City hosts budget town hall for local teenagers

Final Town Hall Before City Manager Presents Recommendations

July 3, 2009

City Manager Marc Ott is hosting local teenagers at a town hall meeting on the city’s 2010 Budget on Friday, July 10th, from 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM, at the Mexican American Cultural Center (600 River Street, Austin, TX). The meeting is open to all teenage participants and will include participants in the City of Austin’s summer camp program and employees from City libraries.

"I am very excited to hear the perspectives of our younger Austinites on what the city’s priorities should be," Ott said. "Too often we overlook the opportunity to understand the true needs of our city’s children and young adults, and this meeting gives us that opportunity. I’ve said consistently that this is everyone’s budget, and that includes our young people."

The meeting will follow a format similar to earlier budget town hall meetings held at recreation centers across the city. The city’s budget officer, Ed Van Eenoo, will initially give participants an overview of the City’s budget challenges. Then, the teens will break into teams and try to pick and choose ways to close the projected $30 milion-$43 million budget shortfall. City Manager Ott will speak to the group and take questions at the end. The results of the teen group’s activity and comments to Ott will be reported to the City Manager’s Office and the Mayor and City Council as they prepare the budget.

The event is free and open to all Austin teenagers. Lunch will be provided. Teens (and other Austin residents) can continue to make comments about our budget in a variety of ways:

• By phone at 512-974-5678
• By e-mail at coa.budget@ci.austin.tx.us
• Online at www.cityofaustin.org
• All the proposed budget cuts are at www.cityofaustin.org/budget.