Content about council member
Students should make sure to exercise their hefty political potential by voting in city elections, as early voting begins today. All of the incumbents — Mayor Lee Leffingwell and city council members Mike Martinez, Bill Spelman and Sheryl Cole — should be re-elected.
As mayor, Leffingwell has successfully guided Austin through three years of tremendous growth during a devastating global recession. In the past year, Austin’s unemployment rate has stayed below 6 percent, lower than both the state and national average.
Commissioned to investigate racial and discriminatory incidents on campus, the Campus Climate and Response Team is the new liaison between the University community and the administration.
Editor’s note: From redistricting to the state’s B-On-Time loan program, these are among our favorite quotes from the past several days.
“There would be very little time before November to advertise, ‘here’s what the districts look like,’ and more important, there would be relatively very little time for the public to weigh in on what those districts ought to look like with the commission.”
Apple Inc. has announced it will create a $304 million operations center in Austin after being attracted by the “new Silicon Valley” of Central Texas and acquiring funding from the city and state.
UT students heading to the San Marcos River may have to leave beer and other alcoholic beverages out of their coolers if San Marcos city officials pass a proposal banning alcohol in public parks.
The San Marcos City Council granted preliminary approval for an ordinance proposal that would ban the public display and consumption of alcohol in city parks on Tuesday. If implemented, the ban would include parks that line the San Marcos River, a prominent tubing tourist attraction.
Austin City Council is considering an ordinance that would require secondhand stores in Austin to file their transactions with the Austin Police Department in an attempt to reduce property crime.
Barksdale English, spokesman for Austin City Council member Bill Spelman, said this ordinance would apply to stores in the jewelry, clothing, electronics and auto industries.
“If it’s halftime in America, I’m fearful of what the final score’s going to be if we let this president start the second half as a quarterback.”
— Texas Gov. Rick Perry at the Conservative Political Action Committee meeting Thursday, referencing a line in Clint Eastwood’s Super Bowl commercial, according to KUT News.
Austin’s 2012 Charter Revision Committee approved a plan at its final meeting last week that could mean increased representation for students on the City Council. The committee, charged with drafting recommendations to alter the city’s constitution, recommended a 10-1 proposal for City Council representation, with 10 geographic, single-member districts and one at-large mayor.
The city will gain either a new medical school or an Urban Rail initiative depending on how Austinites vote on two competing proposals.
City Council member Bill Spelman said he believed the medical school proposal is largely ready when compared to the many unanswered questions on the Urban Rail initiative.
The Urban Rail initiative will connect the Metro Rail route and the planned Lone Star Rail District and give people a broader range of travel options in the city.
Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell has a new challenger in former City Council member Brigid Shea. Shea is a co-founder of Save Our Springs, an environmental group that advocates the protection of the Edwards Aquifer and Barton Springs. As a one-term council member, she was often critical of urban development projects and sometimes “savaged opponents,” according to the Austin American-Statesman.
Single-family residences in Austin will have the opportunity to implement greywater systems to increase conservation and lower costs under a new city council proposal.
UT alumna and former Student Government president Randi Shade served on the Austin city council from 2008 to 2011 and worked under three different governors, in addition to serving on several committees and holding membership in numerous local and national organizations.
No longer serving on city council, Shade now serves as mother to two young children and lives in central Austin with her partner, Kayla Shell.
Students could be penalized when applying to graduate schools or fellowships because UT does not offer an A+ grade said Bhargav Srinivasan, a finance senior and Senate of College Councils member.
The Senate of College Councils met with the President’s Student Advisory Council at the first ever SenaTea to share refreshments and discuss the failures and successes of the plus/minus grading system at UT on Tuesday at the Union.
City council members debated potential cuts to the Austin Police Department on Monday during the first reading and review of the 2012 city budget.
Most UT students studying fine arts and film aren’t millionaires, but their field of interest brings millions of dollars to Austin.
Extended parking meter hours for the downtown area will go into effect next month. Based on last week’s city council vote, the city will enforce metered street parking from 1st to 10th streets between IH-35 and Lamar Boulevard between the hours of 6 p.m. and midnight on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The new hours begin Sept. 6, but police will issue warnings instead of tickets until October, said Matt Curtis, spokesman for Mayor Lee Leffingwell.
City Council will meet today to discuss more than 50 different issues facing Austin, including a potential ban on plastic bags, changing city council election dates and delaying implementation of a new schedule for parking meters.
One important item the council will discuss is the reduction of single-use retail plastic bags within city limits, according to the meeting agenda.
Mayor Lee Leffingwell, who sponsored this item, said Austin residents use approximately 363 million plastic bags every year, which cost the city nearly $850,000 to dispose of annually.
The Austin City Council voted today to consider what the costs would be to halt construction on Water Treatment Plant No. 4 for five or more years.
The resolution passed 5-2 with Mayor Lee Leffingwell and council member Mike Martinez voting against the measure.
As of June the project has cost the city $123 million. Costs currently under contract or already spent total $427 million of the $508 million project, and the plant will be completed in 2014 if construction continues.
The Austin City Council will hear more than 130 agenda items today during its first regular meeting after a month-long summer break.
In addition to routine business, the council will vote on several resolutions sponsored by individual council members. These resolutions include extending safety requirements for construction workers, reconsidering the time line for expanding on-street parking meter hours downtown and potentially delaying construction on Water Treatment Plant No. 4 that is already underway.
Part of Airport Boulevard could become more friendly for pedestrians and businesses if a new proposal for the area comes to life.
An urban planning firm is in a 24 to 28 month planning process with area residents and business owners to develop zoning changes along Airport. The firm will present the final plan to the City Council, which will consider the recommendations for rezoning.
The City Council voted Wednesday to endorse the Formula 1 racetrack. The vote will most likely bring the Grand Prix to Austin in 2012 — an event that has promised the city a lot while asking for surprisingly little. Yet the road to a race track in Austin has been long with some heavy twists and turns.
Austin City Council approved a contract Wednesday that enables the city to host the first U.S. Formula 1 race since 2007, allowing construction on the track to move forward.
Only one new face joined the Austin City Council in their inauguration Tuesday night, but new Place 3 member Kathie Tovo is expected to bring new perspectives on education and neighborhood zoning.
City Council began the process of reforming its membership structure with a proposal at a regular meeting Thursday.
Currently, all Austin residents vote for each of the six at-large council members and the mayor. The City Council is working to put together a proposal for a hybrid single-member district system in the Austin.
If the proposal passes, the council will consist of six district-specific representatives, while two council members and the mayor will still be elected at large, said Matt Curtis, a spokesman for the mayor.
