Latest / Austin Signal / City of Austin paid out $143 million in overtime in 2025

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City of Austin paid out $143 million in overtime in 2025 · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  Immigration and customs enforcement
• 0:10
  operations in Minnesota have caught
• 0:12
  the attention of the nation and the
• 0:13
  world in recent weeks.
• 0:15
  Meanwhile, such operations here in
• 0:17
  Texas have been taking place at the
• 0:18
  same time.
• 0:20
  We're going to check in with folks
• 0:20
  from Elgin just outside of Austin
• 0:23
  to hear how it's impacting them.
• 0:25
  And the city of Austin paid out more
• 0:27
  than one hundred and forty three
• 0:28
  million dollars to its employees in
• 0:30
  twenty twenty five.
• 0:32
  Five city departments regularly
• 0:34
  account for the bulk of overtime
• 0:35
  spending.
• 0:36
  Which are they?
• 0:37
  That's coming up on today's show.
• 0:39
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:41
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:43
  Jerry Quijano.
• 0:44
  Plus, a spot in East Austin is
• 0:46
  building community beyond its menu,
• 0:48
  bringing folks together with chess
• 0:49
  and doodle nights.
• 0:51
  Come hear more about the community
• 0:52
  garden that's growing out there.
• 0:54
  That's today on Austin Signal.
• 1:09
  Howdy out there, this is
• 1:11
  Austin Signal brought to you by
• 1:13
  listener-powered public radio KUT
• 1:16
  News.
• 1:17
  Thank you for tuning in.
• 1:18
  It is Tuesday, January 27th.
• 1:21
  We are glad to be part of your
• 1:23
  day.
• 1:24
  We will start the show by reminding
• 1:26
  you that while things are certainly
• 1:27
  warming up around the Austin area,
• 1:29
  it is still quite slippery in
• 1:31
  some spots out there.
• 1:32
  The ice was enough of a concern
• 1:34
  to cancel classes again today for
• 1:36
  UT Austin and for the majority
• 1:38
  of Central Texas school districts.
• 1:40
  Temperatures are forecast to dip
• 1:42
  below freezing again overnight,
• 1:44
  meaning any melted ice will
• 1:46
  freeze again.
• 1:47
  So be mindful and keep it
• 1:49
  tuned in to KUT News for
• 1:51
  the latest updates.
• 1:53
  There's been lots of attention
• 1:55
  focused on immigration enforcement
• 1:56
  in the U.S.
• 1:57
  As of late, particularly in
• 1:59
  Minnesota, understandably,
• 2:01
  but that attention and that
• 2:03
  enforcement has intensified in many
• 2:05
  other parts of the country too.
• 2:06
  That includes Texas.
• 2:08
  People who live in Elgin, just
• 2:09
  outside of Austin, are torn
• 2:11
  over the presence of Immigration and
• 2:13
  Customs Enforcement in their area.
• 2:15
  KUT's Greta Diaz-Gonzalez-Vasquez
• 2:18
  has been talking with some of them.
• 2:20
  On a normal day, laborers gather
• 2:22
  around the downtown gazebo in Elgin,
• 2:24
  hoping to pick up a gig.
• 2:26
  But since early January, people in
• 2:27
  this small central Texas town say
• 2:29
  they haven't seen any workers at
• 2:31
  their usual spot.
• 2:33
  Tracy Elamia works at an insurance
• 2:35
  company across the street from that
• 2:36
  gazebo.
• 2:37
  She says Immigration and Customs
• 2:39
  Enforcement came to get the workers
• 2:41
  one morning.
• 2:41
  I don't know how many they took, but
• 2:43
  they took a few of them, and I don't
• 2:44
  think that's okay considering
• 2:46
  they're not doing anything, and if
• 2:48
  they're there, they're primarily.
• 2:50
  Look for work.
• 2:51
  Like many other residents in town,
• 2:52
  Alameya found out through social
• 2:54
  media.
• 2:54
  They got another Impala over here
• 2:56
  taking somebody else.
• 3:00
  And there goes a white truck too.
• 3:03
  So they're here.
• 3:05
  She saw the video where workers are
• 3:06
  being taken away by men with covered
• 3:08
  faces and tactical gear.
• 3:11
  KUT reached out to ICE to ask about
• 3:12
  the detentions, but has not heard
• 3:14
  back with specifics about it.
• 3:17
  Elgin residents had reported seeing
• 3:18
  ICE around Highway 290, the main
• 3:20
  road through the city.
