Thursday, October 22, 2026, 10 a.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall
The Austin City Council met on October 22, 2026, adopting a consent agenda that included two legal settlements ($250,000 and $110,000), affordable housing and legacy business investments, a community wildfire protection plan, a convention center labor resolution, and a Parmer Lane corridor resolution. The Council then sat as the Austin Housing Finance Corporation board, authorizing five loan agreements totaling about $21 million for deeply affordable housing developments. From committee, the Council adopted a version-two
0:07 You're watching a meeting of the Austin City Council with Mayor Kirk Watson, Mayor pro tim Chito Vela,
0:18 council members Natasha Harper Madison, Vanessa Fuentes, José velazquez, Ryan Alter, Krista lane, Mike Siegel, Paige Ellis, Zo
0:39 kadri, mark Duchen, city attorney deborah thomas, city clerk erica brady, and city manager tc broadnax.
0:59 Well, good morning everybody.
1:00 It's 10:00 in the morning on October 22nd, 2026, and I will call to order this regular meeting
1:05 of the Austin City Council for this date.
1:08 Uh, we have a quorum of the City Council present.
1:11 Uh, Council Member Fuentes is joining us virtually and she'll be with us today virtually.
1:16 Uh, we also, uh, are meeting at the City Council chambers in City Hall, which is located at
1:22 301 west 2nd street in Austin, texas.
1:25 The order of the day is we will go to our consent agenda.
1:27 Members, uh, I'll read in the changes and corrections in just a moment, but the consent agenda, uh,
1:33 we have had no items that have been pulled from the consent agenda with the exception of item
1:36 number 42, which has been withdrawn.
1:39 Item number 42 has been withdrawn.
1:41 So if you've signed up to speak on item number 42, we will not call it, it has
1:46 been withdrawn. And again, I'll read that officially into the changes and corrections in the record.
1:51 Uh, once we finish with that, uh, we will, uh, go to as close to 10:30 as we
1:57 can to the Austin housing finance corporation board of directors meeting.
2:00 Uh, what we'll do is we'll recess the Austin City Council meeting to call that meeting to order.
2:04 Then we will come back to the Austin City Council meeting.
2:07 Uh, we will take up items that are referred com - from committee.
2:10 We will take up our imminent domain items and our public hearing items.
2:14 We will also at noon, wherever we are at noon, we will pause and we will go to
2:19 our 12:00 time certain public communication, uh, during that period of time.
2:23 I anticipate that that will be, uh, finished by about 12:20, uh, maybe a little bit sooner than
2:29 that. Uh, and what we will do is we ha - we will assess at that point in time,
2:33 we'll have live music, um, and then we'll come back around 1:00 or 1:10 unless we have completed
2:40 our business and the only thing left is our 2:00 time certain, uh, and we'll come back at
2:45 2:00. With that, unless there are questions or comments from the council, uh, what we'll do is I'll
2:50 now officially read the changes and corrections into the record for Thursday, October 22nd, 2026.
2:56 Um, the action I - under action items, as I indicated, item number 42 has been withdrawn.
3:02 Um, members, before we go to our speakers, our first speaker is signed up on item number six,
3:09 but as you note from the agenda, items four and five relate to legal settlements.
3:13 So what I'm going to do is ask our law department to come up and speak with us
3:17 with regard to items four and five, and then we will go to item number six.
3:29 Morning, mr. Mayor, Mayor Pro Tem, uh, city manager, council members.
3:35 I'm assistant city attorney jeremy thompson, and I'm here today to recommend that you approve two settlement payments
3:40 and personal injury lawsuits that appear as items four and five on your agenda today.
3:46 Item number four, teha versus city of Austin.
3:49 We recommend that you approve a payment of $250,000 to settle the lawsuit titled daniella tehei versus city
3:56 of Austin et al.
3:58 This lawsuit relates to a July 2024 motor vehicle accident involving an Austin police department vehicle where the
4:06 plaintiff seeks payment for injuries she allegedly sustained.
4:09 In exchange for the payment, plaintiff will release any and all claims against the city from the incident
4:14 and will also dismiss with prejudice her lawsuit filed in the district court of travis county.
4:20 Item number five, uh, torres versus city of Austin.
