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Whispers
Friday, February 21, 2020 by Tai Moses
Become a volunteer deputy registrar
The Travis County Tax Office is welcoming help from any county resident over 18 who would like to learn how to register voters in a nonpartisan manner. The free, one-hour training course – required by state law – concludes with “the swearing in of participants as volunteer deputy registrars, the designation required to register voters.” To ensure there are enough training manuals for all, the tax office requests that interested residents sign up in advance for their training. Here is the schedule of March trainings:
- Saturday, March 7, 10:30 a.m., Travis County Tax Office, 5501 Airport Blvd.
- Thursday, March 19, 10:30 a.m., 2:30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m., Travis County Precinct 1, 4717 Heflin Lane
- Saturday, March 21, 10:30 a.m., First Unitarian Universalist Church of Austin, 4700 Grover Ave.
- Saturday, March 28, 10:30 a.m., Central Texas Food Bank, 6500 Metropolis Drive
Friday, February 21, 2020 by Tai Moses
Enjoy Zilker Botanical Garden for free
The Parks and Recreation Department has decided to make Zilker Botanical Garden more accessible to all Austinites by providing a series of admission-free days this year. The free days will allow “more opportunities for Austinites and visitors to enjoy holidays, spring days, special exhibits, and school breaks” at the garden, says the parks department. Mark your calendar: The upcoming free days are March 17, March 28, May 30, June 11, July 9, Aug. 8, and Aug. 13.
Thursday, February 20, 2020 by Chad Swiatecki
Austin renters working fingers to the bone, study finds
A new study finds that the average Austin renter has to work more than 57 hours a month to afford their monthly rent, a figure that ranks 10th highest among the nation’s major cities. The financial planning website SmartAsset found with Austin’s median hourly wage of $22.92 per hour and a median monthly rent of $1,314, that 57.3 hours of work per month are needed to cover rent expenses. That hours-worked figure puts Austin in a tie with Nashville, which had a lower median rent ($1,117) and lower median wage ($19.48). San Jose, Calif., took the top spot with 76 hours per month while four other Texas cities – Houston, Fort Worth, Dallas and San Antonio – clustered together in the 15 through 18 spots. El Paso’s residents require a relatively lax 47.6 hours per month to cover their typical rental expenses, good enough to put the West Texas city in the 23rd spot. Rising rental costs throughout Austin are one component of the affordability crisis that city leaders and members of the real estate and other business sectors are looking to solve through a combination of bond-funded affordable housing and investing in multifamily apartment complexes to support workforce housing.
Thursday, February 20, 2020 by Tai Moses
Learn to spot disinformation
Think you can tell fact from fiction in political messaging? With the approach of the March primaries and the November general election, the public is being bombarded by a blitz of emails, opinions, articles, tweets, editorials, and even bumper stickers. Journalism professor Dr. Sharon Strover, UT Center for Media Engagement’s Jessica Collier, and Electronic Frontier Foundation-Austin President Kevin Welch will discuss the timely topic of disinformation in a panel sponsored by Common Ground for Texans. You’ll learn to spot disinformation, share responsibly on social media and identify “alternative facts” disseminated by a bot or foreign agent. Saturday, Feb. 22, noon-2 p.m., Old Quarry Branch Library, 7051 Village Center.
Thursday, February 20, 2020 by Tai Moses
Sánchez Elementary breaks ground today
Austin ISD and the communities of Metz and Sánchez elementary schools will celebrate the groundbreaking of the new Sánchez campus today, Feb. 20. The new, modernized Sánchez, which is expected to take two years to build and is funded through the 2017 AISD bond, will have a capacity of 580. During construction, Sánchez students will be co-located with Metz Elementary students at the Metz campus. There will be a parade starting at 12:30 p.m. from Metz Elementary at 84 Robert T. Martinez Jr. St. The groundbreaking ceremony begins at 1 p.m. at Sánchez Elementary, 73 San Marcos St.
Thursday, February 20, 2020 by Tai Moses
Vote by mail deadline is tomorrow
If you are registered to vote, over 65, sick or disabled, out of the county on election day and during early voting, or in jail but otherwise eligible to vote, you may vote by mail. Grace Chimene, president of the League of Women Voters of Texas, wants Texan voters who vote by mail to remember to mail their applications to their county elections office before Friday. She says, “The application needs to arrive by Feb. 21 – if the application is postmarked Feb. 20, but arrives Feb. 22, you will not be able to vote by mail.” Voting by mail is simple. Just follow these steps, courtesy of the League:
- Print an application: Check the Democratic Primary or the Republican Primary to receive the correct ballot.
- Fill out and mail it to your early voting clerk in the county that you are registered to vote in.
- Voters should sign their application to vote by mail the same way they will sign their ballot.
For more information about voting by mail and to see a nonpartisan voter guide, visit LWVTexas.org or at VOTE411.org.
