Everything the Travis County Democratic Party Should (And Unfortunately Does) Stand For

Needless to say, I’m extremely disappointed that I have to write this kind of an update on the Travis County Democratic Party chair race.

Why My Threads Misunderstanding Was a Feature, Not a Bug

If you’ve been paying attention to my digital strategy over the past couple of months, you’ll notice that I pivoted away from the platform formally known as Twitter (finally) and moved my morning brain dumps over to Threads. I’ve compared the environment there to a Facebook comments section in Twitter form, and that evaluation has only solidified since I’ve been a regular presence.

Austin Is Losing Its Monitor, And Why That Matters

You might remember this summer when the Texas Tribune announced it was buying up the Austin Monitor, I said there’d be unpleasant changes coming up on the horizon.

What Our Response to Charlie Kirk’s Death Says About Us

I’m not asking people to condone political violence or celebrate his death. I’m asking everyone to think critically about what and who helped create the circumstances for the increases in state and political violence we are living through today. And save your tears for people who deserve it.

From Meltdown to Mouthpiece:

Four Years of Rantz by Neenz

We did it, foos. Thanks to my hard work, your support, and the absolute absurdity of Austin’s political scene, Rantz by Neenz — Austin’s actual alternative news source — turns four this week.

In 2021, I was flat on my back, managing a mental health diagnosis, a global pandemic, a career transition, and grief from a break-up all at the same time. I was training at a desk job that I hated (and hated me right back) when I got the idea for this newsletter.

I should have a platform for my writing,I thought. Lightly edited screeds on the Austin metro area. A place where I can be a resource for my friends and family. Shit, I can call my readers my homies. Wouldn’t that be fun?

Bill Bunch's Barton Springs Bridge Blowout Exposes the Rot in Austin Politics

A few days ago, one of my sources asked if I had a couple minutes to chat about something. That’s how I learned about Bill Bunch’s appearance at the Hands Off protestat the capitol on April 19. If you’re lucky enough to not know Bunch, he’s the guy who’s been fighting progress in Austin for decades in the name of environmental protection.

The protest and community picnic was supposed to be about the overreaches of the Trump administration and Austin billionaire Elon Musk, but my source said Bunch addressed the crowd about his obsession with derailing the Austin Convention Center expansion project. The audience reportedly recoiled at the tirade and his subsequent attempts to pass around yet another petition.

I wish I could say I’m surprised, but I’m not. Embarrassed, yes, but not surprised.

Carmen Llanes Pulido and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good Campaign

Well, Election Day is nearly a month in the rear view, and I’m still stewing. I can’t believe this candidate fooled so many good and well-meaning people into voting for them. I honestly thought the voters would see through the facade and understand that this is nothing more or less than a phony ass rich person advocating for their own interests and against ours. I can’t believe so many people were snowed by a person this divisive and lacking in substance. Truly, I am ashamed of the voting populace.

Why We Got This Bullsh*t Police Contract

Before Tuesday’s election swallows the news cycle, I wanted to check in with y’all about the $218 million police contract passed almost unanimously by Austin City Council on Oct. 24. I’m not even gonna lie to y’all – the way this vote played out sent me into a days-long panic attack that resulted in the delay of this rant by about a week. I apologize for the delay and to everyone who had to deal with my emotions in the aftermath of what I feel is a very raw deal for the city.

‘It is about secrecy’

Inside the City's Closed-Door Hearing on Former APD Official

I want to take a minute to address what happened last week at the city’s Municipal Civil Service Commission. As we discussed in this rant from July, the Austin Police Department’s former chief data officer, Jonathan Kringen, was fired for assaulting his wife (and fellow former city employee) Anne Kringen after a work function last fall. Kringen lost his job at the city over the incident and he appealed the decision. That’s why there was a hearing on Sep. 9.

I’ve been eagerly anticipating this hearing, because I hoped that I would finally be able to share with you everything I’ve known about this case on background for a while but hadn’t been able to confirm on the record. I’d also hoped that the hearing would fill in some of the gaps that I still have about what happened between the Kringens, and how that can inform how we think about the stalled process to reform APD’s cadet training curriculum.

Why Is the Austin Animal Center Always In Crisis?

