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City Council
Council considers timeline, partnerships ahead of vote on $1.2B contracts for convention center
City Council appears ready to move ahead with two major contracts that will officially kick off the process of demolishing and reconstructing the Austin Convention Center. On Thursday, contracts totaling nearly $1.27 billion could confirm LMN/Page as the design and…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Oct 18, 2023
Austin City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison takes temporary leave to address mental health
Austin City Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison will temporarily step away from her position to address her mental health, she announced Monday. “This year has been extremely challenging for me,” she said. “I live with depression and anxiety. Thankfully these issues can…
City Council • By Luz Moreno-Lozano, KUT • Sep 26, 2023
City, NXP to help fund child care through Chapter 380 agreement
City Council heard from more than a dozen people talking about the city’s proposed Chapter 380 agreement with NXP Semiconductors at Thursday’s meeting. Almost every one of them praised the company, which has been in Austin since 1974, operating two…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Sep 15, 2023
Council hears details of proposed $1M incentive package for NXP Semiconductors
A Dutch semiconductor manufacturer with two factories in Austin has applied to receive the city’s first major economic incentive package since 2017. City Council heard details at Tuesday’s work session about the proposed agreement with NXP Semiconductors N.V., which is…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 13, 2023
Hotels adjust proposed new tax, giving city steady funds for homeless services
The city’s major hoteliers have agreed to adjust the terms of a proposed new tax that will provide the city consistent money to fund homelessness services even while tourism drops off during the forthcoming reconstruction of the Austin Convention Center.…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Sep 12, 2023
Judge declares city campaign contribution blackout period unconstitutional
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman on Wednesday declared an Austin regulation on campaign fundraising unconstitutional. The regulation prohibits candidates for City Council seats from seeking or accepting campaign contributions more than a year before an election. Pitman issued his ruling…
Austin • By Jo Clifton • Sep 1, 2023
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Council approves push to make air conditioning a requirement in Austin
This summer, a stretch of hot, dry weather in Austin has tested everyone’s patience. The record-high heat has also posed a danger to those not lucky enough to feel the relief of air conditioning. A new City Council resolution looks…
City Council • By Elizabeth Pagano • Sep 1, 2023
TipSheet: City Council, 8.31.23
Thursday’s City Council agenda has a variety of things going on – a tour of city issues, if you will. We’ve done our best to pick the highlights from the agenda but, as always, the entire thing is available online for…
City Council • By Elizabeth Pagano • Aug 31, 2023
Council delays transfer of 37 civilian position to APD, citing transparency concerns
Before City Council approved the Fiscal Year 2023-24 budget, which includes record-high police funding, District 4 Council Member Chito Vela proposed an amendment delaying the transfer of 37 full-time civilian staff positions to the Austin Police Department, citing a need…
Budget • By Emma Freer • Aug 22, 2023
Leslie Pool takes question of water extension requests off Council agenda
City Council Member Leslie Pool notified her colleagues that she has withdrawn her request that the group consider a controversial item related to the extension of water and wastewater service in the city’s Drinking Water Protection Zone and outside the…
City Council • By Jo Clifton • Aug 18, 2023
City Council puts controversial Zilker Park Vision Plan on hold
City Council will not move forward this month with a controversial plan to revamp Zilker Park, Mayor Kirk Watson said Monday. The announcement comes after Council members Paige Ellis, Ryan Alter and Zo Qadri released a joint statement saying that…
City Council • By Luz Moreno-Lozano, KUT • Aug 8, 2023
Equity Action slams budget proposal as ‘throwback to the ’90s’
Some community advocates are decrying interim City Manager Jesús Garza’s budget proposal as a “throwback to the ’90s.” Garza released his proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2023-24 in July. The $5.5 billion budget represents what Garza calls a “Back to…
