Austin Energy is seeking its first base rate increase since 2016. The City Council will hold a public hearing on the matter at some point today and the Council may vote on the matter afterward. Before discussing that, I want to first acknowledge that I once...
Welcome. The Austin Independent is an online publication focusing primarily, though not entirely, on local political and governance issues in and around Austin, Texas. We seek to make our content informative, accurate and, when possible, provocative and entertaining....
by Daryl Slusher In recognition of this week’s Republican National Convention let’s briefly mark for history the confluence of events taking place in our country right now. Despite use of the past tense at the convention, when referring to the coronavirus...
by Daryl Slusher One of the paradoxes of current day Austin governance will be on vivid display at this Thursday’s virtual City Council meeting. That is that even as the Council crusades for racial and social justice — for example slashing the police department...
by Daryl Slusher With the County Judge contest out of the way, next up in local elections are City Council races — which are on the November 3 ballot with everything from the President on down. The filing deadline for the Council ballot passed on Monday August 17....
Update: Delia Garza is the winner in the Democratic runoff for the County Attorney nomination and her runoff opponent Laurie Eiserlod conceded late last night. There is no Republican opponent so this is the real election. From Earlier: It is unclear how many votes are...
Voting totals in Travis County races remain the same because election day returns are not coming in yet. So the margins in the stories below, posted earlier, remain current. That includes the Special Election for Texas Senate District 14. In Travis County elections...
Former Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt leads in early returns in the race to replace former Senator Kirk Watson. Eckhardt has 51% of the early and mail in vote. State Representative Eddie Rodriguez is second with 34%. If Eckhardt can stay above 50% she will win a...
by Daryl Slusher The Austin American-Statesman laid off seven reporters last Friday, April 24. The layoffs were part of a nationwide series of job cuts by the Statesman’s parent company Gannet, who in August 2019 merged with Gatehouse Media, which in April 2018 bought...
