City Council

Thursday, August 27, 2026, 10 a.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall

Video of the meeting

On the agenda

Roll-call votes

Documents

Summary

The Austin City Council honored retiring Fire Chief Joel Baker with a distinguished service award and confirmed Assistant Fire Chief Tom Vokey as interim fire chief effective September 1, 2026 (item 56). The council adopted the consent agenda, which included four personal injury settlements, nearly $650 million in bond authorizations (items 15–19), a Book Safe Harbor resolution (item 70), a review of displacement and eviction prevention services (item 69) and a mold resolution (item 73); Council Member Duchen was shown voting no on items 11 and 28, and Council Members Ellis and Fuentes on item 4. After hearing about two dozen speakers, most urging a moratorium on data centers, the council unanimously adopted item 61, directing land development code changes for data centers, as amended to have the manager report back before approving any data center request above 20 megawatts or 85 million gallons of water a year, to provide an update within 60 days, and to split the code work into two phases so larger data centers could be prohibited as early as December. The council also adopted committee items 77–82, eminent domain items 83–85, public hearing items 86–89, and item 50 as amended by Council Member Alter on transparency in parkland condemnation. On zoning, the council adopted the zoning consent agenda, including historic zoning for Bethany Cemetery (item 100), and approved owner-opposed historic zoning for the front portion of the house at 907 East 13th Street (item 90), which required nine votes.

Transcript

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

0:16 Vela council members Natasha Harper Madison, Vanessa Fuentes, José velazquez, 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 broad.

0:59 Good morning everybody. It's 10 o'clock in the morning on August 27th, 2026, and I will call to order this,

1:05 uh, regular meeting of the Austin City Council.

1:08 Uh, we have a quorum of the City Council present, and we are meeting in the City Council

1:12 chambers, which are located in City Hall at 3 0 1 west second street in Austin, texas.

1:18 Um, members and members of the public.

1:20 Uh, let me walk through how this day's going to go.

1:24 Uh, we will have, uh, we're gonna take up one item, uh, that I've pulled.

1:29 There's a couple of items that have been pulled from the consent agenda and members, those are items

1:33 50, item 56, and items 61, items 50 56 and 61.

1:41 We are going to take up item 56 first, and then we will go to the consent agenda.

1:48 When we take up the consent agenda, which is all the items except for the three that I've

1:52 mentioned, uh, we will hear from the public and they, they will speak on each item as the,

1:57 uh, item is called up.

1:59 Uh, we will then go to non-consent items.

2:02 The non-consent items, we have, uh, items that are referred from various council committees.

2:07 Those are item 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, and 82.

2:13 We then have imminent domain items 83, 84 and 85.

2:18 We will conduct public hearings on items 86, 87, 88, and 89, wherever we are in the agenda at, at

2:26 right at noon, as close to noon as we can pull it off.

2:29 We will have our time, certain of public communication, and we will have live music.

2:35 We will recess at the end of the public communication, which usually happens around 1230 to 1235.

2:41 We will then have live mu, we will recess until about one 10.

2:45 Um, and we'll come back at one 10, and we will finish other items that are on the

2:49 agenda. And of course, as close as we can, uh, to two o'clock, we have a time certain

2:54 for our zoning items.

2:57 So with that, um, council members, uh, the items, uh, there are no changes in corrections to read

3:03 into the, uh, record on the agenda other than the items that I've indicated that are pulled.

3:08 And again, those are items 50 56 and 61.

3:12 With that being said, I will now call up item number 56, and item number 56 is related

3:20 to the confirmation of the manager's appointment of an interim fire chief before we, uh, and, and as

3:27 part of doing that, we have some other things that we're going to do, and I wanna recognize

3:31 the city manager. Thank you, Mayor.

3:36 Uh, and Mayor pro tim and members of the City Council, uh, and members of the Austin fire

3:41 department. Uh, today we have the privilege of recognizing someone who's devoted nearly four decades of his life

3:49 to protecting, uh, others.

3:51 Our fire chief joel baker, chief baker, as you prepare for re to retire from fire service, I

3:59 want to thank you and take a moment on behalf of the city of Austin to simply thank

4:05 you publicly for your service.

4:07 Thank you for your leadership, your steady hand, and most of all, thank you for a lifetime of

4:14 service. In December of 2018, you became the chief of the Austin fire department and made history as

4:22 the first african american to lead this department.