4:24 We recommend that you approve a payment of $110,000 to settle the lawsuit titled elena torres versus city
4:30 of Austin. This lawsuit relates to a March 2024 motor vehicle accident involving an Austin resource recovery vehicle
4:39 where the plaintiff seeks payment for injuries that she allegedly sustained.
4:42 In exchange for the payment, the plaintiff will release any and all claims against the city from the
4:47 incident and will also dismiss with prejudice her lawsuit filed in the district court of travis county.
4:53 The city attorney's office recommends that you approve the two payments based upon the stated terms, and I'm
4:58 available to answer any questions you have.
5:00 Thank you, sir. Members, you have any questions?
5:04 All right, we appreciate you.
5:05 Thank you. Uh, with that, I'll turn to the city clerk to start calling people for, uh, speaking
5:09 on different items on the consent agenda.
5:12 As I indicated, we'll start with item number six.
5:14 What they'll do is, uh, in most instances, call two or three names, maybe more than that.
5:20 If you hear your name, please go ahead and come forward so that we'll know you're here and
5:24 wish to be heard.
5:27 Thank you, Mayor. Starting with in-person speakers on item six, william bunch.
5:34 Thank you, mr. Bunch.
5:35 Item seven, william bunch.
5:38 Thank you. Item 11, vicki kitter.
5:44 William bunch, also on item 11.
6:08 Thank you, Mayor, council members, uh, bill bunch, executive director, save our springs alliance, uh, district five resident
6:14 for many decades. Um, this is, uh, y'all's proposal to approve a, uh, community-wide fire protection plan.
6:24 Uh, I certainly commend the effort, and there are some good pieces in here, uh, that recognize that,
6:33 for example, uh, fire travels much more quickly in grasslands, uh, than it does in, in thick, dense
6:41 forests, mature forests. Uh, so we have a h- high fire hazard, for example, uh, as it spells
6:48 out on the sh130 corridor in east Austin.
6:52 Um, however, the very first provisions in this plan, uh, and a huge emphasis of it is based
7:00 on junk science coming from the, uh, trump administration, uh, the timber logging industry, the, uh, oil and
7:10 gas industry and their think tanks, the whole circle of folks who are telling you that, uh, trees
7:18 are not our friends.
7:20 They're not reducing urban heat island, they're not providing us oxygen, wildlife habitat, they're fuel, and they're dangerous,
7:29 and we need to cut them down.
7:31 We need to thin them out.
7:33 We need to burn them.
7:34 This is all wrong.
7:37 You know, as a cub scout or girl scout, you know, you start a fire with a tiny
7:42 piece of grass, not a big thick tree.
7:46 Big trees, dense forests, resist fire.
7:51 They retain moisture, which we desperately need here.
7:55 They help recharge our aquifers.
7:59 We don't need to be spending a bunch of money, and that's what this is all about, getting
8:04 grants that shouldn't be given at all to cut trees, thin them, and build roads in areas where
8:12 we should be protecting.
8:13 Thank you, sir. Speaking on item 21, william bunch.
8:16 You're on item number 21 as well, mr.
8:18 Bunch. Which one? 21.
8:29 Yeah, I'll pass on that one.
8:31 All right. On item 22, zenobia joseph.
8:36 Hang, hang close, mr.
8:37 Bunch, you're on f - you're gonna be up again.
8:41 Item 25, william bunch.
8:45 I'll pass on 25.
8:47 Item 27, william bunch.
8:49 Uh, I will speak on that one.
8:51 Okay. This, you know, when we, when we hear all this about financial, uh, accountability, fiscal accountability, transparency,
9:01 um, this item 27 is a contract increase out at the airport redevelopment and expansion project from a
9:10 base contract of 100 million and increasing it, uh, more than 200% to 344 million.
9:20 Um, and there's absolutely minimum backup.
9:24 Uh, there's no discussion about, well, wait, if we're having this huge change, a quarter of a billion
9:31 dollars, should we, like, be rebidding this?
9:36 Should we be thinking about it differently?
9:38 And this is just like, oh, it's just a little minor amendment on a preexisting contract.
9:45 Um, that's not fiscal accountability.
9:47 It's not transparency. Um, the tiny bit of backup does say, this is guaranteed maximum price well, the
9:57 guaranteed maximum price contracting that I've seen at this city on, uh, uh, water treatment plant number four,
10:04 for example, it doesn't guarantee a maximum price.
10:09 It's a title that is false.
