City of Austin Council Message Board

Colleagues, the next Austin Energy Oversight Committee meeting is scheduled as you know for Tuesday, July 27, at 1.30 p.m. The Oversight Committee's July agenda is light and I anticipate a short meeting, not longer than 45 minutes. Here's a link to the agenda: http://austintexas.gov/department/city-...

Mayor, thank you for the additional information. However, in light of the large sums the City of Austin already, justifiably, spent in the last five fiscal years to address the challenges homelessness in our community present, I continue to be concerned that ... > we are not approaching these decisi...

All, I agree as to the request to postpone item 40 for one week. We have a big agenda as it is and so that item shifting to June 10 may help us with our meeting progress.

Thanks,

Leslie

CM Tovo, count me in to help lift these strategies toward implementation. I support your item, and - in concert with CM Kitchen’s important work with HEAL - believe we are making good on our promise to do all we can to connect people to housing and needed services. Thanks for your constancy in this ...

I should be posting here when I'm fully focused, and not while a rainstorm is threatening to flood my kitchen.
Given that we're now in 2021, the two-year period required between charter petitions puts us in 2023.

posting error - November 2022 is the target date for the proposed Charter Review Commission ballot, not 2024.

Colleagues, just a quick note here to advise that I have been working with our legal staff on an IFC to convene a Citizens Charter Review Commission. The commission would be appointed sometime this year with the November 2024 ballot as the target for public vote. An important element is ensuring the...

CM Tovo, I would like to co-sponsor your item to make needed changes to the city’s Density Bonus program. We have known adjustments would be required even as we have watched our city’s growth exceed many expectations. Thanks for your sustained effort and careful research, on this and many other init...

CM Alter, thanks for posting your thoughts about the United Way's Success by 6 proposal. I hope that Council will agree to pursue fully funding the plan, especially in collaboration with other local government partners. The ARP funds make is possible for us to meet child care and other key prioritie...

Colleagues: In preparation for our joint utility oversight committee meeting Wednesday, March 3, at 1pm, I’d like to lay out the framework for the AEUOC portion and potential topics. First, I’d like to say that there is a lot of ground to cover, and there's general consensus that Wednesday’s meeting...

CM Alter, thanks so much for your support of CM Kitchen's HEAL resolution. CM Kitchen asked me to pass along to you (she's not near a computer at the moment) that she accepts you as cosponsor and that you can expect your language to be added. Any suggested wording that you'd like to send to us or po...

All, I'm happy to join with my co-sponsors in support of CM Kitchen's HEAL initiative, and thank CM Kitchen for bringing it to the Council on Feb 4. Kitchen's resolution advances our collective work to address and end homelessness, a continuing challenge - and priority - for our city, as it is in so...

Colleagues, last week I stated my intention to support Council Member Casar’s nomination as mayor pro tem when the new City Council is sworn in. I appreciated Council Member Casar’s pledge to help bring the dais together and heal some of the divisions that have persisted over the last few years. I, ...

Greg, the position of mayor pro tem is, as some point out, largely ceremonial but I see it, too, as a position of increased responsibility to the entire community. I concur with the remarks the mayor and CM Kitchen have made here in support for you as MPT. It’s imperative for us to reestablish equil...

All, I'm looking forward to the chance to join Cap Metro’s Board of Directors to work more closely with their leadership and professional staff on Austin's transportation system. There are many reasons for me to take on this new assignment: - The resolutions I passed to identify funding for rail sta...

Mayor, I had wondered about that January date, too, and that proposed change looks good to me. The balance of the year seems to flow well, otherwise.

Thanks to the Clerk for assembling the calendar.

Leslie

I don’t own Dissent Earrings for nothing! Ruth Bader Ginsberg leaves an impressive legacy that few will ever surpass, and she did it quietly, without fanfare, with humility and humanity. Please add my name as a co-sponsor on the upcoming resolution recognizing and appreciating Justice Ginsberg - Not...

Colleagues, I believe CM Flannigan spoke to this just now, so he & I may be bringing similar amendments. My staff is preparing text to insert on the appropriate line our intention to include staging companies, artist service organizations, and studio spaces. These local businesses are key compon...

Mayor and all, thanks for bringing additional clarification stating that the Council intends to consult with and include neighborhoods along Project Connect routes as the City develops its anti-displacement strategies and priorities. I have not wavered at all from my firm support for City policies t...

Greg, I agree with your approach in establishing as our base motion the combination of amendments we have all laid out and as you have incorporated them in your latest spreadsheet. We do seem to have reached unanimity on most (if not all) of them. I am proud to be a member of this council as we pull...

Thank you, Greg, for your hard work on this proposal. I support the changes as you’ve laid them out, and I’ve noted where you included the EMS Community Health Paramedics and abortion access initiatives that I am carrying. Thanks so much. I want to bring everyone’s attention to three other budget am...

Colleagues, here is my APD budget proposal that includes both funding and structural changes: http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincouncilforum/25-20200803194952.pdf The changes I am recommending amount to nearly $80 million, but I consider this to be just a start to the larger effort we will need to...

Colleagues, here are the budget amendments I will be bringing as part of our adoption process next week. We will also have a chance to discuss these at our work session tomorrow. Amendment #1: Austin Fire Department, Aerial Ladder Staffing (16 FTEs) at the Moore’s Crossing EMS/Fire Station. $1,796,7...

CM Alter, I would like to join you as a sponsor on additional initiatives that strengthen our work around ending gun violence. The Garrett Foster shooting drives home, once more, how critical it is to end gun violence — full stop — and I echo entirely CM Tovo’s comments. I, too, grieve with Garrett ...

We continue to hear from so many in our community – from organized advocates to residents engaging with us for the first time – all demanding a transformational change in policing in Austin. I stand firmly with our communities demanding that change. I believe these transformations are achieved with ...