The Daily Hustle: 4/19/10

As promised, TDH is hitting you with a rundown of agenda highlights for this week's City Council meeting, including $5 million for the Mexic-Arte Museum, a new Hispanic/Latino Community Oversight Team, and some grackle-addled proposals for what may be the tiniest park in Austin. Also, a familiar face joins the Austin Water Utility.

Council highlights for Thursday, April 22:

Item 2: All but certain approval of Austin Energy's “Resource, Generation, and Climate Protection Plan.”

Item 3: Pertaining to the city's role in certifying liquor license applications, we pondered Friday whether getting out of the TABC's way gave any council members heartburn.

Item 16: Authorizing $5 million in improvements for the Congress Avenue sited Mexic-Arte Museum. The funds were approved by voters in the 2006 bond election.

Item 20: Here's a fun one – picking a name for the .219 acre “park” directly south of City Hall, the tiny triangle between Guadalupe and Lavaca. Community nominations include Jackie Goodman Park, the Molly Ivins First Amendment Grove, Grackle Oaks, Grackle Hilton, and Willie's Woods.

Items 21 & 22: Finalizing the repayment deal between the city and Capital Metro.

Items 32 & 33: First reading on whether to renew Austin Cab and Yellow Cab's taxi franchises.

Item 37: An item from council (Mike Martinez, Lee Leffingwell, Sheryl Cole) naming a “Hispanic/Latino Community Oversight Team” with regards to a quality of life study for the same. The team appointees are:

• Susana Almanza
• Johnny Limon
• Lupe Morin
• Sylvia Orozco
• Teresa Perez-Wiseley
• Rose Reyes
• Geronimo Rodriguez

… The Austin Water Utility announced a new hire last week:

"Jason Hill, former morning anchor with KVUE, has joined the Austin Water Public Information and Marketing team. One of the many roles that Jason will help with is media relations. Jason’s vast experience working in the media will greatly enhance our ability to provide you all with information important to the community concerning Austin Water, specifically information about water conservation."

With the extra help, maybe AWU can get around to processing those open records requests of mine.

What the hell else is happening?

On the city calendar: The Capital Metro board holds a special called meeting at the Cap Metro offices, 2910 E. Fifth, at 11am, to discuss agreements with the city voer the the Build Greater Austin/Build Central Texas program. Then the board's labor subcommittee meets at 11:30.

Whoo boy! The inaugural meeting of the 2010 Transportation Bond Citizen Task Force meets in the Board and Commission room at City Hall, 310 W. Second, 3pm. Aside from selecting the chair and vice, they'll receive an overview of the Strategic Mobility Plan. Ten speaker slots are available, so get up and flog your pet transpo issue!

The Community Action Network's Community Council takes over the B&C room at 4:30. They'll run down the “Community Dashboard Forum on Housing Indicators,” a holistic glimpse at the housing market, affordable housing and homelessness.

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