A discussion with Austin visual artist Laurie Frick on Jan. 19 will inaugurate the second season of “Visionary Voices,” Austin’s free lecture series that features conversations with public artists from around the country. Co-produced by the city’s Art in Public Places program and Texas Society of Architects, “Visionary Voices” aims to explore the role of public art in society and the blurred line where art meets architecture. Participating artists are also undertaking commissions for the city and will give the public a sneak peek of their works in progress. The other “Visionary Voices” speakers are architect and designer Marc Fornes on May 14; installation artist Janet Zweig on Aug. 13; and muralist Fidencio Duran on Oct. 15. Find more information and the complete 2019 schedule here.

Attorney Matt Tynan said Tuesday he had received word from the Texas Ethics Commission that the agency would investigate former District 1 candidate Vincent Harding’s campaign finance forms based on allegations Tynan made in a complaint filed with the commission. Tynan also filed a complaint against Natasha Harper-Madison, who is in a Dec. 11 runoff with Mariana Salazar to determine which of them will represent District 1. However, Tynan said he had decided that Harper-Madison’s errors were “de minimis” – or trivial – and that he has resolved not to pursue the matter. The commission had explained that some of the perceived errors in campaign finance forms submitted by Harper-Madison and Harding were a result of the commission’s software. Harding’s campaign manager, Mykle Tomlinson, told the Austin Monitor that the reports contained no errors and that Tynan had misinterpreted the regulations. Harding came in third in the Nov. 6 election behind Harper-Madison, with just 412 fewer votes than the second-place finisher.

Energy activist Paul Robbins is sounding the alarm about gas prices for Austin residents. The company that provides gas to city residences, Texas Gas Service, has proposed changing the way it charges customers to fund its conservation programs. Currently, households pay a little under 4 cents per 100 cubic feet of gas consumed. TGS is proposing simply charging every household a flat rate of $1.19 a month. Robbins has denounced the proposal as regressive and likely to raise prices for low-income households that currently try to cut costs by reducing energy consumption. City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the new rates Thursday, but on Tuesday Council members agreed at a work session to postpone the item to a future meeting.

The Austin Music Commission has opted to take a wait-and-see approach to the city’s latest attempt at creating an “agent of change” ordinance to smooth tensions over noise issues between new entertainment venues and new residential construction and hotels. At last week’s meeting, Commissioner Rick Carney advocated giving City Council a written outline of the commission’s expectations for the proposed ordinance, which was abandoned prior to Council consideration in mid-2017. Concerns over the lack of definitive expectations for new businesses entering a neighborhood stalled the ordinance, but last month City Council passed a resolution directing the city manager to propose a new ordinance by mid-February. Chair Gavin Garcia said it would be best to let newly elected Council members be seated in January and give their own input on the matter before the commission weighs in. Commissioners also said that advocacy groups Music Moves Austin and the Music Venue Alliance will be working behind the scenes to lobby and educate city leaders on the best policy points for live music venues and how to protect them from legal action by new businesses moving into their sound path.

On occasion, portions of the city code that are intended to regulate one issue end up becoming a loophole for another. “I’ve never seen (the code) exploited the way you are or the way your architect is (exploiting it),” Chair William Burkhardt said at the Nov. 9 meeting of the Board of Adjustment, referring to a variance case involving a lot in Hyde Park. Years ago, the lot was subdivided into a space too small for an ADU, but nevertheless, the owner wants to construct a new, detached, two-car garage with second-floor living space. The idea of constructing a living unit and labeling it a garage rankled board members. Ben Reid, who owns the property at 4214 Avenue B, explained that his “number-one priority is a garage,” and that if the commissioners were amenable to the idea he would forgo the living unit. The case was eventually postponed until the board’s next meeting. While the board members agreed that removing the living quarters would improve the likelihood of granting a variance, Board Member Rahm McDaniel lamented that amid Austin’s housing shortage, “we can find a house for a car, but not for people to live in.”

House Bill 222 is one that proponents of Austin’s paid sick leave policy will be watching and opposing when the Texas Legislature convenes early next year. That bill, filed by Rep. Matt Krause of Fort Worth on Monday, targets the paid sick leave policies recently passed in Austin and San Antonio and would prevent municipalities from requiring a business to give its employees paid sick leave. Austin passed its sick leave policy in February, but it was put on hold by state courts almost immediately. There was heated debate locally over the city ordinance, which would have required companies with 16 or more workers to provide 64 hours of sick leave per year. That total was adjusted down to 48 hours annually per employee for businesses with fewer than 16 employees.