• 3:22
  But this was the first time many of
• 3:23
  them heard about ICE being in
• 3:26
  town.
• 3:27
  Many felt the same way as Alameya.
• 3:29
  They're part of the community.
• 3:30
  Let them work.
• 3:31
  But others like Jason Keene, who
• 3:33
  owns a gun shop across the street
• 3:34
  from the Gasebo, say
• 3:36
  Well, if you're here illegally,
• 3:37
  that's the very first thing.
• 3:38
  You circumvented a system.
• 3:40
  There's a check and balance.
• 3:41
  It doesn't matter about your
• 3:43
  opinion.
• 3:44
  Keane says he hasn't heard of
• 3:45
  anybody in his community being
• 3:47
  affected by ice.
• 3:48
  In fact, he says his clients seem
• 3:50
  pretty on board with it.
• 3:51
  As far as the immigration
• 3:52
  enforcement, everybody that I know,
• 3:54
  everybody who's doing business here,
• 3:56
  everybody I'm involved with with the
• 3:58
  community is really happy because
• 4:00
  that's what we voted for.
• 4:02
  A few other business owners in
• 4:03
  downtown Elgin declined to talk to
• 4:05
  KUT on the record because they
• 4:07
  feared backlash from the community
• 4:08
  for their opinions.
• 4:10
  Nikolai Finley lives in Elgin.
• 4:12
  He says he has stopped having
• 4:13
  political conversations with people,
• 4:15
  unless he knows them very well.
• 4:17
  I know people, even myself
• 4:19
  included, who may
• 4:21
  have what I would say are just very
• 4:23
  general middle-ground opinions,
• 4:26
  that I would see people that I even
• 4:28
  know within my community here
• 4:30
  calling other people Nazis.
• 4:33
  Finley says the community has been
• 4:35
  polarized over the last few years.
• 4:37
  First, it was about COVID, then
• 4:39
  about politics, now about
• 4:41
  immigration, and it gets worse
• 4:43
  when it's on social media.
• 4:45
  Since ICE started showing up in
• 4:46
  Elgin, residents have been posting
• 4:48
  about it in Facebook community
• 4:49
  groups.
• 4:50
  Finley said maybe that's why
• 4:52
  everyone is on high alert.
• 4:54
  When I walk around every single day
• 4:56
  and I'm out in my community,
• 4:58
  I don't see half of
• 5:00
  the things that are making everybody
• 5:02
  freak out.
• 5:02
  But for many, the fear is real.
• 5:05
  Especially for undocumented people.
• 5:07
  Melissa Perez works at a store in
• 5:09
  Elgin. She is undocumented and
• 5:11
  says now she's avoiding being on
• 5:12
  the streets as much as she can.
• 5:15
  She does the basics.
• 5:16
  Takes her kids to school, goes to
• 5:18
  work, picks her kids up and heads
• 5:19
  back home.
• 5:21
  And whenever she's driving, she's on
• 5:22
  the lookout for state police or
• 5:24
  unmarked white and black SUVs
• 5:26
  known to be used by...
• 5:33
  She says maybe there's people
• 5:35
  who don't pay much attention because
• 5:37
  they don't have to worry about their
• 5:38
  immigration status.
• 5:44
  But those who don't have vapors...
• 5:47
  She says, they have to be on
• 5:48
  high alert.
• 5:50
  In a town where 44% of the
• 5:52
  population is Hispanic or Latino,
• 5:54
  the fear spreads beyond the
• 5:55
  immigrant community.
• 5:57
  Last year, the Supreme Court allowed
• 5:58
  immigration enforcement agents in LA
• 6:00
  to use race and other profiling
• 6:02
  factors to decide who to stop and
• 6:04
  potentially detain.
• 6:06
  Alamilla, the woman who works at the
• 6:08
  insurance company, says even for US
• 6:10
  citizens like her,
• 6:11
  It's scary to wonder in what
• 6:13
  direction it could go
• 6:15
  for any of us Hispanics,
• 6:17
  whether you're here legally or not.
• 6:20
  After the workers at the gazebo in
• 6:22
  Elgin were detained in early
• 6:23
  January, the community organized a
• 6:25
  protest.
• 6:26
  Then, they also showed up at city
• 6:28
  council wanting clarity on where
• 6:30
  city officials stood.
• 6:32
  The mayor issued a statement last
• 6:33
  week saying the city did not condone
• 6:35
  actions by that are making people
• 6:37
  feel unwelcome.
