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Austin Monitor
Austin-area schools overwhelmingly reject hiring chaplains as counselors
State Rep. James Talarico, an Austin Democrat, praised school boards across Texas on Thursday for rejecting a Republican-led effort to let religious chaplains provide mental health services to students. “We are here to celebrate an important victory in the fight against Christian nationalism,” Talarico said during a news conference at...
As Council prepped public support, local Google workers learned of layoffs
Some private-sector workplace drama took place in real time during Thursday’s City Council meeting, with a group of local Google workers learning they’d lost their jobs while commenting on a proposed city resolution intended to support their cause. On the agenda Thursday was an item from Council Member...
Austin makes library cards free to people outside the city
People who live in unincorporated areas outside the city no longer have to pay $120 for an Austin Public Library card. In December, City Council voted to remove the fees after the Library Commission recommended the change. In their recommendation, commissioners said Austin Public Library is committed to equity, which includes removing barriers that prevent access to the library’s resources and services.
Council passes a resolution calling for greener procurement practices
After its recent approval of a measure to create an investment strategy for financing the city’s climate plans, City Council on Thursday passed a complementary item to establish more sustainable procurement practices. Like the previous resolution, this one, too, was brought by Council Member Ryan Alter to reinforce Austin’s...
Austin apartments boomed and rents went down. Now, some builders are dismantling the cranes.
Ben Schwertner won’t pay next month’s rent. The 28-year-old from Lubbock isn’t forgoing payment out of protest or because he can’t afford it. He’s not paying because he doesn’t have to. When Schwertner signed a lease for a one-bedroom apartment near the Austin airport...
Debate intensifies over code changes to Butler Hike and Bike trail
Austin’s Parks and Recreation Board drew a crowd this past Monday, gathering to debate a number of code amendments targeting the Ann and Roy Butler Hike and Bike Trail at Lady Bird Lake. The amendments, prompted by City Council direction last spring, would eliminate the existing 12-foot cap on...
Budget ‘headwinds’ could force tough Council decisions headed into summer
City Council members received an early look at some of the difficult budget decisions they could face this summer thanks to an expected decline in sales tax revenue and the end of federal funding related to the American Rescue Plan Act. The presentation from budget and finance staff at Tuesday’s work session was also a preview of the midyear budget review and five-year forecast that Council will receive in March.
TipSheet: Austin City Council, 2.29.24
Today, City Council will convene for its regular Thursday meeting. We’ve taken a look at the agenda and compiled our best guesses about what will be of interest below. The biggest item on this week’s agenda might be one of its most dull – the lightning-quick revamp of new Vertical Mixed Use rules after an earlier revamp was voided in court. For those who need catching up, our recap of the work session discussion from Tuesday might be a good place to start.
Council set to revisit zoning ordinance after court ruling
In the wake of last year’s court ruling invalidating the city’s Vertical Mixed Use 2 ordinance, a proposed remedy is now primed for a public hearing and consideration at Thursday’s City Council meeting. Council heard a preview of the revised land use ordinance at Tuesday’s work session....
Parks board blesses bathhouse renaming
More than 60 years ago, Joan Means Khabele jumped into Barton Springs Pool, launching a movement that led to its desegregation. Austin is now set to remember her legacy by renaming the Barton Springs Bathhouse after her. After being denied entrance due to the racist rules in place at the...
Council appears headed for pause on HealthSouth redevelopment plans
Members of City Council suggested Tuesday they’re inclined to hold off on selecting any redevelopment plans for the former HealthSouth site, in part because of the current real estate pipeline in the surrounding area and continued high interest rates that make new projects difficult for developers. Tuesday’s work session...
Groups sue Austin officials over plan to redevelop dairy plant site
Advocacy groups and a neighborhood association are suing city of Austin officials over what they allege is a plan illegally approved by City Council members to turn a dairy plant into more than a thousand new homes, offices and a hotel. At issue is roughly 21 acres of land along...
Urban Transportation Commission learns of roles in mobility restructuring
The city’s many mobility-related offices and departments were recently restructured, and the Urban Transportation Commission got an update earlier this month about how the change is expected to impact the many road projects planned across the area. Jim Dale, interim deputy director of the Transportation and Public Works Department,...
Travis County celebrates shift to telework
The Travis County Commissioners Court last week received a briefing on a new “Telework Dashboard,” a web tool that reports on the impacts of the county’s ambitious push to build a 75 percent remote workforce. The test drive quickly became a victory lap as commissioners celebrated their...
Electric Utility Commission offers climate-friendly recommendations for Austin Energy update
As the deadline approaches for an update to Austin Energy’s Resource, Generation, and Climate Protection Plan, the city’s Electric Utility Commission is joining the conversation, banding behind its own proposal for the coming decade. The proposal, formed in collaboration with the city’s Resource Management Commission and a number...
Social services, housing policies seen as national challenges in addressing homelessness
Leaders in the movement to provide housing for homeless people agree there are more resources from the private, philanthropic and public spheres to fund projects, but the challenges of managing many demands and community priorities continue to slow their progress. Last week, Urban Land Institute’s national Housing Opportunity Conference convened in Austin, with financial professionals and program managers from across the country meeting to share their experiences and solutions for a variety of housing issues.
New Cap Metro train station opens at Q2 Stadium as ‘quiet zones’ take effect
Editors note: Since this story published, Capital Metro’s operations chief, Andy Skabowski, said he was mistaken about when quiet zones would take effect. In an interview with KUT, Skabowski apologized for his statements and clarified the quiet zone would start in six to eight weeks. Q2 Stadium – home...
City nixes $2M McKinsey homelessness study, signaling poor cooperation among partners
City Manager Jesús Garza has canceled a potential $2 million contract with consulting giant McKinsey & Company to perform an analysis of efforts to address homelessness by the city, Travis County, Integral Care and Central Health. Garza released a memo Thursday morning that suggested there was a less-than-ideal chance...
Austin Justice Coalition slams city in State of Black Austin Address
Nearly 16 years ago, the city released its African American Quality of Life Final Report, which detailed 56 initiatives underway to improve the quality of life for Black residents. On Wednesday, the Austin Justice Coalition hosted a State of Black Austin Address at Stateside Theatre, excoriating what it described as the city’s lack of meaningful progress since then.
Downtown Commission hears SXSW safety preparedness report
No one likes to think about worst-case scenarios turning large public events into devastating havoc, but such is the business of planning for major festivals like South by Southwest. Lessons learned from past events – the 2020 pandemic, the 2014 vehicular tragedy and various crowd-control incidents in other years – have helped shape a system in which over-preparedness is a rule of thumb for organizers and first responders.
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Five days a week, we bring you the news from Austin City Hall, Travis County Commissioners Court, and multiple other civic entities that make key decisions for central Texas. We stick to the facts. We aim to be fair. When we err, we correct it fast.
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