No special exceptions for East Austin special exception

Angry neighbors were no match for strange coincidences at the Board of Adjustment earlier this month. Nanette DiNunzio was seeking a special exception that would allow her to retain her garage, which – because it is in the 5-foot setback…

Task force to investigate HOT tax spending

City Council will spend the coming weeks looking into whether Austin’s Hotel Occupancy Tax (or HOT tax) should continue to be used only for tourism, or if there are better uses for the rapidly growing tax revenue. At their meeting…

Travis County considers next year's budget

Travis County is ever closer to a $1 billion budget. Last Thursday, the Commissioners Court learned during its annual budget work session that staff is preparing a $976.3 million forecast for Fiscal Year 2016-17. That’s a $25 million increase over…

AISD has high hopes for restructured Special Ed Department

The Austin Independent School District board of trustees received an update at last week’s meeting on the recent restructuring of the Special Education Department. Board members heard from the new executive director of special education, Jean Bahney, about initiatives that…

Reporter's Notebook: Zimmerman and more Zimmerman

The dull bits cut out… After the frenetic fun of the It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World-style campaign season of 2014, it’s forgivable to survey 2016 and presume that electoral politics in Austin have gone into extended hibernation. Luckily,…

Council OKs lobby ordinance on first reading

After giving notice to those interested in City Council Member Leslie Pool’s revised lobby registration ordinance Thursday morning that he would like to postpone the public hearing on the matter, Mayor Steve Adler called up the ordinance item and dealt…

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Mobility bond limps out of the gate toward November

Mayor Steve Adler’s gambit to fast-track a $720 million transportation bond proposal onto the November ballot succeeded on Thursday despite some last-minute flak from several City Council members. The final drafts of both the ordinance ordering the election and the…

AISD HUB policy gets final vetting

The Austin Independent School District board of trustees took a final look this week at the district’s proposed new historically underutilized business program, which is tentatively set to be implemented in mid-November. Contrary to past meetings, the Monday workshop meeting…

East Austin neighborhood fights church over redevelopment plan

It was meant to be a practical plan for a local church to get out of debt. But when St. James Missionary Baptist Church requested that part of its property be rezoned in order to build new condominiums, it tapped…

Council looking at help for displaced tenants

City Council will consider an ordinance today affecting tenants who are forced to move out of properties slated for demolition or redevelopment. Under the proposed ordinance, an owner of a multifamily complex with five or more units would have to…

Grassroots unrest simmers over mobility bond

Mayor Steve Adler’s titanic $720 million transportation bond proposal is poised for a cakewalk to third-reading approval on Thursday, three days ahead of the state-mandated deadline to set the November ballot. And while it seems that most of the big…

Could the mayor's 'Go Big' bond go bigger?

Mayor Steve Adler has christened the $720 million transportation bond as the “Go Big Corridor Plan,” which prompts the question: Is this really that big? Seattle recently placed on a ballot a $54 billion transportation bond. Still, judging by other…