Troxclair backs Zim’s Code directive

City Council Member Ellen Troxclair has signed on as a co-sponsor to Council Member Don Zimmerman’s new resolution that would force the Code Compliance Department to pay a prevailing citizen when the department loses a case in Municipal Court. Zimmerman posted a resolution on the Council bulletin board last week that would direct the city manager to take money out of the Code Compliance Department budget to pay attorney’s fees for Austinites like Matthew Palmer, who was found not guilty by a Municipal Court jury. The department took Palmer to court over a fence he put around his recreational vehicle. Zimmerman found no co-sponsors for last week’s resolution. However, Troxclair signed on to the new proposal. They need two more co-sponsors to get the item on the Council agenda. Palmer continues to post stories on his Facebook page, That G*****n Fence, about other people who have had run-ins with the department.