“We’ve got big traffic challenges on IH35 and Hwy. 183, and we need the State of Texas to do the really big projects that will fundamentally improve these roads. Central Texas needs the State of Texas to help us move more people and faster – regardless of politics. New managed lanes are working well on MoPac and, importantly, generating the missing revenue to do the work. Our region is open to such solutions because they move people, help transit, and connect our communities. The State can either give us the necessary tools to fix the problem or refuse to do so and watch with us while things get worse.”
Category Archives: News Releases
Statement by Mayor Adler on Veterans Day Parade
I am looking forward to honoring veterans this Veterans Day weekend by helping out however I can be helpful at the Central Texas Food Bank, which serves a large number of our local veteran community.
I will not be marching in the Congress Avenue parade because that parade will include groups carrying the Confederate flag. Veterans Day should only be about honoring United States Military Veterans. Symbols of racism, Civil War secession, and white supremacy should not be forgotten or erased, but they need to be remembered and studied in museums and classrooms not cheered and applauded in parades. Continue reading
Statement by Mayor Adler on HQ2
“Austin is a magical city with some wonderful opportunities and serious challenges that all fast-growing communities face. My hope and belief is that Amazon would partner with Austin to create a new paradigm of collaboration that focuses on how we can together address our city’s most serious challenges by bringing benefits to our community we would not otherwise get or get as quickly because of Amazon’s scale.
“I haven’t had any conversation about any specific incentives for Amazon, and no city incentive could be approved without Council action. The Council has recently passed a resolution asking staff to look at changing how we do incentives in Austin to more closely align with driving the community benefits that we all want and I would expect that resolution and the associated community work to direct any future deliberation.
“I did want to be open and honest with Amazon with what I’ve been saying and written above, so when the Chamber asked me to contribute a letter to Amazon I wrote them a letter a week ago, and it is attached.”
Click here to read the letter Mayor Adler submitted for the HQ2 bid.
Statement by Mayor Adler on Senate Health Care Votes
By Mayor Adler
As mayor, I focus on practical solutions, not politics. The Senate should do the same. Mayors are on the ground, every day, closest to people. That’s why I support having a bipartisan group of mayors, governors and Senators to focus on fixing our healthcare system. That’s the results-oriented leadership Austin, Texas, and America deserve.
Mayor: Solve Downtown Puzzle by making tourists pay to house homeless
On Monday, Mayor Adler proposed a solution to the Downtown Puzzle, his name for the interconnected and geographically contiguous challenges in the eastern part of downtown Austin. After months of discussions with community groups represented at a City Hall press conference, the Mayor proposed harnessing downtown economic activity, including an expansion of the convention center, to raise $30 million for permanent supportive housing for the homeless and create an ongoing funding stream to address homelessness that starts at about $4 million a year until 2021 when it doubles. The Mayor’s proposal, which requires Council action, does not include any property tax increase.
“We have figured out how to put the Downtown Puzzle together by making tourists pay to house the homeless and by harnessing the power of Austin to benefit all Austinites. This plan won’t raise your property taxes, will expand our tax base, and makes a big down payment on the moral imperative to house the homeless,” said Mayor Adler.