Marc Duchen

speaker

514 appearances 8 recordings 1 series first heard Apr 2026 last heard 10 Sep

Marc Duchen’s voice in public audio — every appearance, attributed to the second.

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recordings per month · last 12 months

Recordings per month over the last 12 months — 8 in all, peaking in Jul 2026 with 2.

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Austin City Council · City Council Budget Work Session · 16 Jul 2026 meeting

But I have had conversations after that with Chief Davis, and, you know, she supports traffic enforcement. podcast-host

She's a believer that does save lives, and to podcast-host

Thank you, Mayor. podcast-host

I'm going to continue the tradition of making a couple of comments and then diving into some questions, first with the presentation from today, and then maybe if we've got time, a few more regarding the budget document itself. podcast-host

So I'm in perhaps a little bit of a different space than some of my colleagues. podcast-host

Obviously, first, I want to say heartfelt thank you to all the incredible work. podcast-host

Like others have said, that's an enormous job to try and balance all the different needs that the council and community have. podcast-host

And I really just appreciate all the work and support you guys have given us and will continue to give us over the next six weeks. podcast-host

That said, it's not really what I was expecting. podcast-host

I thought after starting a conversation a couple months ago around zero-based budgeting, we'd have a budget that was a bit more reflective of some fiscal discipline after the tax rate election last year. podcast-host

And instead, it looks to me like we started off at the max and didn't leave us tremendous room to maneuver. podcast-host

And when I dig into it and I think about the presentation from this morning, there are parts that make me feel like this is kind of a take now and hope later budget, where we've got 3% COLAs, but nothing in 2028. podcast-host

We've got some reductions in social services, but maybe more on the way. podcast-host

We're hoping our 1ATS and app rationalization and other efficiencies with sort of services and consulting, as others have mentioned, are going to reverse the economic fortunes. podcast-host

But it feels like, at this moment, that's all still kind of like theoretical savings, rather than having the confidence to really call our position in the future that positive. podcast-host

And we're doing this in the same context with Mr. Nelson's presentation. podcast-host

A time of slow economic growth, of more uncertainty, of slow job growth. podcast-host

of dipping into our 17% reserve fund for fiscal year 28 for next year. podcast-host

So when we say we've got a balanced budget in fiscal year 28 projected and beyond, I feel like there are some important caveats we should be considering as part of that. podcast-host

And so if there was a bottom line here, it's just that I'm concerned really where we started and where we'll be next year with our 27-28 budget as the next phase of this as we're doing two-year budgeting, as the manager pointed out. podcast-host

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