• 6:38
  I know that there's not much they
• 6:39
  can do when it comes to helping
• 6:41
  someone in that situation because
• 6:43
  they're federal officers, but it's
• 6:45
  comforting to hear from someone
• 6:47
  who's in authority that not
• 6:49
  everyone hates us.
• 6:50
  With the town divided and some
• 6:52
  feeling like ICE is always around
• 6:54
  the corner, Ferre says she's
• 6:56
  constantly questioning who is
• 6:57
  trustworthy.
• 6:58
  Yo la verdad no confío
• 7:00
  en nadie, ni más que yo, porque
• 7:01
  tengo dos niños.
• 7:02
  She says she has two kids who depend
• 7:04
  on her, so she'll continue to be
• 7:06
  cautious and will keep paying
• 7:07
  attention to her surroundings as
• 7:09
  much as she can.
• 7:13
  At least until all this is
• 7:15
  over.
• 7:16
  I'm Greta Diaz-Gonzalez Vazquez
• 7:18
  in Elgin, Texas.
• 7:25
  Last year, the city of Austin paid
• 7:27
  city workers $143
• 7:29
  million in overtime,
• 7:31
  that's according to records obtained
• 7:32
  by KUT News.
• 7:34
  That spending could come under a
• 7:36
  harsher focus this year as the city
• 7:38
  is vowed to trim back its
• 7:40
  spending.
• 7:40
  To help us go over what these
• 7:42
  millions in overtime pay means for
• 7:43
  the city, we are speaking with
• 7:45
  Andrew Weber, he is KUT's Government
• 7:47
  Accountability Reporter.
• 7:48
  Thanks for coming on the show,
• 7:49
  Andrew.
• 7:50
  Yes, sir. Thank you for having me,
• 7:51
  jerk.
• 7:51
  So, uh, overtime pay,
• 7:53
  I'm guessing that's something that
• 7:55
  all employers kind of account for.
• 7:57
  Does the city of Austin account for
• 7:58
  that as well?
• 7:59
  Yeah, you know, they account for
• 8:01
  this.
• 8:02
  Obviously, city work is difficult
• 8:04
  work, and particularly for
• 8:06
  emergency services, police,
• 8:08
  and fire.
• 8:10
  Those departments have been
• 8:11
  short-staffed for a few
• 8:13
  years now.
• 8:14
  So overtime is kind of a necessity
• 8:16
  to get things done.
• 8:18
  Yeah, as we are sort of experiencing
• 8:19
  right now, you know, UT Austin
• 8:21
  canceled classes for a couple days,
• 8:23
  as did Austin ISD and a lot of other
• 8:25
  school districts, but not the
• 8:27
  case for Austin Police,
• 8:29
  Austin First Responders, things
• 8:30
  like that.
• 8:31
  So $143 million seems
• 8:34
  like a pretty big number.
• 8:35
  How does that compare to payouts in
• 8:37
  years past?
• 8:39
  Well, it's been kind of increasing
• 8:40
  over the last few years.
• 8:42
  We looked at from 2021 to
• 8:44
  2025 and it went
• 8:46
  from around $86 million to
• 8:49
  what's now $143
• 8:51
  million. So it's something the
• 8:52
  city is definitely relying more and
• 8:54
  more on.
• 8:55
  Well, speaking of that, which
• 8:57
  departments tend to make up
• 8:59
  the bulk of the overtime that
• 9:00
  is paid out?
• 9:02
  You know, like I said, police, fire,
• 9:04
  and EMS usually are the sort of
• 9:06
  big three.
• 9:07
  This past year, that was different.
• 9:08
  Austin Energy employees got
• 9:10
  paid out more than $20 million,
• 9:13
  followed by fire, firefighters
• 9:15
  got $22 million.
• 9:17
  And police make up, as they
• 9:19
  often do, the largest share
• 9:21
  of this overtime.
• 9:22
  In this past year, they got
• 9:24
  paid almost $53 million.
• 9:26
  And since those numbers have
• 9:27
  remained somewhat consistent,
• 9:30
  does the city kind of plan ahead
• 9:32
  into its budget for this overtime
• 9:34
  pay?
• 9:35
  Yeah, this is kind of baked in.
• 9:37
  Like I said, it's kind of a
• 9:38
  necessity, but I will say,
• 9:40
  you kind of hinted at that at the
• 9:41
  top of the intro there,
• 9:44
  that this is an interesting
• 9:46
  year because Overtime
• 9:48
  was a part of the discussions ahead
• 9:50
  of Prop Q with EMS,
• 9:52
  with police, and with FIRE,
• 9:54
  and with just departments across the
• 9:56
  city were asked to sort of
• 9:58
  pare down these expenses and
• 10:00
  Overtine being one of them.
