City Council

Thursday, September 25, 2025, 10 a.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall, 301 W 2nd St, Austin, TX 78701

Video of the meeting

On the agenda

Roll-call votes

Documents

Summary

The Austin City Council met on September 25, 2025, adopting a consent agenda (with items 3, 9, 11 and 45 pulled for separate discussion) covering contracts including animal services interlocals with Travis County, cybersecurity, and consulting agreements. The council also sat as the Austin Housing Finance Corporation board, adopting five housing loan items on consent. Council Member Siegel's amendment to the creative content incentive program (item 9) was adopted; Council Member Duchen pulled a bond reimbursement resolution (item 11) and received clarification from finance staff; item 45 on vehicle abatement by non-sworn staff was adopted after questions. The most contested item was item 3 on animal services spay/abort policy: Mayor Watson offered an amendment requiring notice to Austin Pets Alive for lactating animals, which passed 6-4 with one abstention, and the item was adopted as amended. Public hearings on items 61, 62 and 63 (convention center site plan) were held and the items adopted. Many speakers attempted to speak on a surveillance camera contract not on the agenda and were ruled out of order by the Mayor. Zoning items were mostly postponed to October 9, and the council ended with a closed session on real estate matters related to item 64.

Transcript

0:01 Good morning, mr. Mayor.

0:02 Can y'all hear me all right?

0:03 We can. Thank you for being here.

0:05 Uh, I called meeting of the Austin City Council to order at 10:01 am uh, it's September 25th, 2025.

0:12 We have a quorum of the council present.

0:14 We are meeting at 3 0 1 west second street, which is City Hall in the City Council chambers, uh,

0:20 members. The order of business that we'll follow today is I will, uh, go through the process of,

0:25 um, of letting you know which consent items have not have, are, have been pulled.

0:31 Uh, those are items 3 49, I'm sorry, three nine and 45.

0:38 We will then hear from speakers on the consent agenda.

0:42 We will, as soon as the consent agenda is done, I will hear from, uh, I will call

0:46 on those who wish to speak on the council.

0:49 If you wish to speak, you need to let me know or, uh, go ahead and post, uh,

0:54 on the board here, and that way that will let me know.

0:57 What we will do is we will then go to, we will recess the City Council meeting and

1:03 we will call to order the Austin housing finance corporation board of directors meeting.

1:07 We'll conduct that meeting.

1:08 We'll adjourn it, and we will come back to the City Council meeting.

1:11 We will take up the non-consent items, and that includes the items that are public hearings.

1:16 Those are item 61, 62, and 63.

1:20 At noon, we will have our time, certain public communication, and we will have a recess for music.

1:27 Uh, and then of course, at two o'clock, we will have the time certain on zoning matters members,

1:34 there are no items that are listed in the changes and corrections that need to be read into

1:40 the record. However, again, I will point out that items three, nine and 45 have been pulled from

1:46 the consent agenda. When we hear the consent agenda members on item 45, the draft or ordinance is

1:53 version two, item 52, the draft resolution is version two, item 57, the draft ordinance is version two,

2:01 item 62, you have a revised exhibit a, and that is a version three.

2:09 Before we begin hearing from speakers, because I wanna make sure that everybody understands how our rules operate

2:15 during any public comment period, I want everyone to please be aware that behavior that violates the rules

2:21 of the council meeting won't be permitted.

2:23 So if you're here to speak on an item, you May not speak out of turn.

2:28 Uh, you May criticize a public official, but you May not use personally derogatory or disparaging remarks.

2:34 You May not defame another person.

2:35 Use obscene language, use abusive language that is likely to incite a breach of the peace, make threats

2:42 of violence against any other person or otherwise disrupt the orderly conduct of the meeting, such as screaming

2:49 comments. I want everyone to please note.

2:51 Also, please note that comments from a member of the public on numbered agenda items must be relevant

2:58 to that item. There's been apparently some confusion about an item, and some people have signed up to

3:05 speak on an item related to, uh, cameras in parks.

3:10 That is not on today's agenda.

3:13 It was on a previous agenda, but withdrawn.

3:16 It is not on today's agenda.

3:18 So if you're signed up to speak and want to talk about that, you're not going to be

3:22 recognized on that. And if you're talking on another numbered item and you want to visit about that,

3:27 I'll, I'll, I'll point out and we'll call that out of order and, and, and you won't be

3:31 able to do that.

