As part of the City Manager recruitment process, the City is inviting community members to submit questions that may be included during the moderated discussion.

The two candidates under consideration, T.C. Broadnax and Sara Hensley, will be introduced on Monday, March 25 at the Permitting and Development Center, 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive.
The event begins at 6 p.m. and doors will open to the public at 5:30 p.m. Free parking will be provided at the adjacent parking garage, which can be accessed from Wilhelmina Delco Drive, Middle Fiskville Road or East Highland Mall Boulevard.

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Austin police union appears ready to comply with voter-approved oversight ordinance (Austin American-Statesman)

Wednesday's bargaining session between the city and the Austin police union appears to show that the association could be ready to comply with the voter-approved city ordinance to increase police oversight — signifying an about-face from last week when the Austin Police Association said it was "not our intention to be in compliance with Prop A."

The second meeting between the city and the union representing officers with the Austin Police Department ended in less than 10 minutes on Wednesday, as the two parties decided to postpone bargaining on the contract as the union stated it needed more time to work through the city's oversight proposals.

Both sides agreed to come back in about a month to work on the "complex issues," namely those related to oversight and the release of officer personnel information typically withheld from the public… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin ISD Police Department announces creation of motorcycle unit (CBS Austin)

The Austin ISD Police Department announced the creation of its new motorcycle unit Wednesday morning.

The unit was launched in order to meet the requirements of Texas House Bill 3, a school safety bill passed in 2023. Superintendent Matias Segura said they had to be intentional about the way they went about it.

“When we thought about building up our police department to be in compliance with HB3, we wanted to do it our way,” Segura said.

“With the support of our board, the Austin ISD Police Force will be more than double in size, allowing us the flexibility with scheduling, supporting our schools and our special events,” Austin ISD Police Chief Wayne Sneed said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Council members seek changes to food truck permitting (Austin Monitor)

City Council Member José Velásquez knows what it’s like to work with food for a living. According to his website, “José went to work at age 11 in a local panaderia to help his mother with bills. That same year he wrote his first petition to help a classmate out of an unsafe environment. José has not quit working or serving his community since.” Velásquez is the lead author of a resolution on today’s agenda asking interim City Manager Jesús Garza to consider changes to city rules that require food trucks to prove they are mobile and operating up to code by reporting to a city inspection location on Rutherford Lane once a year.

According to the resolution, there are more than 1,500 mobile food vendors operating within the city and “it is estimated that more than 80 percent are people of color.” The resolution points out that closing and moving a mobile food establishment for a full day to be inspected has a negative impact on the owners and employees of the food trucks.

Velásquez told the Austin Monitor on Wednesday that he has heard criticism about how the city processes the permitting for mobile food trucks. “It’s antiquated, and we can do a better job,” he said. “Having folks who already run on extremely slim margins having to tow their trucks to a central location in a tech hub like Austin, Texas – I think we can do better than that.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

PID financing secured for plan to bring 1,400 homes to far East Austin (Austin Business Journal)

Bond financing has been secured for a long-anticipated public improvement district that will support more than 1,400 new homes in far East Austin.

Located on 427 acres east of Del Valle High School between State Highway 71 and Pearce Lane along Kellam Road, the Longview 71 PID is expected to result in 1,461 new homes from homebuilder Taylor Morrison (NYSE: TMHC) in the coming years.

During a March 19 meeting, the Travis County Commissioners Court approved a service and assessment plan for the site, in addition to an estimated $10 million bond to support it. The land is not far from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and Tesla Inc.’s gigafactory.

Christy Moffett, the county’s director of economic development, said the county’s approval allows Taylor Morrison to begin selling its first batch of homes in the development… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Gov. Greg Abbott says Texas is two House votes away from passing school vouchers (Texas Tribune)

Gov. Greg Abbott on Wednesday urged school voucher supporters to make the final push in the May primary runoff elections to bring a pro-school voucher majority to the Texas House.

Delivering the opening speech at an annual conservative policy conference in Austin, Abbott declared that the school voucher movement was “on the threshold of success” after the March 5 primary. The election saw several anti-voucher Republican incumbents lose to pro-voucher challengers, putting pro-voucher members on the verge of a majority in the Texas House, the last legislative roadblock to the policy.

