City Demographer Ryan Robinson weighed in on the draft of the Austin Strategic Housing Plan up for approval today in an April 11 memo to Assistant City Manager Bert Lumbreras, saying it is “extremely well-done and presents a thoughtful approach to mitigating affordability issues as housing in Austin becomes more expensive” overall. However, in the memo (embedded below) Robinson explains that the plan appears to treat the city’s housing needs and goals as separate from the region – a path the demographer warns against. Specifically, Robinson notes that ignoring the trends and planning for the city to gain an increased share of the region’s growth, instead of continuing its downward trend, and ignoring the suburban growth “seems unrealistic” and is “basically a level of population growth that would be demographically improbable to achieve.” Robinson also recommends that the plan include district-specific goals, and suggested strategies for development code and transportation system fixes towards affordability that include a regional transit system and a Land Development Code that: supports a wide diversity of housing types and densities; supports the preservation of homes, but allows for infill; and prioritizes the preservation of existing, market-rate affordable housing over the creation of new housing stock.

Download (PDF, 44KB)

Interim City Manager Elaine Hart announced Wednesday that Austin is losing its highly regarded chief animal services officer, Tawny Hammond. In a memo to Mayor Steve Adler and City Council, Hart said Hammond has accepted the position of director of the Midwest region for the Best Friends Animal Society. Hart wrote that, “The Best Friends Animal Society has set a goal of bringing the nation to No Kill by 2025, and Tawny will join the team leading this effort.” Hammond joined the city in June 2015 and Hart said, “Although her time in Austin has been brief, Tawny and her team have accomplished incredible milestones.” Those include reducing the population of the Animal Center from about 1,400 when she started to about 500 currently by increasing efforts in adoption and foster services, and achieving a record live outcome of 98.7 percent this month. In addition, Hart noted that under Hammond’s leadership, the department has “identified prevention and field services initiatives that will reduce shelter population and assist residents with pet related emergencies and challenges.” Hammond also led an effort to work with the Travis County Sheriff’s Office on its first ever inmate and homeless pet program. Prior to her move to Austin, Hammond served as director of the Fairfax County Animal Shelter in Virginia. Hart said she would confer with her team to appoint an interim animal services officer soon.

The four Democrats on the Travis County Commissioners Court voted unanimously Tuesday to approve reimbursing their one Republican colleague, Commissioner Gerald Daugherty, for legal expenses he incurred defending himself against a criminal complaint. The county will pay Daugherty roughly $8,000, or 75 percent of the nearly $12,000 he paid attorney Randy Leavitt between March 2014 and January 2016. A special prosecutor hired by the county to examine the case against Daugherty moved in October of 2015 to dismiss the complaint, which centered on Daugherty’s deleting text and email correspondences related to the construction of the controversial State Highway 45. In the motion approving the reimbursement, County Judge Sarah Eckhardt said that the legal defense of Daugherty was in the interest of the county and that Daugherty had acted in good faith. She later credited her colleague with insisting that he pick up a portion of the attorney fees. Daugherty argued, she said, that elected officials should have some “skin in the game” when they request legal assistance from the county.

Ashby Johnson, Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization executive director, requested the Transportation Policy Board’s approval of the General Planning Consultant Contract at the board meeting Monday evening. The request comes after an evaluation team decided on the services of Freese and Nichols, Inc. – a regionally based consulting firm that offers engineering, architecture, environmental science, construction and planning services – to support the current efforts being made related to the organization’s 2045 Regional Active Transportation Plan. “The purpose is to provide additional expertise and persons of power to CAMPO,” stated Johnson. Some attendees, however, questioned the need for additional support, asking whether outsourcing was the better alternative to hiring full-time staff members. In response, Johnson explained that not all roles were needed 100 percent of the time. The motion to approve the contract, which is estimated to cost $750,000 over a three-year time frame, passed unanimously.

The Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization Transportation Policy Board was briefed on Texas Department of Transportation-related legislation at its April 10 meeting. The session included an update on a Sunset bill working its way through the legislature: Senate Bill 312. TxDOT Director of Government Affairs Jerry Haddican said the bill passed unanimously in the Texas Senate, with just a few amendments made on the floor. In his briefing, Haddican called for special attention to Section 18 of the bill, which would add a new section, 201.9992, to the transportation code. “This amendment would require TxDOT to adopt rules to align its funding forecasts and project recommendations criteria that would be in sync with project recommendation criteria developed by (metropolitan planning organizations).” Haddican said the amendment is something TxDOT will be considering rules on immediately. While the bill hasn’t yet been referred to a committee, Haddican said it will likely be suggested to the House Transportation Committee chaired by state Rep. Geanie Morrison (R-Victoria).