• 10:02
  With Prop Q's failure, it's going
• 10:03
  to be interesting going forward to
• 10:05
  see how the city sort of tackles
• 10:07
  that next budget cycle.
• 10:08
  Yeah, what are the ways that
• 10:10
  the Prop Q's failure could affect
• 10:12
  the next budget cycle?
• 10:14
  You know, it's funny, there was,
• 10:16
  I believe it was council member Ryan
• 10:18
  Alter had a measure that would
• 10:20
  have done sort of monthly breakdowns
• 10:22
  for how the city is spending
• 10:24
  overtime with the focus on
• 10:26
  those big three, the police, fire,
• 10:28
  EMS.
• 10:28
  That didn't go anywhere.
• 10:30
  They ultimately didn't adopt that,
• 10:31
  council members didn't.
• 10:32
  And so now it's kind
• 10:34
  of up in the air. Like I said, it
• 10:35
  obviously the
• 10:37
  city wants to pare down that
• 10:39
  spending to sort of be in line
• 10:41
  with what voters wanted in rejecting
• 10:43
  Prop Q.
• 10:44
  But we will have to wait and see
• 10:46
  on it.
• 10:46
  Ian, we're talking about numbers
• 10:47
  here for 2025.
• 10:49
  We're only a month into the new
• 10:51
  year, maybe a little bit more time
• 10:52
  for the fiscal year.
• 10:53
  Do we know what
• 10:55
  part of the, you know,
• 10:57
  budget of the overtime budget has
• 10:58
  APD kind of reached already for this
• 11:00
  new fiscal year that we're in?
• 11:02
  Yeah. Like I said, APD
• 11:04
  is very much the lion's share,
• 11:07
  about 36% of
• 11:09
  the $143 million that
• 11:11
  we're talking about.
• 11:13
  So far, at the last update
• 11:15
  at the Public Safety Commission,
• 11:17
  that was on January 5th, APT said
• 11:18
  they'd already spent $7
• 11:20
  million in overtime out of
• 11:23
  their budget of around $26
• 11:25
  million.
• 11:26
  So it's a department that
• 11:28
  regularly runs over that budget,
• 11:30
  right, because we're talking about
• 11:31
  53 million from the previous year.
• 11:33
  They're budgeted this year for $26
• 11:35
  million, and they've already spent a
• 11:37
  sizable chunk of that.
• 11:38
  Obviously, ACL is a thing,
• 11:40
  SXSW is a things, police overtime
• 11:42
  is a necessity, and
• 11:44
  we'll again have to kind of wait and
• 11:46
  see how that shakes out this year
• 11:48
  with the post-Prop Q Austin.
• 11:50
  All right. Well, we have been
• 11:52
  speaking with KUT's government
• 11:53
  accountability reporter, Andrew
• 11:54
  Weber. Andrew, thank you for coming
• 11:56
  on the show.
• 11:57
  Appreciate you, dear.
• 11:58
  You can read more of From Andrew's
• 12:00
  Story at KUT.org.
• 12:01
  We have more there and on the KUT
• 12:03
  app, including Governor Greg Abbott
• 12:05
  directing all public universities
• 12:07
  and state agencies today to freeze
• 12:08
  new H-1B visa applications.
• 12:11
  This latest move escalates his
• 12:13
  administration's scrutiny of foreign
• 12:15
  workers employed at taxpayer-funded
• 12:17
  institutions.
• 12:18
  We have about that story at
• 12:20
  K-U-T.org,
• 12:22
  and we have more Austin Signal
• 12:23
  coming up after this break.
• 12:32
  Hi, I'm Madison Stidham, owner of
• 12:34
  Dead or Alive Cloth, and you're
• 12:36
  listening to Austin Signal.
• 12:40
  Well, I was born
• 12:42
  with the view of I-35, so
• 12:44
  I am as Austin as
• 12:46
  they come.
• 12:49
  It started out as like,
• 12:51
  Oh, I want to find like old
• 12:52
  historical clothes.
• 12:54
  And then it was like, oh, I'm
• 12:56
  leaving behind stuff that doesn't
• 12:57
  fit me, but it's really cool.
• 12:59
  I bet you I could sell these.
• 13:00
  And then, it just went off from
• 13:02
  there.
