Editing Austin, Texas (section)

===City government===
{{See also|List of mayors of Austin, Texas|Austin City Council}}
[[File:AustinTXCityHall.JPG|thumb|Austin City Hall]]

Austin is administered by an 11-member [[city council]] (10 council members elected by geographic district plus a mayor elected at large). The council is accompanied by a hired [[city manager]] under the [[council-manager government|manager-council system of municipal governance]]. Council and mayoral elections are non-partisan, with a runoff in case there is no majority winner. A referendum approved by voters on November 6, 2012, changed the council composition from six council members plus a mayor elected at large to the current "10+1" district system. Supporters maintained that the at-large system would increase participation for all areas of the city, especially for those which had lacked representation from City Council.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2013-02-01/the-road-to-10-1/|title=The bumpy ride toward Austin's redistricted future|website=www.austinchronicle.com|access-date=February 8, 2023|archive-date=February 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208032808/https://www.austinchronicle.com/news/2013-02-01/the-road-to-10-1/|url-status=live}}</ref>

November 2014 marked the first election under the new system. The [[Federal government of the United States|Federal government]] had forced San Antonio and Dallas to abandon at-large systems before 1987; however, the court could not show a racist pattern in Austin and upheld the city's at-large system during a 1984 lawsuit. In five elections between 1973 and 1994 Austin voters rejected single-member districts.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Greenberger |first=Scott S. |date=April 6, 1997 |title=From the archives: Austin faces ghost of racial history in City Council contest |work=Austin American-Statesman |url=https://www.statesman.com/news/local/austin-faces-ghost-racial-history-city-council-contest/RZ8CjQ4DWOnIAPdMYKvy4H/ |access-date=August 26, 2018 |archive-date=August 27, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180827110335/https://www.statesman.com/news/local/austin-faces-ghost-racial-history-city-council-contest/RZ8CjQ4DWOnIAPdMYKvy4H/ }}</ref>

Austin formerly operated its city hall at 128 West 8th Street.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Availability of FEIS |url=http://www.swf.usace.army.mil/pubdata/notices/3oakpdf/PPN3RV1.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109125039/http://www.swf.usace.army.mil/pubdata/notices/3oakpdf/PPN3RV1.pdf |archive-date=January 9, 2009 |access-date=December 29, 2008 |publisher=Fort Worth District [[U.S. Army Corps of Engineers]] |df=mdy-all}}</ref> Antoine Predock and Cotera Kolar Negrete & Reed Architects designed a new city hall building, which was intended to reflect what ''[[The Dallas Morning News]]'' referred to as a "crazy-quilt vitality, that embraces everything from country music to environmental protests and high-tech swagger."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Austin City Hall |url=http://www.hunterdouglascontract.com/referenceprojects/article.jsp?pId=8a438349014db9420102a25eeb960621 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081119030748/http://www.hunterdouglascontract.com/referenceprojects/article.jsp?pId=8a438349014db9420102a25eeb960621 |archive-date=November 19, 2008 |access-date=December 29, 2008 |publisher=Hunter Douglas Contract}}</ref> The new city hall, built from recycled materials, has solar panels in its garage.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Witt|first=Howard |date=September 28, 2007 |title=In heart of Texas, drumbeat for green |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/printedition/friday/chi-austin_green_wittsep28,0,2964379.story}}</ref> The city hall, at 301 West Second Street, opened in November 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Austin City Hall |url=http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/cityhall/ |access-date=December 29, 2008 |publisher=City of Austin}}</ref> [[Kirk Watson]] is the current mayor of Austin, assuming the office for a second non-consecutive term on January 6, 2023.

In the 2012 elections, City Council elections were moved from May to November and City council members were given staggered term limits <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://communityimpact.com/austin/news/2012/11/05/voters-back-austin-city-council-term-limits-moving-election-date/|title=Voters back Austin City Council term limits, moving election date|first=Gene|last=Davis|date=November 5, 2012|website=Community Impact|access-date=February 8, 2023|archive-date=February 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208032820/https://communityimpact.com/austin/news/2012/11/05/voters-back-austin-city-council-term-limits-moving-election-date/|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2022 Proposition D moved the term of the Austin Mayor to coincide with Presidential election years, so [[Kirk Watson]] would only serve two years unlike his predecessor [[Steve Adler (politician)|Steve Adler]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kut.org/politics/2022-10-18/austin-mayor-term-election-2022|title=Austin's next mayor will serve two years, not the usual four|date=October 18, 2022|website=KUT Radio, Austin's NPR Station|access-date=February 8, 2023|archive-date=February 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208033702/https://www.kut.org/politics/2022-10-18/austin-mayor-term-election-2022|url-status=live}}</ref>

Law enforcement in Austin is provided by the [[Austin Police Department]], except for state government buildings, which are patrolled by the [[Texas Department of Public Safety]]. The University of Texas Police operate from the [[University of Texas at Austin|University of Texas]].

