Tag Archives: Top Stories

City demographer smashes assumptions about growth at CodeNEXT meeting

For the past year, the land use commissions have been reviewing the drafts of CodeNEXT, and the discussions have primarily revolved around how to accommodate the incredible population growth the city has experienced for the past few decades. About two…

Land Development Code • By Joseph Caterine • Feb 1, 2018

New negotiations for police, EMS contracts

Several City Council members, particularly Jimmy Flannigan and Alison Alter, sharply criticized city staff during Tuesday’s work session discussion of the Austin Police Association contract, with Flannigan and Alter claiming staff failed to communicate as the contract was being crafted.…

City Council • By Jo Clifton • Jan 31, 2018

Resolution: Wall builders need not apply

Led by Council Member Delia Garza, five Council members are sponsoring a resolution directing the city manager to study the potential impacts on Austin of construction of President Donald Trump’s threatened wall between the United States and Mexico. According to…

City Council • By Jo Clifton • Jan 30, 2018

Soccer proponents abandon Butler Park, turn to alternate stadium sites

Owners of a Major League Soccer team hoping to move their club to Austin have turned their ambitions for a new stadium away from a controversial waterfront site. On Friday, Dave Greeley, president of Precourt Sports Ventures, issued a statement…

Austin • By Chad Swiatecki • Jan 29, 2018

Featured Collection: Austin Energy 2022 rate case

Austin Energy ramps up outreach for proposed rate changes

Austin Energy has entered the public hearing phase of its base rate review process, following its proposal to raise service costs. The monthslong dialogue with stakeholders and city staff, slated for resolution by City Council in November, has surfaced predictable…

More Headlines for Austin Energy 2022 rate case

CTRMA board finalists talk up transit during Travis County interviews

The Travis County Commissioners Court will decide on Tuesday which two of six candidates it will appoint to the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority’s board of directors. The court interviewed the applicants during a special session on Thursday. Of the…

Transit • By Caleb Pritchard • Jan 29, 2018

Neighborhood fights for holistic infrastructure improvements on east side rezoning

Less than a week after the Planning Commission held a CodeNEXT discussion on the predicament of upzoning in areas with insufficient infrastructure, it had the opportunity to weigh in on a real-life example. At their Jan. 23 meeting, commissioners voted…

Zoning • By Joseph Caterine • Jan 26, 2018

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Audit: Lax oversight in city savings program

City employees overseeing a program to help low-income residents pay for school, buy a home or start a business failed to provide the oversight necessary to prevent waste of city and federal dollars, according to a draft audit from the…

City Hall • By Jo Clifton • Jan 24, 2018

School district fiscal forecast bleak

Although it did not come as a shock, the precarious position of the Austin Independent School District’s financial future dampened the mood at the end of the board of trustees’ Jan. 22 meeting. The ever-increasing amount of recapture the district…

AISD • By Joseph Caterine • Jan 24, 2018

Featured Data Point

Austin Police Department Budget, 2012-2022

During the 2020-21 budget process, City Council cut $31.5 million from APD’s budget, citing the protests and “community outcry against the disproportionate impact of police violence on Black Americans, Latinx Americans and other non-white ethnic communities,” according to the approved…

Here's what the new city manager's salary and benefits could look like

When incoming City Manager Spencer Cronk moves to Austin next month, he’ll have some help. City Council members are scheduled to vote next week on a compensation package for Cronk, who comes to Austin from Minneapolis and starts on Feb.…

City Hall • By Audrey McGlinchy, KUT • Jan 24, 2018

City parkland could vanish from soccer stadium consideration

A resolution is in the works that would remove two city parkland sites from consideration as possible locations for a proposed soccer stadium. Council Member Ann Kitchen is sponsoring the resolution, out of concern about and growing opposition to Butler…

City Council • By Chad Swiatecki • Jan 23, 2018

In Hyde Park, urbanists say they're the ones defending neighborhood character

In Austin’s ongoing battle over development, it’s generally the traditional neighborhood associations that talk about defending “neighborhood character” and developers and urbanist activists who argue that a growing city needs to accept change, whether that is taller buildings or reduced…

Land Development Code • By Jack Craver • Jan 23, 2018

AFD aims to weigh in on developments sooner rather than later

The Austin Fire Department could soon start reviewing individual development plans much earlier in the process than it currently does. Fire Marshal Rob Vires told the Public Safety Commission at its Jan. 8 special called meeting about ongoing discussions to…

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