10:13 So we need some fiscal accountability at the city desperately.
10:17 The community's demanding it.
10:19 Uh, you should start with this item, please, and take a closer look.
10:23 Thank you. Also on item 27, zenobia joseph.
10:31 Item 31, zenobia joseph.
10:35 Item 34, zenobia joseph.
10:40 Item 35, william bunch.
10:43 Yes. Good morning, Mayor, Council Member bill bunch again with save our springs alliance.
10:47 This, um, item is proposing to purchase, um, almost eight acres of land next to the bright leaf
10:56 preserve to add to that preserve in our balcones canyonlands, uh, preserve system.
11:04 Um, I'm supportive of this.
11:06 Uh, the price tag is pretty steep, but that is pretty prime property out there.
11:13 I will again note that though, there's conflicting in- information in here saying, it's gonna help us reduce
11:20 the urban wildlands um, and it, that, that edge place, that's where we absolutely do need to be
11:28 focusing our fire, fire prevention efforts, but it's on the edge.
11:34 In, inside the preserve, inside of all of our wet, uh, wildlands, we should be preserving them.
11:42 We should not be building roads, burning, thinning, trying to manage as if there's something wrong with our
11:48 forests. It's not. And it's been shown over and over again.
11:52 You can't prevent fires that destroy structures and kill people by trying to manipulate wildland habitats.
12:01 Uh, so with this tract, yes, please preserve it.
12:05 Uh, protect the edges, preserve the interior to add to the bright leaf preserve.
12:12 And thank you for doing that.
12:17 Item 36, zenobia joseph.
12:21 Item 37, william bunch.
12:24 Yes. Thank you, Mayor council bill bunch again.
12:27 Um, this item 37 is a service extension request to, uh, serve property at 1107 castle ridge, uh,
12:39 2.85 acres in our drinking water protection zone.
12:44 And, um, I recommend that you not do this consistent with our long-term policies, uh, without some assurance
12:54 that the property will be, uh, strictly limited in its development capacity and that it's not a cost
13:02 burden onto, uh, your existing rate, rate base.
13:06 Um, we have this policy in place.
13:10 We have limited water at this point, and so we need to be thinking now, uh, carefully everywhere
13:19 that we do not provide water to project that does not further our immediate and most important, uh,
13:28 community goals. And, uh, extending water, uh, on this case, uh, does, is inconsistent with our, both our
13:36 environmental protection goals and our, uh, economic development goals.
13:41 Thank you. Item 39, william bunch.
13:45 Uh, passing on that.
13:48 Item 40, hunter domazykski, rachel mcgee, dorothy hudgens, sean duncan, all on item 40.
13:58 If your name's been called, please come forward.
14:02 Mr. Mr. Bunch, you're also signed up on this.
14:04 They're gonna call your name in about two people.
14:10 Sean duncan is on his way.
14:12 I'm sorry? Sean duncan is on his way.
14:15 He's not here yet.
14:17 Please state your name and begin speaking.
14:22 My name is hunter dunczalski.
14:23 Good morning, Mayor, Mayor pro temp, city councilors, and all members in this chamber.
14:27 I'm 22 and I'm a member of iatse local 205.
14:29 I'm here to speak in favor of agenda item 40, the resolution which will help guide the convention
14:34 center towards labor providers who have workers' best interests in mind.
14:38 I personally have not had the chance to work at the convention center before its closing, but I
14:41 know many who have.
14:42 A great number of my brother, sister, and kin relied on the convention center to stay afloat.
14:47 For reference, for between, for reference, it equated for between 38 and 49% of our union's income.
14:53 It was especially vital during the summer months when theatrical season slows down, providing stability and reassurance for
14:59 all stagehands in the greater Austin area.
15:02 Agenda item 40 is meant to give local workers, workers like me, workers who are just striving to
15:07 make it through these trying times, ground a stand on when the convention center reopens.
15:11 If you didn't know, most jobs for stagehands outside of our union are contracted 1099 jobs, meaning we
15:16 get zero benefits, no taxes are taken out, no healthcare, no retirement, nothing but a check.
15:23 If agenda item 40 is voted for by this chamber, you will provide the stagehands of the city
15:27 to have greater access to these necessary functions that w2 jobs receive.
15:31 As a young stagehand, I have stated many times that it is my goal to retire from this