Mayor Lee Leffingwell and three City Council incumbents each seemed to be winning handily as early votes were counted tonight. Mayoral opponent Brigid Shea garnered 34 percent of the early vote and Leffingwell’s third opponent, Clay Dafoe, got 11 percent.   Leffingwell and…

Austin voters evidently looked around and decided that life was still pretty good in their city, giving the Mayor and three incumbent Council members solid victories in Saturday’s election.   Mayor Lee Leffingwell, who had the toughest fight against former…

Citing a looming deadline for ordering voting equipment for a planned May Council election, Council members Laura Morrison and Bill Spelman have posted the item for action on today’s work session agenda. Council voted 4-3 on Sept. 22 to go…

Council Member Mike Martinez, a former firefighter and union leader, joined the chorus of criticism of Fire Chief Rhoda Mae Kerr Wednesday, saying she should have returned early from her vacation to lead her department during the devastating Labor Day…

There was more than enough disorganization to go around for the Local Organizing Committee of the Circuit of the Americas Monday as its first public meeting was cancelled due to lack of public notice.   As attorney David Armbrust explained…

A month ago, it was hard to see how incumbent Council Member Randi Shade could overcome her opponent, Kathie Tovo, in the race to be decided finally this Saturday. Although Shade had money, many political pundits were saying privately—and some…

Council Member Randi Shade has filed an ethics complaint against her Place 3 challenger Kathie Tovo, alleging that Tovo violated the city’s Fair Campaign Ordinance. The city’s Ethics Review Commission has called a special meeting for Friday afternoon to consider…

On Friday, as he gives his State of the City address, Mayor Lee Leffingwell will formally endorse preparations for what he says “could be the most pivotal election in a generation” in November 2012.   If Leffingwell can convince a…

City Clerk Shirley Gentry said Thursday the city has 80 boxes of records from the offices of former Mayor Will Wynn and former Council Member Brewster McCracken. Somewhere within those 80 boxes there might be records County Attorney David Escamilla…

Over the course of the 30 years that this writer has been watching Austin city politics, there has been no Council that failed to meet together in groups of two or three at various times to discuss their opinions and…

As media outlets reported Monday that Mayor Lee Leffingwell plans to submit the question of single-member districts to voters once again, this time in 2012, at least two unaffiliated groups jumped on the bandwagon.   The story, initially reported in…

After hearing from numerous opponents of Water Treatment Plant 4, Council voted 4-3 late Thursday night to allow Austin Water Utility to use part of the Bull Creek Greenbelt for a permanent retrieval shaft, subterranean tunnel and staging area for…

Under pressure from City Manager Marc Ott over legal advice related to the release of a report on the shooting death of Nathaniel Sanders, City Attorney David Smith announced his decision to retire on Wednesday. Smith, who became City Attorney…

The criminals who caused a huge sewage spill over the Edwards Aquifer near Circle C this weekend may have had even bigger plans. In addition to prying off a manhole cover and stuffing enough debris into the 15-inch line to…