The month of February is amnesty month in the Austin Municipal Court. The Municipal Court has declared an amnesty from Feb. 1-28 so Austinites can clear their unpaid citations and outstanding warrants and walk away with a clean record and a clear conscience. The amnesty applies only to charges that were filed in Austin Municipal Court or Downtown Community Court. No arrests will be made for those who appear voluntarily. No appointments necessary: Just show up at the Municipal Court at 700 E. Seventh St. or Community Court at 719 E. Sixth St. during business hours. If you can’t afford to pay what you owe, you may set up a payment plan, request community service or petition for a hardship waiver. For more information, visit austintexas.gov/court.

The city of Austin is developing its five-year federal funding plan and is looking for input. Specifically, the city has an online survey that asks residents to weigh in on programs for affordable housing, job creation and public service for area families, those with disabilities, seniors and youth. To weigh in on the $11 million or so that is awarded annually through Housing and Urban Development grants, take the survey now.

Council Member Ann Kitchen is offering a resolution for Council’s Jan. 31 agenda that will instruct the city manager to prepare a report by the end of May describing “the best options for piloting immediate shelter and support services for those experiencing homelessness with the intent of providing a pathway to permanent housing.” The resolution directs the city manager to identify opportunities to purchase or lease property that can be used to provide immediate shelter for those without. The resolution specifies that the new shelter will not be “directly adjacent to existing residential neighborhoods” unless the “neighborhood approved of the use,” and that the structure and services should be ready by September.

Earlier this month, we checked in on the progress of Affordable Central Texas and the Austin Housing Conservancy, which have partnered in an effort to buy apartment complexes and preserve their rents at middle-class income levels in order to safeguard workforce housing. That story described how the groups planned to purchase four complexes in 2019, bringing the total to seven since the effort began.  This past week the CEO of ACT told the Austin Business Journal that the investment fund has raised nearly $10 million total, with a goal of raising another $30 million by the end of this year. On its own that level of capital wouldn’t be enough to follow through with the groups’ purchase ambitions, which is why deals like the $50 million Fannie Mae loan secured with Bellwether Enterprise Capital was needed for the housing fund to move ahead with the purchase of two of the three complexes it bought in 2018. The Conservancy hopes to get a total of $500 million to complete purchase of 10,000 apartment units preserved at workforce rates in the next 10 years.

While it might be premature to plan out routes just yet, the city of Austin has released its map of SXSW street closures for all of you who’d like to get a jump. Head over to the city website for confirmation that downtown will be a mess in March, and stay tuned for the loads of information to come!

As promised, word came through about District 8’s office staff yesterday. Julia Montgomery will be joining the office as policy adviser and Brittne Walker will be serving as communications and district relations manager for newly elected City Council Member Paige Ellis. In addition to being a familiar face at City Hall, Montgomery has been serving as regional planner for the Capital Area Council of Governments, focusing on transportation, housing policy, economic development and national disaster relief. Previously she worked for the city’s Transportation Department, The Texas Tribune and the Texas House of Representatives. Walker most recently worked as an AmeriCorps leader at Breakthrough Central Texas. A release about the hire notes that her previous experience includes work for the Virginia Democratic Party, Annie’s List and Battleground Texas. The two join Chief of Staff Deena Estrada, who was hired earlier this week.

It’s cold out and homeless people are taking shelter in some unusual places, including stormwater sewers and culverts. It may be shelter, but when you add a candle to a mattress the result can be disastrous. Council Member Pio Renteria took a ride with members of the Austin Police Department as they visited two underground homeless encampments in his district on Riverside Drive about 10 days ago. On Sunday, one of those camps caught fire. Renteria told the Austin Monitor via email, “Last week I visited several homeless camps with APD and I saw firsthand the desperate state of the homeless in our city. During one of the visits, APD informed everyone living in a tunnel that it was unsafe to be there. However, after we left, the makeshift furniture remained and so people moved right back once we were gone. Several days later, in that same tunnel there was fire and thankfully no one was hurt.” Renteria called it “a public safety issue for renters and homeowners on Riverside as well as the homeless who are forced to live in these unsafe conditions.” Ramesh Swaminathan, managing engineer with the Watershed Protection Department, said Thursday his department is working with other city departments to try to solve the problem. He said the city would be awarding a contract for a pilot project within the next two weeks or so to clean up nine hot spots, including two tunnels on Riverside Drive. He estimated that the city would spend about $50,000 to $60,000 on the pilot, though that addresses just one part of the problem. Renteria concluded, “We need to provide a safe place for those who are homeless in our city to sleep, recover and hopefully get back on their feet. That should be our first priority. “

