Photo courtesy City of Austin

The 2015 Austin City Council from left: Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo, Councilman Sabino Renteria, Councilman Don Zimmerman, Councilwoman Delia Garza, Councilwoman Ann Kitchen, Mayor Steve Adler, Councilwoman Leslie Pool, Councilwoman Ora Houston, Councilman Gregorio Casar, Councilwoman Sheri Gallo and Councilwoman Ellen Troxclair

Austin City Council members voiced their desire to pull items regarding purchase approvals for various city needs from the Feb. 26 meeting agenda and send them to committees before taking a full council vote.

However, those council committees will not begin meeting until April. Some items on the agenda, such as contract agreements, are time sensitive and it would be best if a decision is made sooner rather than later, according to city staff.

The council committee schedule was released last week. Each committee meets once a month from 6 to 9 p.m. with the exception of the Public Safety committee, which is currently scheduled for daytime meetings.

While council members continue to wait until they can discuss items at a committee level, Mayor Steve Adler is trying to find the best route to add more staff to his office without ruffling feathers.

Traditionally, the mayor has had five staff members. Adler has said he would like his staff numbers to be closer to a dozen with specialists in various fields such as water, transportation and education. His initial attempt to do so utilized staffers from the The Mayor's for Better Austin Foundation, created by Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin, at no cost to taxpayers.

District 2 Councilwoman Delia Garza and District 8 Councilwoman Ellen Troxclair voiced concern during the Feb. 12 meeting that Adler having more staff would dilute the power of other council offices.

"This is not a suggestion that we're trying to change the form of government in this city, because in our city, we have a city manager and staff whose responsibility it is to deal with the management and operation," Adler said during the Feb. 12 council meeting. "As far as I know, there's no one on this dais, by the work we've done, that is challenging that or suggesting any other system. But I think that what we are saying is...we're supposed to do better than it's been done in the past. In order for us to do that, I believe we need additional capacity."

During the Feb. 24 council work session, Adler said he will not move forward with The Mayor's Better Austin Foundation proposal. Instead, he asked council members to instead vote in favor of an item directing City Manager Marc Ott to find room in the current city budget to fund five full-time staffers for his office along with $25,000 for each council member's office "for the purpose of enhancing constituent services," according to the resolution.

UPDATE (4:20 P.M. CST 2/26/15): The item to put five new staff members and add more funds to council member offices was moved to the audit and finance committee. Mayor Pro Tem Kathie Tovo, chair of the committee, said she will try and host a meeting regarding that item as soon as possible. City Manager Marc Ott told City Council he will look at ways for funding five new staff members and bring that information to the audit and finance committee by March 12. The item will come back to the full council March 26.

UPDATE (10:30 a.m. CST 2/26/15): The item to use staffers from The Mayor's Better Austin Foundation for Adler's office was withdrawn from the agenda, meaning no vote to approve or deny will be taken. The item to find room in the city budget to provide Adler with five more staffers and council members with more funds was pulled off the consent agenda.

Consent agenda highlights

• Allow Austin Police Department to hire a vendor that would coordinate tow truck services based on location of the truck and area of service needed. Tow trucks would not tow from private lots, but would tow from city-owned lots and parking spots along with towing abandoned or damaged cars. APD Assistant Chief Brian Manley said using the service would cut the wait time for a tow truck at the scene of an accident from 45 minutes to 20 minutes. Sent to council committee for further discussion and possible changes


• Give council members more control over approving potential adult-oriented businesses and prohibit such businesses from existing within 1,000 feet of a museum or library. Businesses under this classification currently cannot operate "within close proximity" to schools, churches, parks and playgrounds, or licensed day-care facilities. Approved on the consent agenda during Feb. 26 meeting.


• Make fishing in Lady Bird Lake an offense because of safety concerns of pedestrians walking by lines that are being cast. Will be withdrawn from the agenda at 4 p.m., meaning no action will be taken.

Non-consent agenda highlights

• Allow the development of Decker Lake Golf course to begin at Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park. Postponed until March 5


• Allow metered parking spaces to count toward parking requirement for non-residential uses. Sent to council committee on mobility for further discussion.