Tuesday, January 20, 2026, 9 a.m. (Austin time), Austin City Hall
0:04 You are watching a meeting of the Austin City Council with Mayor Kirk Watson, Mayor pro, tim Vanessa
0:13 Fuentes, council members Natasha Harper Madison, José velazquez, she Vela Ryan Alter, crystal lane, Mike Siegel, Paige Ellis, zoe
0:36 cadre, mark uchin, city attorney deborah thomas, city clerk erica brady, and city manager tc broad.
0:55 Good morning everybody. It's nine o'clock in the morning on January 20th, 2026.
1:00 And I'll call to order the meeting of the, uh, Austin City Council for the first work session
1:07 of 2026, um, members and members of the public.
1:11 What we're gonna do is I'm gonna, I've called this meeting to order.
1:13 We're meeting in Austin City Hall at 3 0 1 west second street in the City Council chambers.
1:18 We have a quorum of the Austin City Council present for the work session.
1:22 And what I'm going to do, unless there's objection, is we will recess the work session and uh,
1:27 I will turn it over to the Mayor pro tim, who will call as chair.
1:31 He will call of the Austin energy oversight committee.
1:34 He will call that meeting to order.
1:36 So without objection, the Austin City Council is in recess at 9:01 am thank you very much.
1:42 Um, I'll call back to order the Austin City Council.
1:45 We were in recess.
1:47 It's 10 22. Um, members, uh, we have two items on the work session agenda.
1:52 One that, um, uh, well, we'll, well come, I'll deal with both of 'em.
1:57 The first one is council appointments to intergovernment intergovernmental entities and council committee memberships.
2:03 For the record, let me, uh, be clear, we don't have any speakers that have signed up to
2:08 speak at the work session, is that correct?
2:10 That's correct. Beer. Great.
2:12 Um, so we'll go to item d one members.
2:15 You'll recall that the code sets out that council committee membership, uh, is determined at the first council
2:22 work session of each calendar year.
2:24 So welcome again to the first council work session of the calendar year.
2:28 Um, and the way that is done is that, uh, the Mayor in consultation with members of the
2:35 council will also designate a chair and a vice chair for each of the committees.
2:40 As you know, I've been putting up on the message board of the, the committees, the intergovernmental committees
2:47 and the, the specific committees, and, um, have asked for feedback, uh, with regard to those.
2:54 And that's the, the, and we've been, we've been doing that.
2:58 The way it all plays out to, to refresh everybody's memory is once we finish this meeting, um,
3:05 and we've reached the conclusion, which I think is gonna be pretty easy because based upon the, the
3:10 feedback I've gotten, um, on the message board, what we will do, what it then happens is the
3:16 Mayor is to present that to the clerk, and those are the committees.
3:21 Uh, so I will, uh, commit to you that if we get it all solved here, uh, in
3:27 the next 10 minutes to 10 hours, um, we'll, um, uh, I'll, I'll make that presentation and I'll
3:33 let everybody know by posting on the message board when that presentation's done.
3:37 That being said, uh, the feedback that I have received and what I would, I'll just tell you,
3:46 it's, it's pretty easy.
3:47 Uh, everybody would stay where they are in terms of their committee appointments, with a couple of exceptions
3:56 on the housing and planning committee, uh, Council Member Siegel would become vice chair Council Member Vela would
4:03 remain a member of that committee, but Council Member Siegel would become a vice chair.
4:08 And then on public safety, I, I would step off of that committee and Council Member Siegel would
4:14 become a member of that committee.
4:17 The, uh, the other potential change is that we went with, uh, last year the regional affordability committee,
4:27 uh, basically had become inactive, uh, Council Member lane, particularly because of the way her district operates is
4:35 very interested in the possibility of doing something to reinvigorate that.
4:42 We're not really sure how that would look, but I'm going to go ahead and make that a
4:48 committee, uh, a group.