3:32 Um, if you have signs or anything of that nature, we ask that you do those in the

3:37 back so that you don't block anybody.

3:39 Now, we also have had a number of people sign up using names that do not appear to

3:45 be real, and those names will not be called, uh, in some instances, those names have, while perhaps

3:53 labeled creative, uh, are, are, uh, vulgar.

3:58 And, um, uh, so we won't, we won't call out those names.

4:01 I'm not gonna ask anybody to do that.

4:03 But if in fact your name doesn't get called, let us know.

4:07 And, um, because if we've made a mistake in terms of your name, in fact, if anita bong

4:11 is really here, um, uh, I mean, it's, it, it's, it's, it's, I haven't seen any bong hits

4:18 in a long time.

4:19 If anita bong hit, if anita bong hit is here, but I haven't seen any of the bong

4:23 hits in a long time, even though bong hits have, have, have long been an iconic part of

4:28 Austin, texas and, and, uh, brought much happiness to our city.

4:32 In fact, if, if, uh, if, if, if any of the bong hits are here, it would be

4:38 a high point in our day, uh, for us to get to hear from 'em <laugh>.

4:42 But, but, um, we probably, well, and by the way, if ms.

4:48 Bong hit is here, uh, she will be limited to two minutes.

4:53 A two minute bong hit, uh, is about all we can handle.

4:56 Um, and, and, and we, we limit her two minutes because we don't want any bogarting of our

5:02 council meeting. So, um, with that, we will go to the people that have signed up on the

5:07 consent agenda to speak, and I will turn to the city clerk, uh, and ask you to call

5:13 names except for ms.

5:15 Bong head. Thank you, Mayor, for item one, I have a remote speaker, beverly luna.

5:25 Hi, my name is beverly luna.

5:26 I'm with Austin lawson fte.

5:28 I first wanted to address agenda item number one regarding the contract with travis county for animal services

5:34 for an amount not to exceed $1.3 million for four month series, be paid by the city based on

5:41 a cost recovery model.

5:43 The cost recovery amount per animal per day that I have seen from the Austin animal offenders between

5:48 56 and $58 per day.

5:52 I'm not sure if that's just for boarding, but it's an amount that appears to be substantially above

5:56 the cost. It isn't clear if that includes other costs, like an expensive vet bill, but just at

6:02 that boarding rate that only covers the city folding 144 county animals for four months, I see no

6:09 reason why there should be a limit on the amount to be paid by the county.

6:12 That's for the county with input from their constituents to decide.

6:16 I respectfully, respectfully request that this council remove the limit that they can negotiate with the county to

6:22 pay. Um, on agenda item number two, again, I question the reasonableness and validity of the cost recovery

6:28 model, uh, that a a c has come up with, and I'm not sure what to do about

6:34 agenda item number three.

6:37 I heard the Mayor say that it's been pulled from the consent agenda, but is it going to

6:42 be on the regular agenda?

6:43 It will. And if so, do I speak to it now or how does this work?

6:46 No, ma'am. We, we'll call you when we bring up item number three.

6:50 Okay. Thank you. Mm-hmm <affirmative>.

6:52 Thank you so much.

6:53 Sure thing. Now, I will go to in-person speakers for item one, pat che, robert von de har

7:03 moise, aka christian gabriel beman.

7:09 Mr. Clinton, if your name's been called, please make your way down to one of the podiums, and then

7:14 just make sure to state your name into the record.

7:23 Hello? Uh, I'm robert erhart.

7:25 Please feel free to make stuff comfortable when I have a seat.

7:27 Thank you. Hi, uh, thank you for, uh, having me.

7:33 Um, I wanted to come last month, but I wasn't able to, um, looking at this, uh, the

7:40 amount of, uh, 1 million, uh, 331, whatever.

7:45 Um, I, I think that that's a better way to spend the money than 2 million on surveillance cameras.

7:52 Thank you very much.

8:01 That was crafty, but we're not going to be talking about surveillance cameras today.

8:08 I agree with what the previous speaker has said.

8:10 Thank you. Goodbye,

8:21 please, Mayor, and City Council members, thank you for this opportunity to speak.

8:28 My name is pat res, and I am in fact, here to speak on item one.

8:33 Um, I signed up as neutral on item one.

8:38 I signed up as neutral on item two, and I signed up as in favor of item three.

8:46 I will now limit my comments to one.

