Tag Archives: Austin City Council
Twenty candidates set to run for Council
While most Austinites were focused on Covid-19, whether or not to send their children to school and how to pay the rent, a surprising number of people – 20 to be exact – signed up to have their names on…
Elections • By Jo Clifton • Aug 18, 2020
Neighbors of Bright Leaf worry about fire risk
After a City Council vote on July 29 allowing the city to take over management of Bright Leaf Preserve from the Austin Community Foundation, some residents worried about what that might mean for their Northwest Austin neighborhoods, especially in terms of…
Parks • By Jo Clifton • Aug 17, 2020
Council orders transit election, $460M active transportation bond for November ballot
City Council is giving voters an opportunity to transform the city’s mobility infrastructure on Nov. 3 with a tax rate election for a $7.1 billion investment in a mass transit rail system, and a $460 million active mobility bond. Voters…
Elections • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 14, 2020
Austin cuts 5 percent of police budget, promises to cut more over the next year
Austin is immediately cutting $20 million from the city’s police budget – and council members are vowing to make bigger reductions in the coming year. “I think this is without a doubt the most significant change in Austin’s public safety…
Budget • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Aug 13, 2020
Council floats competing active transportation bond options
Between the transportation portion of the 2018 bond and the $720 million 2016 mobility bond, the city has over $200 million allocated for planned safe mobility projects like protected bike lanes, sidewalks and urban trails. Almost all of that money,…
Transportation • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 13, 2020
Austin City Council proposes cutting police funding by a third. It could vote Wednesday.
City Council members are proposing cuts to the Austin Police Department budget totaling roughly $149 million, or 34 percent of the department’s current budget. Council members are scheduled to vote on the city’s budget for the upcoming fiscal year as…
Budget • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Aug 11, 2020
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Report lays out possible structure for new economic development corporation
A consultant’s report recommends the city move to create an economic development corporation modeled after existing bodies in New York City, Philadelphia and Atlanta to allow for fast and flexible development deals around the city. The report from QBL Partners…
City Hall • By Chad Swiatecki • Aug 11, 2020
City, Capital Metro agree on Austin Transit Partnership ahead of transit election
After approving an interlocal agreement with the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority to create an Austin Transit Partnership – the local government corporation that would guide administrative, financial and some technical components of Project Connect – City Council posted a draft ordinance…
Transportation • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 10, 2020
Austin says group doesn't have signatures to put homelessness ordinances on the ballot in November
Austin’s city clerk says a group seeking to reinstate the city’s bans on sitting, camping or lying down in public doesn’t have the requisite 20,000 signatures to force a referendum on Election Day. Save Austin Now, led by Travis County…
Bonds & Propositions • By Andrew Weber, KUT • Aug 6, 2020
Council seeks $5 million for park facilities and trails
As it heads into next week’s budget hearings, City Council is searching for ways to add millions in programs and services to a proposed budget that is already nudging up against the 3.5 percent property tax increase cap Council committed…
Budget • By Ryan Thornton • Aug 6, 2020
Council needs federal and state help to stabilize child care industry
Furthering its efforts to shore up the local child care industry, City Council passed three resolutions last week changing the criteria for the city’s Childcare Support Fund. In addition, Council directed City Manager Spencer Cronk to develop recommendations and take action…
Education • By Nina Hernandez • Aug 6, 2020
Council talks six-month delay for bulk of police budget reform
As City Council struggles to comprehend what it would mean to cut approximately $100 million from the Austin Police Department’s budget for Fiscal Year 2020-21, Council members are floating a temporary fix: approve half of the department’s budget during next…