4:52 When I make the presentation to the clerk's office, I'll make that a, a group that's not inactive
4:58 so that we can explore those possibilities.
5:02 And for now, uh, I'll put me and Council Member lane on there as the, the contacts to,
5:09 to be involved. We will, uh, report back and, and let you know how that goes, so that
5:14 if other members of the City Council ultimately wanna become part of that, we will do that at
5:20 another work session in the future.
5:23 Yes. Council Member and Council Member cadre, thank you very much.
5:26 And, and we can put this on the message board.
5:28 I meant to do it the other day, and that's, that's my fault.
5:30 Um, I've spoken with Council Member lane about the clean air force of central texas board and would
5:38 like to take her place on that board.
5:40 Um, so that's an environmental board.
5:42 And then secondly, a change we've already made.
5:45 But just reflecting in the document, uh, that I have taken your place on the firefighter pension.
5:52 Oh, yes. And, and that will, that's a very good point.
5:54 Um, if you'll, everyone will recall that on the firefighter, uh, pension board, the legislation we passed last,
6:02 the legislation we went into the session with, uh, made it a mandatory requirement that the Mayor serve
6:09 on that board. Uh, the legislation we ultimately passed said that it's, uh, the Mayor or the mayor's
6:16 designee and Council Member Alter has already taken you.
6:20 You'll, you'll all recall we did that some time ago, so we will make sure, I'm glad you
6:24 called that to my attention.
6:25 I think we have that right.
6:27 But I'll double check that and, and make sure, uh, Council Member lane, because, uh, I just scratched
6:33 through your name to put his name.
6:35 I wanna make sure I did that right.
6:36 You're, you're in. Alright, very good.
6:39 Um, other thoughts? Yes, Council Member cadre, I forgot.
6:42 Yeah. And apologies on, on my end.
6:44 We, we could get this on the message board as well, but I was looking to, um, draw
6:48 public health committee from my list of committees.
6:52 It's been a wonderful time serving on the public health committee, <laugh>.
6:55 I, I, I was just looking at everything from the intergovernmental to the other committees of council and
6:59 I was like, I, I'd rather take one off.
7:01 So, alright. Uh, wonderful committee though, if anyone wants to join.
7:04 Yeah. That, what that does members is it creates an opening if anybody's interested in that opening right
7:09 now. If not, we can come back at some point and take care of that.
7:13 But, uh, for now, what what I will do is when I, uh, make the presentation to the
7:18 clerk's office, I will, um, have, uh, Council Member cadre removed from that.
7:24 Thank you. Council Member.
7:26 Any other discussion? Council Member lane.
7:29 Oh, I'm sorry. Thank you so much for, uh, leading this, uh, I, and, and to those who
7:34 have taken things off of my plate, um, as it relates to the regional affordability committee.
7:40 I've been in pretty close and continuous conversation with Council Member Fuentes, so I don't know if she
7:45 would no, she like to be the third.
7:47 She's, she's, uh, actually going to speak after you, so, um, great.
7:52 So I think it makes sense if she's interested in having her be part of the small group
7:56 that we have. Well, that's why I brought it up.
7:57 'Cause I wanna make sure we get everybody that's interested.
7:59 Great. Just let me know.
8:00 And then as it relates to the audit and finance committee, I, I've expressed that, um, I would
8:06 like to join that committee as a voting member.
8:08 Um, I have very much appreciated everything I've learned by dropping in and also the committees I'm on.
8:15 Um, but with it being early in my tenure, I would really like the opportunity to be a
8:21 voting member of that committee, particularly considering that I currently am only on two committees, and so it
8:28 would make sense to add a third, um, particularly with regional affordability is going to take some time
8:33 to get it going officially.
8:35 So, um, I do not favor making that a committee of the whole, however, I will express clearly
8:42 that I would like to be a voting member of that committee.
8:46 If if somebody thank you, if somebody is ready or wants to step off of that committee, then,
8:53 then they've not yet told me that.
