City of Austin Considering Changes to City Council Districting Scheme

Currently, all city council members are elected "at large", meaning that they represent the entire city of Austin. The city has formed a Charter Revision Committee that's studying the possibility of electing some or all council members from geographically specific districts, referred to as "single-member districts".

As part of the evaluation process, the city is asking for feedback from Austin residents. You can go to http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/charter/ for more information and to complete a survey. If you're unhappy with the level of attention we receive from the city, this process may present an opportunity for you to increase our visibility in Austin's governing processes.

As always, feel free to contact your board if you have questions or comments.

2007 Christmas Lights Contest Winners

Well, the results are in, the people of Cherry Creek on Brodie have spoken, and the conclusion is unmistakable - everyone's a winner! Well, okay, we do have some official winners, but the many ballots that residents turned in reflected a diversity of tastes and a neighborhood that likes to decorate.

So, without further ado, here are the results:

1st Place - 9600 Kangaroo
2nd Place - 9305 Lightwood Loop
3rd Place - 3311 Silk Oak Drive
Most Innovative/Creative - 3311 Silk Oak Drive
Best Nativity Scene - 3201 Grasshopper
Best use of Color - 9604 Kangaroo
Children's Favorite - 9332 Lightwood Loop
Honorable Mention - 9 way tie (3323 Grasshopper, 9309 Lightwood Loop, 9332 Lightwood Loop, 9425 Lightwood Loop, 3311 Silk Oak Drive, 3206 Silkgrass, 3207 Silkgrass, 3306 Silkgrass, 3308 Silkgrass)
Write In - 4 way tie (9434 Lightwood Loop, 3311 Silk Oak Drive, 3112 Silkgrass, 9401 Tea Rose Trail)

I took advantage of our warm Austin winter to walk around last night and see the many wonderful designs that your neighbors have concocted and it was a real treat.

Merry Christmas!

OHAN CRIME ALERT – December 21, 2007

Yesterday, OHAN sent an e-mail to our neighborhood representatives concerning the return of the BB gun attacks theSouthwest Austin area experienced last year. OHAN is now in possession of additional information, so I wanted to get an alert out to the full e-mail list. Below is an APD Crimestoppers report on these incidents. Usually, the targets have been the rear windows of SUVs parked in the street or in driveways. Many OHAN member neighborhoods have experienced these attacks, but neighborhoods along Escarpment Blvd (Circle C, New Villages at Western Oaks, Legend Oaks I and II) seem to be the most affected.

What you can do:

• Park cars in garages if possible.
• If you have to park your car outside your garage, back it into your driveway. This is because front windshields are more resistant to BB and Pellet guns than rear windows.
• Report ANY suspicious activity to APD, the Travis County Sheriff’s Department and/or the Precinct 3 Constable’s office. APD has recommended that calls be placed with 911 rather than 311.
• Some neighbors have reported a “loud” full size white pickup truck (presumably with a muffler noisemaker device) driven by three white males in an area where BB gun attacks occurred. Be on the lookout for a vehicle matching this description and report it to the police if it is being operated in a suspicious manner, particularly between the hours of 11pm and 5am.
• OHAN will be setting up an e-mail account to collate reports from neighbors about these attacks and forward them to the authorities. Please send any incident reports or information on BB gun attacks to crime@ohan.org (note that this account may not be active immediately as we only began the process of setting it up today).

APD seeks help on vehicle vandalism
Tuesday, December 18, 2007, 11:37 AM
From the Austin Police Department:
Austin Police Department Northwest and Southwest detectives are seeking the public’s assistance to help identify suspects responsible for criminal mischief offenses that have occurred since August 2007 in the northwest and southwest parts of the city.

The suspects have been targeting mostly SUV-type vehicles, shattering the rear windows with what detectives believe to be a BB or pellet gun. In most cases, nothing has been stolen.

To date, there have been more than 400 reported cases in northwest and southwest Austin with the incidents occurring between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m. The damaged vehicles were parked either in a driveway or on the street in front of the owner’s home.

The Austin Police Department asks residents to call 911 on any suspicious persons or vehicles during these times of the night.

Individuals with specific information about this incident or the suspect are asked to call Detective M. Gutierrez at 974-5954 for Northwest, Detective M. Feinartz at 974-8252 or Detective B. Buck at 974-4748 for Southwest or CrimeStoppers at 472-8477. CrimeStoppers will pay up to $1,000 for information. These cases remain under investigation by APD Northwest and Southwest detectives.

First Night Austin, December 31 2007

On New Year's Eve, downtown Austin transforms into one big art and entertainment gallery as welcome's the New Year in the First Night celebration. Find out more at: http://www.firstnightaustin.org/