City Council

Thursday, November 6, 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 November 6, 2025, with Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes presiding in Mayor Watson's absence. The meeting covered a large consent agenda (items 1-27 and 43) including RHDA tenant-protection resolutions (items 21 and 23), homelessness street outreach resolutions (items 24 and 25), and a parks concessions legacy policy (item 43), with members Velásquez, Alter and Fuentes voting no and Siegel abstaining on item 43. Item 24 was pulled, amended by Council Member Duchen to remove references to FY 2025-26 budget allocations, and approved after questions to Homeless Strategies Director David Gray about the city's encampment management initiative. The council also approved non-consent items 28-34 (including denial of a Texas Gas Service rate case), convened a brief Austin Housing Finance Corporation meeting approving minutes and a roughly $2.4 million mortgage payoff for Villa Del Rey, and adopted a zoning consent agenda with multiple postponements and second-reading approvals for items 40 and 41 (C14-2025-0049 and related NPA). Extensive public testimony was heard on encampment sweeps, RHDA enforcement, parks concessions, and other matters.

Transcript

0:06 You are watching a meeting of the Austin City Council with Mayor Kirk Watson, Mayor pro, tim Vanessa

0:16 Fuentes. Council members Natasha Harper Madison, José velazquez, che bayla, Ryan Alter, crystal lane, Mike Siegel, Paige Ellis, zoe

0:39 cadre, mark uchin, city attorney deborah thomas, city clerk erica brady and city manager tc broadnax.

1:00 Good morning everybody. I am Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes.

1:04 It is 10:00 am on Thursday, November 6th, 2025.

1:09 We have a quorum of the council present and we, let's see, no one is appearing virtually and

1:16 I will now call to order the regular meeting of the Austin City Council.

1:20 We are meeting in council chambers at 3 0 1 west second street in Austin, texas.

1:26 Mayor Watson is absent today on city business.

1:29 If I fail to call out that he's absent today on, on the vote for any item.

1:34 Let the record reflect he's out today.

1:37 The colleagues' order for today, we will start with changes in corrections.

1:42 Currently we do not have any items pulled and we don't have any items postponed.

1:49 Item 20 has a version three and items 24 and 25 have a version two in the backup.

1:56 We also have late backup for item 14, item 20, I mentioned item 24 and 25 and item

2:05 37, just wanna highlight, has an applicant postponement request item 38 has an applicant postponement request.

2:12 And item 41 is public comment.

2:16 We will then take up virtual and in-person registered speakers on the consent agenda.

2:20 Each speaker will have two minutes if an item is pulled from the consent agenda anyone registered to

2:26 speak on. The polled item will be called when the item is heard.

2:30 After speakers will have brief remarks from any Council Member who wishes to speak on the consent agenda.

2:36 And then we'll take a vote on the consent agenda, which currently consists of items one through 27

2:42 and item 43. We will then consider any pulled items.

2:46 And as I've mentioned, we do not currently have any items that have been pulled.

2:50 And afterward we'll go into non-consent agenda, which includes items from City Council meetings, committee hearings, and a

2:58 public hearing. At 10 30 or soon after, we will convene the Austin housing finance corporation meeting at

3:05 noon. We'll pause at 12 o'clock to take up public communications and then recess for live music.

3:12 If there are any items left, we'll return to those items and then consider zoning agenda items.

3:19 Any questions or comments so far?

3:22 Alright, so with that city clerk, May you please call the speakers for our consent agenda?

3:29 Yes. Thank you, Mayor proam.

3:30 Item number five, I have steven swanson, item six, jennifer robo, also for item seven.

3:42 Item 10, jennifer robo, and 14 on deck aslan holier.

3:56 Thank you. Please proceed.

3:58 Good morning, City Council.

4:00 I am jen robshow.

4:02 I'm a resident of district two, and, um, I'll be speaking on several items, so I'll introduce myself

4:08 just once. Uh, item number six is a contract to schindler elevator corporation for $12.2 million for es elevator

4:19 and escalator repair and preventative maintenance at Austin bergstrom international airport.

