At Tuesday’s work session, City Council discussed proposed amendments to the Land Development Code labeled HOME 2, as well as Equitable Transit-Oriented Development, citywide compatibility standards and rules for electric vehicle charging stations. But the majority of discussion was about the proposed set of rules designed to make it easier to build more housing on […]
PODER
People Organized in Defense of Earth and Her Resources. A citizen group focused on environmental, economic and social justice issues.
Posted inCourts
Groups sue Austin officials over plan to redevelop dairy plant site
Advocacy groups and a neighborhood association are suing city of Austin officials over what they allege is a plan illegally approved by City Council members to turn a dairy plant into more than a thousand new homes, offices and a hotel. At issue is roughly 21 acres of land along the Colorado River in East […]
Posted inPolice
Community groups call for an end to APD, DPS partnership
Multiple community representatives and activists called for an end to the partnership between the Austin Police Department and the Texas Department of Public Safety during public comment at City Council’s regular meeting May 4. The concerns echo questions raised by Council members at Tuesday’s work session. “Subjecting these communities to constant surveillance and fear of […]
Posted inAustin
Council facing challenge in solving jet fuel storage
While the number of passengers traveling through most of the nation’s airports is growing at roughly 4 percent a year, Austin-Bergstrom International Airport traffic is growing at 8 percent a year, AUS Director Jacqueline Yaft told City Council at Tuesday’s work session. Yaft urged Council to move ahead with the planned airport expansion, including the […]
Posted inEnvironment
Watershed report shines a light on racism in tank farm history
If awards were given out for annual reports, the Austin Watershed Protection Department’s recently released 2020 “State of Our Environment” would be a strong contender for its in-house production of a video documenting the East Austin community’s successful battle against a petroleum storage tank farm in the early 1990s. Environmental Officer Chris Herrington and Kaela […]
Posted inCity Council
Council votes to move ahead with People’s Plan to combat displacement
City Council’s push to address the area’s rising cost of living could soon include components of a plan put forward by a coalition of community groups to prevent low-income residents from being priced out of Austin. At last week’s meeting, Council unanimously passed a resolution directing the city manager to conduct an analysis and make […]
Posted inAustin
The Austin people have spoken through six resolutions on displacement and gentrification
In Austin, it appears that the people have a plan. This past Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Susana Almanza of People Organized in Defense of Earth and her Resources (PODER) and Fred McGhee of Preserve Rosewood revealed the People’s Plan: a group of six resolutions/draft ordinances that are aimed at creating solutions for displacement and […]
Posted inEnvironment
City puts environmental inequity under the lens
Austin’s first chief equity officer has hit the ground running. Last year, Brion Oaks took the position as head of the new Equity Office, and he is now hard at work introducing an “equity lens” intended to focus city departments and commissions on serving all of Austin’s populations effectively and fairly. In April, when the […]
Posted inDevelopment, Local Politics
Council denies East Cesar Chavez restaurant a late-hours permit
East Austin’s Weather Up Restaurant will have to weather at least another year without late night hours, after an unsuccessful trip to City Council last week. In February, the Planning Commission rejected the request for the conditional use permit for Weather Up in an even split. The owners took the case to Council as […]
Posted inLocal Politics
City Ethics Commission clears Almanza of conflict of interest
An emotional battle between a business shut down by the city and an Austin Parks and Recreation Board member came to an official end Wednesday. The fallout may be felt for some time, perhaps even into the next election cycle. The city’s Ethics Review Commission voted unanimously that Susanna Almanza, a Parks Board member […]