For those tracking every turn of the speculative screw in Amazon’s quest to identify a new site for its second headquarters, it’s been a busy 10 days. News broke the day before the midterm elections that the e-commerce giant has altered its initial plan in favor of splitting more than 50,000 employees between two cities, in part because of concerns over being able to find enough talent in a single location. Austin, at various points rumored to be among the top three contenders for HQ2, now appears to have fallen back in the pack while the Queens borough of New York City and Crystal City, Virginia, are reportedly in advanced talks to finalize deals for the multibillion-dollar projects. The components of Austin’s bid to land HQ2 (or should we call it HQ3 now?) have been closely guarded by the Austin Chamber of Commerce, which has led the bid process since the competition opened last year. A final decision from the company is expected before the end of the year.

The city’s plan to move Austin Municipal Court – currently located on East Seventh Street – has seen a shift that could see the eventual landing spot changed slightly from its assumed new location while the city saves more than $1 million over a 10-year lease. The Austin Business Journal reports that last month City Council approved a resolution opening up negotiations with the owners of Bergstrom Tech Center, located on Burleson Road almost adjacent to MetCenter II, whose owners appear to have secured the court relocation deal in May. The fate of the municipal court has become something of an odyssey over more than a decade, during which time the city has purchased multiple parcels for the explicit purpose of building a combination facility for the court and a police substation in Northeast Austin. Meanwhile, concern has grown over the court’s current location because of structural and safety problems and a lack of parking.

Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department is holding an open house to share information and seek input from the public on the proposal for improvements for Givens District Park in East Austin. Informational exhibits and maps of the planned developments will be on view. At three previous community meetings held this summer and fall, Parks and Rec staffers introduced the master plan project and discussed the 40-acre park’s history and the current state of its facilities. Residents were also invited to share their ideas for improvements to the park. The open house will be held at Givens Recreation Center on Tuesday, Dec. 4, from 6-8 p.m.

Today, the Austin Monitor will be joining most of the city in observing Veterans Day. See you Tuesday!

On Thursday, Nov. 8, the front plaza of City Hall was packed with protesters, calling for President Trump to reconsider his decision to push Jeff Sessions out of his position as attorney general. A speaker orating to the crowd was barely audible above the roar of cheers and horns honking. What began at 5 p.m. lasted for hours as dozens and dozens of Austinites cheered, shouting their opinions so loudly their voices could be heard echoing inside the walls of City Hall. The protest was organized by MoveOn.org in conjunction with other groups around the country. Austin resident Roger May said that the intent of the demonstrations was to keep Trump from “firing his way to safety.” May explained that pushing Sessions out of office was “crossing a line,” and that he hopes the protests will help to persuade the government to keep the Mueller investigation going. A few followers of the far-right conspiracy website InfoWars made an appearance at the rally to share their views about why they support the status quo.

The Texas Ethics Commission has rejected a complaint filed against District 1 candidate Natasha Harper-Madison, but the attorney who filed the complaint indicated Thursday that he would rewrite his complaint and submit it to the commission next week. Harper-Madison will face Mariana Salazar in a Dec. 11 runoff to represent the Northeast Austin district. The commission notified attorney Matt Tynan by mail that his allegations against Harper-Madison were insufficient and encouraged him to re-file the complaint with additional information. The commission wrote that one of the allegations Tynan made against Harper-Madison, as well as against another District 1 candidate, Vince Harding, were not violations. According to the commission’s letter, “Your complaint alleges the respondent did not properly disclose political contributions or the total amount of political contributions accepted during a reporting period in violation of (the Election Code) … . However, the Commission filing software automatically applies the un-itemized contribution total to the A1 subtotal on Cover Sheet Page 3. When that software feature is accounted for, there is no discrepancy.” Tynan said Thursday, “At this point there’s still information missing. And ultimately it comes down to just one single issue, and that is where the contributions are.” While Tynan acknowledged that there may not be a problem with Harper-Madison’s filings, he is still not convinced they are accurate. Tynan said he has not yet received a letter from the commission concerning a similar complaint he filed against Harding. However, it seems likely that the software issue also caused confusion with Harding’s filings.