Stories by Jo Clifton
Council OKs amended emergency mutual aid pact
Council gave final approval Thursday to a mutual automatic aid agreement designed to ensure that 19 fire and rescue departments throughout Travis and Williamson counties will assist each other in far-flung parts of Austin and the included counties. The city…
Fire • By Jo Clifton • Dec 6, 2019
Trying to get apartment, employee committed fraud
An Austin Public Health employee misused her city computer, fax machines and the department’s patient records in an attempt to rent an apartment, according to an investigative report from the Office of the City Auditor. The report states that Johnetta…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Dec 5, 2019
AFD, union still at odds over interlocal agreement
Bob Nicks, president of the Austin Firefighters Association, and Austin Fire Chief Joel Baker are locked in a battle over whether the city should sign on to a new mutual aid agreement with emergency services districts in both Travis and…
Fire • By Jo Clifton • Dec 4, 2019
South Austin zoning could be a game-changer
“This is going to be a game-changer for South Austin,” Council Member Pio Renteria told his colleagues, as they voted to allow a developer to turn an industrial site near the intersection of Interstate 35 and Ben White Boulevard into…
Zoning • By Jo Clifton • Dec 3, 2019
Neighbors win Open Meetings suit again
Once again, the city of Austin finds itself on the losing end of a legal battle over public information. Last week, the 14th Court of Appeals sided with the Lake Austin Collective, which sued the city for failing to give…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Dec 2, 2019
Texas Gas Service proposes billing changes
Texas Gas Service, which serves 260,000 customers in Central Texas, including 220,000 within Austin’s city limits, is proposing a new rate design that will give customers new options for how their bills will be calculated. Larry Graham, manager of community…
Energy • By Jo Clifton • Nov 21, 2019
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Council argues over adopting zoning map
City Council still has at least two more work sessions and a public hearing in which to understand and hash out differences of opinion about the new Land Development Code before Dec. 9, the first of three readings to adopt…
Land Development Code • By Jo Clifton • Nov 19, 2019
New worries arise over tax increment financing
Council members approved a resolution Thursday directing the city manager to bring them a plan for financing two Capital Metro Red Line rail stations in north Austin, one at McKalla Place and one at the new Broadmoor development. However, several…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Nov 15, 2019
Garza not running for reelection, others eye seat
Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza, who represents District 2 on City Council, announced Tuesday that she would not be seeking reelection in 2020. The announcement is Garza’s next step in her likely run for Travis County Attorney. As the deadline…
Elections • By Jo Clifton • Nov 13, 2019
Campaign contribution limits going up
While candidates for state and federal offices have been gearing up to run in the March 2020 primary, likely City Council candidates have also been considering whether to run in next November’s election. In fact, candidates for Council have been…
Elections • By Jo Clifton • Nov 12, 2019
Fighting zebra mussels to be costly
Zebra mussels, the tiny mollusks that have infested lakes from the Great Lakes to Lake Travis, have now proliferated in Lake Austin. “They’re on the docks and on the piers in the millions, maybe the billions,” according to Greg Meszaros,…
Water • By Jo Clifton • Nov 8, 2019
Voters overwhelmingly reject Proposition A
Updated: 10:21 p.m: Austin voters on Tuesday resoundingly rejected city Proposition A. With the final tally complete, more than 64 percent of those voting cast ballots against the proposition, which began as a reaction to the city’s decision to lease…
