Stories by Jo Clifton
City's vaccination task gets harder
Interim Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott has been advising City Council members and Travis County commissioners that there was more demand than the city had available vaccine for all the Travis County residents who want to be protected…
Public Health • By Jo Clifton • Apr 14, 2021
Neighbors nix liquor store at south-side mini mart
Last December, the Galindo Neighborhood Association told the city it had no objection to a zoning change that would allow for the development of a liquor store at the Sunrise Mini Mart at 913-915 W. Oltorf St. By March, opinions…
Zoning • By Jo Clifton • Apr 13, 2021
Council barely OKs eminent domain for U.S. 290 expansion
With just six members voting in the affirmative last Thursday, City Council authorized staff to move forward with eminent domain proceedings to purchase new right of way in order to move wastewater lines that are in the path of the…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Apr 12, 2021
Neighbors tell ACC board: No concrete plant here
Neighbors of Austin Community College’s Pinnacle campus in Oak Hill begged the ACC Board of Trustees to reverse its apparent decision to allow a Texas Department of Transportation contractor to operate a concrete batch plant on the campus. About 20 neighbors…
Planning • By Jo Clifton • Apr 8, 2021
Mayor, City Council express opposition to state legislation
Mayor Steve Adler and several City Council members expressed their frustration with the Legislature at Tuesday’s work session, after Intergovernmental Relations Officer Brie Franco described legislation aimed at curbing Austin’s authority to govern itself. Among Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s announced…
Texas State Legislature • By Jo Clifton • Apr 7, 2021
Council stresses need for cooperation in forming strategic plan for homelessness
After hearing the results of a follow-up audit related to the city’s efforts to help the homeless, Mayor Steve Adler and Council Member Leslie Pool both stressed the need for other segments of the community to get involved in resolving…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Apr 6, 2021
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Ballot item backers report $100K in donations
Austinites for Progressive Reform, the group that’s sponsoring propositions D, E, F, G and H on the May 1 ballot, has reported raising more than $100,000 since the beginning of the year to fund its campaigns. The group has spent…
Elections • By Jo Clifton • Apr 2, 2021
Mayors, environmental groups oppose strong-mayor plan
Three former Austin mayors and six local environmental organizations have announced their opposition to Proposition F, the charter amendment that would change Austin’s Council-manager form of government to a system that would eliminate the city manager and give the mayor the…
Bonds & Propositions • By Jo Clifton • Apr 1, 2021
Should mayoral election be moved to presidential years?
When voters cast their votes on the May 1 ballot, they will have a chance to weigh in on the question of whether Austin’s mayor should be elected in November of presidential election years, instead of on a cycle that…
Bonds & Propositions • By Jo Clifton • Apr 1, 2021
Environmentalists, city say sewage will harm Barton Creek
Houston developer Stephen Cleveland has requested a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to dump partially treated sewage into Long Branch, a tributary of Barton Creek. Although TCEQ has issued a draft permit, environmental organizations and the city…
Environment • By Jo Clifton • Mar 31, 2021
Council OKs $22 million in low-income housing bonds
After hearing complaints Thursday from several of her constituents, District 2 City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes announced during Council’s meeting as the board of the Austin Housing Finance Corporation that she would vote against bond funding for a 179-unit, low-income,…
Housing • By Jo Clifton • Mar 26, 2021
Uproar over update of plumbing, mechanical codes
Every four years, the city’s Development Services and Austin Code departments go through a process of updating their technical codes related to plumbing, heating and air-conditioning design, installation and inspection. And with those updates comes a renewal of the battle…
