City of Austin Council Message Board

Council Members: I wanted to make sure you all are aware that staff has paused Phase I of the public art plan at the airport. The reason given was to reassess the artist selection process and it was also stated the pause is “to ensure meaningful participation from Austin-based artists”. You received...

Colleagues – I wanted to provide you an update on the dueling bills in the Legislature to reform the Austin Firefighters Retirement Fund (AFRF or the “Fund”). Rep. John Bucy and Sen. Pete Flores have filed the City’s bill in their respective Chambers; Sen. Charles Schwertner and Rep. Ellen Troxclair...

Colleagues— On the upcoming council meeting agenda, there are three items that award three contracts to national artists for projects at our new airport expansion. Though I believe that the work of these artists is important, I've always believed that any art work that we place in the airport should...

Council Members: In my previous post about a process for reviewing Council appointees, I indicated that we would review the three appointees on two separate days. I’ve learned that the Manager’s Office is not planning on any briefings at the March 25th Work Session, which should mean we have a good ...

Council Members: I’m confident all of you join me in congratulating Myrna on over two decades of public service at the City of Austin. We’re going to miss her, but congratulate her on her retirement and wish her all sorts of good luck. Myrna’s last day at City Hall will be April 7th. She has some ac...

Staff is postponing item 32. I will read this into the record tomorrow when I read Changes and Corrections.

Thanks,
Kirk

On behalf of Mayor Watson

Council: Here is my plan for the Council meeting tomorrow. We will begin promptly at 10am and then hear public testimony on consent items. Speakers will have 2 minutes per item. Speakers will be able to donate time. Speakers wishing to donate time must coordinate with the City Clerk prior to being c...

Colleagues— I wanted to make sure that you saw the memo the City Manager’s office shared today. Since there are no prepared staff briefings and nothing has been pulled for discussion by members of the Council, the March 4th work session has been canceled. I’ve attached the cancellation notice from t...

Council Members: Please see attached the alternate versions of Items 39 and 40 that I requested from staff. I appreciate the work that went into getting these for us. The Alternate Version for Item 39 includes an effective date of August 4, 2025. The Alternate Version for Item 40 establishes STR Reg...

Council: Here is my plan for the Council meeting tomorrow. We will begin promptly at 10am. We will begin with public testimony on consent items. Speakers will have 2 minutes per item. Speakers will be able to donate time. Speakers wishing to donate time must coordinate with the City Clerk prior to b...

Council Members: This is to suggest an approach for tomorrow and Thursday relating to the short-term rental (STR) items. As I’ve said publicly, including at the joint public hearing with the Planning Commission, we want to be thoughtful in our approach to STRs based upon the legal rulings that impac...

Colleagues, I want to bring to your attention two items on tomorrow’s agenda that will be postponed: After consultation with staff, Item 2, the City Clerk’s ordinance regarding boards and commissions will be moved to the 2/27agenda to give time for language clarification. Also, because there may be ...

Council: Here is my plan for the Council meeting tomorrow. We will begin promptly at 10am. We will then hear public comment on consent items. Speakers will have 2 minutes per item. Speakers will be able to donate time. Speakers wishing to donate time must coordinate with the City Clerk prior to bein...

Council Members: Please consider this my “follow-up” with Council Member Seigel that I promised regarding his proposed amendments to item 31. I’ve attached a document that is labeled “Version 3”. It’s the third version because of changes we made based on stakeholder feedback and that was “Version 2”...

CM Siegel,

I will review your motion sheet and will follow up with you on this item before Thursday.

Thanks,

Kirk
On Behalf of Mayor Watson

It was brought to our attention that the previous link was inactive. Please see updated link below.

http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 144716.pdf

On behalf of Mayor Watson

As promised, I am providing the link to the Q&A for the Short Term Rental (STR) conversation:

https://services.austintexas.gov/budget ... /index.cfm

Thanks,
Kirk

On behalf of Mayor Watson

Council: We will convene tomorrow at 1:00 PM for the Joint City Council and Planning Commission special called meeting. The purpose of this meeting is to review the proposed Short Term Rental regulations and conduct a public hearing. For tomorrow, I will call to order the meeting of the Austin City ...

Council Member Laine, Thank you for volunteering to serve on the COAERS board of directors for 2025. I made note of this change and submitted a revised 2025 Council Committees and Regional Appointments list to the City Clerk. Here is a link to that document: 71-20250131165353.pdf Thanks, Kirk On beh...

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

Council: Here is my plan for the Council meeting tomorrow. I look forward to our first meeting of 2025! We will begin promptly at 10am. We will first hear public testimony on consent items. Speakers will be called to speak on individual consent items in numerical order. Speakers will have 2 minutes ...

Council Members: I thought I'd send a note about our first 2025 Work Session and Austin Energy Oversight Committee meeting tomorrow. When we have both a Work Session and an AEOC meeting, we ordinarily start the day with the AEOC meeting. However, tomorrow, we will instead begin with the Work Session...

Colleagues— I’ve attached an updated list of council committee and regional appointments based on the message board discussions. We still have a few committees and open appointment spots to discuss in anticipation of the January 28th work session. Here is a quick summary of openings, and a link to t...

Colleagues— I’ve attached another draft committee list after the most recent message board comments shared this week. Please take a moment to review the current proposed committee assignments based upon the message board discussion/consultation. http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincouncilforum/92-20...

Colleagues— As we approach the January 30th council meeting, I would like to share a draft ordinance that will re-establish the Economic Opportunity Committee and the Climate, Water, Environment, and Parks Committee. Additionally, the ordinance suggests minor updates to the scope of work for the Pub...