Austin City Council will meet June 1 and 8 at 10 a.m. at Austin City Hall, 301 W. Second St., Austin. 512-974-2250 www.austintexas.gov/department/ city-council Travis County Commissioners Court will meet June 6, 13 and 27 at 9 a.m. at the Travis County Administration Building, 700 Lavaca St., Austin. 512-854-4722 www.traviscountytx.gov Williamson County Commissioners Court will meet June 6, 13 and 27 at 9:30 a.m. at the Williamson County Courthouse, 710 Main St., Georgetown. 512-943-1100. www.wilco.org MEETINGS WE COVER HIGHLIGHTS TRAVIS COUNTY Fentanyl-related deaths more than doubled from 2021 to 2022 and particularly affected Hispanic and Black communities as well as women, a new medical examiner’s report found. The data, released on April 26, comes as local officials continue focusing on combating overdoses after declaring drug deaths to be a public health crisis in 2022. County Judge Andy Brown said commissioners could next reserve $750,000 in the fiscal year 2023-24 budget to create an overdose prevention fund. AUSTIN On May 2, the city’s library system announced a pilot program for enhanced library cards. The cards will serve as a valid form of identification or supplement with other documents to prove one’s identity for many city departments and local organizations. AUSTIN The city will pay $100,000 to a protester injured by police in the May 2020 demonstrations, the latest in a growing series of payouts. Austin’s total tab for police brutality payouts from the protests now sits at $18.98 million after council approved the settlement agreement May 4.
DPS pauses patrols in Austin; concerns on profiling raised
BY BEN THOMPSON
DPS troopers would begin targeted patrols in Austin to assist the short-staffed APD by focusing on crime and traffic enforcement in late March. Since then, police offi- cials credited the program for an observed a drop in violent crime this spring. At the same time, some com- munity groups and City Council members raised concerns about traffic stop and arrest data showing Black and particularly Hispanic drivers were being disproportionately affected by the patrols. The outlook for further DPS support in Austin isn’t clear following the first month and a half of what Mayor Kirk Watson called “bridge” support for the city’s police department. Watson said DPS troopers’ border deployment is expected to last at least
AUSTIN The Texas Department of Public Safety’s supplemental partnership with the Austin Police Department was paused May 13, just over six weeks after the initiative began. The partnership, announced at no cost to the city and operating under was expected to continue indefinitely while the city and APD worked on filling up the department’s ranks. However, the DPS pulled the direction of police Chief Joseph Chacon, the plug on its support work in Austin on May 13 amid a surge of state resources to the Mexico border announced by Gov. Greg Abbott May 12 alongside the expiration of the Title 42 immigration public health order. City leaders announced
A public safety partnership centered on violent crime and tra c enforcement in Austin was paused May 13. (Ben Thompson/ Community Impact)
SKEWED TRAFFIC STOPS One month of data from the Austin policing partnership shows state troopers mostly pulled over Hispanic/Latino drivers. Alaska Native/American Indian Asian/Pacific Islander Black Hispanic/Latino White 2022 March 30-April 27, 2023
4.2% 0.26% 16.5% 38.17% 40.87% 18,743 total traffic stops
4.63% 0.35% 15.01% 54.21% 25.8% 11,841 total traffic stops DPS PARTNERSHIP
SOURCE: TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY/COMMUNITY IMPACT
two weeks, and Chacon will remain in contact with state law enforcement about the program’s future.
The DPS did not respond to a request for comment on the end of the partner- ship as of press time.
Austin to end minimum parking spot mandates AUSTIN City officials moved to end Austin’s longstanding practice of requiring a set amount of parking with new development May 4. BY BEN THOMPSON
Council voted to eliminate the rules laying out different requirements that apply to all kinds of development, ranging from housing to retailers. “Instead of using dubious formulas to mandate how much parking is included in every new development, I believe we should allow individual property owners to decide what levels are appropriate,” said District 9
Council Member Zo Qadri, the item’s sponsor, in a statement. The push to wipe out parking mandates in all cases comes on the heels of a similar proposal brought by District 3 Council Member José Velásquez aimed only at bars that was approved in April. A final ordinance will return to council by the end of 2023.
ACCOMPLISH MORE this summer at ACC
WE’RE ON THE ROADS AGAIN! The City of Austin is improving hundreds of streets this summer. Visit austintexas.gov/streetmaintenance to see if your street is scheduled to be resurfaced and to fill out our street maintenance survey.
CLASSES START MAY 30 austincc.edu/summer
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NORTH - NORTHWEST AUSTIN EDITION • JUNE 2023
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