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City Hall Hustle

Hustling Away...

Thursday is a deceptively quiet time at the Chronicle: Despite having just put another issue to bed, the editorial team's already started on the next one. But the Hustle is a little less busy – mainly because his work here is coming to an end. Read More | Comment »

11:31AM Thu. Dec. 22, 2011, Wells Dunbar

Par For the Course [Updated]

Last week, City Council gave final approval to a ban on smoking in city parks, basically excluding golf courses. But a comedy of errors lead up to the item’s passage, encompassing philosophical questions of what it means to golf, the shadowy consortium of the Golf Advisory Board, and a brush with Open Meetings Act requirements – far from a hole in one. Read More | Comment »

4:35PM Tue. Dec. 20, 2011, Wells Dunbar

City Website Finally Reloads

Santa stopped by early for users of the city's website, with the unimaginable finally happening: the beta launch of the city's new portal, a process literally years in the making. Read More | Comment »

3:48PM Mon. Dec. 19, 2011, Wells Dunbar

More Cabs to Hit Streets; Music Permit Changes, More

Yesterday's first-half of our Thursday agenda preview was just an appetizer: in our second-half roundup, we note several intriguing items before to City Council this week, including potentially big changes on taxis, temporary live music permits, and more. Read on, friends. Read More | Comment »

10:05AM Tue. Dec. 13, 2011, Wells Dunbar

Urban Renewal, Sustainable Development, and ... Fluoride?

City Council is closing out the year with a bang, with tons packed into their final meeting of 2011: water fluoridation, the Urban Renewal Board, the Austin Resource Recovery master plan, and more. Check out part one of our agenda preview below the fold. Read More | 2 Comments »

3:46PM Mon. Dec. 12, 2011, Wells Dunbar

Austin Energy's Weatherization Fail

An ill-wind blew into City Council chambers yesterday, during a post-mortem on what caused the city to lose $400,000 in stimulus bucks to weatherize 54 low-income Austinites' homes this winter. And looking back a day later, there was more than enough blame to go around. Read More | 1 Comment »

3:58PM Fri. Dec. 9, 2011, Wells Dunbar

A Dense Discussion

One City Council agenda item we neglected to mention Monday - because it deserves its own post - is the re-re-return of the Downtown Austin Plan. And we got a preview of philosophical disagreement over one of the plan's biggest sticking points – the Downtown density bonus program – at a council work session Tuesday. Read More | Comment »

2:17PM Wed. Dec. 7, 2011, Wells Dunbar

Mayoral Maneuvers: Shea Names Campaign Treasurer

We may have spoke too soon in predicting little election action before the holiday slump: Yesterday, former City Council member Brigid Shea named a campaign treasurer for her potential bid. We’ve got that, plus a provocative telephone poll, and a new council challenger. Read More | 4 Comments »

2:13PM Tue. Dec. 6, 2011, Wells Dunbar

Parks Smoking Ban, More Up Thursday

It's the season of giving, and City Council doesn't disappoint with a wooly, 139-item agenda this Thursday. A parks smoking ban, a Comp Plan, bond election love-in, and Austin Energy power moves are all up for consideration: We've listed the highlights below. Read More | 3 Comments »

3:43PM Mon. Dec. 5, 2011, Wells Dunbar

The Purrr-fect Gift

Sure, city politics can be an animal house, but this is ridiculous: Just in time for the holidays, adoption fees for bringing home a pet this holiday season have been neutered. Read More | Comment »

3:35PM Fri. Dec. 2, 2011, Wells Dunbar

Your Geographic Representation Cheat Sheet

The Charter Revision Committee meets tonight, and boy, do they have their work cut out for them. The committee’s chimed in on a few election-related proposals floated by Mayor Lee Leffingwell. But the main question of geographic representation and single-member districts remains decidedly unsettled. But don’t worry, the Hustle has your crib sheet. Read More | Comment »

2:05PM Thu. Dec. 1, 2011, Wells Dunbar

Five and a Half Things About Sheryl Cole's Re-Election Kick-Off

It took her a while to get around to saying it, but Sheryl Cole is not running for mayor. That fact wasn’t mentioned in a press release touting her “campaign announcement” today, and it didn't emerge in what was ultimately her Place 6 re-election speech about halfway through. So fittingly, the Mayor Pro Tem hit on some big themes in her announcement today. Read More | Comment »

4:53PM Wed. Nov. 30, 2011, Wells Dunbar

Pop Up Shop Coming to Congress

For you consumers who weren’t occupying Best Buy on Black Friday, bad news: There’s only 24 days left until Christmas! Luckily, there's plenty non-big box shopping options out there for you, including pop up retail. And believe it or not, their existence actually traces back to City Council. Read More | Comment »

1:57PM Tue. Nov. 29, 2011, Wells Dunbar

Staffing Overhaul at City Hall

What’s up guys? The Hustle’s back, tanned, rested and ready after a wedding, a honeymoon and holiday gorging. But while I’ve arguably occupied an altered reality for the past few weeks, how does that compare to the rabbit hole that is city politics? After the jump, news on some major staff shake-ups in City Hall. Read More | Comment »

1:49PM Mon. Nov. 28, 2011, Wells Dunbar

Council Keeps Spring Elections

In a third and final vote this afternoon, a split City Council took the final step to preserve a May mayoral election in 2012, instead of moving the contest to the higher-turnout month of November. Read More | 3 Comments »

5:05PM Fri. Oct. 7, 2011, Wells Dunbar

Big City Council Meeting Today

Hey there, the Hustle here with a friendly reminder City Council meets today. The agenda's an interesting one, with the second vote to set elections for this May, but the Occupy Austin kick-off outside City Hall should illuminate as well. Follow us on Twitter for updates throughout the day. Or I'll just see ya down there! Read More | Comment »

9:01AM Thu. Oct. 6, 2011, Wells Dunbar

Cole Springs Defense of May Election

This week, we delved pretty deep into the question of moving municipal elections to November. It's a prospect the Hustle found welcome, but not one shared by the majority of the City Council. Today, Sheryl Cole shares with us her reasoning behind her vote to keep council elections in May. Read More | Comment »

12:41PM Fri. Sep. 30, 2011, Wells Dunbar

Our Overdue Central Library

In this week’s edition of the Chron, we got into the recent presentation of plans for a new Central Library. We’ve got more pictures, tidbits, and questions after the jump. Read More | Comment »

2:24PM Thu. Sep. 29, 2011, Wells Dunbar

County Bond Backers Do the 'Two-Step'

Speaking of elections: A steering committee in support of Travis County Propositions 1 and 2 was announced this week, encouraging voters to do the “Travis Two-Step” this November. Read More | Comment »

2:30PM Wed. Sep. 28, 2011, Wells Dunbar

TDH: 9/23/11

It looks like May elections are here to stay, at least for now. Yesterday, City Council voted 4-3 to go forward with a May contest, despite warnings from Travis County clerk Dana Debeauvoir it would be “far less confusing for voters, and far less challenging” to move to November than to aim for a May contest. Read More | 2 Comments »

4:12PM Fri. Sep. 23, 2011, Wells Dunbar

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