Council rejects meeting to consider adding ballot measure

After a majority of Council members told City Attorney Anne Morgan they did not believe a special called meeting on Friday night was necessary, Morgan advised Mayor Steve Adler that the mayor would not have a quorum to consider the…

Ethics complaint against Voices of Austin will get final hearing

A complaint that nonprofit Voices of Austin violated city code by campaigning against Proposition A will move to a final hearing, the Ethics Review Commission decided. The preliminary hearing at Wednesday’s meeting was a redo of the first preliminary hearing,…

City opens up grants to help legacy businesses hit hard by Covid-19

A new city program set to go live next week will give long-running hospitality businesses throughout the city another possible source of Covid-19 relief. The first round of the Legacy Business Relief Grant, which was designed to help restaurants, bars,…

Capital Metro backs Smart Trips extension

On Wednesday, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority Board of Directors unanimously recommended approval of a third renewal of Smart Trips, an outreach program designed to educate Austinites about the city’s expanding transit options. A collaboration between Capital Metro and the…

Council to consider proposition fix at Friday night meeting

City Council is scheduled to meet once again this Friday night to consider one more possible ordinance to place on the May 1 ballot. On Tuesday night, after a long day of making decisions about how to word eight proposed…

Planning commissioners: We’re not building enough affordable housing

Planning commissioners expressed concern this week about the lack of progress made toward the city’s affordable housing production goals. The discussion followed a presentation of the recently released Strategic Housing Blueprint Scorecard, which shows how much affordable housing has been…

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Commissioners Court endorses ESD-17 for May ballot

The Commissioners Court held a public hearing Tuesday on a contentious ballot initiative to create a new emergency services district overlay. After hearing from proponents and opponents alike, ultimately the commissioners unanimously endorsed the referendum, which will appear on ballots…

Austin Public Health begins setting up appointments for people to get second dose of Covid-19 vaccine

Austin Public Health received its first shipment of second doses of the Covid-19 vaccine on Tuesday and is now reaching out to schedule appointments with people who are due for their next shot. APH began receiving 12,000 doses a week…

Camping ban, strong-mayor proposal set for May 1 ballot

Austin voters who go to the polls on May 1 will have no candidates to vote for. Instead, they will have numerous questions to answer about how Austin’s government should be run and whether to reinstate the ban on camping, sitting…

CAMPO approves process to refund transit projects

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Policy Board voted unanimously Monday to approve a prioritization process to refund deferred projects using Surface Transportation Block Grant funds, also known as Category 7. Some plans were postponed in June so that…

Parks department needs 600 lifeguards by May

In anticipation of the upcoming swim season, Parks and Recreation Department Director Kimberly McNeeley submitted a memorandum to City Council on Jan. 22 that contained an update on maintenance and staffing in the city’s aquatics department. The memo states that the…

By opposing North Austin rezoning, Kelly sets tone for future zoning cases

At last week’s City Council meeting, new member Mackenzie Kelly offered a first glimpse of her approach to zoning cases: respect for neighborhood opposition. Kelly cast the lone dissenting vote in a request to allow multifamily housing on a North…