These two years before the next local election present what community members believe is a rare opportunity to move Austin beyond a handful of issues that have plagued the city and stymied officials for years. With more than half of City Council starting new terms and several plans coming down the pipeline in 2019, city leaders are confident progress can be made on issues such as homelessness, land use and transportation. “Government works way too slowly, but this council has the advantage of people who have been setting us up for the last 20 years,” Mayor Steve Adler said. “We are truly poised to move some things across the finish line [for which] this community has been waiting for a really long period of time. The moment is now.” ARCH capacity may be scaled back as Austin City Council looks for homelessness solutions City council members divided on whether land use rewrite can be passed in 2019 City considers taking another shot at high capacity transit bond