News Roundup: Ann & Astroturf
Clerk stamps DENIED on petition to remove Ann Kitchen
By Chase Hoffberger, 11:40AM, Mon. Mar. 7, 2016
In this week's news roundup: The Police Monitor's office is taking a long time to release its annual report, which many expect to shed light on racial profiling; Council Member Ann Kitchen prevails against dark astroturf forces with the power of clerical oversight; and police and firefighters duke it out in the second annual Battle of the Badges.
• Report Card: KXAN reported Friday that Police Monitor's office should be releasing its annual report for the year 2014 some time this week, perhaps even as early as Monday, coincidentally when the OPM's Citizen Panel Review convenes for its monthly meeting. The report's coming a bit later than expected – later, even, than desired, Police Monitor Margo Frasier told the Chronicle in mid-February, though Frasier has reported in the past that she often prefers to wait until every case or investigation from that year is brought to a close before she releases her office's findings. That, she said, was what held 2013's report up so long; she wanted to wait until the case concerning retired APD Detective Charles Kleinert had wrapped itself up; 2014's would in turn get pushed back after that. KXAN reported on Friday that the 2014 packet is likely to contextualize the alarming rate at which police pull over blacks compared to other races for traffic stops, a detail that also came into focus on the 2011 report, released in July 2012.
• Foiled Again: A city clerk disregarded the petition to recall Council Member Ann Kitchen on Friday, reporting that organizers behind the Austin4All political action committee failed to properly sign each of the 989 petition sheets in the presence of a notary. Any further attempts to carry on with their effort to remove the Council Member – whose term lasts through 2018 – from office would have to begin at ground zero again. The 5,300 signatures it collected in advance of the clerk's decision would be disregarded, and any action would require a re-accruing of at least 4,800 signatures (representing 10% of the voters in Kitchen district) toward the cause. Kitchen released a statement Friday saying "It should come as no surprise that Austin4All did not follow the law and failed to swear to the truth of their petitions. This validates everything my constituents have been saying – that the Austin4All PAC has operated in a manner that is not above board, and that has been misleading the voters."
• Show Me Your Badge: The Travis County Sheriff's Office reports that the second annual Battle of the Badges, a fundraiser event that pits officers from the Sheriff's Office, Police Department, and firefighters from the Austin Fire Department, against one another in a series of weight-regulated boxing matches, brought out 3,100 attendees and raised $28,000 for the Partnerships for Children charity.
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Nov. 16, 2018
police monitor, Austin Police Department, Austin Fire Department, Battle of the Badges