Latest news with #KirkWatson
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
LIVE BLOG: ‘No Kings' protests across Central Texas
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Hundreds of protests will happen across the country Saturday, including in Austin, Bastrop, Pflugerville and Taylor. The 'No Kings' day of action happened the same day as, and in opposition to, a Washington, D.C. military parade on President Donald Trump's birthday. Planning for the parade began two years ago and was intended to commemorate the U.S. Army's 250th anniversary. Watch the DC military parade here Earlier in the week, Trump ordered the California National Guard and Marines to assist the law enforcement response to protests in Los Angeles. Those began after Trump ordered Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to step up arrests in that city. After an anti-ICE protest in Austin on Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered thousands of Texas National Guard soldiers to be on standby around the state ahead of Saturday's protests. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a Thursday press conference that they support the rights of protesters, but that action would be taken to remove instigators. Activist coalition Hands Off Central Texas (HOCTX) organized the local protests. HOCTX President Sophia Mirto told KXAN Wednesday that the group routinely holds events at the Capitol and cooperates with DPS when making protest plans. 'The group organizing Saturday's protest has a well-established record of peaceful advocacy and responsible civic engagement, and the event was approved by the State Preservation Board (of which Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick both are members) with the expectation of a safe, respectful gathering,' said State Rep. Gene Wu, D-Houston, who sponsored the Saturday Capitol rally. Information below comes from KXAN journalists on scene at the protests. 10 a.m. KXAN reporter Mercedez Hernandez said there were at least 100 people present in Taylor for the protest. Texas DPS, Taylor Police and Williamson County Sheriff's Office deputies have routinely been circling the block, but there has been no obvious law enforcement presence or counter-protesters. 9:57 a.m. KXAN found at least 63 Texas locations listed online where anti-Trump demonstrations are advertised to take place this weekend, fueled by recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids targeting undocumented immigrants. In Central Texas, that includes Austin, Dripping Springs, Fredericksburg, Lockhart, Pflugerville and Taylor. Protests began in Bastrop and Taylor, Texas. KXAN crews are monitoring these protests. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mayor: TX National Guard on standby to assist DPS during protests in Austin
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Mayor Kirk Watson confirmed the Texas National Guard may be called on to assist the Texas Department of Public Safety during protests in Austin this weekend. On Tuesday night, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he would deploy the Texas National Guard to locations across the state as protests are planned throughout the week and into the weekend. Abbott calls to deploy Texas National Guard to locations across the state In a social media post, Abbott said the deployment was to 'ensure peace & order.' 'Peaceful protest is legal,' Abbott said. 'Harming a person or property is illegal & will lead to arrest.' In response, Austin Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes said deploying the National Guard was wrong. 'We've seen this playbook before, military force used to threaten and silence communities demanding justice. To every Texan exercising their constitutionally protected free speech: know your rights, stay vigilant, and protect one another,' Fuentes said. 'The City of Austin has been notified that the National Guard will be prepared to assist the Texas Department of Public Safety on Saturday, if deemed necessary. The City of Austin will continue to protect the right of people to peacefully assemble. We will continue to recognize the humanity and value of our immigrant community. I'm supportive of people exercising their right to engage in peaceful protest against politics and policies that they disagree with. However, destructive actions or efforts to hurt police is wrong. You are damaging your city. We are dealing with a very real situation right now that impacts the lives of very real people. Much of what we see out of Washington is to create fear and chaos— we should not play into these politics of fear. Adding to the chaos–through destruction of property, hurting other people, including police officers, or otherwise–adds to the problems for those people being targeted while empowering those in Washington who want more pain and chaos. The reality is that we should not feed into this politics of fear and pain and risk doing harm to those we want to help. We must continue to assert our first amendment rights to peacefully assemble without creating negative consequences for real people already living in fear.' Austin Mayor Kirk Watson This is a developing story and will be updated. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
‘Unintended consequences': Austin reworking affordable housing incentive program
AUSTIN (KXAN) — For months, residents at Acacia Cliffs Apartments — near MoPac and Far West Boulevard — have been fighting a rezoning request from the building's owners that would result in the demolition of the aging complex to rebuild a newer, taller apartment complex. For Eric Gomez, who has lived at Acacia Cliffs since 2016, it could mean he'll no longer be able to afford living in a spot that allows him to easily get to work, the grocery store, the library and a nearby hospital. He's one of the residents showing up at city hall regularly, asking city council members to shut down that rezoning request. But what the residents may not have known at first is that — for now — city council has tied its hands on what it can do in cases like this one. The options here: Approve the rezoning request under Austin's DB90 program, which only requires developers to commit to a certain number of affordable units in exchange for loosened height restrictions, or don't approve the rezoning request and allow the developer to demolish the complex anyways, rebuild it under the same zoning structure and commit no affordable units to the city's pipeline at all. 