[This transcript was generated automatically from audio using AI and hasn't been reviewed by a person -- it can contain mistakes, including plausible-sounding sentences that were never actually said. Treat it as a starting point, not a verbatim record.]

[0:05] Welcome to City View. I'm your host, Leslie Sopko.
[0:09] In this episode, high school seniors with the Austin Independent School District have an exciting new opportunity
[0:15] to work face-to-face with policymakers at City Hall. Plus, the City of Austin is recognized by Senator John Cornyn
[0:24] for helping Austinites fulfill their dreams of becoming local business owners.
[0:28] But first, Austin Mayor Lee Leffingwell and City Manager Mark Ott took a moment to honor
[0:35] the emergency workers that responded to the horrific plane crash at the echelon building
[0:41] in North Austin.
[0:42] Police fire and paramedics were personally thanked for their quick response and collaboration.
[0:49] This was not a heroic act.
[0:52] This was a cowardly act.
[0:54] It was a repulsive criminal act perpetrated in rage without any regard for the sanctity
[1:01] of human life.
[1:02] But for the grace of God and the courage of Austin's first responders, hundreds of our
[1:08] neighbors might have died last Thursday morning.
[1:11] There's nothing here to celebrate.
[1:14] There's nothing about the perpetrator to honor.
[1:16] There's nothing of value in what happened here last week.
[1:21] Instead, there's only profound sadness, a deep sense of loss that will live in the hearts
[1:27] of many in our community for a long time to come.
[1:30] I'm extremely proud of the speedy and collaborative response from all of our emergency services
[1:36] personnel.
[1:38] As you might imagine, effective incident command is critical when scores of first responders
[1:44] show up at a scene like the one we saw last week.
[1:47] The mere fact that we were able to rescue and treat every person who was in a position
[1:53] to be saved is a testament to the skill and professionalism of our fire, police and EMS
[2:01] services.
[2:02] 50 lucky seniors from Crockett and Aiken's high schools will be selected to participate
[2:08] in a new leadership development program known as Austin Corps.
[2:12] The year-long elective class is a joint partnership between the City of Austin and
[2:17] the Austin Independent School District. Austin Corps will offer courses on local government
[2:22] and students will get to work with policy makers and staff at City Hall during the fall semester.
[2:30] The reason we've created Austin Corps is simple. Our most valuable resource as a city is our
[2:36] young people. The young men and women sitting behind me here today are Austin's future.
[2:43] If we can do more now to educate and engage Boston students in civic life, then our entire
[2:50] community will ultimately reap the award.
[2:53] It's a strategy that gives our kids the real life experience that they need to be exposed
[2:59] to the jobs that will make a difference in a community and also give them the support
[3:05] and curriculum and instruction to take it to the next level in their academic classes.
[3:11] What's important to us in my profession is to bring young people along, you know, to introduce
[3:17] young people to local government, and there are managers all over the United States who
[3:23] are committed to doing that.
[3:25] So I think that this idea, this vision of Austin Corps is very much consistent with
[3:32] a commitment that I made in regard to my pursuit of this profession many, many years
[3:38] ago.
[3:38] So I'm really proud to, you know, to really be a part of it."
[3:43] In addition, these students will complete an internship with the City of Austin and will
[3:47] also work in small groups to plan and lead community service projects, if successful
[3:53] officials hope to expand the program to other schools.
[3:57] Residents are reminded to pick up their trash.
[4:01] While it seems like an obvious statement, the Watershed Protection Department continues
[4:05] to find junk like empty cans and yard waste stuffed inside our city's storm
[4:10] drains. Here's a look at how littering can cause an even bigger mess in our city.
[4:16] Basically we're out here today cleaning one of Boston's 32,000 storm drain
[4:20] inlets and what we're really trying to get the word out today about is that
[4:26] we really don't want people in the city littering or throwing their trash
[4:31] on the ground, blowing leaves into the streets because what happens is all that
[4:37] stuff ends up getting washed into our storm drain system and one of two things
[4:41] is going to happen is either going to clog the system which means it won't
[4:44] work properly when it rains instead of water running into the storm drains it
[4:48] might pool around the inlet and might flood the street or it's going to get
[4:54] washed further into our creek system. A lot of these items we found we find
[4:59] in the storm drains are things that you can dispose of properly through your recycling.
[5:04] We find a lot of plastic bottles, a lot of aluminum cans, things like that.
[5:08] You can simply place those in your single stream recycling cart.
[5:11] Probably the biggest thing we find is yard trimmings and leaves.
[5:15] And those are things also that you can put in your yard trimmings collection, which
[5:18] is a weekly collection we do here in Austin.
[5:21] So you can simply dispose of those properly by using your solid waste services instead
[5:26] of putting them in the storm drain.
[5:27] Now, it's time for an Austin City Council update from Larry Scholar.
[5:32] The speed of the Internet in Austin could get much faster.
[5:36] The Austin City Council wants to work with Google on increasing high-speed Internet access
[5:40] in Austin.
[5:41] Google wants to build a very fast Internet network, more than 100 times faster than
[5:46] most people have today.
