City Council

Name: Austin City Council meeting
Start: 2026-01-22T16:00:00+00:00
Location: Austin City Hall

Thursday, January 22, 2026, 10 a.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall

Video of the meeting

On the agenda

Roll-call votes

Documents

Agenda

Summary

The Austin City Council's first regular meeting of 2026 opened with the election and ceremonial gavel presentation of Council Member José 'Chito' Vela as Mayor Pro Tem, with Council Member José Velásquez delivering remarks on the historic nature of back-to-back Latino Mayors Pro Tem. The council adopted its consent agenda, including settlement payments of $155,000 and $172,000 in two personal injury suits, an AFSCME Local 1624 labor consultation policy (item 49), and a Muslim Heritage Month resolution (item 55) that all members co-sponsored. The council held and closed several public hearings (items 58-67), adopting each, including acceptance of a $1 million state parks grant for Springwoods Park in District 6 brought by State Representative John Busey. The bulk of the afternoon was spent on item 85, a new council office spending policy, which was adopted as amended; amendments by Council Members Ellis and Laine passed, but a Laine amendment to route surplus rollover funds into district service funds was amended by Council Member Velásquez to effectively preserve unlimited rollover, which passed 6-4 with one abstention over the Mayor's objection. Zoning items 70-84 were adopted on consent, mostly on all three readings with several postponements, and the meeting adjourned at 2:46 pm.

Transcript

0:00 Acts.

0:05 Good morning, everybody. It's 10 o'clock in the morning on January 22nd, 2026, and I will call to order the

0:12 first regular meeting of the Austin City Council for the year 2026.

0:17 Welcome, everybody here. Uh, we are meeting in the City Council chambers, which are located in City Hall

0:24 at 3 0 1 west second street in Austin, texas, and we have a quorum of the Austin City Council

0:30 present. Uh, before we get started, uh, as you just saw when you were, if you were paying

0:36 attention to that video, uh, we have a new Mayor Pro Tem.

0:40 The way the council has done this, uh, over the past few years is, uh, we elect a

0:45 Mayor Pro Tem in, in some cases we elect a Mayor Pro Tem for a year.

0:48 And then, uh, we also designate who's gonna be the Mayor Pro Tem for the following year.

0:53 So I wanna say a big thank you to former Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes, uh, who served

0:59 us very well last year, and, and we greatly appreciate that and welcome our new Mayor, pro tem

1:10 Mayor, pro tem Chito Vela.

1:12 And I, as part of that, I wanna make a special presentation to Mayor Pro Tem Vela, uh,

1:19 of a gavel, a ceremonial gavel, and it reads José Chito Vela 2026 Austin Mayor Pro Tem, presented

1:27 by Mayor Kirk Watson, and we're looking forward to your service.

1:35 That's nice. Thank you.

1:36 Uh, thank you very much.

1:39 Uh, Mayor, I'm, uh, I'm, I'm honestly, I'm, I'm touched and, and, uh, uh, Vanessa has set a

1:45 very high, high bar for, uh, uh, for communication and for, you know, performing the duties of, uh,

1:51 Mayor Pro Tem. I'm looking forward to it, uh, although wow, uh, they think I've been in court

1:56 many times and I think folks have been, never give him the gavel.

1:59 So <laugh>, but thank you, uh, very, very much.

2:02 Sure, sure. Customer Velásquez, did you wanna say something?

2:05 Uh, yes, sir. Thank you, Mayor.

2:06 Uh, first I wanna say that I heard José the beginning of that, and I thought y'all had

2:11 gotten the names mixed up in the, in the election, and I thought I was coming up next,

2:14 so got a little excited there, but I, I just wanted to, uh, make a few comments.

2:18 First. It is a historic day in Austin.

2:21 Tejas Austin held its first council election in 1840, and it took 138 years for us to elect

2:29 our first latino Mayor Pro Tem.

2:32 May he rest in peace another 20 years for us to elect our second one and another 10

2:37 after that, to elect a third.

2:39 Never in the history of this city have we elected back to back latino mayors pro tem in

2:47 the 172 years before we passed this district representation.

2:51 In 2012, we only elected three latinos Mayor Pro Tem.

2:55 Since ten one, we have elected three latinos mayors pro tem in just 14 years.

3:02 That is not coincidence, that is progress, and that will be the legacy of ten one, a system that

3:10 widened the circle of leadership that made representation real and that pushed this city to work harder to

3:17 acknowledge its shortcomings and live up to its promise of progressivism.

3:21 Not as a slogan, but as a practice.

3:24 Chito and Vanessa, you are our ancestors, wildest dreams whispered in prayers that cross borders, generations and hardships.

