Gentrification and displacement continue to dominate political talk in Austin. This month, the city is offering an official chance to weigh in on the topics at a community forum held by the city of Austin’s Anti-Displacement Task Force. The task force, which was formed by City Council in order to take a closer look at displacement in the city, is looking for public feedback on things like affordable housing and preserving cultural assets. The forum will take place on Saturday, Feb. 24 at the Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center, 808 Nile St., from 1 to 4 p.m. More information, and the opportunity to RSVP, is on Facebook or can be obtained by emailing the Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Department at NHCD@austintexas.gov. Linguistic and hearing impaired translation services, child care and refreshments will be available.

Council is set to add more than $220,000 to a contract for Sorenson Forensics to help the city finally eliminate the backlog of sexual assault kits waiting for testing. Acting Police Chief Brian Manley said that the city currently has a backlog of 497 kits. Of those, 215 will go to Sorenson, with the rest already assigned to other labs. Manley said he wanted to increase funding for Sorenson because it currently has “increased capacity” to take on additional kits. “The expectation is that we will have the kits out by the end of May,” he said, adding that the turnaround time would be 60 to 120 days, so the backlog should be eliminated and the kits tested by the end of September.

The National Park Service’s Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance program and Asakura Robinson, an urban planning firm based here in Austin, have been working on the master plan for improvements for the Little Walnut Creek Greenbelt. The greenbelt covers 206 acres in East Austin near the intersection of 51st Street and U.S. Highway 183. The area is largely undeveloped, and the goal of the master plan is to make it an attractive recreational space. The National Park Service would like to begin the process by collecting public feedback through a survey and several public meetings. The first such meeting will be Sunday, February 25, from 1 to 4 p.m. at Givens Recreation Center, and will consist of a presentation followed by open discussion, where attendees can share their thoughts on the state of the land today and what they would like to see happen with it in the future.

Hot on the heels of the news last week that the Austin Center for Events is getting close to cutting off applications for special events during South by Southwest, today comes one honey of a list of every event that has thus far applied for a special permit during “spring festival season.” There’s a multitude of uses for a list like this: identifying the parts of the city that will cause especially nightmarish traffic and crowding, figuring which parties look especially attractive to try to score an RSVP or credentials for, or just peeking in on what big global brands are (and aren’t) planning to plant a flag in Austin for most of a week. Noteworthy names missing from the list include Apple Music, Amazon Music and Spotify, though it’s worth noting that events included there are only those that need some kind of special use of public resources like traffic closures, noise limit rollbacks or capacity increases. If Apple were to, say, rent out ACL Live for the better part of a week booked with exclusive shows, that’s not an event that would necessitate a special use permit. Also of note: Fader Fort is back, now moved to East Seventh Street. What we’re really wondering, though, is what in the world is involved in the 12 Burning Dress Water Art displays that will be set up around various points within the downtown core (more or less) beginning on March 10.

Unpaid parking tickets or other citations weighing you down? The Austin Municipal Court and Downtown Austin Community Court are offering warrant amnesty right now through March 4. That means that you can “take care of your unpaid citations, have your warrant fees on outstanding warrant cases waived, and have your active warrants cleared,” without fear of arrest. No need to make an appointment, just walk into the court locations at 700 E. Seventh St. and 719 E. Sixth St. You can also visit the substations at 12425 Lamplight Village Ave. and 5700 Manchaca Road if you know you don’t need to speak with a judge. And don’t worry if you don’t have the funds to pay right now: The courts are providing options to set up a payment plan, request community service or apply for a waiver. In addition, there will be providing four free information sessions from 4 to 7 p.m. at the following locations:

• Feb. 13: Willie Mae Kirk Library Branch, 3101 Oak Springs Drive
• Feb. 14: Old Quarry Library Branch, 7051 Village Center Drive
• Feb. 20: Cepeda Library Branch, 651 N. Pleasant Valley Road
• Feb. 27: Pleasant Hill Library Branch, 211 E. William Cannon Drive

Warrant amnesty only applies to charges filed in the Austin Municipal Court or Downtown Austin Community Court. View the flyer here for docket hours and more information (click here for the Spanish version).

The Austin Transportation Department has hired Jason JonMichael to serve as its new assistant director of smart mobility. A press release announcing the news touts JonMichael as “a transportation technology expert with specialized experience in connected, automated, and electric vehicle research, deployment, and program development.” He apparently gained some of this experience at his most recent gig as a national technology leader for HNTB Corp., the engineering firm that, among other things, served as the consultant for Project Connect’s failed light rail proposal in 2014. In his new role, “JonMichael will lead a cross-functional team of mobility, technology, policy, data, and user experience specialists to deliver outcomes that improve mobility, safety and access to Austin residents,” the city’s press release declares. In other words, he will help implement the vision laid out in the city’s Smart Mobility Roadmap, the City Council-ordered document that serves as a keystone of sorts for a potential future of shared electric autonomous vehicles. “I’m excited about the opportunity to leverage my expertise, passion and experience in the transportation industry to provide meaningful mobility improvements to my hometown of Austin,” JonMichael said.

