AUSTIN (KXAN) — Austin Mayor Kirk Watson announced Wednesday he has initiated a process that could force the city to pursue an “independent… citywide process for auditing.” He hopes to have a city ordinance approved by no later than February.
In a Watson Wire released Wednesday morning, the mayor pointed to areas the city has already brought in outside teams to do audits — like in its police department, at the airport, and in Austin Development Services — but said the city needs to do something more comprehensive.
“We need to do something that’s system-wide, and the best tool is for us to utilize an ordinance,” Watson told KXAN. He added, “Not as a charter provision, but as an ordinance, because I think that’s the better tool.”
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He made that latter clarification because Save Austin Now, a group that helped defeat Proposition Q, launched a charter petition effort last month that aims to force the city of Austin to perform “an external and performance-based affordability and efficiency initiative.”…