3:32 And for a boy that is born and raised in east Austin, who has seen up close, how

3:37 this city's liberalism doesn't always reach the shore of people of color, you are my wildest dreams come

3:43 true. Your proof that was once denied can still be claimed, and that was once imagined can still

3:50 be realized. I'm blessed and honored to serve alongside you and to witness history not as a chapter

3:55 loss, but it's something that we are writing together.

3:58 And it is my dream that in my life I will see the seventh, eighth, and 20th latinos

4:03 Mayor Pro Tem, and that I'll get to see the fourth, fifth, and sixth 50th african americans Mayor

4:09 pro te, the first muslim Mayor, pro tem, the first trans Mayor, pro tem.

4:16 I want us to get a, get a get.

4:19 I want us to get to a place in Austin where these moments are no longer called historic,

4:23 where they're commonplace, where the presence of a person of color as Mayor Pro Tem, does not challenge

4:28 our sense of what normal is, because it is norm, the norm.

4:33 A city where leadership looks like it's people where representation is not remarkable, but reflective, where we stop

4:40 marveling at progress and instead live, live it so completely that it simply becomes who we are.

4:47 My mentor, big sister, and our all around chingona county attorney dera, says it best.

4:53 Our charge is not to ensure that we are the first, but to ensure that we are not

4:57 the last to our latino mayor's pro tem Mayor, pro tem john tino, 1978, Mayor gus garcia, 1999

5:05 Mayor Pro Tem, Mike martinez, 2009, travis county attorney delia garza, 2019 Mayor Pro Tem Fuentes 2025, and to

5:15 our newest edition, Mike mpa and big brother Mayor Pro Tem José Chito Vela for 2026.

5:22 I stand on your shoulders.

5:24 Thank you for your service ante.

5:26 Yeah, thank you. Thank you very much, Council Member.

5:32 Alright, so, um, with that we will, um, I'll tell you how we're gonna go through the rest

5:37 of this day. In just a few minutes, I'll read changes and corrections into the record for the

5:42 January 22nd meeting. Um, we will then go to our consent agenda.

5:46 Members. I don't have any items that have been pulled.

5:49 Uh, one item that had been pulled is now, that's item number 52 has now been withdrawn, so

5:55 we have no items pulled, uh, from the consent agenda, we will have speakers on the consent agenda,

6:02 um, and then we will also a, after that we will go to our non-consent items.

6:07 Members, uh, as you know, those are items, uh, from, uh, council committees.

6:12 We have, uh, two items, items 57 and item 85.

6:17 We will also have our public hearings.

6:19 Items 58 59, 60, 61, 60, tru two, I'm sorry, 61, 62, 63.

6:28 Uh, item 64 has with been been withdrawn, 65, 66, 67, and item 86 has been withdrawn.

6:36 When we're around, when we're at 12 o'clock, um, we will have our time, certain public communication, we

6:43 will recess, uh, at the end of that.

6:46 I anticipate that will be about 1230 or 1235, and we will have live music.

6:51 We will recess until probably around one 10.

6:55 When we do that recess, we have some time certains at two o'clock that are public hearings.

7:01 Those are, um, I'm sorry, those items that were set for two o'clock time certain have been withdrawn.

7:07 The two, the two items, 68 and 69.

7:11 So if anybody's listening or here because they wanted to be part of the public hearings on item

7:17 68 and 69, those two public hearings have been withdrawn at two o'clock.

7:24 We will also have our time certain on zoning.

7:27 Those are items 70 through 84.

7:30 Unless there's questions, I will now read changes and corrections into the record.

7:36 Item number 15 has been withdrawn.

7:39 Item number 16 has been withdrawn.

7:43 Item number 32 withdrawn.

7:46 Item 41 withdrawn. Item 52 withdrawn.

7:52 Item number 61 should read, conduct a public hearing and consider an ordinance adjusting the city's boundary limits

8:01 by dis annexing approximately delete 0.06, delete 0.06, and replace it with 0.0 5.05 acres of land located

8:18 in the city's full.

8:19 Four five, what'd I say?

8:22 I'm sorry, point. It's the first meeting of the new year.

8:28 Let me see if I can get these numbers right.

8:30 It should read 0.04 5.045.

8:36 Um, and I don't know what I said, but I said it wrong.

8:39 Point zero four five acres of land located in the city's full purpose jurisdiction and at 3 1 0 1 fritz hughes park road,

8:48 et cetera. Item 64, when public hearings are taken up, this item will be withdrawn.

8:55 Item 68. When the 2:00 pm public hearings are taken up, this item will be withdrawn.

