Council Member Mike Siegel

This Thursday’s Council meeting is one of the most important moments of the budget cycle and could determine the health of our City’s finances for years to come. We need to hear from you -- read more in our latest newsletter!
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How to Build a City Budget in a Time of Federal Cuts Voting to raise taxes is the likely next step

Federal cuts to social service and safety net programs – cutting health care, cutting food benefits, cutting all these safety net programs – put our people at risk. We must address these growing needs as a community through the budget process.

Visit with reps from Austin Energy, Austin Resource Recovery, Austin EMS, Austin Police Department, Austin Water, and the Office of Police Oversight before we dig into this years budget. Dinner's on us!

*TOMORROW*
Join us for our District 7 City Budget Town Hall!
📅Tuesday, July 22nd
🕰️6 pm - 7:30 pm
📍ACC Northridge Campus
🍽️Dinner is served!
RSVP Here --> forms.gle/exLAuDLmZMrH...

District 7 Budget Town Hall - RSVP Learn about the City's Proposed Budget from Council Member Siegel and the City of Austin Budget Team! We will begin with a 15-20 minute presentation from the Budget Office followed by Q&A. Food and ...

If you or someone you know will need interpretation services to participate, tell us on the RSVP form and/or reach out to jess.robertson@austintexas.gov

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🚨Minor DoW Correction -- District 7's Budget Town Hall is on *Tuesday* July 22nd.

🗓️ Tues. July 22d
🕔 Food & Tabling with City Departments 6:00 – 6:30 pm
Presentation and Q&A 6:30 pm - 7:30 PM
📍ACC Northridge Campus
🍽️ Food provided
RSVP appreciated but not required

We send our solidarity to every person impacted by this cruel decision
and reaffirm our commitment to support reproductive health care in every way possible, including through local action and long-term efforts to win political change.

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court sided with South Carolina, essentially defunding Planned Parenthood. Now other states, including our own, could also cut funding so people using Medicaid lose Planned Parenthood as a provider for STD testing and birth control.

Earlier this year, Austin joined several other cities attempting to block a lawsuit that would deny Planned Parenthood money from Medicaid, causing thousands of people to lose access to many non-abortion healthcare services.

District 7 Budget Town Hall - RSVP Learn about the City's Proposed Budget from Council Member Siegel and the City of Austin Budget Team! We will begin with a 15-20 minute presentation from the Budget Office followed by Q&A. Food and ...

🗓️ Tuesday, July 22d
🕔 Food & Tabling with City Departments 6:00 – 6:30 pm
Budget Presentation and Q&A 6:30 pm - 7:30 PM
📍ACC Northridge Campus -- 1928 Stonehollow Dr, Austin, TX 78758 (4000 Building)
🍽️ Food provided
forms.gle/b2dTxcSJUusJ...

Zohran's unrelenting focus on affordability is a spirit we can embrace in Austin as we head into our budget cycle. We won't accept an austerity budget that lets people fall between the cracks.

A well-earned congratulations to @zohrankmamdani.bsky.social on his victory in the New York City mayoral primary. Zohran's victory shows you can be uncompromising in your values when they align with working people. His message inspired a new generation to the power of collective organizing.

There is NO circumstance in which military force is necessary in response to peaceful protest or the nonviolent exercise of First Amendment rights. I’m proud to represent a city that stands in solidarity with immigrant communities across the country.

Peaceful protest is a protected right.
@mikesiegeld7.bsky.social

Austin is a welcoming City, and I intend to work with City leaders to ensure that we protect the civil and human rights of every member of our community. Thank you to all of you who are raising your voices for justice -- in Austin, in Texas, and across this country.

I am appalled at the actions of ICE to assault and arrest progressive leaders such as SEIU California President David Huerta and Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, and call on our federal leaders to curtail the increasingly abusive and unaccountable actions by federal personnel.

I join with my fellow Austin City Councilmembers, both to express solidarity with the growing movement to protect our immigrant communities and to condemn the deployment of U.S. military personnel to disrupt protests in Los Angeles and around the nation.

Solidarity with Los Angeles and our Immigrant Communities

Yesterday, there were no good options, and a postponement would likely result in forgoing community benefits altogether. We need change, and I look forward to working with the community and my colleagues on a policy that we can all be proud of. (7/7)

As a City, we need deeper levels of affordability, relocation assistance, and one-to-one replacement of affordable units – all in a new and more challenging landscape due to state legislation that undermines our affordability program options. (6/7)

This is a structural problem. State law and City policy led us to this really unhappy choice, and I want to avoid similar cases moving forward. (5/7)

Under the vote on Thursday, City Council guaranteed that every tenant will receive several months of rent payments as well as moving costs—approximately $5,000 per household—if the property owner moves forward with demolition. (4/7)

I did not support another postponement because there was a real risk that changes in the legal landscape (via Texas SB 840) and other factors could lead to tenants being forced to vacate without receiving any relocation support whatsoever. (3/7)

I honor the work of the tenants to advocate for themselves, to win 10 weeks of postponements, to find an outside developer that considered buying the property, to generate so much attention to this case, and to inspire policy changes citywide.( 2/7)

My statement on the rezoning of Acacia Cliffs:
This was a difficult case and not an easy decision. (1/7)

For now, Austin's ALPR program will end on June 30
We expect another ALPR proposal later this year, and we will let you know when it does.

At Tuesday’s Work Session, Council listened to dozens of constituent questions and concerns about ALPRs. As a result, City Manager T.C. Broadnax withdrew ALPRs from Thursday’s council meeting to allow for more time to answer important questions about the program and the vendor.

📢UPDATE: Council will *not* be discussing or voting on Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs) this Thursday. If you signed up to speak, you do not need to come to City Hall tomorrow (Thursday) – but stay tuned.

Plus, completing the survey gives you a chance to receive a $50 Visa gift card!

Central Texas is creating its first-ever Comprehensive Climate Action Plan, and your voice matters!

📢 Share your thoughts through our short survey and help shape bold steps toward a healthier climate and community.

👉 Take the survey today: bit.ly/ClimatePrioritiesCTX

New location! If you’re an @afscme1624.bsky.social member, come tell us your budget priorities! 👇