The Austin Animal Center is nearly always operating at or over capacity. Off and on for years, the shelter has kept medium- and large-sized dogs in makeshift kennel space in offices or other parts of the facility not intended for housing animals. It’s routine to hear local news reports and see social media blasts urging the community to step up and provide emergency shelter to animals in need.

What is the problem at Austin’s animal shelter? Why isn’t it fixed already? And what is the city doing now to turn the problem around? Alright, homie, let’s break it down.

Acevedo Episode Just Another Example of Watson’s (and Austin’s) Ongoing Incompetence

The Austin return of Art Acevedo turned out to be short-lived. Y’all are so fucking wild. Every time I’ve completely given up on this town getting anything right, y’all surprise me by giving a shit at the most random times. Granted, it did take half of the city screaming their heads off about it and Austin City Council members unexpectedly remembering their agency as public officials. I wish it didn’t take white women throwing a fit to get this sorted, but, I guess, in this case, too little didn’t turn out to be too late.

I don’t want to get into the play-by-play of Acevedo’s brutal career collapse in this rant. It’s been written about too much already. You can read the highlights in this Houston Watch newsletter, which one of my homies sent me two days before the announcement. Kudos to them for a truly stunning (and accurate) headline. You can also read more about the sexual harassment lawsuit from Acevedo’s California Highway Patrol days in this rant I wrote in the fall. And my homie Austin Sanders of The Austin Chronicle has the details of how his latest venture fell apart in a matter of days. The debacle is enough to make Scaramucci blush.

Grow the F*ck Up, Bill Bunch

It’s time to grow the fuck up, Bill Bunch.

Yesterday’s Austin City Council held a joint session with its Planning Commission to go over a bundle of zoning reforms that will make it a little bit – not a lot – easier to build housing in the city. You can agree (I do) or disagree with council’s actions, which was the point of the hours-long session in which citizens on both sides of issue offered comment.

But I take issue with how Bill acted yesterday. And honestly, it was just another in a long list of examples of Bill’s boorish and, frankly, childish behavior in public. By now, we all know that Bill not getting his way in policy terms means we can all brace for a temper tantrum of epic proportions.

I don’t know about y’all, but I don’t remember giving birth to Bill. So I’m at a loss as to why I have to keep witnessing this embarrassing behavior from a 50+ year old man.

A Disappointing End to The Zilker Vision Plan

Earlier today, I was sitting at my desk when I got a text from one of the homies. “Zo, Paige and R. Alter just issued a joint statement against the Zilker Park Vision Plan,” the text read.

A few minutes later the press release hit my inbox.

“We know that the Zilker Park Vision Plan proposes many improvements that have community consensus, such as additional green space, shade trees, erosion control, and bathrooms,” it reads. “Other elements, however, seem to be flash points of irreconcilable differences. We know the challenges Zilker Park is facing will not go away on their own, but we do not see a path forward for the Zilker Vision Plan and therefore cannot support it.”

The feeling in the pit of my stomach is familiar. I always get queasy when politicians show their craven asses this blatantly. No matter how many times I’ve seen it happen, it’s always a huge disappointment for me. Seeing an elected official selfishly turn away from the public interest will never not make me ill. I guess it’s just residual naïveté from when I identified as a liberal.

A History of Austin's Alternative Media: The Legend of Tejas & El Gallo

I know my homie Jorge Renaud through his work in the justice reform movement. He’s an organizer, poet, author, and advocate for the formerly incarcerated, particularly the Latinx community. And he’s also a former journalist. Renaud was the first Latino copy editor at The Austin American-Statesman.

Until recently, I didn’t know about another stop in Renaud’s journey. And that’s his stint as an editor and columnist for the Tejas newspaper at the University of Texas in 1989-90.

Austin’s Parks Board Inundated With Tsunami of White Grievance and Zilker Vision Plan Misinformation

So many times over the past week I’ve said I’ve had it with this Zilker Park shit. “These people are making me crazy,” I’ve said. “I need a break. My sponsors need to team up and finance me a trip to Disney World. I’m not writing another word until I get my Mickey ears, damnit.”

I’m not going to lie. There were points when I genuinely meant that shit. Like, I was really considering taking a break from this shit and going back to one of my other fun beats, like policing. That’s how stressful I find this parks shit. I would rather cover the unaccountable paramilitary organization patrolling our streets.