8:50 And May I also comment on two, or should I wait, if there's any, is there anyone else

8:54 signed up on one?

8:56 Yes, there are several.

8:56 Yeah. We'll, we'll hear from people on item one and bring you back on item two.

9:00 Okay. Um, my comment on item one is that although I was initially, uh, neutral on it, I

9:07 am now, um, in slight opposition to it only because we have not had a chance to discuss

9:16 this item in a process of either the animal advisory commission or the strategic plan working group that

9:26 I am now on again.

9:28 Um, and there is no, at least there was no backup documentation.

9:33 So what I am requesting is that you amend this item to only approve the extension for one

9:40 month. I understand that you need to approve it so that it can move forward for October, but

9:47 that you bring it back in November or October for approval for the next three months.

9:53 This is a, a, an item that should have been discussed.

9:57 I'm asking you for a process change, which is that instead of, um, approving it for four months,

10:05 you approve it for one month and, and come back before you approve it.

10:08 And here's why. This is for $1.3 million.

10:13 If you approve something for $1.3 million for four months, the rest of the eight months, you basically have

10:22 to do the same thing.

10:25 So thank you. Thank you.

10:29 Continuing on with item one, ethan epson jones, george moore, jake parker, ian brennan, and adam corvus.

10:40 Again, if your name's been called, please go ahead and make yourself down to the podium and state

10:44 your name into the record.

10:46 Jake parker, please. Thank you.

10:49 Uh, I am here to talk about item one.

10:53 Uh, I'm not here to talk about a $2 million surveillance state initiative.

10:59 Quit doing that. Just, just please talk about the item.

11:02 Sure. Uh, I am in favor of it.

11:05 Thank you. Thank you.

11:10 Please, any, either one of you begin.

11:14 This is on item one.

11:19 Good morning, Mayor and council members.

11:21 My name is adam corvis, and I'm here to analyze the principles embodied in agenda item one, the

11:26 interlocal agreement with travis county for animal services.

11:29 First, let's examine the methodology for service delivery.

11:32 This agreement relies on trained animal service officers, ensuring that any enforcement action involves a person who can

11:38 be held accountable, a person our residents can face.

11:41 This model is fundamentally different from systems where violation is determined solely by a recorded image produced by

11:47 an automated device. Such systems, regardless of the specific technology used effectively bypass the core texan principles that

11:53 enforcement should involve a human accuser creating a loophole that violates the spirit of established state law.

11:59 Second, the fiscal structure of this agreement is a public to public cost recovery model.

12:04 Its purpose is explicitly tied to animal welfare, which prevents any propensity for the city to act out

12:08 of greed or self-interest by turning animal control into a high volume automated shakedown for revenue.

12:15 The data collected under this agreement is for specific case management, not for the mass harvesting of community

12:20 data to be fed into ai training models.

12:23 This public service framework is a direct safeguard against the monetization of enforcement.

12:27 Finally, the nature of this contract is an interlocal agreement provides a layer of public accountability and control.

12:35 This is crucial because it protects the city from the well-documented financial risks of entering into a prohibitive

12:41 long-term contracts with private for-profit technology companies.

12:45 We've seen how other texas municipalities and other areas of enforcement were left holding the bag, legally forced

12:50 to continue funding these private vendors.

12:52 Well, after the systems they provided had been ruled improper, I'm sorry, and against, against the public interest.

12:56 I'm, I'm, I'm gonna rule your, your testimony out of order and, and we appreciate your being here.

13:01 Thank you. We'll,

13:08 please begin and speak only to item number one, please.

13:13 Thank you. My name is ian brennan.

13:14 I'm opposed to live view technologies surveillance policy lost.

13:18 Sir, you're out. You're, you're out of order.

13:19 Thank you

13:28 for item two, beverly luna.

13:35 Uh, this is beverly luna with Austin lost and found pets.

13:38 I just questioned the cost recovery model that a a c uses.

13:43 It is dramatically above the cost day for a pa and wish that that be carefully evaluated before

13:50 any decisions are made.

13:51 Thank you. Thank you.

13:55 On item two, pat, vice chas,

14:03 and after pat is george moore and kenard al

14:15 Mayor and council members.

14:18 Thank you again for this opportunity to speak.

14:21 My name is pat res.

14:23 I live in district three, and I very much respect the work that all of you do for

14:29 our community. And it makes me really upset to see how this process is being treated.