City of Austin Council Message Board

Council Members: This is to inform you about two items on the Austin Transit Partnership Board agenda this coming Wednesday. I had the opportunity Saturday to review the Board packet and visit with my staff in preparation for the meeting. The two items are to 1) authorize the Executive Director to n...

Members of the Audit & Finance Committee: We are scheduled to meet this Wednesday, April 15, 2026, at 9:30 AM. Items 2 and 8 on the Committee Agenda relate to potential appointment of member(s) to the Municipal Civil Service Commission. Item 2 is the potential Action item. Item 8 is posted for u...

Council Members-- The Council Members listed below and I have reviewed the memo from the City Manager regarding the future of the services provided by SAFE Alliance for Austinites who have been victims of sexual assault and domestic violence. These services include operating a shelter and supportive...

As we start the budget process, I’ve proposed we begin by asking our professional finance staff, as part of the forecast, to include calculations using the no new revenue tax rate. I’ve included some of my thoughts about this in a Watson Wire that I’ve put out today. You can see it here: http://asse...

Council: Tomorrow, we will begin with the Work Session. We will begin with an executive session. We will then take up the items pulled for discussion and follow those with the briefing on Austin I-35 Cap and Stitch Recommendations. At the conclusion of the Work Session, Chair Vela will conduct the A...

Colleagues—

The Work Session scheduled for Tuesday, March 10th will be cancelled since there are no prepared staff briefings, and nothing has been pulled for discussion by members of the Council.

Thanks,

Kirk

On Behalf of Mayor Watson

Please see the attached revised resolution and decision tree that reflects the feedback from CM Siegel and Ellis Resolution: http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincouncilforum/0D-20260257112825.pdf Decision Tree: http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincouncilforum/0D-20260257112917.pdf On behalf of Mayor...

Good afternoon:

This is a friendly reminder that we all bring the “Evaluation Notebooks” we were provided by HR yesterday.

We will have an executive session at some point tomorrow for an evaluation of the City Manager.

Thanks.

Kirk

On behalf of Mayor Watson

Colleagues, Thank you, Council Member Siegel, for your thoughts and input. We’re embarking on a very important step in how we make disciplined decisions, so it’s good to have this input. I believe it’s fine to change the language so that it’s explicit the entire Council will be making the recommenda...

Council— After I requested that the correct version of the decision tree for Item 55 be placed in the backup, the agenda office again shared the incorrect version. To address any confusion, I’m including the version that was recommended by the Audit and Finance Committee and what we will consider du...

I want to provide some information regarding Item 49. This is a unique opportunity for Austin to obtain significant state funding to meet a critical need. You will recall that in July 2023, I secured a partnership between the City and the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) to ...

Thanks for the good discussions we've had at the Council work session and the Audit & Finance Committee regarding the proposed Citywide Efficiency Assessment Ordinance. As we look at our operations and budget, I believe everyone shares my determination to safeguard public confidence, assure oper...

Council— I want to thank the Audit & Finance Committee for yesterday’s discussion regarding the proposed framework or “decision tree” around a potential future bond election. The Committee also discussed the decision tree at the January 14th meeting. The committee forwarded a recommendation to t...

Council: You have received an email from the City’s Human Resources Director regarding Council Appointee Evaluations. I am working closely with City Staff to ensure the Council Appointee Evaluations process is executed as outlined in resolution 20160225-016. The Council Appointee Evaluations are sch...

Council: Thanks for the discussion today regarding the proposed Efficiency Assessment ordinance. I appreciate the questions and commitment to this effort. As I noted about two months ago when I first laid out this proposal, I want the process to be thoughtful and people to have reasonable time to as...

Council— In anticipation of the upcoming Audit & Finance Committee meeting, I wanted to make a couple of things available to the Council. I’ve attached an updated proposal for the Decision Tree. This has contributions from our professional finance staff. The changes are based primarily on commen...

Council— Pursuant to City Code Section 2-5-102 (C), yesterday, I filed a list of the membership of each council committee with the city clerk. This list also includes memberships on intergovernmental organizations. I’ve attached the list I provided the clerk. We still have open appointments on the m...

Colleagues – Thanks for everyone’s participation at the Audit and Finance Committee meeting yesterday. The discussion was really good. I’m writing to outline next steps. OFFICE SPENDING POLICY Yesterday, the Audit and Finance Committee recommended adoption of the proposed Mayor and Council office ex...

Council Members— I’m sharing a reminder of our discussion next week regarding the Council Committee and intergovernmental appointments. Attached is a link to the current appointments below: http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincouncilforum/0D-20260112173425.pdf If I don’t hear from you by Thursday, J...

Happy New Year! I’m presenting a proposed “Decision Tree” that can help guide our decision making while we think through the bond process. This was developed with the help of our professional finance staff. You’ll recall that we developed a Decision Tree to help us last year with the TRE. There are ...

Council Members, As we get ready to start the new year, I want to start organizing Council Committee assignments and the assignments from the Council to intergovernmental bodies for 2026. I’ve attached links to the Council Committees and Intergovernmental body appointments for 2025 for reference. Of...

Council, I promised that I’d get the first draft of a proposed City Council Office Expense Policy to the Council for review by Friday, December 19. Here it is http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincouncilforum/2D-202512353120426.pdf. How’s that for adding to your holiday happiness? The goals of this p...

Council— Here is my plan for the special-called council meeting tomorrow. We will begin promptly at 9:00 am. Please note that the meeting starts at 9:00 am. We will start with a presentation from staff. Followed by questions from Council. We will then hear public comment on the items. Speakers will ...

Colleagues – I wanted to share that the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs Board voted unanimously to approve an award of $48,420,179 to The Other Ones Foundation to support the expansion of Esperanza Community. Coupled with today’s City Council action to commit ongoing operations and...

Council— After discussion with the City Manager and our Labor Relations office, I am requesting that we hold a special-called meeting on Thursday, December 18th, at 9:00 am to consider the collective bargaining agreement between the City and the Austin Firefighters Association. http://assets.austint...