[5:47] And Council decided the city will apply to become one of the places Google builds
[5:51] that network.
[5:52] Stay tuned for ways you can participate in that process.
[5:54] Council obtained the rights to more than 4,000 acres of land in West Texas to use for wind power generation.
[6:02] The city ultimately wants to get 30% of its electricity from resources like the wind and sun by the year 2020.
[6:09] Grant funds approved by council will pay for lifts that help physically disabled individuals board canoes, kayaks and other vessels.
[6:17] The city hopes to promote the activities of injured members of our armed forces.
[6:22] Council also agreed to work with the State of Texas on a hike in bike trail between Balcones District Park and Walnut Creek Park in North Austin.
[6:30] The Northern Walnut Creek Trail will connect St. David's Hospital and the Austin Community College Northridge Campus to numerous neighborhoods in the area.
[6:37] It should be finished in April of next year.
[6:40] Finally, Council voted to expand the Northwest Recreation Center by 7,000 square feet.
[6:45] You'll eventually see a classroom, a fitness room, and a multi-purpose room, among other improvements.
[6:50] In all, the City Council considered 80 items at its February 25th meeting.
[6:55] Its next regularly scheduled meeting is March 11th.
[6:58] For CityView, I'm Larry Schueler.
[7:00] If you'd like to watch the most recent City Council meeting, please visit the Channel
[7:05] 6 website at cityofaustin.org slash Channel 6.
[7:10] Well after almost two years of public input regarding Austin Energy's future generation
[7:15] Mayor Lee Leffengwell held a final town hall meeting to review all of the proposed ideas.
[7:22] Panel experts representing all facets of the community, from large industrial customers to low income residents,
[7:29] addressed the crowd of more than 200 people.
[7:32] The audience was able to submit questions via text, email or note card.
[7:38] We are not proposing this plan in order to avoid building new capacity.
[7:47] We actually have enough capacity with our current power plants to pretty much meet our
[7:52] needs to 2020 if there is a shortfall, it's very little.
[7:56] The plan is more designed to shift our type of resources from fossil fuels to non-fossil
[8:04] fuels as opposed to needing to build new power capacity in order to keep the lights on.
[8:10] Austin Energy is recommending a generation plan that achieves 35 percent renewable energy
[8:16] by 2020 and offsets 800 megawatts through energy efficiency, which is the equivalent
[8:23] of a large power plant.
[8:25] The Austin City Council is expected to vote on this issue sometime in March.
[8:29] To watch the entire panel discussion, visit cityofaustin.org slash Channel 6.
[8:37] It's no secret the City of Austin supports locally-owned businesses.
[8:42] In fact, portfolio.com recently named Austin the nation's top city to launch a small business.
[8:49] That's because the City Small Business Development Program has helped more than 11,000 customers
[8:55] who have started their own business or are expanding their existing businesses.
[9:01] Senator John Cornyn and Mayor Lee Leffing well paid a visit to Parkside,
[9:06] an Austin restaurant that owes its success in part to the program.
[9:10] First I want to thank Senator Cornyn for coming here to Austin, his hometown,
[9:16] to talk about small business with us and we think we've enjoyed a lot of successes
[9:20] and it's really gratifying to be able to share what we've done here
[9:25] with folks at the national level because we think we have been successful here.
[9:30] I couldn't think of a better place to come than back here to Austin to listen to what
[9:35] you've done so successfully to reach that great accomplishment of being the number
[9:42] one small business city in the country.
[9:46] As a working chef and business owner, I really don't have the time to stay up and inform
[9:52] that I have an accountant who does parts and parcel, but to really do the nitty-gritty
[9:56] of the loan for a program I need somebody who can help me and that's what the city was
[10:00] able to provide.
[10:01] We were invited today to come speak to the senator and the mayor about the vitality
[10:05] of small business in Austin and how the city supports and encourages entrepreneurship.
[10:10] It was really an honor to be invited to speak about our business and our experiences
[10:15] in Austin and I hope that the senator will be able to take us back to Washington
[10:20] and help other cities.
[10:22] I was here today to explain how the Small Business Development Center or program helped
[10:27] my small business grow from grassroots, just from the idea to actually implementing the
[10:34] services.
[10:35] I definitely would support anyone to open and start their own small business no matter
[10:38] what it is because a lot of us have great ideas and they may be a little bit hesitant
[10:44] to start just because it may be intimidating, but if they have just a little bit of drive
[10:50] or a little bit of ambition to start a small business, they should.
[10:53] The Small Business Development Program offers a variety of resources, including a walk-in
[10:59] technology center and workshops for every level entrepreneur.
[11:03] Some of the most popular classes are on QuickBooks, an accounting software and social media.
[11:09] The city also offers assistance on writing business and marketing plans.
[11:13] programs. If you'd like to learn more about this program, visit austinsmallbiz.org.
[11:20] And that's all for this edition of CityView. I'm your host, Leslie Sopko. Our next episode
[11:25] premieres Friday, March 12th. Thanks for watching.