Mayor's Committee recommends community center in South Congress–Riverside development and forms budget working group

The Mayor's Committee for People with Disabilities on Aug. 8 voted to recommend that the Austin City Council negotiate to include a dedicated community center in the proposed South Congress and Riverside mixed‑use development and to allocate initial funding support from FY25–FY26 budgets, with guidance to coordinate design and governance with the Office of Equity and Inclusion and the Human Rights Commission.

The motion to recommend the community center was moved by a committee member who introduced the proposal and seconded by another commissioner. Commissioners added an amendment to the recommendation to "ensure that accessible public transportation serves the community center," and the committee approved the amended recommendation by voice vote.

The recommendation asks the city manager to begin negotiations with the developer to include a community center that would provide accessible public spaces, programming (including ASL and disability‑rights workshops) and support for disability‑owned and small businesses. Committee members said the center would also serve as a resilience hub during emergencies and help preserve cultural assets in nearby historic neighborhoods.

Separately, the committee voted to form a budget working group to develop the committee’s budget priorities for the next fiscal year. Committee members volunteered to serve on the working group so the group can start earlier than in prior years and prepare recommendations for the full committee and the City Council. The volunteers recorded during the meeting included the member who moved the motion, Commissioner Chang and Commissioner Kristen Visalo.

The committee also updated the Ability Festival working group membership: it approved swapping a commissioner seat (removing Commissioner Chang and adding Commissioner Slade) and nominated a student hire, Savannah Aberrema, as a potential non‑commissioner working group participant; staff will confirm non‑commissioner participation by email and then the committee will finalize those arrangements.

The committee endorsed partnering with the Texas governor's committee to support awards and public events for 2025–26; that motion passed by voice vote.

The meeting concluded with a request for a future presentation from Parks and Recreation on therapeutic recreation and continued discussion about representation on Project Connect; commissioners agreed to follow up and to place those items on a future agenda.

The committee adjourned at the end of the meeting.