AUSTIN, Texas -- Thursday’s Austin City Council meeting wrapped with members going over more than 100 agenda items and holding the first public meeting on the proposed budget.

  • City Council addressed more than 100 agenda items Thursday
  • Created Task Force on Gun Violence 
  • Advanced proposed mixed-use development 

The meeting also saw the creation of the Task Force on Gun Violence. The task force comes on the heels of a mass shooting in El Paso. The group will consist of 11 members who will work over the next eight months to create a tailored approach to reducing gun violence in Austin.

“We as a city have to do everything we possibly can to end violence,” City Council member Alison Alter said.

The meeting didn’t go off without protest. Austin police confirmed two people who placed a banner in the mezzanine level of City Hall received criminal trespass notices.

The protest was among several demonstrations contesting a proposed mixed-use development on East Riverside Drive. It wasn’t unanimous, but council members voted to move a step closer to approving the 97-acre project. It includes affordable housing. Those opposed to the project fear what it could do to their neighborhood.

“Our budgets are in a delicate balance between what we’re able to afford and the rising cost. If you just up our rent a couple more hundred dollars amount, that completely disrupts the balance,” Austin resident Olivia Tamzarian said.

On the subject of the proposed budget, there was disagreement over whether the city should add roughly 30 police officers.

“Their goals are to get to know the communities they police,” Corby Jastrow with the Greater Austin Crime Commission said. “If they’re moving from call to call to call, keeping with demand, keeping up with population, it’s really hard to do so.”

“We’ve over-relied on police on issues that they’re not best equipped to handle, and a really great example of that is in the area of mental health,” Chris Harris with the group Just Liberty said.

Many speakers discussed supporting a budget measure that would set aside $150,000 to help pay for the practical support services of women seeking abortions.

Council members also voted to propose increasing the tax revenue by 8 percent. It would be the last time they could do so before the state’s tax revenue kicks in.