Austin Will Vote on CodeNEXT Petition in November

Fred Lewis, Susana Almanza, Nelson Linder, and Mary Ingle at City Hall in March with a reported 32,000 signatures on the petition to demand CodeNEXT be put to a public vote (Photo by Sarah Marloff)

Austinites will vote on the CodeNEXT petition during the November election. This afternoon, Travis County District Judge Orlinda Naranjo ruled that the petition must be honored, in part because it is not yet known what the language of CodeNEXT will entail.

Naranjo heard arguments from the city and plaintiffs Bill Bunch and Fred Lewis on Monday, July 2, following City Council’s May rejection of the petition, which accrued enough signatures but didn’t sway the majority of the dais. Many of those who did vote against the measure did so hoping to put the decision into a judge’s hands; Lewis and company had already promised to sue if they didn’t get the Council vote they were hoping to see, though they were in all likelihood hoping for a different result.

See this week’s issue for more details.