“We are now at 74 votes in favor of school choice in the state of Texas. Which is good, but 74 does not equal 76,” Abbott said, referring to the number of votes he needs to pass the bill into law. “We need two more votes.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Dade Phelan predicts victory in primary runoff and a return as House speaker (Dallas Morning News)

Fighting for political survival, Dade Phelan said Tuesday he was confident that he will be reelected and will retain his position as speaker of the Texas House. Phelan also said he did not regret taking actions that solidified political opposition against him, including last year’s House vote to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton, even though the Senate ultimately voted to acquit.

“After $5 million that we think they spent against me [in the primary], and the various endorsements, I’m still in this race and I’ve got a path to victory,” Phelan said during an impromptu news conference in Richardson. “I feel very confident about the next session and being speaker of the Texas House.” Phelan, a Beaumont Republican, is in a May 28 primary runoff against David Covey, a Republican who has been endorsed by former President Donald Trump, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Paxton.

Covey finished 3 percentage points ahead of Phelan in the March 5 primary but received less than the majority of votes needed to avoid a runoff, setting up an election that will affect the course of Texas politics no matter the outcome. Phelan on Tuesday lashed out at Patrick, saying the leader of the Texas Senate also wants to control the House.

“He absolutely is not satisfied with being lieutenant governor anymore,” Phelan said. “He wants to be speaker of the House. No one in the Texas House wants the lieutenant governor to be speaker of the House.” Phelan spoke to reporters at the University of Texas-Dallas in Richardson, where he joined Gov. Greg Abbott and others to announce a group that will oversee the distribution of state money from the Texas CHIPS Act.

The speaker has run afoul of some conservatives for the way the House handled Paxton’s impeachment and for appointing Democrats to committee leadership positions, a practice embraced by other speakers. Anti-Phelan Republicans complain that Democrats control the Texas House because they used their bloc of votes to help elect Phelan and some previous Republican speakers… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

Democratic governors see IVF following a familiar post-Dobbs pattern (Politco)

Democratic governors say they’ve made their states refuges for in-vitro fertilization treatments — in much the same way blue states did for abortion in a post-Dobbs America. The Alabama Supreme Court temporarily suspended the practice of IVF in the state after it ruled that embryos are the same as children under state law, and it is one of 13 states that have so-called personhood laws on the books that set up a legal collision course with IVF treatments. Democratically controlled states California, Illinois and Massachusetts passed laws last year that protect IVF providers. And in Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer recently directed the Michigan state health department to issue a reminder that protects out-of-state patients and providers who seek IVF treatments in Michigan.

With Congress unable to move national legislation to protect IVF, Democratic governors see the patchwork of state laws as a way to ensure access. Democratic governors say they know the sudden restriction of a deeply personal issue like IVF might move voters — even for those who don’t support a liberal position on abortion. “We all either have a friend, relative or we ourselves and our families have used IVF in order to try to have a family. And so we understand that there’s a right that needs to be protected,” Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in an interview.

“And, frankly, it’s shocking that they’re coming after this right.” “Republicans don’t understand the storm that is coming,” he said. Pritzker recently launched a new national nonprofit, Think Big, that’s focused on protecting and expanding abortion rights — and protecting IVF. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said in an interview it may not be so easy for Republicans to quell the sudden fervor over IFV, saying they are “really running scared on this issue.” She added that she’s “pointing out” the distinction between the two parties’ views on IVF… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Federal Reserve holds interest rates steady, projects three rate cuts later this year (NPR)

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, but policymakers signaled they still expect to start cutting rates later this year.

Updated forecasts from members of the Fed's rate-setting committee show an average of three quarter-point rate cuts in 2024 — similar to what policymakers were projecting in December.

Investors welcomed that news. All of the major stock indexes climbed to record highs, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping 401 points or 1%.

Fed policymakers said their basic outlook hasn't changed, even though inflation was slightly hotter than expected in January and February.

"I don't think we really know if this is a bump on the road or something more," Fed chairman Jerome Powell told reporters. "We'll have to find out. In the meantime, the economy is strong. The labor market is strong. Inflation has come way down. And that gives us the ability to approach this question carefully."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)