Among the proposals on the City Council “budget concept menu” are two items concerning Austin’s chambers of commerce. Council Member Don Zimmerman has proposed removing the Economic Development Department’s funding for the chambers – which would save just over $1 million. Council Member Leslie Pool has a different proposition. Citing “general support for continuing funding for the chambers of commerce,” she has proposed “equalizing funding for the chambers of commerce at $225,000 per chamber.” Asked about the plans, Economic Development Director Kevin Johns said that he hoped Council would want to continue funding Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce programs that dealt with children, poverty and education. He also explained that the missions of the Greater Austin Black Chamber of Commerce, Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce, Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Austin Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce all held slightly different missions, constituencies and focuses, and were “all incredibly valuable.” Zimmerman maintained his stance, making the point that there are other groups in Austin doing work similar to the chambers but that “they aren’t demanding any subsidies.” Johns replied, “Chambers of commerce are universally part of the public-private partnerships in every major city in the country. It is universally accepted that there is a role of government funding chambers of commerce, everywhere.”

The Texas Health and Human Services Commission has awarded the Equity in Child Welfare Award to Texas CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). The award recognizes the work that CASA has done in reconciling disproportionality and disparities among children and families in Texas. According to a press release about the award, “Texas CASA was recognized for initiatives focusing on diversity, equity, cultural competence and ensuring better outcomes for children and youth in care. The organization is committed to inspiring and empowering the local CASA programs to not only provide a CASA volunteer for every child who needs one, but to recruit and train quality volunteers that understand and reflect the diversity of the children they serve.” Texas CASA consists of 72 local CASA programs that recruit and train volunteers that advocate for children in the child welfare system. According to the group, in 2014, 8,066 well-trained volunteers served 24,742 children in 207 of the 254 Texas counties.

Travis County Commissioner Ron Davis opined Tuesday on an issue causing some political dyspepsia at the city of Austin. What was otherwise the Commissioners Court’s official introduction to Patrick Howard, the new interim executive director of the Housing Authority of Travis County, became an opportunity for Davis to hold forth on the Rosewood Courts controversy. Built in 1939, the East Austin complex was the first public housing project in the nation built for African-American residents. Last week, the city’s Historic Landmark Commission failed to recommend historic zoning for the apartments, leaving the door open to planned redevelopment of the property. “What persons are afraid of – and I share their fear – is that whatever they end up doing, they will displace these persons out there and do what they want to do with the property,” Davis said. He urged Howard to work with the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, which supports the redevelopment plan at Rosewood Courts. Davis told him, “Folks are really going to be watching very close. This is going to be a pivotal point because there’s been so many people in this area that have been displaced. Gentrification has forced a lot of people out and a lot of other things. This is another piece of that gentrification.” Howard agreed that gentrification is a serious problem before adding, “I think that with such a great need for affordable housing, we have to continue to work on looking at creative ways to both look at expanding the supply of affordable housing while looking at trying to diversify neighborhoods and making them neighborhoods of choice as well.”

Electric Utility Commissioner Shudde Fath continued her effort to get City Council to raise the demand charge threshold for small, commercial Austin Energy customers as part of the Fiscal Year 2015-16 budget in a frank memo she sent to Council, City Manager Marc Ott and Austin Energy General Manager Larry Weis on Monday. “A budget amendment to change the small business demand charge threshold from 10 (kilowatts) back to 20kW WILL NOT ‘raise bills for some customers’ and WILL NOT result in a budget increase or budget reduction,” Fath wrote. She was directly refuting a statement that Austin Energy spokesperson Robert Cullick provided to the Austin Monitor on Wednesday, which stated that “changing (the policy) will raise bills for some customers without giving them a chance to participate in a fair and impartial process.” Council reduced the demand charge threshold for small, commercial customers from 20 to 10 kilowatts in 2012, meaning that customers in that class who exceed 10 kilowatts of peak demand between June and September of any given year are bumped into a higher class – for the following year – that is subject to demand charges. Small-business customers have complained that the policy creates a financial burden and risk for them. The Electric Utility Commission passed Fath’s resolution on Aug. 17 asking Council to raise the threshold back to 20 kilowatts and reduce the amount of time – from one year to three months – before customers are eligible to return to their previous class. Mark Dreyfus, vice president of regulatory affairs and corporate communications at Austin Energy, has maintained that Council should consider the policy change as part of a cost-of-service study that will take place over the next several months – for rates that will be effective in October 2016 – rather than consider it as part of the budget. Fath has argued that small businesses need relief sooner.

How much is City Council’s new committee system costing the city? According to the answer to a budget question posed by Council Member Pio Renteria, $223,089 so far. Of that, $42,549 is for staff and overtime, $36,000 is for equipment costs, $65,000 is for contractor support, $60,940 is for closed captioning and $18,600 is for video archival. Extra staff and overtime are in the city’s Public Information Office, the City Clerk’s Office and the Building Services Department. Of those, the equipment costs are one-time costs.

The Austin Animal Center is beginning its strategic planning process, and it is asking the people of Austin to weigh in on its strengths, weaknesses, “opportunities, and threats,” in order to better understand what’s working at the center and what isn’t. The survey is available online here until Sept. 4. Responses are anonymous.

Today, City Council members (and the Austin Monitor) have set aside their day to discuss the city’s budget and tackle the spending (and cuts) proposed on Council’s budget concept menu. The meeting is scheduled to take place from 9 a.m. until 4:30 p.m.

This fall, the Greater Mount Zion Baptist Church is teaming up with the Sustainable Food Center’s Happy Kitchen (La Cocina Alegre) to host a series of free community cooking classes. The classes, which are designed to teach good nutrition, economic meal preparation and how to use local, seasonable produce, will be held Mondays, Sept. 28 to Nov. 2, from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. Registration information can be found here.

This fall, Bastrop County will hold three workshops to help develop the Bastrop County Transportation Plan, which is scheduled to be completed in June 2016. According to a press release, “The plan will serve as a roadmap for creating a safe and efficient county transportation system that serves the mobility needs of area residents and allows the county to remain economically competitive in Central Texas now and in the future.” Workshops will be held on Sept. 29, Sept. 30 and Oct. 7. The invested public is also invited to weigh in by email, at BastropCountyTransportationPlan@emailatg.com, or via Facebook. More information can also be found on the Bastrop County website.

Over the weekend, Google announced that it is expanding its self-driving car program in Austin. Information about the program is available on the project’s website, which promises a monthly report on the cars and a feedback form for “neighbors.”

As part of the ongoing “Beers, Brains and Betterment” forum, the Austin Monitor will be taking on the state of Austin’s music industry. On Oct. 6, City Council Member Greg Casar, Austin Music People’s Jennifer Houlihan, local artist Tee-Double, Transmission Events General Manager Bobby Garza and South by Southwest brand development honcho/former city of Austin Music Commission Chair Brad Spies will join Monitor Publisher Mike Kanin to talk about what’s up with the city’s music industry, festivals and all of that good stuff. As usual, the event is free and open to the public, but RSVPs to ensure your space are available here.

North Austin drivers and cyclists can expect traffic delays over the next few weeks along the stretch of Metric Boulevard that extends from Kramer Lane to Parmer Lane. The Public Works Department will begin repaving the road next week, and the project will require reducing traffic to one lane and restricting bike lane access. Driveways and sidewalks in the area will remain open, and Austin Police Department officers will be on hand to direct vehicles. Most of the work will take place at night, between 8 p.m. and 6:30 a.m. However, some daytime construction is scheduled for Tuesday through Friday, Sept. 1-4, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Completion of the project is expected by the end of September.