City of Austin Council Message Board

Fellow Council Members, for your consideration, we'd like 3 co-sponsors for this resolution.


WHEREAS, the Planning and Development Review Department is a major component of the City of Austin; and,

WHEREAS, in 2014 the City of Austin hired Paul Zucker’s consulting firm Zucker Systems for $250,000 to recommend improvements to the Department and its processes; and,

WHEREAS, the first drafts of the report were turned into the City of Austin in December 2014; and,

WHEREAS, at the February 23, 2015 “Policy Deep Dive session” on CodeNEXT, multiple questions regarding the Zucker Report were brought up, city staff indicated that the report could be released in four weeks to the City Council and to the public; NOW, THEREFORE,

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN:

The City Council directs the City Manager to release by March 31, 2015 all of the Zucker Report in non-redacted form, regardless of whether it is complete, or in draft, and the associated audit working papers.

Thank you City Manager Ott for releasing the draft version of the Zucker Report.

I appreciate that you posted it on the city’s website: http://www.austintexas.gov/department/z ... ing-report

I believe the report calls for $3.5M in additional funds to help implement some of the recommended changes. I highly encourage you and your staff to begin identifying areas throughout the budget that could be redirected to support that effort.

I look forward to reviewing the final report by the end of this month.