4:26 That distinction matters, but I know you've always viewed it a little differently.

4:32 You've said that what mattered to you was not simply being the first, but making sure you would

4:38 not be the last.

4:40 That says a great deal about the kind of leader that you are.

4:45 Chief, you've led this department through some extraordinary years.

4:49 You've helped guide our firefighters through a global pandemic, severe weather and natural disasters, and the everyday emergencies

4:57 that seem to never stop.

4:59 You also understood something that public safety organizations have not always talked about enough, taking care of the

5:05 people who take care of us.

5:07 Under your leadership, mental health assessments became a part of annual medical evaluations for firefighters, an important acknowledgement

5:16 of the physical and emotional demands we placed on the men and women who answer all the calls

5:23 on the hardest days of many people's lives.

5:26 There's a phrase that you're become well known for in the fire department.

5:31 Every day is a holiday.

5:33 Every meal is a banquet.

5:35 Every payday is a fortune.

5:38 And there's a lot of chief baker in those words, gratitude, optimism, perspective, and an understanding that even

5:47 in a profession built around responding to difficult moments, there's still much in life to appreciate chief bakker.

5:55 After 40 years of answering the call, you've earned the opportunity to enjoy a few more holidays and

6:03 banquets, and we hope many good fortunes.

6:06 So, on behalf of the Mayor and the City Council, the city organization, the men and women of

6:12 the Austin fire department, and the people of Austin, thank you for the lives you've touched, the firefighters

6:20 you've led in the community that you've served.

6:23 Austin is better because you chose to spend this chapter of your career with us.

6:29 We wish you and your family, good health, happiness, and wonderful years ahead and chief from a grateful

6:37 city. Thank you for your service and god's speed.

6:42 Yes,

7:13 we're not done. Um, but hang on a second.

7:16 Something I've always wanted to do since I came on as Mayor and the chief has been here,

7:20 is I've always wanted to be able to see, I've always wanted to be able to see eye

7:27 to eye with the chief <laugh>.

7:29 Uh, he keeps telling me we need more ladder trucks, and now I understand why we need more

7:35 ladder trucks. Um, I'm gonna invite the entire City Council.

7:46 I'm gonna chief, I'm gonna ask the entire City Council and the manager to come down here and

7:50 be part of this.

7:51 Um, the manager said it so well, and I, and I'm not going to give another speech about

7:56 it, but one of the things that we want to do is recognize you, uh, in your wonderful

8:01 years of service and what you've meant to our city with the distinguished service award, uh, from the

8:06 city of Austin. And, and, and I'll read this and, and present this to you on behalf of

8:12 the entire City Council.

8:14 This is a city of Austin distinguished service award for his untiring service and commitment to our residents

8:19 during his seven years and eight months tenure.

8:21 As the fire chief for the city of Austin, joel g baker is deserving of public acclaim and

8:26 recognition. This certificate is presented in acknowledgement and appreciation thereof.

8:31 This 27th day of August in the year 2026, signed by me as Mayor of the city of

8:37 Austin on behalf of the entire City Council, and they join me in presenting this to you.

8:42 You know, the, the manager said a lot of what all of us feel in our hearts about

8:48 you. Um, one of the things that I wanna say, and I think I speak on behalf of

8:52 the City Council and all of the people that are in this room and, and that, that have

8:56 come across you and know you, thank you deeply for your public service.

9:00 But on top of all that, thank you for just being a good guy.

9:03 Thank you. And somebody that we just love to be around.

9:09 You've been a great public servant.

9:10 We wish you the best in retirement, and, and I personally wish you a lot of great time

9:16 on that motorcycle. Oh, yes, sir.

9:17 So, so, yeah. And I'll give you that.

9:21 Uh, I don't have a whole lot to say surprisingly, but thank you all to the citizens of

9:27 Austin. Thank you to the leadership of Austin.

9:30 Uh, more importantly, thank to the, the heroic, brave women and men of the Austin fire department who

9:38 do come to work every day and put themself in ham's way.

9:43 Uh, thank you for allowing me to serve as your fire chief along with our civilian staff in

9:49 Austin fire department. Uh, without officer civilians death, there would be no one getting paid, no benefits being

9:55 issued out and et cetera, et cetera.

9:57 Uh, but before I leave, uh, I do have some, uh, personal thank yous.

10:03 I like to give, uh, to my deputy city manager, my assistant city manager.

10:08 They can come up real quickly here.