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization’s Transportation Policy Board added a brand-new title to Mayor Steve Adler’s business card on Monday evening. With a unanimous vote, the board tapped Adler to serve a two-year term as its vice chair. He replaces Bastrop County Commissioner Clara Beckett, who had served in the role since 2014. A CAMPO committee had previously recommended returning Beckett for another term. On Monday, Chair Will Conley announced that Beckett was out sick but had stressed to him that she would be comfortable with any decision made by the board. Burnet County Judge James Oakley then motioned to accept committee’s recommendation and scored a second from Travis County Commissioner Gerald Daugherty. However, before the board could vote, Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt offered a substitute motion in Adler’s favor. Chair Will Conley asked Adler how he felt about the idea, to which the mayor simply said, “I’d be honored to serve.” Ahead of taking a vote on Eckhardt’s substitute motion, Conley praised the CAMPO region’s diversity but also underscored the virtues of unity in the face of “spirited discussions” with state leadership. Declaring himself “more than comfortable” with Adler taking the vice chair role, Conley added, “I, of course, am a non-voting member of this organization at this point in time, but that does not mean I cannot share my opinion.” The board then unanimously voted to select Adler to serve as its vice chair, a role that the board’s bylaws enshrine as the preferred – though not required – successor to the chair.

Today is the day, folks. The third draft of CodeNEXT comes out today, and now the real debate can begin. Draft three is the official city staff policy recommendation, and it will be presented today at City Hall at 5 p.m. Following the presentation, city staff will answer questions from the public at a community open house in the atrium, until 7 p.m. A Feb. 8 memo explains the process from there. After the release of the draft, it explains, there is ample room for public comment. Comments can be submitted on the draft text and map at codenext.civicomment.org and codenext.engagingplans.org, respectively. The city will also be taking general comments through email (CodeNEXT@austintexas.gov), at commission meetings (austintexas.gov/codenext) and, starting on Feb. 15, Austinites can make an appointment to talk about the drafts in person by calling 512-974-3583. And, if you are eager to read a bunch about CodeNEXT right NOW, you can go check out what Mayor Steve Adler and Council members Ann Kitchen and Alison Alter have to say. On Friday, the trio dropped a list of more than 50 goals for the Land Development Code rewrite on the City Council Message Board.

This whisper has been corrected. The phone number for feedback on CodeNEXT will be a means to make appointments, not a hotline to talk about the rewrite.

Time is getting tight for event planners looking to get in on the citywide hoopla that comes with South by Southwest. On Friday, the city of Austin’s Center for Events announced it is nearing capacity for processing and approving applications for special events taking place around the 10-day stretch of panels, concerts and other attractions that make up “spring festival season,” in City Hall parlance. As of Friday, the office had received 156 applications for temporary use permits, temporary event sound permits and temporary change of use and occupant load permits. Event organizers whose applications would require minimal examination or whose overall impact on city resources would be small could still receive a review, but those looking to throw large or multiday events may have already missed their window. Friday’s announcement said ACE staff expects to close acceptance of all spring festival applications by the end of this week. Information on the permitting process is available at www.austintexas.gov/department/venues.

Precourt Sports Ventures, the group pushing to move the Columbus Crew professional soccer club to Austin, put some indirect pressure on city leaders Friday thanks to an endorsement from two local business groups in favor of the move. The support came from the Austin Chamber of Commerce and the Austin LGBT Chamber of Commerce, with the groups touting the economic and community benefits of Austin getting a Major League Soccer franchise. The main sticking point in the potential move is a decision on where to build a stadium with approximately 20,000 seats that PSV hopes can be built on city-owned property. The consideration of city parkland – now whittled down to just Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metropolitan Park in addition to other non-parkland property owned by the city – has sparked objections from conservationist and other groups around the city. That friction has caused City Council and staff to not rush into any decisions on the issue. PSV, meanwhile, wants some certainty so it can move forward with negotiations on a temporary home for the team in time for the 2019 MLS season.

The Austin Transportation Department and Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority would like to invite the public to the latest installment of the Traffic Jam. The Traffic Jam workshop offers the chance for Central Texas residents to chat with transportation heavies about ongoing initiatives such as the Austin Strategic Mobility Plan and Project Connect. In addition, attendees will be able to “give input on preliminary street designs and proposed ideas, test concepts with hands-on activities, and visit the special Join the Movement Bus. Attendees will also have an opportunity to learn more about projects from other local transportation agencies and programs, such as the (Central Texas Regional) Mobility Authority and the City’s Smart Mobility Road Map.” Traffic Jam: Taking It to the Streets goes down Saturday, Feb. 24, at the Central Library, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. As always, jammers are encouraged to use public transportation: Capital Metro routes 3, 111, 171 and 803 go to the library.

The final draft of CodeNEXT will be released Monday. And, in preparation for that release, four City Council members have taken the unorthodox step of creating a blog about the Land Development Code rewrite. Council members Jimmy Flannigan, Delia Garza, Pio Renteria and Greg Casar, who comprise the “For All Austinites” coalition, released their first post on Thursday. The “joint op-ed” stresses the need to update the outdated code, which they say is only working to increase inequality in the city. It reads, in part, “Encouraging a diverse mix of housing across the city, not only in undeveloped parts of town, begins to bridge the gaps  –  not just between haves and have-nots but between homes and grocery stores and museums and bus lines and jobs. Making a fair and just code also begins to address the disparity of opportunity. Decades of operating under a broken code have created an environment where larger developers and affluent landowners and homeowners (who can afford the best lobbyists and contractors) may “game the system” and enjoy opportunities – in home buying, home renovation, and rental properties  – that the average homeowner and renter cannot. … Now is the time to fix the failed status-quo policies of the past and to create a land-development code for all Austinites. Now is the time for us to put aside community divisions, look at the big picture, and focus on our shared future.” City Council is currently expected to take up CodeNEXT in April, though that timeline could be delayed by discussion at the city’s land use commissions.