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Tag Archives: City of Austin Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department

Council looking at help for displaced tenants

City Council will consider an ordinance today affecting tenants who are forced to move out of properties slated for demolition or redevelopment. Under the proposed ordinance, an owner of a multifamily complex with five or more units would have to…

Reporter's Notebook: Resignations and resignation

“Sent using OWA for iPhone”… On Friday, the Austin Monitor reported that Neighborhood Housing and Community Development department executive Steve Ritchie had quit, following the sudden retirement of Director Betsy Spencer over the public release of allegations of harassment and…

Embattled manager quits housing department

By Jo Clifton and Cate Malek Facing allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation, Steve Ritchie, the embattled chief of construction and development for the Neighborhood Housing and Community Development department, submitted his resignation on Thursday. In July, department Director Betsy…

Report shows flaws in city's HR complaint process

While she was the director of Austin’s Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department, Betsy Spencer sought to block the impact of a finding that her chief of construction and development had engaged in sexual harassment. In so doing, Spencer directly…

Reporter's Notebook: Chokeholds and other chaos

More here, more to come… On Friday, the Austin Monitor broke the story about a series of disturbing complaints at the city’s Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department. As astute readers might have guessed, we weren’t able to include all…

Sexual harassment and retaliation claims haunt Austin's housing department

By Jo Clifton, Cate Malek and Elizabeth Pagano City of Austin documents show that employees in the Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department have made numerous complaints involving inappropriate behavior, a hostile work environment, sexual harassment and retaliation over the…

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Ott announces Spencer's retirement

City Manager Marc Ott sent a memo to City Council late Monday informing it that Betsy Spencer, the embattled director of the city’s Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department, has decided to retire. Ott’s memo to the mayor and Council…

Austin's first-ever housing plan hits City Hall

This week, city leaders released a draft of Austin’s first-ever strategic housing plan. Unlike broader visions for the city’s future, it focuses on how development will impact the housing supply. The plan is the direct result of a startling 2015…

Tenant relocation assistance program moves forward

In recognition of urgent community need, the Planning Commission’s Committee on Codes and Ordinances voted unanimously to push forward with a proposed tenant relocation assistance program, despite the lack of a draft ordinance at the meeting. As requested by City…

Committee considers expanding proposed tenant relocation policy

Though the city of Austin currently has no formal policy for helping displaced tenants, change is on the way. And, after a meeting of the Housing and Community Development Committee, it looks like that policy could be expanded to offer…

City audit finds trouble with affordable housing

A city audit has found that Austin does not have an effective strategy to meet its current affordable housing needs. The audit of the Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department found that NHCD “has not adopted a clear goal, established…

Committee zeros in on affordable housing

Lack of affordable housing, an issue that continued to plague Austin during the boom times of the last decade, was the main focus at the last Housing and Community Development Committee meeting. The city of Austin’s Neighborhood Housing and Community…

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