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 by Tai Moses
We’re throwing a civics party
Curious about the folks who are running to represent you? Why not get to know them over a happy hour drink? The Austin Monitor, GoodPolitics, KUT Austin, USTomorrow and MOVETexas have invited all local candidates running in March 2020’s Texas primary, from Travis County commissioner to U.S. Congress, to come and hoist a Lone Star with community members. Each candidate will have a table for you to visit and job descriptions for each office will be posted. RSVP on Eventbrite. Thursday, Feb. 20, 6-8 p.m., Native Hostel and Bar & Kitchen, 807 E. Fourth St.
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 by Jo Clifton
Mayor pushes back on negative narrative
Mayor Steve Adler is in combat mode, fighting the false narrative about who is responsible for increased crime downtown. It’s not about the homeless, no matter how many Twitter, Instagram or Facebook posts might say so to the contrary, he said at Tuesday’s City Council work session. He went on to describe a number of criminal incidents that did not involve the homeless, yet stirred up widespread anger and fear against that population. Speaking to Assistant Police Chief Joseph Chacón, Adler said. “I want us to stay ahead of that and I want us to permanently react to that to make sure that everyone in our community feels safe … if you can identify (more) things we can do to support your work, I want you to let us know.” Chacón responded, “What you said is exactly what happens. You have one incident that’s reported on social media and it catches fire. I think education is the key. I think we have a good communications strategy on how we are pushing out the message. … Really what reality is … when we’re looking at our violent crime incidents, especially in the downtown area, that a small minority of them involve an individual experiencing homelessness. What is driving that (violent crime) right now is gun crime. It is people that are not homeless and we’ve put things in place to begin to push that down.” The mayor posted the conversation on YouTube.
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 by Chad Swiatecki
Local attorney joins Sobering Center board
The Travis County Commissioners Court voted 3-0 on Tuesday to appoint local attorney Lynn Sherman to the nine-member board of directors of the Sobering Center, the downtown facility jointly set up by the city and the county to keep intoxicated people from driving or harming themselves. Sherman will fill a term set to expire Sept. 30, 2021, which came open when Bill Brice, vice president of investor relations for the Downtown Austin Alliance, stepped down from his seat late last year. The commissioners considered two other candidates for the seat, and County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said she hopes to keep those candidates connected to the Sobering Center because there are two more seats expected to be vacated in the coming months. Eckhardt said she hopes to have discussions with the organization and relevant city leaders in the coming months to figure out a “succession plan” to keep qualified candidates at the ready for when board seats open up.
Wednesday, February 19, 2020 by Jo Clifton
Missing our train
Zilker Park patrons want their train back, but if the city goes through its usual process for selecting a new vendor, it could take a year before there’s a new train up and running. At least, that’s what Parks and Recreation Department Director Kimberly McNeeley told Council at Tuesday’s work session. The Zilker Park master plan request for qualifications or proposals is not scheduled for release until the spring. What the city needs is a nonprofit that can step in and quickly help the city find someone to operate a train like the Zilker Zephyr, which is no longer available due to disagreement with the city. Council Member Paige Ellis and some of her colleagues have been talking to the Austin Parks Foundation to see whether it could help resolve the problem. In response to questions from Council Member Jimmy Flannigan, Ellis said she wanted to leave it up to the city manager to decide whether the parks foundation or a vendor that they would find would do the job. McNeeley told Council her department is on board with working with the foundation, which could operate the train and distribute the proceeds among the nonprofits that support Zilker Park.
Tuesday, February 18, 2020 by Tai Moses
Early voting starts today
Early voting in Texas for the March primaries begins today and runs through Feb. 28. Verify your voter registration here and find a map of early voting locations on the county clerk’s website. You can also check out this handy list of voter ID requirements for Texas voters. More than 95 percent of Travis County residents are registered to vote this year – a record number for the county. If you’d like to get a preview of the county’s new voting system, there’s a short video here. Election day is March 3.
Tuesday, February 18, 2020 by Jo Clifton
Bar poll favors Moore, Hernandez, Eiserloh, Denton
More than 53 percent of lawyers participating in a poll of Austin Bar Association members and the Austin Criminal Defense Lawyers Association said they preferred District Attorney Margaret Moore to her rivals. According to the poll, which was released Friday, about 14 percent of respondents said they would vote for José Garza, while just over 8 percent indicated a preference for Erin Martinson. Martin Harry, the only Republican in the race, received 5.7 percent of the vote, but nearly 19 percent of the poll’s respondents did not indicate a preference in this race. As for the county attorney’s race, 30.5 percent indicated a preference for Assistant County Attorney Laurie Eiserloh and more than 26 percent said they favored former Judge Mike Denton. Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza got a little over 15 percent and the least well-known candidate, Dominic Selvera, got 1 percent. Nearly 27 percent of those responding did not answer the question. Sheriff Sally Hernandez got more than 58 percent of the bar vote in her bid for reelection. Her Democratic rivals, Liz Donegan and John Loughran, got just under 5 percent of the vote and 2.6 percent, respectively. The only Republican running for the sheriff’s job, Raul Vargas, got about 9 percent of the vote. Twenty-five percent of those participating expressed no preference in this race. Judges garnering more than 80 percent of the vote included District Judge Tim Sulak and District Judge Julie Kocurek.