• 13:04
  It was just like, I took a
• 13:06
  gamble on this Goodwill and they
• 13:08
  didn't have anything that I
• 13:10
  really thought I
• 13:13
  could pick up.
• 13:15
  And so I was like.
• 13:15
  Oh. That's so weird, look at these
• 13:17
  old yearbooks.
• 13:18
  And I just naturally have a
• 13:19
  fascination for like really, really
• 13:21
  old things.
• 13:23
  But I just happened to like look
• 13:25
  at it and there's
• 13:27
  actually like
• 13:29
  a note that came in it.
• 13:31
  And it's like a high school
• 13:33
  reunion speech that
• 13:36
  was given in like 80 something.
• 13:38
  And it talked about how,
• 13:40
  you know, they had gone through
• 13:42
  personal struggles like murder
• 13:44
  and suicide.
• 13:46
  And I was like, I wonder who was
• 13:47
  murdered at Yellow Jacket High
• 13:49
  School.
• 13:50
  So I left the Goodwill
• 13:52
  to, you know,
• 13:54
  to leave because I was just like,
• 13:55
  oh, there's just a whole bunch of
• 13:56
  yearbooks, but oh, let me look up
• 13:58
  who was murdered at Yellowjacket
• 14:00
  High.
• 14:01
  I looked up Yellowjackett High
• 14:03
  57 and immediately
• 14:05
  that yearbook popped up.
• 14:06
  And then I saw that Lee Harvey
• 14:08
  Oswald was in it.
• 14:10
  And so I did the fastest
• 14:12
  U-turn in the whole world.
• 14:14
  And I whipped over there and
• 14:16
  found the yearbook.
• 14:22
  I didn't think I should keep it.
• 14:25
  I've gotten a lot of comments about,
• 14:26
  you know, you should have kept it,
• 14:28
  and things like that.
• 14:29
  But I feel like I
• 14:32
  don't have any
• 14:34
  sort of resources to keep
• 14:36
  that book, like,
• 14:38
  protected and perfect.
• 14:40
  So I was like, I need to just
• 14:42
  give it to somebody who would
• 14:44
  cherish it and, like protect
• 14:45
  it and put in, like some case or
• 14:47
  something.
• 14:48
  Um, so I was like...
• 14:50
  Alright, they need to go to the
• 14:51
  auction house, so that's what
• 14:53
  happened there.
• 14:58
  Yeah, it's like, I think in like,
• 15:01
  January 30th, the catalog will
• 15:03
  go out.
• 15:04
  Um, it, so
• 15:06
  it's really just a waiting game.
• 15:09
  Um, I've never
• 15:10
  done an auction.
• 15:13
  Like I, I have never done like a
• 15:14
  real auction, like eBay.
• 15:16
  Yeah. But I mean, this is
• 15:18
  completely different.
• 15:20
  Um, they have four
• 15:22
  sites that they're going to have it
• 15:24
  on. So it's going to reach as far as
• 15:26
  possible. And um
• 15:28
  The book will be on
• 15:29
  AustinAuctionGallery.com
• 15:35
  I posted the story on
• 15:38
  TikTok and Instagram,
• 15:40
  and collectively, they gathered
• 15:42
  around 30,000 views.
• 15:45
  So we've got a lot of comments,
• 15:47
  a lot of questions, and a
• 15:49
  lot people interested in it.
• 15:52
  The auction house actually wrote
• 15:54
  back and said that
• 15:56
  people had been contacting them
• 15:58
  about the book.
• 16:00
  And he basically said that
• 16:02
  you have a far reach.
• 16:03
  So that video went to whoever
• 16:05
  I needed it to go to.
• 16:18
  Shortly after Community Garden
• 16:20
  opened in East Austin,
• 16:22
  staff started putting out butcher
• 16:23
  paper and markers for customers
• 16:25
  to just make art.
• 16:27
  Three years later, doodle nights are
• 16:29
  a regular Wednesday night activity
• 16:31
  at the cafe and wine bar.
• 16:33
  Ella Kopeikin reports the owner
• 16:35
  wanted to create an environment made
• 16:37
  for connection.
• 16:41
  On Wednesday nights at Community
• 16:42
  Garden, the energy feels more
• 16:44
  like an elementary school art class
• 16:46
  than a wine bar.
• 16:47
  I caught Maria Vargas as she was
• 16:49
  starting on a watercolor.
• 16:50
  It's like this place in the
• 16:51
  neighborhood you can just walk,
• 16:52
  relax, decompress, and then just
• 16:54
  work on whatever projects and have
• 16:56
  good conversations.
