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Jo Clifton is the Politics Editor for the Austin Monitor.
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Stories by Jo Clifton
Austin may get an economic development corp.
City Council appears to be moving cautiously toward creation of a local economic development corporation that would be totally separate from the city but governed by a Council-appointed board of directors. People unfamiliar with such entities may naturally wonder why…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • Jan 22, 2020
Taxpayers sue over lack of appraisal hearings
One hundred and thirty-eight Travis County property owners have sued the Travis Appraisal Review Board and the Travis Central Appraisal District for failing to provide timely hearings on the property owners’ protests of their 2019 appraisals. The two agencies are…
Courts • By Jo Clifton • Jan 8, 2020
Former city employee misused computer, email
Last January, members of the city auditor’s investigative team received an allegation that Richard Anderson, a division manager in the Development Services Department, was using his city computer to help him with his other job as an instructor for what…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Jan 7, 2020
After years of service, Slusher retires from city
After nine years on City Council, about 18 months at Austin Energy and more than 12 years as Austin Water’s assistant director for environmental affairs and conservation, Daryl Slusher hung up his city spurs last week, retiring on Dec. 31.…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Jan 6, 2020
Leslie Pool remembers high, low points of 2019
District 7 Council Member Leslie Pool is proud of the contributions she and her colleagues made toward helping the homeless in 2019, calling it “a pretty amazing year.” Still, she thinks some things could have been done better. For example,…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Dec 26, 2019
Tovo reflects on a year of challenge and success
As she looks back on 2019, Council Member Kathie Tovo can count some major victories, including passage of her expansive resolution directing enhancements to a lengthy stretch of downtown parkland leading up to Palm School, direction to begin creation of…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Dec 26, 2019
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Delia Garza recalls 2019 as a good year
The year 2019 has been a good year for Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza. The former firefighter pushed hard for new fire stations for her District 2 constituents, and she got a great birthday present on June 5 when the…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Dec 20, 2019
Friends remember Walter Timberlake
Friends and family shared reminiscences of longtime labor leader and dedicated Democrat Walter Timberlake Monday. Timberlake, 89, passed away Sunday after a long struggle with various health problems, including diabetes. Timberlake was a major force in the Texas Democratic party…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • Dec 17, 2019
Activists sue city over zoning code rewrite
Nineteen local property owners filed suit against the city of Austin Thursday, alleging that the city has deprived them of their right to protest under state law as the city adopts changes to zoning classifications throughout the city. City Council…
Courts • By Jo Clifton • Dec 13, 2019
Audit: Social services contract rules need update
The city auditor’s team studying the city’s social services contracting process found that even though Austin spends millions of dollars on social services contracts, the city “does not have an explicit definition of ‘social services’ and lacks a formal social…
Public Health • By Jo Clifton • Dec 12, 2019
Industrial lot wins mixed-use zoning on second reading
Although Council Member Pio Renteria pushed for more affordable housing on a Southeast Austin site that is currently industrial, he made the motion to approve the compromise offered by attorney David Hartman at last week’s Council meeting. Before the vote,…
Planning • By Jo Clifton • Dec 11, 2019
Lawyer says Garza should follow city finance rules
Within hours of signing up to run in the March Democratic primary for Travis County Attorney, Delia Garza had an opponent whose name will not be appearing on the 2020 ballot. Bill Aleshire, who retired from his job as county…