Austin attorney Bill Aleshire notified the city of Bastrop on Tuesday that he had filed a notice of nonsuit without prejudice related to Paul Burt’s Texas Open Meetings Act suit against the city. Aleshire, a noted public information lawyer, said he was withdrawing the suit because, “the priority is to have my client have his day in court.” Because Bastrop’s city attorney David Bragg had threatened to ask that the district court hold Aleshire in contempt, Aleshire said it was best for him to withdraw. The threat was related to Aleshire’s previous service as the attorney for intervenors in the County of Bastrop v. Pine Forest Investment Group case. Aleshire said in a letter to Bragg that the city attorney’s claim that Aleshire’s representation of Burt violated an injunction related to the Pine Forest case “is without merit. The claim that the City Council violated the Open Meetings Act was not intended to be, and is not, an action to enforce the (Pine Forest/Bastrop) development agreement.” Like any citizen of Bastrop, Aleshire said, “Burt has the right to have his Open Meetings claim heard without the focus being on who his attorney is.” Aleshire said he had spoken with Austin attorney Chuck Herring about representing Burt in this matter. The clock is ticking, but Burt has four years from the date of the alleged violation, May 28, 2013, to file a new suit on the matter.

City Council Member Leslie Pool is traveling to various cities this week as part of her duties as a trustee of the City of Austin Employees’ Retirement System. She left home on Sunday and will be gone through the end of the week. Pool is one of several trustees traveling to meet applicants who responded to a request for proposals for general investment consulting services for the system. The Austin Monitor caught up with her and the executive director of the retirement system, Chris Hanson, as they were leaving a meeting in San Francisco Tuesday. Hanson and Pool explained that it is important to keep the names of the consultant applicants confidential until the committee makes a recommendation to the full board, which is expected to happen in May. Pool noted that retirement system holds about $2.4 billion in retirees’ money. Even though she is serving on the board, as a Council member she will never be able to retire from the city.

Yesterday, the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that the mobile ticketing app, which the agency released in 2014, has sold more than 1 million tickets. The agency raked in $7 million in ticket sales from the CapMetro App in three years, and last year the app accounted for around 23 percent of its sales, or about $2.9 million. In a Tuesday press release, Dan Dawson, vice president of marketing and communications for Capital Metro, said the agency is working hard to give riders an experience comparable to the private sector. “Whether that’s through mobile apps, on-demand services or partnerships with up-and-coming mobility and tech firms, Capital Metro is committed to making the customer experience better,” Dawson said. Learn more about the app and how to download it at capmetro.org/app.

You may have noticed a missing Travis County TipSheet or two. They will return next week, along with our much-missed county reporter Caleb Pritchard, who completes us.

Spring is in the air here in Central Texas, and that can mean only one thing: The Parks and Recreation Department has released its 2017 pool schedule. All the information anyone could ever want on the city’s aquatics facilities, including schedules, can be found on the city’s website. This year three pools, Govalle, Shipe and Givens, are slated to be closed for repairs. Givens alone is leaking more than 50,000 gallons of water per day due to cracks in the pool wall. Due to the closures, the Parks department is planning to offer Govalle and Givens residents transportation to other community pools. Find out more information about those plans by calling 512-974-9330.

This weekend, the Austin Animal Center hosts an Easter egg hunt in an effort to both break up the monotony of shelter life for the animals in its care and to place them in a new home. From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, April 15, shelter pets will be treated to a series of activities. “Tiny tots” will hunt for their eggs first, followed by medium and large dogs and puppies at noon. Visitors can visit the rabbit petting station or volunteer to walk dogs and entertain cats. Adoption fees on dogs and puppies will be waived during the event. Chief Animal Services Officer Tawny Hammond noted in a Monday press release that the holidays are an especially difficult time at the shelter. “We think of Easter as a time to celebrate our pets and help them know they’re loved,” she said.

We make no claims to have the resources or wherewithal to run a PolitiFact-type operation here at the Austin Monitor. However, once in a while, smart people reach out with answers to questions raised (and unraised, honestly). This week, Austin Community College adjunct professor Stefan Haag contacted us about having fact-checked City Council Member Ellen Troxclair’s recent claim that her district had voted in favor of the May Proposition 1 that would have overturned the city’s transportation network company regulations. According to Haag’s research, this is correct. District 8 narrowly approved Prop 1, with 6,150 people voting in favor and 6,049 people against. Good to know!