'DB90 has been an unhappy experience. Even with Council's well motivated goals for DB90, this density program, as currently created, is proving to be divisive, difficult to utilize, and ultimately too far from achieving the goal of Council to provide more housing by allowing more density,' Austin Mayor Kirk Watson wrote. He continued, 'The unintended consequences we're seeing need to be addressed.' That's why Austin City Council is voting on changes to DB90 Thursday in an attempt to close those loopholes. One group of council members — Jose Velasquez, Chito Vela, Zo Qadri, Mike Siegel — and the mayor are proposing the city's density bonus programs be reworked entirely. 'The main thrust of the resolution is creation of a hierarchy of density bonus paper districts that include both lower and higher heights than DB90. This is a critical necessity in our code, as this provides options that may allow for better outcomes,' Watson said. Meanwhile, Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes said she wants the city to prioritize a one-for-one unit replacement. And Austin City Council Member Marc Duchen is looking to fund a new preservation program altogether — modeled after other cities like Dallas. 'This would give us another enormous tool in our arsenal that could start working in as little as three months to start buying down the affordability and making sure that we are extending the life of these properties,' he explained of his proposal. You can see all of the proposals from Austin City Council members on this message board heading into Thursday's council meeting. Gomez said he'll be there Thursday, asking for a solution that lets him stay where he is, at a price he can afford. 'Everyone needs to be made aware of it and make sure that the policies that the city council members create are actually indeed doing what they're supposed to be doing and not the opposite,' he said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Axios
04-06-2025
- Business
- Axios
Austin apartment permits have plummeted since the pandemic
Permits for multifamily housing have dropped below pandemic -era levels across the country, according to Redfin, with Austin seeing among the most dramatic fall-offs. Why it matters: Apartment construction influences housing affordability in Austin, where a wave of new apartments ultimately helped curb rent hikes. The construction slowdown, which tariffs could prolong, risks reigniting rent inflation. The big picture: The rise of remote work during the pandemic allowed Americans to relocate to Austin and other cities, leading to a surge in rental demand. Builders ramped up construction in response — but now, rents are flattening and borrowing costs are high, making building less attractive. By the numbers: Developers got permits to build an average of 64.5 multifamily units per 10,000 people in greater Austin from April 2024 to March 2025, according to Redfin's analysis of Census Bureau data. That's down from the nearly 95 multifamily units per 10,000 people during the pandemic surge. Reality check: Austin is still issuing more multifamily permits — buildings with five or more units — than any other metro Redfin analyzed. The local rate of multifamily building permits granted outstrips the national rate of 12.4 multifamily units per 10,000 people in recent months. State of play: The median asking rent in Austin dropped 10.7% year over year to $1,420 in March — $379 below its record high. That was the largest decline in percentage among the 44 major U.S. metropolitan areas Redfin analyzed this spring. Zoom out: 63% of major metros are seeing fewer units approved per 10,000 people compared to the pandemic era. What they're saying: Builders nationwide are "pumping the brakes because elevated interest rates are making many projects prohibitively expensive," Redfin senior economist Sheharyar Bokhari wrote in the report. What's next: Mayor Kirk Watson is offering a resolution at Thursday's City Council meeting ordering city officials to re-examine incentive programs that allow developers to build taller buildings in exchange for affordable housing.
Yahoo
04-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
License plate reader vote postponed amid community, council concerns
AUSTIN (KXAN) — According to an email sent to Austin city council members and Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, City Manager TC Broadnax will postpone a vote on whether or not Austin police can continue to use license plate readers. The city manager wrote: 'While I appreciate the Austin Police Department's thorough presentation at today's work session regarding the Automated License Plate Reader technology and have confidence that APD can continue to use this tool in a responsible way focused on keeping Austinites safe, I am also sensitive to community concerns and outstanding questions from members of the City Council. Given concerns expressed today, I have decided to withdraw this item from the agenda at this time to provide more opportunities to address council members' questions and do our due diligence to alleviate concerns prior to bringing this item back to City Council for consideration.' It's unclear when license plate reader technology may come back to the city council for a vote. KXAN has reached out to APD for a response. During Tuesday's work session, APD explained to the dais why it finds the technology beneficial. 'This police department is 300 officers short. Currently, we do not have enough officers to [perform] the job that we would prefer to do without the use of technology to supplement [our] work,' said Assistant Austin Police Chief Sheldon Askew. 'Today we heard powerful testimony from residents, nonprofit leaders, privacy experts, and many others,' said Council Member Mike Siegel in a release. 'We are in an unprecedented time of authoritarian rule at the state and federal levels, and we should not be using City of Austin resources to fund a mass surveillance tool that can be used by private companies, immigration authorities, and other outside entities. I look forward to working with my colleagues on Council to support public safety strategies do not create such a risk of injury to our diverse communities.' You can read more about the contents of that work session and the discussion had here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
