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City Hall
Council eyes September for EDC creation, with S. Congress and music venues as priorities
City Council is expected to vote next month to approve the legal documents that would create an economic development corporation, or EDC, that many members see as a remedy for threatened arts spaces, housing for the homeless and other real…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 31, 2020
Austin to become a better 'laboratory' for UT research under interlocal agreement
While City Council members and city departments have long sought help from the University of Texas to research challenges facing the city like gentrification or the “downtown puzzle,” there has never been a formal process to coordinate those efforts –…
City Council • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 28, 2020
Central Health proposes raising taxes to fund budget
Central Health has been a critical resource for many during the course of the pandemic; now, the public health authority is looking to accomplish more for its patients in the upcoming year. To provide additional health care options for a…
Budget • By Jessi Devenyns • Aug 28, 2020
Buses will take Hurricane Laura evacuees back home Friday, Austin says
Some Hurricane Laura evacuees who came to the Austin area can return home, Central Texas officials said just after 4 p.m. Thursday. Many evacuees in the area came from Galveston, which is no longer under a mandatory evacuation order. Evacuation…
Austin • By Marisa Charpentier, KUT • Aug 28, 2020
Human Rights Commission calls for democratically elected police chief
On Monday, the Human Rights Commission agreed that City Council should change city ordinance to allow Austin to democratically elect its police chief. Under the proposal, which was put together by commissioners Nathan White, Kristian Caballero and Alicia Weigel, Austin…
City Charter • By Nina Hernandez • Aug 27, 2020
City opens process for using $12M approved to preserve creative spaces
The city has launched the process of finding properties and organizations that could be matched in the next 12 months for public-private partnerships focused on preserving creative spaces around the city. The newly released request for information is the first step…
City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 27, 2020
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Community Development Commission to study new uses for police funding
The Community Development Commission has formed a working group to recommend how City Council should make reductions to the Austin Police Department budget, and may move to sign to recent resolutions from three other commissions in support of the budget…
Budget • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 26, 2020
Audit outlines challenges for Millennium Youth Complex
The Office of the City Auditor has found numerous problems at the Millennium Youth Entertainment Complex in East Austin, starting with the city’s failure to effectively manage and monitor its agreements with the Austin Rosewood Community Development Corporation. The duties…
City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Aug 25, 2020
Ethics commission discusses transparency in unbroadcast meeting
As Covid-19 has pushed city meetings online, questions about public participation have taken center stage, with community members and commissioners alike struggling with cumbersome web platforms and long waiting times on phone lines. The topic came before the Ethics Review Commission…
City Hall • By Jessi Devenyns • Aug 24, 2020
Study weighs market impact of convention center expansion, predicts rebound from Covid-19
A new market analysis finds that the proposed expansion of the Austin Convention Center would bring more than 1,700 jobs to the city and add $306 million in annual economic impact from the local events and tourism industry. The market viability study…
Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 20, 2020
Gov. Abbott proposes freezing property tax revenue in cities that cut police funding
In the hopes of discouraging cities from reducing money spent on police, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday he and other state leaders support the passage of a bill halting a property tax revenue increase for any Texas city that cuts…