Daily Newsletters

Council members have been floating APD budget cuts. In some cases, it's hard to know what the actual savings will be from a specific cut. But here's what city budget staff said yesterday in a meeting with the Council Public Safety Committee.

It looks like there is a consensus on City Council in support of a few big cuts to the APD budget. But there is also hesitancy about pushing forward with major restructuring of the department before the September budget deadline, especially considering the apparent resistance from feet-dragging from city staff.

There's talk of evidence that strong mayor systems are less efficient. But I have yet to see it.

A set of proposed changes to the charter could make Austin elections more democratic.

Leslie Pool has an opponent! Well, this is …

Alter ahead, but facing a strong challenge from Sethi in West Austin

Incumbent District Attorney Margaret Moore was …

Garza wins! And Garza wins! Stinging rebuke to …

With all the chest-beating from Council about reimagining public safety in Austin, why did the city manager respond with something that changes almost nothing? Because he's calling their bluff, or at least what he perceives as a bluff. He doesn't believe they're as dedicated to transformational change as they have said.

Critical considerations are missing from the Tesla incentives discussion.

The county attorney race has become a NIMBY/urbanist proxy battle.

n the coming weeks, City Council will hopefully coalesce around support for Project Connect, Austin's much-needed generational investment in mass transit. But that's only half of the work they need to do to build out Austin's non-car infrastructure.

The national reckoning on policing has reshaped the district attorney race in Travis County.

I still think voters will approve Project Connect. But it's not clear whether City Council members believe so. In fact, it's not clear what City Council members think. There's no evidence that the most consequential transportation policy in a generation has crossed any of their minds in recent weeks.

As court rulings and civil rights legislation gradually chipped away at explicitly racial housing restrictions, cities across the country, including Austin, found other ways to keep white neighborhoods white.

What's interesting is that some of the loudest voices against new development on the east side are the newer residents. In other words, gentrifiers. The ones who are responsible for driving up home values.

There are at least two homes in my neighborhood that …

Although the measure is at least partially prompted by a desire to allow bikers and pedestrians to more easily social distance, protected bike infrastructure on Congress is long overdue and should become permanent.

A number of Eiserloh supporters are still betting on small-minded NIMBYism carrying the day in a race that has nothing to do with land use.

Cronk –– perhaps with the support of the mayor and other Council members –– may be calculating that calls for the chief to go will just blow over. That might be an astute calculation, but I suspect not.

It looks like Cronk is trying to find a way to make substantial cuts to the police department budget without actually cutting funds for policing.

In a dramatic reversal from past years, every City Council member in Austin has pledged to not accept contributions from police unions.

One of the most noticeable changes is downtown, the campus area and Central East Austin, where a bunch of streets are getting lowered from 30 to 25 mph.

"I kind of hope, in a way, Trump gets beat. Cuz maybe Biden will haul Mayor Adler's ass out of town, and get him somewhere else."

It's far from clear what the outcome of these resolutions will be. Don't be distracted by the headlines around town claiming that Council voted to "divest" from the police.

Where we go from here depends on how behavior changes in the coming weeks.

There was no justification to shoot at Ramos, let alone shooting into a car that includes another person.

While COVID has made the case for transit tougher, it has only strengthened the case to start prioritizing pedestrians and cyclists over cars. 

It's not just a matter of reducing infections.

They're hoping to use fears of COVID and tax hikes to sink Project Connect.

Four Council members say Chief Manley has more questions to answer.

The initial reactions to the report on Friday were reminiscent of the response to the Mueller report. In both cases, cheerleaders for the accused seized on the inconclusive nature of the report as vindication or exoneration while ignoring many of the report's troubling revelations. 

Could City Council just approve a bunch of code amendments without facing court challenges?

Council's first all-virtual meeting went relatively smoothly.

It's still not clear which projects will be allowed to go forward.

The coronavirus may very likely be the knock-out blow to long-struggling local media outlets that depend on ad revenue.

The county and city issue shelter in place orders. Here's what they do.

The only way to realistically reduce traffic is to reduce demand. The only way to do that may be a global pandemic.

Yesterday Police Monitor Farah Muscadin and APD officials outlined a new policy for releasing video footage of officer-involved shootings and other cases involving use of force.  

What's clear is that legitimate concerns have already damaged this year's festival. That could be a terrible blow to the local economy.

So far none of the media reporting on the vandalism either know or are willing to say what it is obvious: this was perpetrated by Defend Our Hoodz, the same crowd of wannabe revolutionaries who have disrupted City Council meetings over the 4700 E. Riverside project, harassed Pio Renteria & Alison Alter at their homes and recently attacked the home of an employee of Presidium, the developer responsible for the Riverside project.

Fears that the new code will eviscerate Austin's heritage tree ordinance are unfounded. In fact, it's builders who are worried about new tree regs.

A gravel mine just west of SH 130 will turn into a major mixed-use development.

Street parking should not be discouraged. People should be encouraged to do it –– and to pay for it.

Despite its liberal reputation, most of Austin's political leaders are decidedly moderate. That may change as national progressive movements gain steam.

It would be a disservice to the community to pass up on the chance to get tens of millions of dollars for the building, particularly when local government is strapped for cash due to revenue caps.

Muny represents an egregious waste of resources for both the city and the university. I've played there a few times myself and enjoyed it, but it's insane to think that its preservation should be a top priority for city leaders in the midst of a housing crisis, a mobility crisis and a pending fiscal crisis due to revenue caps.

Preservationists on Council propose amendments that will reducing new housing.

Pro-reform Council members push for more housing in the new code over the resistance of city staff.

Activists say that at the very least they would like the city to have a written policy that makes immediate release the assumption, rather than the exception. If it turns into a legal battle over state law, so be it.