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- Parks Board recommends vendor for Zilker Café, while voicing concerns about lack of local presence
- City leaders evaluate surprising ideas for water conservation
- Audit: Economic official granted arts, music funding against city code
- Downtown Historic Resource Survey eyes seven new districts eligible for designation
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Wednesday, December 18, 2019 by Jo Clifton
Alter gains an opponent
Activist and attorney Pooja Sethi has announced that she intends to unseat incumbent District 10 Council Member Alison Alter in November 2020. Sethi is an immigration lawyer who touts her Democratic Party credentials, including being named 2019 Activist of the Year by the Travis County Democratic Party. She is also a member of the city’s Asian American Quality of Life Advisory Commission. Her campaign treasurer is Ravi Vemulapalli, listed online as president of Veteran Solar. Alter named her husband, university professor Jeremi Suri, as her treasurer. In 2016, Alter defeated incumbent Council Member Sheri Gallo for the District 10 seat.
Wednesday, December 18, 2019 by Tai Moses
ECHO seeks more volunteers for PIT Count
The Ending Community Homelessness Coalition is still seeking volunteers to help conduct its Point in Time Count, a yearly census of the homeless population in Austin and Travis County. ECHO has already recruited 350 volunteers; another 450 are still needed. With the help of an efficient new digital survey system, teams of PIT volunteers will fan out into the community on the early morning of Jan. 25 to count all those who slept outside the night before. Volunteers will also distribute care packages of snacks, toiletries, warm socks and hats. Before being assigned to a team, all volunteers will attend a mandatory training, in person or online. PIT Count volunteer coordinator Axton Nichols said, “We’re excited by the level of community support we’ve seen so far. But we’ll need even more volunteers to make the PIT Count truly successful.” Sign up to participate at ECHO’s website, austinecho.org/PIT.
Wednesday, December 18, 2019 by Tai Moses
Low temps trigger cold weather shelters
The mercury is dropping, with nighttime temperatures expected to dip into the low 30s, and that means the city’s cold weather shelters have been activated. Single adult men and women may go to the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless by 5:15 p.m to get overnight shelter. Families may report to the Salvation Army on East Eighth Street by 8 p.m. More information is available from the shelter hotline at (512) 305-4233.
Wednesday, December 18, 2019 by Tai Moses
County conducts prescribed burn at Reimers Ranch
If you see smoke billowing from the general area of Reimers Ranch Park in Dripping Springs, fear not; the cause is a prescribed burn being conducted today by Travis County Parks, with help from local fire departments and natural resource agencies. The goal of prescribed burning is to “reduce wildfire danger and improve ecosystem health by removing invading shrubs, consuming dead and downed vegetation, reducing the number of exotic species, and enhancing the health and diversity of the native plant community,” according to the announcement. The resulting smoke is expected to be “light and of relatively short duration.” Except for the multi-use trail, which will be closed part of the week, Reimers Ranch Park will remain open.
Tuesday, December 17, 2019 by Tai Moses
Weigh in on draft mobility plan
Curious to know what mobility projects will be coming down the pike next year? The preliminary draft of the city’s 2020 Mobility Annual Plan is now online and comments are welcome until Feb. 2. The MAP, which comes with an interactive projects map, offers an overview of projects funded by the 2016 mobility bond, including “sidewalks, Safe Routes to School, bikeways, urban trails, Intersection Safety/Vision Zero improvements, and more,” according to a news release. Austin Mayor Steve Adler noted, “We’re just three years into the 2016 Mobility Bond and we have already implemented over 200 projects all over our city – on time and on budget – giving Austinites better and safer ways to get around our city.” The final MAP will be published in early March.
Monday, December 16, 2019 by Jessi Devenyns
Austin Animal Services officer receives award
Michelle Baca received an Officer of the Year award from the Texas Animal Control Association for her work in the field microchipping stray animals in Austin. “This is the first time anyone from Austin has received this award,” said Chief Animal Services Officer Don Bland. The award is a statewide recognition effort for individuals who contribute to animal care, control and welfare. Baca, who has been with the department for a year, has the highest microchipping rate in the field of all Austin animal control officers, according to Bland. In a double acknowledgment of her efforts, the Animal Advisory Commission offered her a certificate in recognition of her achievement at its Dec. 9 meeting. “Animal protection officers are underappreciated, underpaid and overworked,” said Chair David Lundstedt. He noted that officers who perform duties above and beyond what is normally required are deserving of recognition.