9:02 Item number 69. When the two o'clock pub pm public hearings are taken up, this item will be

9:08 withdrawn. Item number 86.

9:10 When public hearings are taken up, this item will be withdrawn that those are the changes and corrections

9:18 to be read into the record members, we will now go to the consent, unless there's objection or

9:24 questions. We will now go to the consent agenda as we go into the consent agenda.

9:29 Let me point out on item number 48.

9:33 Item number 48 relates to appointments on item number 48.

9:38 Uh, there's a potential appointment.

9:40 There was a potential appointment to the board of adjustment for district one.

9:44 The name patrick howard is being withdrawn.

9:47 So at the time we take up the consent agenda, the motion on the consent agenda will be

9:53 to withdraw the name.

9:55 It, it will not include the name patrick howard because the name patrick howard is being withdrawn from the appointment

10:01 to the board of adjustment.

10:03 With that, we will now go to the consent agenda and I will turn to the clerk and

10:09 ask you to help us navigate through that.

10:12 Starting with item one, we have zenobia joseph,

10:27 welcome ms. Joseph, happy new year.

10:32 Thank you, Mayor. Happy new year.

10:35 I just wanted to make some comments specifically as it relates to the minutes from December 11th, 2025.

10:41 I just want you to annotate in the record that I was on the, the line I called

10:46 in remotely. So it's a bit problematic because I could hear the meeting through its entirety, but then

10:52 you close the public comments and then I was disconnected.

10:57 So I'm not real sure what I need to do to ensure that if I register for remote

11:03 testimony that I'm able to speak.

11:05 The other thing I would call to your attention as a technicality is that if you register to

11:10 speak remotely, it only allows one position unlike the kiosk.

11:15 So the person has to be for on or against or do multiple registrations.

11:20 So I just don't know if you're able to fix that, uh, so that it mirrors the kiosk.

11:24 The kiosk allows us to register for multiple items at once, but then it actually delineates each of

11:30 the items and you can register that you wanna speak yes or no, and then it also allows

11:35 you to put your position on for against.

11:37 Those are my comments.

11:38 Just wanted to make you aware that I was on the line.

11:41 I heard mr. Bunches testimony and other people as well.

11:44 Um, but there's gotta be a way for the person on the line to actually contact the clerk

11:49 or the person that's the vendor.

11:52 Um, it does give us a message that says, if you wanna ask a question, press zero, but

11:56 that doesn't work. So if they can enable that function, I would appreciate it and others May do

12:01 so as well. Thank you so much.

12:02 Thank you. Item number three, uh, is a members.

12:07 Item number three is a, uh, potential settlement.

12:10 And so we have a presentation from legal and I'll ask, um, legal to make that presentation for

12:16 us. Good morning, mr.

12:19 Mayor, uh, new Mayor, pro tem, uh, members of the council.

12:24 My name is jeremy thompson and I'm here today to recommend that you prove settlement payments, um, in two

12:30 personal injury suits that show up as items number three and number five in your agenda today.

12:35 I'll take those in turn.

12:37 Item number three, a Mayor versus city of Austin.

12:41 We recommend that you approve a payment totaling $155,000 to settle the lawsuit titled Mayor versus city of

12:48 Austin. This lawsuit relates to a November 20, 24 car accident involving an Austin police department vehicle where plaintiffs

12:56 seek payment for injuries allegedly sustained in the accident.

12:59 In exchange for the payment, plaintiff will release any and all claims against the city from the accident

13:04 and will also dismiss the lawsuit filed in the district court of travis county.

13:08 The Austin city attorney's office recommends that you approve payment based upon these terms.

13:13 Item number five, before we go to item number five, just for clarity purposes, the name of the

13:19 plaintiff is Mayor <laugh>, m-a-y-e-r.

13:24 Yes. Uh, we, uh, we ought to have some clarity though to that.

13:28 Uh, yes, sir. Uh, all right, item number five.

13:31 Item number five, uh, we recommend that you approve a settlement payment totaling $172,000 to settle the lawsuit

13:38 titled timothy jones individually and as next friend of bradley jones, a minor versus city of Austin, dba Austin

13:46 energy. This lawsuit relates to a July, 2024 car accident involving an Austin energy vehicle where the plaintiffs seek

13:53 payment for injuries, allegedly, excuse me, allegedly sustained in the accident.

13:58 In exchange for the payment, the plaintiffs will release any and all claims against the city and will

14:03 dismiss their lawsuit filed in the district court of travis county.

14:07 The Austin city attorney's office recommends that you approve payment based upon these terms, and I'm here to

14:12 answer any questions if you have any.

14:13 Appreciate your presentation members.