8:56 And, and, um, and I, and you've been very clear and I appreciate your clarity with regard to
9:00 that. Uh, it's very difficult to get committees of the whole, uh, get quorums for committees of the
9:07 whole and allow those committees to operate.
9:09 You've been a very, uh, welcome addition to the meetings and, and as I, I hope everybody appreciates,
9:18 I try to make it very clear everybody's invited to that I will allow full participation in it,
9:23 um, as you, as you have participated.
9:26 But when we, it's just very difficult.
9:29 The reason the Austin energy oversight committee, uh, meets and, and takes up so much time on our
9:37 tuesdays is because it's a committee of the whole.
9:40 And one of the problems that it was conveyed to me when I first came into the mayor's
9:45 seat, uh, this time was that as a committee of the whole, it was almost impossible to get
9:51 a quorum. And so my suggestion was at that time to the then chair, uh, Council Member poole,
9:58 was that what we would do is we would just have it meet on work session days, which
10:02 are days that at least ostensibly we were all gonna be here anyway.
10:08 But as you can see, it adds a lot of, a lot of time, uh, to, to those,
10:13 to those tuesdays, I would prefer us not to go.
10:15 And I think you're agreeing that we could not go to a committee of the whole, but I,
10:19 I'm glad you're saying it so that everybody knows your level of interest and, and, and I would
10:24 encourage you to continue to go if nobody drops off.
10:28 Member Fuentes. Yes. Thank you.
10:29 Good morning, everyone. Uh, just wanna echo Council Member lane's sentiment on the regional affordability committee.
10:36 This is a topic that I know she's very passionate about.
10:38 We've had several conversations and we all share in the joint mission of wanting to address affordability in
10:43 our city. Um, and I appreciate Council Member lane's vision on the committee and the structure that she's
10:49 kind of laid out or, or is fleshing out both addressing affordability from a transportation perspective, but childcare,
10:57 um, you know, wages, workforce, really a holistic view.
11:01 And I join her in that mission, especially as someone who represents the other, the opposite end from
11:08 northwest to southwest. I think we would make a, a great tag team effort on that.
11:12 So just wanna also echo my support for the regional affordability committee.
11:16 And what I'll do is I'll put, so, so now that what I'm gonna do is put on
11:19 that is, um, lane Fuentes and Watson.
11:23 So, perfect. Um, and then, uh, thank you Council Member cadre for your service on the public health
11:28 committee. It's my understanding that it conflicts with your service on cat metro, so I totally understand, um,
11:34 your need for wanting to step off of it.
11:36 I just wanna signal to my colleagues, I know we have a year or so ahead of us,
11:40 but I will be completing my fourth year as chair of public health this year.
11:45 So just signaling that next year I'll be looking to see if anyone else would like to take
11:49 the leadership mantle on that.
11:50 So just putting it out there.
11:52 Thank you very much.
11:53 Council Member. Council Member velazquez, you had very gentle signal.
11:58 Say that again. I, I'm good.
12:00 Good. Alright. Um, all right.
12:05 Any more discussion on these committees?
12:07 Yes, councilor Harper Madison, it's, it's discussion in the sense that it's a statement more than anything.
12:12 I'm not making any declarations.
12:13 I'd like to remain where I'm at, um, on housing and planning.
12:16 I am potentially considering dropping off of mobility.
12:20 Um, and that's just exclusively for the purposes of really just fo focusing real hardcore on succession planning
12:26 this year. Um, that said, though, I just wanted to echo and although I'm not able to serve,
12:32 um, I really appreciate the service of Council Member lang, Council Member Fuentes, and you Mayor Watson on
12:37 that regional affordability committee.
12:38 I do very much see the importance.
12:41 And so you made reference to the northwest southwest connection and I'm the, the jelly in the middle.
12:46 And so, and we all, you know, boarded that s you know, those same boundaries and borders that
12:51 take into consideration our direct and immediate neighbors.