10:10 Uh, um, I just wanted to thank you all, uh, deputy city manager for, uh, your leadership and

10:18 for always, uh, giving me words of encouragement and just really leading the way.

10:23 Uh, I wanna present you with a, a token of appreciation, uh, for myself said thank you.

10:30 Uh, and also for the assistant city manager.

10:33 Uh, we had a short time together, and I know you was in law enforcement, and I saw

10:39 on cnn this morning, so every law enforcement chief, that's a fire chief trying to get out.

10:44 So diego, you are asked ass as well.

10:46 <Laugh>. Um,

10:53 thank you, sir. And, uh, uh, for the city manager, sir, uh, you have really, uh, really demonstration

11:02 strong leadership here in the city of Austin.

11:05 I really appreciate all of your kind words and the phone calls, the, you check on me.

11:10 Um, uh, and the time I spend with you is just, I just cannot say enough for, for

11:17 being an outstanding city manager.

11:19 I wanna present you with this speaking, uh, trumpet here.

11:24 So whenever you want to shout at the firefighter, just blow into it and, uh, uh, <laugh>.

11:30 Uh, but, but the, the trumpet represent leadership.

11:34 You know, every fire chief have a trumpet a be on their call.

11:37 It is represent leadership, and I really appreciate your leadership, uh, and, and, and fi finally, uh, mr.

11:48 Mayor, um, the, the, you always quit to answer the alarm whenever, whenever a firefighter is injured or

11:54 ill, you, you, you'll call me, you, you check on the firefighters during the disaster.

11:59 You make sure that we have the resources we need.

12:01 So I wanna present you with this bell that you can always ring, and we'll be there running,

12:06 standing by if you need anything from the Austin fire department.

12:09 So, thank you all thanks to all the council members.

12:12 Thanks to all the service for your time.

12:23 Congratulations, chief. Thank you so much.

12:28 Congratulations. Amazing. Congratulations. Thank you.

12:31 Thank you, sir. Appreciate you very much, chief.

12:38 Thank you. Thank you, thank you.

12:40 We appreciate you. Let's give him another recognition.

12:44 Thank you.

13:39 So members, that leads to, um, the additional work we're going to do on item number 56.

13:46 Uh, as we celebrate and honor, uh, the retiring chief, uh, we now are in a situa a

13:54 situation where we need to look at item number 56, which is the proposed approval of a resolution

14:00 confirming the city manager's appointment of assistant fire chief tom vokey is the interim fire chief of the

14:06 Austin fire of Austin fire effective September 1st, 2026.

14:11 Um, and I gonna double check.

14:13 I don't believe we have anybody signed up to speak.

14:15 No, ma'am. Uh, so with that, uh, I'll entertain the, the, I'll entertain a motion and a second.

14:22 The motion is made by Council Member Harper Madison, and is seconded by Council Member velazquez to approve

14:27 this resolution, confirming this interim, this appointment, uh, of the interim fire chief.

14:32 Is there discussion, hearing none without objection.

14:36 Uh, the resolution is adopted.

14:38 Congratulations. Third,

14:45 you say

14:58 chief, chief vokey, um, I'm gonna recognize the manager, but then I'm gonna recognize you if you wanna

15:03 say anything, and you'll have two minutes.

15:05 Now, I, I will keep this brief.

15:09 Uh, chief vokey, first of all, congratulations.

15:13 I look forward, uh, to your leadership during this interim period.

15:17 Uh, you've got big shoes to fill, but I have no doubt, uh, that, uh, given the leadership

15:22 of chief baker, that you are prepared and ready to take the baton, uh, until, in fact, we

15:28 determine who the next chief of fire will be for this city.

15:31 But again, I want to thank you for being willing to step off and I look forward, uh,

15:35 to working with you during this interim period.

15:38 Thank you, mr. Manager.

15:39 Big big act to follow and fill in those size 15 shoes.

15:42 It's not gonna be easy, for sure.

15:44 I've got a ladder you can <laugh>.

15:47 Yes, sir. Um, uh, I, I really do appreciate the opportunity to continue to serve the city of

15:52 Austin. I've been here for 29 years, and, um, never imagined I'd be sitting in this seat, but

15:57 am very grateful for the opportunity.

15:59 We have a, an outstanding fire department full of, uh, amazing members that do great work for this

16:04 community, excited to remain a part of this community and, and keep up the good work that chief