Do Austinites support regulations – currently under consideration by City Council – for transportation network companies such as Uber and Lyft? It is apparently a landslide in either direction, depending on whom – and how – you ask. On Wednesday, Uber released the results of a poll that it commissioned through pollster We Ask America stating that 70 percent of Austin voters “support keeping the current rules to prevent the elimination of ridesharing,” though it does not go into detail about the proposed rules in its poll. One week earlier, on Dec. 2, TX Rides for Hire – an interest group consisting of Texas taxi and transportation companies – released the results of a poll it commissioned through Littlefield & Associates Consulting. According to those results, 70 percent of likely voters support “common sense safety rules for ride hailing services like Uber and Lyft,” specifically fingerprint-based background checks. Council directed city staff on Oct. 15 to draft separate ordinances, one that would set operating fees for transportation network companies and another that would require their drivers to pass fingerprint-based background checks before being hired. Uber and Lyft have both vocally criticized the latter proposal, stating that, with some exceptions, neither company chooses to operate in cities with such a policy.

In order to better tackle the district’s financial complexities, Austin Independent School District At-Large Trustee Kendall Pace has put forward the idea of creating a new AISD budget committee that will look at the district’s multimillion-dollar (billion before state recapture) budget. But with Pace absent Monday night, board members went back and forth over whether the measure was redundant, considering that all board members would probably want to debate the matter at length in regular meetings anyway. In addition, trustees wondered to what degree the committee would advise the board at large. As a compromise, President Gina Hinojosa suggested going forward with a temporary committee to look at the overall budgeting process. A change in that process and in the way information is presented might enable board members to ask more detailed questions but still keep out of administrative affairs, suggested Vice President Amber Elenz. Pace (via text) and District 6 Trustee Paul Saldaña volunteered to sit on the temporary committee.

Those Travis County voters out there who haven’t already lost their voter registration certificates may be interested to learn that their current voter cards are about to expire at the end of December. Those voters who are the sort to have lost their registration cards may be heartened to learn that new blue cards (a distinct change in style from the current orange ones) will soon be arriving in the mail. The new cards will be valid until December 2017, and those requiring corrections – such as address or name changes – can be returned in exchange for a corrected card, which will be mailed back within 30 days. Voters who have moved will receive an address confirmation card if they have provided the post office with a forwarding address. Failure to respond with an updated address (or, alternatively, to update it online) will land the voter’s name in a “suspense file,” according to an announcement from the office of Travis County Tax Assessor-Collector Bruce Elfant. Although it won’t prevent anyone from voting, says the announcement, it “may cause a delay at the polling place on Election Day.”

If you’ve driven around near-East Austin recently, you may have gotten a glimpse of the next, new zoning fight on the horizon. Yard signs declaring “No More for One Two East” have sprung up in yards around the area, and a quick trip to the URL on those signs shows that the fight will be over a proposal for the lot at 12th Street and I-35 (which is currently home to a large parking lot, CVS and Mexitas Restaurant). According to the website, “Drenner Group and JH West 12th Street Partners LTD have proposed a $200 million project 185 feet in height for the 2.839 acre CVS/Bingo site at East 12th Street and IH-35.” Citing concerns about traffic, the Organization of Central East Austin Neighborhoods is encouraging opponents to show up at the relevant Planning Commission and City Council meetings, which are currently scheduled to take place in January and February, respectively.

After months of vacancies, the Planning Commission has finally added its 13th member, which gives the commission a full roster for the first time since its population with new City Council appointments. All of the members can be found on the city website, here. And, for the record, the final appointment comes from Mayor Steve Adler, who selected Angela Pineyro de Hoyos. She attended her first meeting Tuesday night.

For Austinites planning a visit to the Trail of Lights, traffic and parking is often the biggest concern. This year, the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and app developer Metropia Inc. are working with the Trail of Lights Foundation to help visitors plan their trip to the holiday display. According to a press release about the collaboration, “Metropia’s holistic approach to alleviating traffic congestion will now offer a customized option for traveling to this year’s Trail of Lights. After opening the app, users will have the option of inputting ‘Trail of Lights’ into their destination field. After selecting their specific destination of either the Trail of Lights shuttle lot or the pre-paid parking lots, Metropia will calculate and present the best routes and departure times to reach the Trail by your desired arrival time.” Metropia launched earlier this year, with support from CTRMA, with a service providing traffic routing in Austin.

