Although City Council met with the city clerk, the city auditor and the Municipal Court clerk during an executive session on Tuesday, it took no action on their wages. Those items are on today’s executive session agenda again, but no action is likely. That’s because this week’s evaluation is just part one of a two-step process. Evaluations, salary and future plans are part of the second step, which will happen later in the year, at which time the three will find out if they are getting raises and if so, how much. The other item that appeared on Tuesday’s executive session agenda on today’s agenda is discussion about how to deal with arbitration with the Austin Firefighters Association over wages and benefits. The Austin Monitor has heard that there will be an item on next week’s agenda to try to resolve that particular conundrum.

This whisper has been changed to correct an assertion that the firefighter arbitration is not on the Thursday agenda. We regret the error.

Today’s City Council meetings start with the Austin Energy Utility Oversight Committee at 9 a.m. Mayor Kirk Watson has indicated on the City Council Message Board that Council will immediately go into executive session following the AE part of the meeting. Council members are scheduled to evaluate the performance of the city clerk, the city auditor and the Municipal Court clerk, and consider whether to give each a raise and how much. None of the three has been in a negative spotlight, so it seems likely that the discussions will go smoothly and not take up much time. The more interesting questions will come during discussion of “legal issues related to City of Austin 2023 labor contract negotiations.” As the Austin Monitor reported last week, the city’s legal team stopped participating in arbitration with the Austin Firefighters Association, citing a Texas Supreme Court case related to firefighters and police officers in Houston. While it seems unlikely that Council will resolve the issues its legal staff brought up in deciding to stop the arbitration, it can move toward a resolution. Watson said in his post that Council will return after executive session to hear briefings on management of emergencies, as well as the Austin-Travis County Sobering Center. A second post on the message board indicates that Watson, interim City Manager Jesús Garza and city staff have already started working on new procedures to follow in case of serious emergencies. The mayor indicated that he may have to leave the meeting in order to go to the Capitol for meetings “related to bills important to Austin.”

Austin Independent School District will hold a career fair this Saturday. The event will be an opportunity to meet AISD staff and principals and learn about employment in the district. Attendees are encouraged to apply to teaching positions prior to the event and are reminded that, though opportunities for pre-hire will be extended during the event, an RSVP does not guarantee a teaching position. Those attending the fair are also asked to bring at least 10 copies of their current resume, as well as a sweater and water if desired. The fair will take place from 9 a.m. until noon April 15 at the Austin Convention Center. More information and an RSVP can be found here.

Young Austinites aged 15 to 25 will have the chance to hear from and talk to local civic leaders next Thursday, April 13. Registration for the Young Austinite Civic Summit, hosted by St. Edward’s University, is free and open now. The event aims to provide local students with solutions they face in the city through panels and small group sessions focused on things like “Finding Your Voice” and “Civics 101 Training.” The event will take place from 1 to 5 p.m. at St. Edward’s University.

Austin’s bike infrastructure will continue to expand with the upcoming start of construction on the Austin to Manor Trail this month. The trail, which is about 3 miles long, will consist of a 12-foot-wide path that (as you might have guessed) connects Austin’s trail network to Manor following Capital Metro railroad tracks, which makes for a nice, flat path through the Blackland Prairie. Construction is expected to take one year and will, eventually, connect to the proposed Gilleland Greenway allowing bikes to travel from Ben E. Fisher Metropolitan Park to Northeast Metropolitan Park in Pflugerville.

The urban trail will be funded through a combination of mobility bonds, a CAMPO grant and a Travis County interlocal agreement.

Civically minded procrastinators, take heed! Today is the last day to register to vote for the May 6 election that features two similar but opposing propositions about police oversight in Austin. In general, United States citizens that are at least 17 years and 10 months old are eligible to vote in their county of residence, with exceptions for some convicted felons or those deemed by a court as ineligible to vote due to mental incapacitation. Texans can check to see if they are registered, and registered under the correct address, here. As today is the deadline for registration, election officials advise submitting an application in person at a county voter registrar.

With the resignation of Board Member Tony Elkins, the Austin Transit Partnership is now looking for a community expert in finance to join the ATP board. They are looking for someone to complete Elkins’ term, which ends in January, 2025, according to a memo from Assistant City Manager Robert Goode.

In that memo, Goode laid out a proposed timeline for selecting a new member. The board is looking for someone “with at least 10 years of experience in finance, financial management, banking, or investing with a focus on large capital projects.” The director will be selected through a nomination process, which involves chairs of the City Council Audit and Finance Committee (Alison Alter) the City Council Mobility Committee (Paige Ellis), the CapMetro Finance, Audit and Administration Committee (Matt Harriss), and the CapMetro Operations, Planning and Safety Committee (Eric Stratton). According to Goode’s timeline, the Council will consider the nominating committee’s recommendation on July 20 and the Capital Metro Board of Directors will consider the recommendation on July 24. The new member will begin serving on August 23.

This whisper has been changed to correct the Audit and Administration Committee representative. 

After collecting 239,432 cubic yards of debris during the first round, Travis County Transportation and Natural Resources is poised to begin its final round of debris pickup from Winter Storm Mara. The collection will occur on public streets in the unincorporated areas of the county starting on Monday, April 17.  Residents that have tree limbs and brush (not trash) to be collected are asked to place debris by the curb by Sunday, April 16, making sure the piles are not under low power lines and branches or blocked by anything in the street. More information about storm recovery for county residents can be found here.

Austin’s Broken Spoke will celebrate the dedication of an official Texas Historical Marker on Wednesday, April 12, in a ceremony that will feature dedications from the likes of Mayor Kirk Watson and Texas First Lady Cecilia Abbott and, of course, music. The ceremony will kick off at the Spoke at 5:30 p.m., with a free concert from Alvin Crow and Ian Stewart at 7 p.m. in the historic dance hall. Though City Council has not yet approved historic zoning for the honky-tonk, the case sailed through the Historic Landmark Commission and was initiated by City Council along with a proclamation, so odds are that honor is on the way as well.

Austin-Bergstrom and Transportation Security Administration officials have announced that installation of new computed tomography (CT) scanners at airport checkpoints has begun and is expected to be complete by late summer. What does that mean for air travelers? Ultimately, the hope is that the machines will reduce wait times and inconvenience by using a technology that allows everything (electronics, food, etc.) to be left in carry-on luggage.  Installation of the new machines will be phased, with one lane at a time being upgraded weekly and opened in the hopes of minimizing impact to passengers. “Use of CT technology at our security checkpoints is a win-win for TSA and passengers,” said Gilbert Almaraz, TSA Federal Security Director for AUS, in a statement to the press.  “We get increased detection capability which leads to fewer bag checks, and passengers get to leave their electronics and 3-1-1 liquids in their bags.”

More than 500 people attended a March 21 Project Connect open house that offered a drastically scaled-back light rail plan. But transportation officials (and the Austin Monitor!) want you to know that open house was only the beginning of a six-week comment period currently underway. To take advantage of said comment page, visit Project Connect’s “get involved” page, register for a virtual open house, or attend a virtual community update on the evening of Thursday, April 6, via Zoom.

Plans to rehab or replace the Barton Springs Road Bridge are well underway, and those that want a say in how they play out can stop by a feedback open house today from 6 to 7:30 p.m. The open house will take place at the McBeth Recreation Center located at 2401 Columbus Drive. Those that can’t attend in person, or want to do so fully equipped with knowledge about the current proposals, can visit the city’s website or subscribe to the project newsletter for ongoing updates.