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Austin City Manager: Dallas discard vs Austin retread

Council members make policy. The city manager’s job is to implement those policies. A great city manager can get that done and keep the ship of state sailing smoothly. A good city manager can get most assignments done and avoid...

Will lawsuit blow up Project Connect train tracks?

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit Dirty Martin’s et al v. Mayor Kirk Watson et al claim they’re victims of a bait-and-switch scheme because Project Connect will deliver improvements vastly inferior to what voters were promised when they approved Proposition A...

Latest articles

Texas Earns a Poor Grade for Integrity

The Lone Star State gets generally high marks for making information available to the public. But it has a long way to go when it comes to holding state officials fully accountable, government watchdogs say.

Why is Apple Getting Tax Incentives?

Why is Apple Getting Tax Incentives?

Austin Won Apple Without Competition
‘The Arizona Republic’ Reported


by Ken Martin
© The Austin Bulldog 2012
Posted Friday, March 16, 2012 5:46pm
Updated Friday, March 16, 2012 6:13pm

The Arizona Republic, that state’s largest newspaper, yesterday reported that Phoenix was never in the running to attract the Apple Inc. facility for which Texas has committed tax incentives, and both Austin and Travis County are considering doing likewise.

Governor Rick Perry is offering Apple $21 million in incentives over 10 years and the City of Austin is considering sweetening the deal with $8.6 million, according to the Austin American-Statesman. Travis County is also considering incentives.

Those incentives were based on the premise that Apple was considering Phoenix and Austin.

However, The Arizona Republic’s story published yesterday reported Phoenix “never had a chance” because the proposed site was on state land and “state trust land did not excite them” (Apple), so there was no Phoenix site reasonably in contention.”

Council District Backers Want Quick Decision Big

Council District Backers Want Quick Ballot Decision

Big Press Conference, Big Pressure Promised
to Get Council Decision Before Council Elections

by Ken Martin
Event photographs by Mario Cantu
© The Austin Bulldog 2012
Posted Thursday, March 8, 2012 11:06pm
Press conference draws many supporters

More than two-dozen backers of the proposal to change how council members are elected packed a room at City Hall today for an early morning press conference headed by former State Senator Gonzalo Barrientos (D-Austin).

Barrientos chaired the 2012 Charter Revision Committee appointed by the Austin City Council to recommend changes to the Austin  City Charter. The Committee met in locations all over Austin starting last September and finished February 16. The Committee made a total of 19 recommendations for charter changes that the Austin City Council could put on the November ballot.

Most prominent among the 19 recommendations is a call for a proposition that would ask voters to approve a plan calling for 10 geographic council districts to be drawn by an Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission. Under this plan, only the mayor would be elected at-large by all Austin voters.

The Austin City Council could delay until August to decide what propositions to put before voters in the November general election. But the Charter Revision Committee’s majority faction, as well as the grass-roots coalition Austinites for Geographic Representation, are going to apply heavy political pressure for the Council to commit to putting the 10-1 plan and Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission on the ballot in November—and publicly do so before the May 12 mayoral and council elections.

Chavez Targets Spelman in Council Contest

Chavez Targets Spelman in Council Contest

First-time Candidate Sued City of Austin Over
Tax Abatements for Historical Preservation

by Rebecca LaFlure
© The Austin Bulldog 2012
Posted Wednesday, March 7, 2012 7:04 pm

Dominic ChavezWhen arriving at Austin City Council candidate Dominic Chavez’s campaign kickoff at the Rattle Inn Tuesday evening, one could not help but notice the road construction occurring just outside the 610 Nueces Street bar.

“It’s fitting seeing these guys working,” Chavez said to The Austin Bulldog, amid the sounds of heavy machinery. “In Austin I think we’ve forgotten about the people who built this city, who work here everyday. Austin is much more difficult for these folks to live in now than ever before.”

Chavez, an Iraq War veteran and senior director for external relations at the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, officially launched his campaign for Austin City Council in front of about 50 supporters, saying he hopes to make Austin a more affordable place to live.

Leffingwell Draws a Big Crowd

Leffingwell Draws a Big Crowd

Free Beer, Free Eats, and Free Music
Makes a Speech Go Down Real Easy

by Rebecca LaFlure
© The Austin Bulldog 2012
Posted Monday, February 27, 2012, 6:56pm

Lee Leffingwell addresses the crowdAt a campaign event Saturday, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell touted what he considers several of his greatest accomplishments over the past two and a half years: helping create jobs amid a shaky economy, building collaborative agreements with Austin ISD, and garnering support for a $90 million transportation bond voters approved in November 2010.

But there’s still work to be done, Leffingwell said, and he hopes Austin residents will elect him to a second mayoral term May 12.  

“I think we’ve made a lot of progress over the last two and a half years on a lot of different things, but the job is not finished,” Leffingwell said. “My goal has always been and remains today to leave Austin a better place than we found it.”

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Areas of Coverage

Austin City Manager: Dallas discard vs Austin retread

Council members make policy. The city manager’s job is...

They’re off and running for council

As in horse racing, the bugler has sounded, “Call...

Are tax subsidies for luxury development legal?

In a lawsuit filed last April plaintiffs sought a...

Lame duck council set to vote on 20-year sweetheart tax deal for developer

With just weeks to go in his term, Mayor...

Environmentalists assail plan for lakeside high rises

New development to reshape South Central Waterfront When former First Lady...

Urbanists vie to replace council member Kathie Tovo

Updated 2:30pm August 20, 2022, to correct the misattribution...

First-ever opportunity to elect appraisal board members

Right now local voters are of course focused on...

They’re off and running for council

As in horse racing, the bugler has sounded, “Call...

District 10 Council candidates jump in early

With 2024 being a presidential election year—maybe a rerun...

Trust, but verify

We would like to think people in our nation’s...

Announcing the Government Accountability Project

Local officials manage government organizations that spend billions of...

Central Health launches search for new CEO

Central Health, the local government agency that levies a...

First-ever opportunity to elect appraisal board members

Right now local voters are of course focused on...

Trust, but verify

We would like to think people in our nation’s...

Announcing the Government Accountability Project

Local officials manage government organizations that spend billions of...

Project Connect

Lawmakers weigh axing Project Connect’s ‘blank check’ loophole

At a hearing at the legislature, critics and supporters of Project Connect clashed over a proposal to rein in the newly created transit agency.

Project Connect scope drastically scaled back

Two factors have sparked renewed debate around the cost...

Austin Transit Partnership gears up for key decisions on light rail design

Billions of dollars to be spent on mass transit...

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