and idea contributors.”

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.