Tag Archives: Travis County Commissioners Court
Wednesday, February 20, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Courts
In search of the best ‘yes’ for indigent defense
In the search of a best path forward, Travis County is at risk of losing momentum toward better indigent defense if the various interested parties can’t find a middle ground.The county’s Indigent Legal Services work group has composed a draft…
Tuesday, February 19, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Texas State Legislature
Legislature traditions keeping revenue caps at bay, for now
Travis County has a lot to lose if the Texas Legislature decides to discard tradition for the sake of passing the four property tax relief bills that have been filed this session. After Sen. Paul Bettencourt’s Senate Bill 2 was…
Wednesday, February 13, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Planning
Del Valle PID moves forward, but county is not done negotiating
The petition to create the Velocity Crossing Public Improvement District in Del Valle was unanimously approved by the Travis County Commissioners Court Tuesday morning after its third and final public hearing.As the county’s first commercial PID, the development has raised…
Friday, February 8, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Bonds & Propositions
County stands firm on new construction standards for low-water crossing
Some Travis County voters are regretting having approved over $4 million to fix a low-water crossing at Great Divide Drive in Bee Cave as part of the 2017 bond. Listed alongside two dozen other projects under Proposition A, the project…
Wednesday, February 6, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Travis County
County says affordable housing should be priority in Del Valle PID
Public improvement districts are becoming more prevalent in eastern Travis County, but commissioners are worried that not enough is being done to ensure that lower-income residents will benefit from the opportunities PIDs bring to their communities.Before voting next week on…
Thursday, January 31, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Public Safety
Western Travis County overlay ESD may provide critical revenue to struggling area
Emergency Services District 8 in western Travis County will soon be giving voters a chance to pay more taxes in exchange for much-needed service improvements.Following a public hearing Tuesday morning, the Commissioners Court unanimously approved ESD 8’s petition to hold…
Wednesday, January 30, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Public Safety
Group forms to mediate conflict over sexual assault cases
Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt and former Texas state Senator Wendy Davis held a press conference Tuesday announcing their partnership in the creation of a Travis County Sexual Assault Prevention and Healing Work Group. Eckhardt and Davis were joined in…
Friday, January 25, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Texas State Legislature
County pushes for progress amid state’s political battles
Travis County has already filed bills for a third of its dozen legislative priorities for the 86th Texas Legislature since the session began Jan. 8.One of these priorities is to ensure that sobering centers are authorized to assume responsibility for…
Thursday, January 24, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Travis County
No opposition to county food inspection frequencies update
In the absence of County Judge Sarah Eckhardt, the Travis County Commissioners Court talked food Tuesday morning.Following the city’s implementation of a risk-based food inspection system last November, Austin Public Health is now asking Travis County to do the same.…
Friday, January 18, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Travis County
County to issue non-voter approved debt for courthouse
The Travis County Commissioners Court approved the use of Certificates of Obligation to fund its new civil and family courthouse Tuesday morning.“This is not something that we just want,” said Commissioner Jeff Travillion. “This is a statutory responsibility that is…
Monday, January 14, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Travis County
Gómez acknowledges challenges ahead, says county is equipped to handle them
Looking back on 2018 and at the year ahead, Travis County Commissioner Margaret Gómez says she is feeling pretty good.The past year brought some frustrations for the commissioner with the time-consuming necessity of briefing new county employees and residents on…
Thursday, January 10, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Travis County
Commissioners Court annual retreat expands to include community expertise
On a to-be-determined Friday in February or March, the Travis County Commissioners Court will convene to consider its vision and purpose on a larger scale than is appropriate during its weekly Tuesday morning voting sessions. Near the beginning of each…
Wednesday, January 9, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Travis County
Court makes move toward public defender’s office
No final decision has been made on the creation of a Travis County public defender’s office, but the Commissioners Court demonstrated firm support for the idea in Tuesday morning’s voting session.Gathering momentum after a rocky start, the court finalized a…
Friday, January 4, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Travis County
Eckhardt welcomes wave of political momentum in Travis County
For years, when County Judge Sarah Eckhardt would try to talk to the community about the justice system, someone would quickly change the subject to transportation or other unrelated issues. Although it accounts for 50 percent of the overall county…
Thursday, January 3, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Travis County
Travillion pushes for streamlined processes, services for the underserved
When Commissioner Jeff Travillion joined the Travis County Commissioners Court in 2017, he brought with him a rigorous attention to governmental process.“When I came here I said, ‘I don’t want to know that it runs; pull the hood up and…
Thursday, January 3, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Travis County
Shea stays busy accepting what can’t be changed, fighting for what can
On June 24, 1988, this sentence appeared on the front page of The New York Times: “Higher temperatures can now be attributed to a long-expected global warming trend linked to pollution, a space agency scientist reported today.” The scientist was…
Thursday, January 3, 2019 by Ryan Thornton
Travis County
Commissioner Daugherty still working to pave the road ahead
Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty is not in the business of telling Travis County residents what they should want or need. Instead, both on the dais and in conversation, the Precinct 3 commissioner, businessman and longtime Austin resident resists the…
Wednesday, December 19, 2018 by Ryan Thornton
Public Safety
County weighs its jail diversion strategies
A lot has happened since the Commissioners Court last saw the Travis County Justice Planning Department’s asset map of strategies for jail diversion on July 31. Fortunately, in terms of keeping people out of jail and connected to their communities,…
Thursday, December 13, 2018 by Ryan Thornton
Travis County
County delays decision on criminal district attorney’s office
The Travis County Commissioners Court is considering a merger of the County and District Attorney’s offices into a criminal district attorney office that may considerably lower the number of jail bookings for misdemeanor offenses.County Attorney David Escamilla and District Attorney…
Wednesday, December 5, 2018 by Ryan Thornton
Travis County
Between storms and traffic, Travis County tries to stay afloat
A growing influx of vehicles to Travis County paired with the effects of the climate crisis has the county struggling to provide the infrastructure needed to simultaneously absorb the effects of both. At the same time, the recent Atlas 14…