4:24 And I'm speaking about this because I'm deeply concerned about our declining sales tax revenue in the city

4:30 of Austin. And in investigating this company, I see that they are headquartered in new jersey.

4:36 They have offices all over the country.

4:38 And to me this indicates both a high level of overhead costs and, uh, a corporate headquarters that

4:46 is going to be funded in a different state.

4:49 And as we're looking for ways to stretch the revenue that we have as far as possible, I'd

4:54 like to continue to encourage you all to fund local, whether it's Austin or texas businesses, because this

5:01 is the best way to make sure that every dollar that we take out of our city budget

5:06 goes to communities that are going to be able to reinvest those dollars.

5:10 Here in Austin and in texas, I, I've also learned that, uh, this company uses proprietary parts.

5:17 And so once we engage in a contract with this company, we will continue to want to work

5:23 with this company. And since the parts that they're using are only going to be available through them.

5:28 So addressing this now while we have an opportunity to evaluate any other texas businesses that can provide

5:36 the service, I think would be incredibly prudent.

5:42 I'll continue on with number seven.

5:45 Uh, this is a contract to environmental systems research institute for $13.2 million.

5:53 And this is enterprise level licensing, maintenance and support for the city's geographic information system platform.

6:00 Again, my concerns here come down to our sales tax revenue, but it also, uh, goes beyond just

6:09 that. Uh, it's whether or not we need to be spending nearly $13.2 million for this service.

6:15 In general. The company that we are contracted with is in california, and I understand we do have

6:21 an existing contract with this group, but many other texas governments use free and open solutions that are

6:28 based here in texas.

6:30 So even if there's a cost to transition to another service, if we are transitioning to a free

6:35 open source solution, that comes with a number of tremendous benefits.

6:40 We're supporting development in texas by supporting businesses that are here in texas, and we're also allocating our

6:48 funds to other purposes instead of very large contracts with out of state businesses.

6:54 And this is a great way to make sure that we are keeping our tax dollars close to

6:58 home and only spending those that we need to be spending.

7:06 Am I clear to talk number for 10?

7:07 10? Go ahead. Okay.

7:08 Thank you. Item number 10.

7:11 This is for carbon credit broker services.

7:15 And when we look at the context of what the city of Austin is doing with our money,

7:22 um, there's a lack of trust between council, how y'all are spending our dollars and citizens.

7:29 And this is a case where we're really walking the line.

7:33 It's a million dollars for carbon credit broker services.

7:38 There is question whether or not these services are even worth the dollars we spend on them.

7:42 There was a study in 2023 that revealed that 94% of credits had no benefit to the climate.

7:49 A million dollars is a lot to spend for no benefit.

7:54 Also paying for carbon credits is very close to paying for indulgences.

7:59 This is a symbolic act that offers forgiveness, but without actual meaningful sacrifice.

8:04 And here we're not even purchasing carbon credits, but directly, but they're through broker services and that creates

8:11 a level of opacity that does not encourage any trust.

8:16 It lacks transparency. If the city wants to encourage more climate focused activities, let's encourage more reforestation.

8:25 Here in Austin, we used to have an amazing program, the wildlife Austin program, where residents were able

8:33 to get their yards certified as wildlife habitats.

8:37 This is a very low cost way for the city to encourage more environmentally friendly practices throughout the

8:43 city, and it was canceled.

8:45 I would love to see this program come back.

8:47 I would love to see other ways for the city to take this million dollars and invest it

8:52 directly into the city instead of routing it it through brokers who have their own ulterior motives.

8:58 Thank you,

9:03 sir. You might, you can stay there 'cause I don't wanna call you in a second.

9:07 Sir, go ahead. Am I, can you hear me?

9:10 Yeah. Good. I'm steve swanson.

9:12 Um, I'm here as a 30 year, uh, volunteer in public education.

9:21 I was on the workforce development board.

9:23 I'm here on item number five, which has to do with continuing, uh, working with the workforce development

9:29 board workforce solutions. And I just wanted to, uh, express my experience has taught me how important, uh,

9:37 the imagine Austin plan is.

9:39 Priority program number three.

9:42 Um, I helped, uh, participate in writing it.

