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Downtown Commission forms budget working group, tables formal stakeholder formation with Austin Planning
Summary
The commission appointed a smaller working group to draft fiscal-year priorities ahead of the city's March budget adoption, named initial members and agreed to consider formation of a stakeholder working group with Austin Planning (the item was tabled until next month).
Vice Chair Kimberly Levinson told the Downtown Commission it is time to begin drafting fiscal-year priorities for the city budget, noting the city will adopt its budget in March and that commission priorities should be transmitted by February to be considered.
Commissioners volunteered to serve on a budget working group to assemble priorities and identify areas to reduce spending. The working group membership named in discussion included Commissioners Buchta (unnamed in the transcript), Charles Pivato, Philip Wiley and Sonya Shifford; Vice Chair Levinson said she would not serve on that particular group but expects working-group members to brief the full commission via email and in-person quarterly presentations.
The commission then discussed a related council recommendation about the Downtown Commission's role as a stakeholder. Staff reported that two Downtown Commission members already sit on Austin Planning advisory groups and said staff prefer limiting Commission members on advisory groups to avoid filling advisory rosters. As a compromise, staff and commissioners described a separate five-member working group (to avoid quorum) that would meet monthly with Austin Planning and present to the full commission every third month. The proposal included a pre-meeting agenda process so the Commission can add items for discussion.
Commissioners agreed to discuss and formally form the stakeholder working group at next month’s meeting; a motion to table agenda item number 5 (the formal formation) passed with aye votes and no opposition recorded. Commissioners requested that staff and Austin Planning share consultant documents, modeling inputs and the materials being provided to consultants in advance so commissioners can review and provide informed comment.
The commission also asked Commissioner Philip Wiley to circulate a list of information he thinks should be provided to the consultants and requested staff to distribute documents when possible.
