… No word on our ‘nap time’ idea yet

Though final recommendations won’t be in until the end of May, it doesn’t look like childcare for city meetings is coming to Austin any time soon. An April 28 memo from Chief Communications Director Doug Matthews to City Council explains that a working group formed to discuss the possibility of providing childcare “feels that implementing a policy that covered the entirety of Council meetings, Boards and Commissions, and committee/working group meetings would be both logistically and financially challenging. They instead felt that an initial policy should focus on childcare services for community meetings and community engagement activities that occur outside of the City’s more formal proceedings.” The memo also elaborates that the process for hiring a firm to provide childcare would be complicated, and could cost the city as much as $75,000 annually.