Adler emphasizes hope in the midst of GOP control

Mayor Steve Adler kicked off the Thursday City Council meeting by acknowledging a number of national and state political realities that are frustrating – at the very least – to him and most of his left-leaning colleagues. “At the national level it looks like we’re going to be doing away with health care coverage for 24 million people or at least taking a step potentially in that direction,” he said, in reference to the House of Representatives voting to repeal the Affordable Care Act. “And our legislature passes an immigration law that is kind of a ‘papers please’ law, but we’re focusing on doing what the people want us to do, which is to improve mobility (and) focus on affordability. So I’m proud of what we’re doing. And, again, the rest of the world can be losing its mind but we’re still Austin, Texas.”

This story has been edited to correct a typo.