Fire protection within the city limits is provided by the [[Austin Fire Department]], while the surrounding county is divided into twelve geographical areas known as emergency services districts, which are covered by separate regional fire departments.<ref>{{Cite web |title=EMS Austin-Travis-County {{pipe}} AustinTexas.gov |url=http://www.austintexas.gov/content/ems-austin-travis-county |url-status=live |archive-date=October 11, 2011 |website=www.austintexas.gov |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011010946/http://atcems.org/home/index2.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=78&Itemid=41}}</ref> Emergency medical services are provided for the whole county by Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Austin Fire Department |url=http://www.austintexas.gov/department/fire |access-date=September 15, 2014 |website=Austintexas.gov}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Austin Travis-County EMS Department |url=http://www.austintexas.gov/department/ems |access-date=October 17, 2014 |website=Austintexas.gov |archive-date=October 29, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141029063118/http://www.austintexas.gov/department/ems |url-status=live }}</ref>

'''Mayor [[Kirk Watson]] ([[Democratic Party (U.S.)|D]])'''
{| class="wikitable sortable"
! District !! Name !! Party (officially nonpartisan) !! References
|- {{Party shading/Democratic}}
| 1 ||Natasha Harper-Madison|| [[Democratic Party (U.S.)|Democratic]] || <ref>{{Cite news |title=Updates From Austin As Texas Faces Frigid Temps |language=en |work=NPR |url=https://www.npr.org/2021/02/19/969369320/updates-from-austin-as-texas-faces-frigid-temps |access-date=2022-05-17 |archive-date=May 17, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220517190810/https://www.npr.org/2021/02/19/969369320/updates-from-austin-as-texas-faces-frigid-temps |url-status=live }}</ref>
|- {{Party shading/Democratic}}
| 2 || Vanessa Fuentes || [[Democratic Party (U.S.)|Democratic]] || <ref>{{Cite web |title=Vanessa Fuentes |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Vanessa_Fuentes |access-date=November 22, 2019 |website=Ballotpedia |language=en}}</ref>
|- {{Party shading/Democratic}}
| 3 ||Jose Velasquez|| [[Democratic Party (U.S.)|Democratic]] ||<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Jose_Velasquez|title=Jose Velasquez|website=Ballotpedia|access-date=February 8, 2023|archive-date=February 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208054155/https://ballotpedia.org/Jose_Velasquez|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- {{Party shading/Democratic}}
| 4 || Jose "Chito" Vela|| [[Democratic Party (U.S.)|Democratic]] ||<ref>|https://ballotpedia.org/Jose_Vela</ref>
|- {{Party shading/Democratic}}
| 5 || Ryan Alter || [[Democratic Party (U.S.)|Democratic]] ||<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Ryan_Alter|title=Ryan Alter|website=Ballotpedia|access-date=February 8, 2023|archive-date=February 8, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208054148/https://ballotpedia.org/Ryan_Alter|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- {{Party shading/Republican}}
| 6 || Mackenzie Kelly || [[Republican Party (U.S.)|Republican]] ||<ref>{{Cite web |title=Mackenzie Kelly |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Mackenzie_Kelly |access-date=January 22, 2021 |website=Ballotpedia |language=en}}</ref>
|- {{Party shading/Democratic}}
| 7 || Leslie Pool || [[Democratic Party (U.S.)|Democratic]] || <ref>{{Cite web |title=Leslie Pool |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Leslie_Pool |access-date=November 22, 2019 |website=Ballotpedia |language=en}}</ref>
|- {{Party shading/Democratic}}
| 8 || Paige Ellis || [[Democratic Party (U.S.)|Democratic]] ||<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 28, 2018 |title=Paige Ellis represents sharp political shift for Southwest Austin's District 8 |url=https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2018/12/paige-ellis-represents-sharp-political-shift-for-southwest-austins-district-8/ |access-date=November 22, 2019 |website=Austin Monitor}}</ref>
|- {{Party shading/Democratic}}
| 9 || Zohaib Qadri || [[Democratic Party (U.S.)|Democratic]] || <ref>{{Cite web |title=Leslie Pool |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Zohaib_Qadri |website=Ballotpedia |language=en |access-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-date=February 8, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230208054149/https://ballotpedia.org/Zohaib_Qadri |url-status=live }}</ref>
|- {{Party shading/Democratic}}
| 10 || Alison Alter || [[Democratic Party (U.S.)|Democratic]] ||<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alison Alter |url=https://ballotpedia.org/Alison_Alter |access-date=November 22, 2019 |website=Ballotpedia |language=en |archive-date=June 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614224052/https://ballotpedia.org/Alison_Alter |url-status=live }}</ref>
|}

In 2003, the city adopted a resolution against the [[USA PATRIOT Act]] that reaffirmed constitutionally guaranteed rights.