Stories by Jo Clifton
Tuesday, July 24, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Elections
Fourth candidate enters race for District 8
Frank Ward, 36, threw his hat in the ring for the District 8 City Council seat on Monday with the endorsement of the current occupant of that seat, Council Member Ellen Troxclair. Troxclair, the only Republican on the dais, recently…
Monday, July 23, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Land Development Code
CodeNEXT testing: What to look for
Depending on who you ask, the testing of CodeNEXT, the rewrite of the city’s Land Development Code, is either an important exercise in moving the city toward more efficient construction or just an obscure game being played at City Hall.Members…
Monday, July 23, 2018 by Jo Clifton
City Hall
Nuckols takes parting shot
Assistant County Attorney Tom Nuckols has stepped down from the Planning Commission, but in a statement provided to the Austin Monitor, he made it clear that he was not leaving the commission because Attorney General Ken Paxton sued him.A staunch…
Thursday, July 19, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Zoning
CM Houston helps neighbors of Ferguson Crossing
City Council gave final approval to a zoning change that will allow a new warehouse complex in far-Northeast Austin and approved a conditional overlay to accommodate neighbors who live just across the street from the property but outside the city.Council…
Tuesday, July 17, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Elections
Mayor’s race outraises all others
Mayor Steve Adler and his chief opponent, former Council Member Laura Morrison, by far outraised the candidates in all the other races, as shown by the campaign finance reports filed on Monday.Of course, the mayor’s race is traditionally the most…
Thursday, July 12, 2018 by Jo Clifton
City Council
Troxclair decides not to seek re-election
Council Member Ellen Troxclair, the lone conservative on City Council, announced Wednesday that she would not be seeking re-election to her District 8 seat. Troxclair was elected as part of the first group of Council members elected from districts, and…
Tuesday, July 10, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Development
Council OKs Koenig flood plain variance
Despite a recommendation from the city’s flood plain engineers that they deny the variances, City Council members voted 6-4 at their last meeting to grant variances allowing construction of an apartment complex, partially within the 25-year flood plain and partially…
Friday, July 6, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Courts
Groups criticize Paxton for suing commissioners
The people who urged Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to file suit to remove eight members of the Austin Planning Commission on Monday have nothing but praise for Paxton; however, other more business-oriented groups are not pleased with the legal…
Wednesday, July 4, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Courts
Paxton sues eight Planning commissioners
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday received approval from a Travis County district judge to move forward with a lawsuit seeking to remove eight of 13 members of Austin’s Planning Commission. Paxton did so at the urging of opponents…
Tuesday, July 3, 2018 by Jo Clifton
City Hall
Audit shows employee wasted time, resources
When the Austin Code Department found evidence in late 2017 that one of its inspectors was using his city car to visit relatives outside the city and was not performing the inspections required by his job, the department referred the…
Monday, July 2, 2018 by Jo Clifton
City Hall
Visit Austin audit revised
The City Council Audit and Finance Committee accepted the results of an audit of the contract between the city and Visit Austin at last week’s meeting. The audit did not find any significant contract compliance issues with Visit Austin, which…
Friday, June 29, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Transportation
Austin hopes deregulation will save taxi companies
Austin’s City Council on Thursday approved a radical change in the city’s taxicab regulations that the Transportation Department drew up in the hopes of saving the industry.The most important of the changes is the deregulation of fares. That means each…
Wednesday, June 27, 2018 by Jo Clifton
City Council
City likely to help Cap Metro fund studies
City Council appears poised to move forward Thursday with approval of an amendment to its agreement with the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority that will help the agency fund preliminary engineering work and environmental analysis on what sorts of projects would…
Tuesday, June 26, 2018 by Jo Clifton
City Hall
Committee wants more responses from chief
The City Council Audit and Finance Committee accepted an audit from the Office of the City Auditor Monday that faulted the city’s processes in dealing with recommendations from the Citizen Review Panel to the chief of police. All the members…
Friday, June 22, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Police
Audit: Citizen oversight of APD flawed
Although the city’s Citizen Review Panel drafted numerous memos to the chief of police in an attempt to bring about change at the Austin Police Department, its efforts “did not create substantive change” within APD, according to a draft audit…
Thursday, June 21, 2018 by Jo Clifton
City Council
Tovo seeks to keep rowing club at boathouse
Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo wants to help the nonprofit Austin Rowing Club continue operating the city-owned Waller Creek Boathouse on Lady Bird Lake by instructing staff to extend the club’s contract rather than offer the boathouse for competitive bidding.Tovo…
Tuesday, June 19, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Zoning
Council gives final OK to 4 East project
Utilizing both the density bonus program within the Plaza Saltillo Transit-Oriented Development and the CURE density bonus program, developer Tocayo Investments GP LLC and CC Third and Comal LP won the right to develop six properties on East Fourth Street…
Monday, June 18, 2018 by Jo Clifton
Police
Divided Council rejects more pay for police
With only five members voting in favor of the motion, City Council rejected reinstatement of extra pay for certain police officers Thursday night, dashing the hopes of officers who work night shifts, for example. Passage of any ordinance requires six…
Friday, June 15, 2018 by Jo Clifton
City Council
Council raises homestead exemption to 10%
On a vote of 7-4, Council on Thursday approved raising the homestead exemption from the current rate of 8 percent to 10 percent for the coming year.The resolution’s sponsors included Council members Ellen Troxclair, Leslie Pool, Ann Kitchen and Ora…
