The embattled Violet Crown Amphitheater – a planned development including condos and offices off Highway 71 in Southwest Austin that was successfully beaten down in 2022 by angry neighbors – looks to be back, now under a new name: White Rocks Austin. A few years ago, Violet Crown was dubbed “Austin’s answer to Red Rocks” […]
In Fact
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Austin Oaks: The numbers, the fight
In this column, the Austin Monitor will look past our normal, daily coverage in an attempt to reflect on how some of the bigger issues facing Austin are currently playing out at City Hall and beyond. By the time City Council got around to discussing what to actually approve for the Austin Oaks planned unit […]
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Marc Ott leaves Austin on a high note
Marc Ott, the city’s first African-American city manager, arrived for his first day on the job on Feb. 18, 2008. Ott’s eight-and-a-half-year tenure has weathered swift change in Austin, where the percentage of African-Americans has slipped and the city has become less affordable. When Ott started his job here, the United States was already in […]
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Ott defends staff, city manager government
After 20 months in office, City Council Member Don Zimmerman still struggles to acknowledge that it is the duty of city staff to make budget decisions, among other things, and he lashes out at them on a regular basis. As an elected official whose priorities are frequently at odds with those of other members of […]