The city’s Cultural Arts Division and Music and Entertainment Division have selected the artists who will participate in this year’s Creative Ambassadors Program, which provides stipends and other resources to Austin artists traveling outside of Texas to promote their creative works. This year’s class includes: Annalise Gratovich (visual art); Hidden Room Theatre; Ariel Dance Company; Capital City Black Film Festival and PJ Raval (film); Kydd Jones, Montopolis, Greg Gonzalez, Grupo Fantasma and Atlas Maior (music); and Usha Akella (multidisciplinary). The program is open to Austin artists who plan to travel in support of their work. Applicants are evaluated by a selection panel on a number of criteria, including level of expertise, prior awards, length of time as an artist, and how candidates will enhance the city’s global profile. Applications for the 2020 class will open Oct. 1 and close Dec. 1. The complete program guide is available here.

If you’re between the ages of 14 and 19, this free event is for you: the Breaking Barriers Latinx Youth Conference, a day of art, music and discussion created entirely by the members of the ESB-MACC Caminos Teen Leadership program. Activities such as an open mic stage, zine exhibit, screen printing, mural painting, mosaic art, and teen-facilitated discussions support and amplify the theme of the day: breaking barriers, especially the barriers faced by Latinx youth. With food trucks on hand, no one will go hungry. It takes place Feb. 9, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with a live musical performance by Tiarra Girls at 5 p.m., at Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center, 600 River St. To learn more or RSVP, visit Eventbrite or Facebook.

Austin, Texas, and Limerick, Ireland, have signed a new cooperation agreement that will help both cities share best practices on creative industries and economic development corporations and expand on innovation and economic opportunities. The agreement, which is in the form of a Memorandum of Understanding, will reinforce the existing relationship between Austin and Limerick and help the cities develop key areas such as film, technology and manufacturing. It will also leverage the Irish presence in Austin to capitalize on foreign direct investment opportunities. The MOU was signed by elected officials from both cities. Learn more about the Economic Development Department’s International Program here.

At the Jan. 7 meeting of the Public Safety Commission, Austin Police Department Chief of Staff Troy Gay gave his customary monthly stats, and the thing that was remarkable was that not much has changed. Despite APD’s continued hiring push, the department continues to find itself lacking men and women to fill the ranks. Currently there are 110 vacancies, and the next class with a chance to fill those gaps will graduate from the police academy in May. Only 67 cadets remain in the class, said Gay. Following the completion of that training class, there will be one other in 2019 to help fill in the rank-and-file police officers. As a result of the lack of officers, Gay said that overtime spending for the quarter is “a little bit over.” He reported that 37 percent of the overtime budget was spent in the first quarter; typically APD aims to spend 25 percent. Also, Gay hypothesized that the shortage of manpower is the cause that has led to increasing response times since May 2018. The city target for response times is 6 minutes and 44 seconds after a call, but more recent numbers are showing responses in the 7-8 minute range.

The city’s Cultural Arts Division and South by Southwest have announced the second annual UNESCO Media Arts Exhibition at SXSW. The exhibit is a showcase for media art installations by local Austin artists and international artists who hail from cities belonging to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Austin is the only city in the United States that has the distinction of a UNESCO Media Arts designation. The city’s partnership with SXSW supports the designation by introducing local media artists to a global audience. Cultural Arts Division Manager Meghan Wells said in the announcement, “Austin is widely recognized as a collaborative community at the forefront of media arts technology …. We are pleased to partner with (SXSW) to spotlight Austin’s fantastic homegrown media arts talent as well as that of other cities’ artists through the lens of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network.” The exhibit will run March 9-17 at the Central Library, 710 W. Cesar Chavez St. A panel discussion on March 9 at 4 p.m. will explore the role of UCCN in promoting digital artmaking around the world.