City of Austin Council Message Board

Colleagues, As we work through the budget amendment process, we would like to propose an alternative that is simpler, cleaner, and more transparent. Below you can find a substitute motion for the staff reconciliation document that has been labeled “Budget Addition 1.” This document is based on the p...

We agree with this approach. As individual offices and sub-quorums prepare their own TRE scenarios, it makes the most sense to focus our time and attention on those and not confuse the public with the original staff scenarios. To that end, as we will be laying out the various Council-developed TRE s...

Colleagues, Austin is facing a critical moment. The federal government is slashing our social safety net, cancelling infrastructure improvements, and threatening that these cuts are just beginning. The state, despite having record surpluses, continues its refusal to meet its basic obligations to the...

Colleagues, As we move through the budget process, we must preserve our ability to meet the many needs our community faces. While the state and federal governments increasingly abandon their responsibilities to the public, Austin remains focused on serving its residents. To do that, we are going to ...

Thank you CM Qadri and fellow colleagues for organizing this letter. Please add my name to this important message from the Austin community to our federal government.

- Ryan

CM Ellis and MPT Fuentes, Thank you for jump starting this conversation on our parks funding early in the budget process. I am also eagerly awaiting the full working group report with recommendations from City staff, parks non-profits, and community advocates. Investing in our parks and greenspace i...

Colleagues, After listening to the thoughtful comments of the public and our colleagues, we would like to explore a compromise approach as mentioned by CM Duchen. Delivering caps for our community should be something that brings us together, not divides us. Austinites deserve for us to work collabor...

Thank you, CM Siegel, for sharing your thoughts on this project. I share your desire to maintain the maximum amount of room in our upcoming bond program to prioritize community needs like parks, affordable housing, and the environment, which is why our subquorum has worked diligently to identify fun...

Colleagues, On May 22, we’ll decide the future of the spine of downtown for the next 60+ years. Our neighbors, children, and grandchildren can either have a superhighway running through the heart of our city or a series of green public spaces where communities can come together instead of letting a ...

Colleagues, I'm excited to support single-stair development up to five stories next Thursday. To ensure that this tool is as impactful and inclusive as possible, I plan to bring a motion to increase the maximum net floor area (square footage of a single story of the building) from 4,000' to 5,000'. ...

Colleagues, I am excited to hear today's testimony concerning new, forward looking building codes, including legalizing single-stair developments. I was proud to co-sponsor Council Member Vela's resolution that initiated this update, and I appreciate the work that the community, my colleagues, and C...

Colleagues, In December the Council unanimously passed Resolution No. 20241212-133, which directed a review of our Boards and Commissions as a part of our overall good governance efforts over the past year. The goal of the resolution was to improve the effectiveness of these bodies and address any o...

We received some constructive feedback on this amendment and will be offering the following version 2 of the motion sheet (new language is highlighted in yellow):

http://assets.austintexas.gov/austincou ... 140902.pdf

Colleagues, Tomorrow we will consider an item brought forward from MPT Fuentes and approved unanimously by the Public Health Committee that shows our steadfast commitment to ending homelessness in Austin. This goal can only be accomplished if our community works together to dedicate the resources ne...

Thank you, Mayor, for kicking off this discussion. I share your belief that we have opportunities to better utilize our committees and intergovernmental appointments. After serving on the Audit and Finance Committee for the past two years and working through two increasingly tight budgets (something...

Thank you, Mayor, for incorporating the updates CM Alison Alter and I discussed yesterday to provide a focus on load-zone emissions and their impact here locally. After our discussions yesterday, I have separated my motion sheet into individual amendments and narrowed the total list in recognition o...

Colleagues, The generation plan is a decision point with potentially the greatest impact on climate change of any policy we will consider as a Council. The goals and guidance set forth in this document will directly impact the quality of life for Austin residents today, tomorrow, and for generations...

Colleagues, Mayor Pro Tem Pool, Council Members Fuentes, Vela, Kelly, and I plan to bring an item for the 12/12 council meeting related to boards and commissions. We have been working as a sub-quorum to review a recent audit report as well as long-standing recommendations that have come to us on how...

Thank you MPT Pool and CM Alison Alter for your long service and leadership for our park system. I support exploring all funding options that might bring additional resources to PARD, and I believe these proposed amendments only strengthen that direction. I look forward to the recommendations that w...

Colleagues, I share the sentiments expressed above. Throughout this process, I have sought a deal that properly values the work that our police officers are doing to keep our communities safe while also meeting the oversight and accountability protections Austinites overwhelmingly voted for and dese...

Colleagues, I want to thank our staff for preparing the new Place-Based Enhancement program (item 12) and updates to our existing business enhancement policy (item 13). After reviewing these proposals with City Staff, I would like to offer motions that direct the City Manager to explore ways that we...

Colleagues, I cannot support the proposed settlement in the Texas Gas Service rate case. The proposal does not discourage lower use, provides minimal support to low income customers, and increases corporate returns on the backs of hard-working residents. To that end, I will be offering the attached ...

Colleagues, Tomorrow I will be offering a substitute motion to the proposed staff recommendation, with the support of my cosponsors – Councilmembers Fuentes, Velasquez, Vela, and Qadri. While the recommendations of staff are a meaningful step forward, we believe that more should be done to address t...

Thank you CM A. Alter for this question. The acquisitions under this fund will have to fall within the statutory scope of allowable uses for certificates of obligations. Ultimately, this question is one for the law department, however, I do believe there are elements within the food plan that could ...

Colleagues, Ahead of tomorrow’s discussion of our amendments and budget IFCs, I have a few updates to the amendments and budget IFCs I posted on Monday: Alter-1 – We had originally reduced this item by $1.25 million that would have been used to implement expanded homeless navigation services beyond ...