Monday, December 16, 2019 by Tai Moses
City offers capacity-building grants to CDCs
In recognition of the economic pressures that are forcing so many people to move out of the city, Austin is offering grants to help community development corporations build their capacity to develop ways to mitigate displacement and increase the availability of affordable housing units. The Austin Housing Finance Corporation will be awarding the grants in spring 2020 in amounts from $5,000-$50,000 spent over 12 months. According to an announcement from AHFC, “The initiative will help neighborhoods experiencing displacement, or are at risk of displacement, to develop capacities and programs to address affordable housing and amenities specific to their neighborhoods.” Learn more about the application process and check eligibility guidelines here (PDF).
Monday, December 16, 2019 by Tai Moses
No Refusal for the holidays
In an effort to discourage merrymakers from getting behind the wheel after one too many spiked eggnogs at the office holiday party, the Austin Police Department has issued a statement that a No Refusal initiative will be in effect from Dec. 12- Jan. 4, 10 p.m-5 a.m. This is in addition to normal No Refusal weekend hours. During No Refusal, officers can immediately obtain blood search warrants when a motorist is arrested for DWI and refuses to voluntarily give a blood or breath sample. To plan your ride home from holiday parties or any other special occasion where alcohol is a factor, visit AustinTexas.gov/GetHomeSafe. Plan ahead, get home safe.
Friday, December 13, 2019 by Chad Swiatecki
Laing leaves Capital City
Chris Laing has announced his departure as the executive director of Capital City Innovation, the nonprofit group formed to guide the development of the city’s health care Innovation District focused around the creation of the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas. Laing, who joined the organization as its inaugural top executive, has accepted a position as senior dean of innovation and entrepreneurship for Duke National University Singapore Medical School. The Dell Seton Medical Center opened under Laing’s tenure, allowing the city to move forward with the demolition of the Brackenridge campus for its redevelopment. A new 17-story tower at the corner of 15th and Red River streets is the next major new building for the district, with plans calling for half of the space to be used for the medical school while the rest will be available to health-related businesses and nonprofits. Capital City Innovation has not announced its plans or timeline for selecting Laing’s replacement.
Friday, December 13, 2019 by Tai Moses
AISD announces schools frozen to transfers
Every year, Austin ISD selects a number of schools that will be frozen to transfers, i.e., not accepting students transferring from other schools. The district chooses these schools based on “enrollments that exceed capacity, construction and programming, such as dual language campuses,” according to an AISD news release. The schools that will be frozen to transfers for the 2020-21 school year are Akins Early College High School and Navarro ECHS; Austin, Bowie and McCallum high schools; Gorzycki, Lively, Lamar and Murchison middle schools; and Baldwin, Baranoff, Becker (except dual language), Blazier, Brentwood, Casis, Cowan, Doss, Gullett (except kindergarten), Hill, Kiker, Lee (except kindergarten), Maplewood, Mathews (except kindergarten), Menchaca, Oak Hill, Reilly (except dual language through fourth grade), Ridgetop (except dual language), Summitt (except dual language), Sunset Valley (except dual language through fourth grade) and Zilker (except kindergarten). For more information about school transfers, visit AustinISD.org/transfers.
Friday, December 13, 2019 by Tai Moses
United Way helps get out the count for 2020 census
In partnership with several local foundations, the United Way for Greater Austin is promoting the 2020 U.S. census by awarding grants to 17 community groups and complete count committees participating in get-out-the-count efforts. The grants, totaling $395,000, are going to grassroots organizations targeting hard-to-count communities in five Texas counties (Bastrop, Caldwell, Hays, Travis and Williamson). “The goal of these grants is to ensure that every person in Central Texas in counted in the 2020 Census,” according to the news release. Mariana Salazar, United Way’s Census 2020 project director, said, “If the people in our community are undercounted, our region risks cuts to programs that our entire community relies on. We need an accurate count so Central Texans can get an adequate level of federal funding for public programs and a fair amount of representation in our local, state, and federal governments.”
Thursday, December 12, 2019 by Jo Clifton
TCAD may reinstate informal hearings
After its expensive decision to end informal in-person meetings between property owners and appraisal district employees during the 2019 protest season, the Travis Central Appraisal District is now asking the public for feedback on the possibility of reinstating those hearings. TCAD is encouraging people to voice opinions on its Facebook page. As attorney Bill Aleshire has noted, eliminating informal meetings cost the district as much as $2 million as thousands of people sat waiting for formal hearings on matters that could have been settled months earlier. (Read the Monitor‘s coverage here, here and here.) According to a press release from the district, property owners are encouraged to leave their feedback until 10 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 16. According to the same press release, Chief Appraiser Marya Crigler recommended to the group’s board of directors that they reinstate informal in-person meetings for the 2020 protest season. The board will discuss the recommendation at a work session, which is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Dec. 18 at the TCAD office at 8314 Cross Park Drive.