It probably won’t surprise many readers to learn that Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt has welcomed the recent decision by a state district judge to dismiss a legal challenge against the county’s newly adopted guidelines for mass gatherings. Last week, Judge Tim Sulak rejected Euphoria Music and Camping Festival’s request for an injunction against the new policy, which effectively sets a more restrictive curfew on the event’s amplified music than in years past. While representatives of Euphoria did not respond to requests for comment on Monday, Eckhardt’s office quickly issued a statement lauding the decision. “We need clarity on the law,” Eckhardt declared. “Whether or not Euphoria re-files its suit, the Commissioners Court will continue to work with it and other festivals to achieve the best balance between the business interests and the neighbors’ interests.” Because Sulak has not issued an official order yet, the clock is not yet ticking for Euphoria to file an appeal. When the order does come, the festival will have 30 days to decide whether to challenge the ruling.

Those needing help following the floods, severe storms and tornadoes that occurred between Oct. 22 and Oct. 31 will now be able to find it at two State/Federal Emergency Management Agency Disaster Recovery Centers. The centers open today, and homeowners, renters and business owners will be able to get their questions answered by state and federal specialists trained in providing assistance to survivors. Both centers will be open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m., and on Saturday, from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. One will be located at the Dove Springs Recreation Center, 5801 Ainez Drive, and the other will be at the Elroy Community Library, 13512 FM 812, in Del Valle. According to a press release about the centers, “People who had damage can also register for FEMA assistance by calling 1-800-621-3362 toll free from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Disaster assistance applicants who have a speech disability or hearing loss and use TTY should call 800-462-7585 directly; for those who use 711 or Video Relay Service (VRS), call 800-621-3362. The toll-free telephone numbers will operate from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week until further notice.”

Following last week’s City Council vote committing the city to move forward with a motion for new trial and appeal of its lawsuit (which the city lost last month) against the Travis Central Appraisal District and thousands of commercial and vacant property owners, two attorneys on the winning side criticized the decision. The city contends that TCAD is undervaluing property values for commercial and vacant properties to the detriment of Travis County homeowners. At the same time, because TCAD is valuing residential properties at the correct values, homeowners are forced to pay a disproportionate share of taxes, the city says. Lorri Michel, who represented Junk Yard Dogs LP, which owns the building that houses the property tax appraisal firm Protax, accused Council of “operating in their own parallel universe without any basis in the law. Their action will delay finality to the 2015 taxes and continue to cost the taxpayers money – this utterly groundless lawsuit has already cost taxpayers nearly a million dollars. Regardless of the resolution, the outcome will remain the same – the city has no standing to seek the relief they are asking for in the courts.” Bill Aleshire, another attorney for Junk Yard Dogs, complained that the city had yet to reveal which properties were undervalued. Of course, one reason why the city has failed to do so is that it lost the standing argument and could not move forward with the meat of its case. If the 3rd Court of Appeals were to agree with the city on the standing question, the case could move back to Judge Tim Sulak for a trial on the merits. However, if the appeals court agrees with TCAD and the other defendants that the city did not have standing, the city will not ever be required to release its information. Either way, the resolution of this case is many months down the road.

Oxford Advisors LLC, the company that was disqualified from being chosen to act as the advocate for consumers and small businesses for Austin Energy’s rate review, has notified the city that it will be protesting the disqualification. James Scarboro, the city’s purchasing officer, said the company would have until Dec. 14 to file its official protest. As the Austin Monitor reported last week, Oxford Advisors was disqualified because Michael Osborne, chair of the Electric Utility Commission, contacted the company. He did so after he and other members of the EUC recommended against hiring the company. Scarboro told the Monitor that the city may or may not hire a hearings officer to consider the protest. Sometimes the nature of the protest requires someone outside the city to consider the arguments, and sometimes it does not, he said. Mayor Steve Adler suggested in a memo posted on the City Council Message Board last week that perhaps Council could vote to override the disqualification. Scarboro declined comment on whether Council has the authority to take that action, adding that he has only been with the city for a year, so he is not sure whether Council has done so in the past. Austin Energy is in a hurry to hire the consumer adviser and perform the rate review in order to present findings to Council next summer before Council has to take up the following year’s budget.

After 20 years of helping Austin musicians and their families access mental health services, the SIMS Foundation will be greatly expanding its work. Beginning in January, eligibility for the foundation’s services will be extended to the “entire music industry,” according to an announcement on the SIMS Foundation Facebook page. It specifies that “any person who has worked in the music industry for two or more years, and has earned most of their annual income as a music professional, will be eligible for our life-saving counseling, psychiatry, and addiction recovery services.” Partners and family of those who meet the criteria can also qualify for services. The expansion comes as a response to a finding in the Austin Music Census that over a third of Austin’s music industry professionals remain un- or underinsured.

Yesterday, eastbound lanes on Third Street opened for travel between San Antonio and Guadalupe streets. Westbound lanes, however, will remain closed until work is completed. In addition, Guadalupe Street will remain whittled down to two lanes between Second and Fourth streets until Dec. 25. Work is expected to be completed on the intersection of Guadalupe and Third streets on Christmas.