austin city hall new council members

Austin’s New City Council Members Discuss the Importance of Parks

AustinParksFoundationBlog Page, Park Advocacy

After November 2020 elections, we have two new Austin City Council Members! We reached out to Councilwoman Vanessa Fuentes of District 2 and Councilwoman Mackenzie Kelly of District 6 to ask them a few questions about themselves and Austin’s parks. They were kind enough to respond, so be sure to check out their answers below. If you’d like to reach …

What’s Going On With Parks Funding and the City Budget?

AustinParksFoundationCity Budget, APF News, All Parks, Park Advocacy

Each August, City Hall watchers are treated to City Council returning from recess and beginning arguably their most important task. What’s that, you might be asking yourself?  The answer is crafting and adopting the upcoming fiscal year’s budget. Early each August, the City Manager presents to City Council and the public their proposed budget. This stage is both the culmination …

APF CEO in front of Austin City Council for new budget

City Passes New Budget with Increased Funds to Parks

AustinParksFoundationAPF News, Park Advocacy, Uncategorized

Austin’s Parks and Recreation Department (PARD) is set to get much-needed funding! City Council formally adopted the new budget for next fiscal year on Tuesday, September 11th. This includes recommendations from City Manager Spencer Cronk and additional funding for recycling in parks and building maintenance. All told, there’s nearly $12.5 million in additional funding for Fiscal Year (FY) 2018-2019 compared to FY …

Parks Could Receive $149M in Bond Funding through November Ballot

AustinParksFoundationAPF News, Park Advocacy

At their June 28th meeting, City Council voted to move forward and put multiple bond propositions on the ballot in November! Read on for the details, and be sure to check out the video re-cap below. Council approved a resolution directing the City Manager to come back with ballot language which they’ll look over in August. During their discussion, Council …

Connect With Your Council Member

AustinParksFoundationPark Advocacy, Support Our Parks

While elected officials can feel distant and unresponsive at the national and state level, citizens can have a significant effect on their elected official’s views and votes at the local level. This is even more true in recent years in Austin, where the city voted in 2014 to change from an at-large Council system to a 10-1 district representation system …