9:46 Uh, I'm not sure we know if it's being followed or being implemented effectively and, uh, considering, uh,

9:54 the recent, uh, circumstances around proposition q and how we relate to serving to the needs of others

10:00 and, uh, the condition, uh, of our school planning challenges in our community, uh, there is absolutely nothing

10:07 more important than the city county and school district authentically working together with the community to serve the

10:13 lives of our children and the management of that, the proposition for that, the, uh, the opportunity for

10:21 that is provided for in the imagine mos plan through the workforce development board and the joint subcommittee.

10:29 And I'm here to encourage that you do what you can to bring that alive.

10:33 When we're talking about our school district, we shouldn't and our kids being educated, we shouldn't just be

10:38 talking about a isd, we should be talking about the city.

10:42 We should be talking about the county.

10:44 We should be talking about other entities that if they truly were working together as provided for in

10:49 statute and as provided for the imagine Austin plan priority program number three, uh, we wouldn't have the

10:57 condition we have now in the way our kids and our families are being treated in education.

11:01 So that's why I'm here and I hope you guys will, uh, sincerely take a look at, uh,

11:06 the imagine Austin plan and what it can do for our community and for the people we serve.

11:15 Thank you. Good morning, Mayor and council.

11:21 Uh, I am lan holier.

11:23 I am speaking for I ire junk removal and resale, an Austin based woman owned licensed hauler.

11:28 I'm addressing item 14, a contract for residential dumpster and bulk collection for 500 multifamily properties, uh, with

11:36 texas disposal systems recommended for Austin resource recovery to support zero waste 2040 bulk diversion isn't achieved by

11:44 dumpsters alone. Once items hit roll off dumpsters, good faith recycling is rarely feasible.

11:51 I rep bid bulk only because upstream model works designate a consolidation area twice monthly, sweeps 24 hour,

12:00 uh, overflow sort before anything reaches the dumpster and send items to the right downstreams mattresses to a

12:07 recycler furniture to a free or low cost community market and metals and e-waste go to a compliant

12:13 facilities while tds actually handles the trash.

12:17 We currently offer bulk services for several multifamily operators and volunteered at move out a tx to see

12:23 how stations and furniture markets could work.

12:26 We hold a five year contract with the city bulk brush contract, which has been unused for 18

12:32 plus months despite our investments.

12:35 Meanwhile, on-demand bulk has frustrated residents and increased landfill flow.

12:40 Uh, we know firsthand the implications and the lack of goal achievement, uh, based on tdss price submission

12:47 and their listing, their landfill as the only drop off location.

12:51 No clear path for bulky recyclables.

12:53 My site tour staff conversations, I know pairing dumpster service with true bulk diversion remains operationally and financially

13:01 misaligned with a single prime structure specialists like I rep where effectively sidelined.

13:06 And this leaves me to believe that bulk will get wasted and businesses like ours could be hurt.

13:10 My ask, approve the contract direct a rr to run a 90 day pilot, uh, with the prime

13:16 and diversion first bulk specialist like ire for 50 properties, uh, and have kpis on that.

13:24 Uh, thank you very much for item 15, jennifer robo, and then item 20 bill bunch and carlos

13:30 leon. Then item 21, jason haskins, jennifer robosho and shoshana krieger.

13:40 Good morning again, I'm jen robosho.

13:42 I'm speaking item 15, which is a contract for $1.9 million to radiant research for maintenance support and upgrades

13:51 of meter testing software and hardware at Austin energy.

13:55 Uh, again, I am concerned about keeping our tax dollars as close to home as possible because I

14:00 think this is one of the most effective ways for us to address the sales tax revenue problem

14:05 that we're seeing in the city.

14:07 In this particular case, this company is headquartered in indiana and I'm aware that we have both texas

14:12 alternatives as well as local Austin metro companies that would be able to provide these services.

14:18 I do appreciate that this contract is being sourced through a competitive bidding process.

14:24 I think that's incredibly important, but I would like to encourage us to go back and look at

14:28 those bids and see who we have from Austin.

14:30 And if we aren't really strategically sourcing local companies and those bids, that needs to be a top

14:37 priority when we're putting out those rfps fees, this contract is going to lock us in with hardware