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Stories by Jack Craver

Housing advocates want a bigger housing bond

With Austin facing an affordable housing crisis, city leaders are hoping that taxpayers will OK tens of millions of dollars to fund the construction of low-cost apartments and houses as well as repairs to homes for Austin’s low-income and working-class…

Council looks to Waller Creek TIF for homeless funds

City Council is looking to tax increment financing, a tool designed to address urban blight, as a way to address homelessness in downtown Austin. Council is considering extending the life of the Waller Creek Tax Increment Financing Reinvestment Zone for…

Council considers new affordable housing app

As Austin faces a dire shortage of housing for its poor and working-class population, City Council is looking for every way to get developers to build units that rent at well below market rate. In many cases, developers offer to…

Council debates best use of HOT dollars

Some City Council members are clearly more convinced of the role that the Austin Convention Center plays in driving the city’s tourism industry and economy than others. The day after several Council members signaled support for a proposal by Council…

Council approves ambitious renewable energy goals

City Council overwhelmingly approved a plan Thursday that sets big goals for Austin Energy, the municipally owned electric utility, to reduce its reliance on fossil fuels over the next decade. The update to the Austin Energy Resource, Generation and Climate…

Council to tackle two displacement resolutions today

While Mayor Steve Adler is touting a new task force on gentrification as a fresh opportunity to come up with ideas to address economic displacement, some of his City Council colleagues stress that it will only be a worthwhile effort…

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City employees likely to see raise in 2018

Good news for city employees: City staff wants to give them a raise, and some members of City Council are interested in pushing for an even bigger pay hike. On Wednesday, the city’s human resources director told Council members that…

Report shows compensation for nonprofit leaders

A report provided by city staff sheds light on how much top executives of Austin nonprofits get paid. The document was prepared in response to a budget question submitted by Council Member Ora Houston, who wanted to know how much…

Environmentalists swarm City Hall in push for carbon-free electricity

In what was clearly the largest turnout for a City Council meeting yet this year, hundreds of activists showed up at City Hall Thursday night to speak out on Austin Energy’s proposed update to its resource plan. Following a rally…

Ethics panel reluctantly approves final hearing for former police monitor

The city’s Ethics Review Commission voted Wednesday to move to a final hearing over whether former police monitor Margo Frasier violated city ordinance by using her city computer for activity related to a private consulting business she ran. The commission…

Unhappy with pools plan, Council members push for a new task force

Unsatisfied with an Aquatic Master Plan that they say endangers many of Austin’s most beloved pools, some City Council members are pushing for a new pools task force to explore ways the city could raise more money to preserve its…

Council to consider changes for waste disposal contracts

A series of recommendations made by a City Council working group seeks to address concerns from environmentalists and private waste haulers about how the city chooses the companies it pays to pick up and dispose of waste generated by its…

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