Austin Residents โคLaunch Petition โfor Independent Cityโค Budget Audit
AUSTIN, Texas – A new petition is seekingโข an independent, complete audit of how the City โฃof Austin spends taxpayer money. Organizers aim to โtrigger a charter amendment allowing for the selection of a firm โto review departmental โคperformance โand recommend improvements. โฃApproximately 20,000 signatures โfromโฃ qualified voters are needed to bringโ the proposal forward โคforโ consideration by the Austin City Council, or perhaps put โit to aโค vote in theโค next election.
theโ effort is driven by concerns over transparency and accountabilityโข in โcity spending.”What we’re trying to do hear is try to have a serious firmโข that the city will โselect within the parameters of the charter amendment, โคtake a โfull review of how ourโ city spends money, of how all these departments are โperforming, and make serious recommendations on how we can improve things,” said petitionโ supporter Mackowiak.
Attorney and Former Travis County โฃJudge Bill aleshire emphasized โคthe need forโข an independent review, stating,โ “If you want โto restore โขtrust, you have got to let this process work independently of the kind of political or selfish protection that the incumbents may have.You’re going toโฃ get more โฃbenefitโค for taxpayers โif โคit’s โdone this way.”
Austin Mayor Kirkโ Watson acknowledged the importance of performance reviews, noting past audits of development, โคhomeless, and โpolice department spending.He also stated the city is already exploring hiring consultants to improve spending efficiency. However,Mayor Watson expressed reservations about the โpetition. “I don’tโฃ know that I support the petition. I need more โคtime toโ look at what they do with that because whatโ I don’tโค wantโฆis โขthe use of something that we all may agree we need to become political weaponry,” he โฃsaid. โ”Doing things likeโฃ that is not an all or nothing sort of situationโฆand I need a little more time to look atโข that.”
The petition’s success hingesโค on gathering sufficient โsignatures and navigating the City Council’s โresponse. The initiative arrives โamid ongoing debate aboutโ fiscal duty andโข publicโ trustโ in local government.