• 16:57
  The crowd ranges from couples on
• 16:59
  first dates, to friends catching up,
• 17:01
  to regulars like Francesca Hymas.
• 17:03
  I live like two houses down
• 17:05
  from here, so I've been
• 17:07
  coming here for a while now.
• 17:09
  I would come here and draw because
• 17:10
  there was like nothing really else
• 17:11
  to do.
• 17:12
  These Doodle Nights, soundtracked by
• 17:14
  local DJs, are weekly staples.
• 17:16
  This is Corbin Carey, a frequent
• 17:18
  Doodle Night DJ who runs the record
• 17:20
  shop inside Community Garden.
• 17:22
  It kind of just started putting
• 17:23
  out butcher paper on all
• 17:25
  the tables and a bunch of
• 17:27
  markers.
• 17:28
  And even within the first couple of
• 17:29
  weeks, I mean, there were people
• 17:30
  bringing like typewriters
• 17:33
  and all sorts of different artistic
• 17:35
  activities.
• 17:36
  Tucked away in the Chestnut
• 17:37
  neighborhood of East Austin, the
• 17:39
  space operates as a coffee shop,
• 17:41
  wine bar, and performance venue.
• 17:43
  Here's co-owner and manager, James
• 17:44
  Harcrow.
• 17:45
  It was always important to
• 17:47
  me to have Community Garden be
• 17:49
  a home for a lot of different people
• 17:52
  that are into a lot different
• 17:53
  types of music or events.
• 17:56
  Before Community Garden, Harcrow
• 17:58
  had never been involved in
• 17:59
  hospitality, but music was a
• 18:01
  constant.
• 18:02
  I was working in
• 18:04
  a screen printing shop and
• 18:06
  making electronic music and
• 18:08
  I wanted to create
• 18:10
  a platform, the label Growth
• 18:13
  and Decay, so catalog,
• 18:15
  underground electronic music from
• 18:17
  Texas.
• 18:17
  The record label, which he founded
• 18:19
  in 2015, introduced him
• 18:21
  to new local music and expanded his
• 18:23
  network of fellow artists.
• 18:24
  Then, when the pandemic halted live
• 18:26
  events, Harcrow made an unexpected
• 18:28
  pivot to keep in touch with his
• 18:30
  growing community.
• 18:31
  I just started making acai bowls at
• 18:33
  home. I would have friends come
• 18:34
  over. They would eat these bowls.
• 18:36
  We would hang out. We would catch
• 18:37
  up.
• 18:37
  Two of these friends were Brian
• 18:39
  Almaraz and Cole Evans, owners
• 18:41
  of the Coconut Club downtown.
• 18:42
  When club staff began to discuss
• 18:44
  reopening, they asked Harcrow to
• 18:46
  cater the meetings.
• 18:47
  After a few months, they had a
• 18:49
  proposition.
• 18:49
  Brian and Cole had approached me
• 18:52
  and just said, hey, we think these
• 18:53
  are really tasty.
• 18:54
  And if you were ever interested in
• 18:56
  doing something outside of your
• 18:58
  studio apartment, we would be
• 19:00
  really stoked to
• 19:02
  chat more.
• 19:03
  Harcrow felt a cafe would provide
• 19:04
  him the opportunity to create an
• 19:06
  environment that encourages
• 19:07
  connection, especially connection
• 19:09
  through music.
• 19:10
  It was going to be a place that
• 19:12
  we could do the record release
• 19:14
  parties and the art shows and be
• 19:16
  a hub for the city for
• 19:18
  interesting things that are going
• 19:19
  on.
• 19:20
  Community Garden opened its doors in
• 19:22
  spring 2023, offering
• 19:24
  acai bowls and coffee during the
• 19:26
  day, wine at night, and music
• 19:28
  from open to close.
• 19:29
  Within the first few weeks, a friend
• 19:31
  proposed doodle nights.
• 19:34
  Had suggested that it would be
• 19:36
  really neat to do some type of
• 19:37
  doodle night. People would show up
• 19:39
  and would just draw and hang out.
• 19:41
  And so from there, we gave it a try.
• 19:43
  They would also have a DJ or curated
• 19:45
  playlist to make the evening feel
• 19:47
  relaxed and encourage the artistic
• 19:49
  flow.
• 19:50
  Here's Corbin Carey again.
• 19:51
  Sometimes there's DJs, sometimes
• 19:52
  there's not, but even when there's
• 19:54
  no DJs usually James is playing
• 19:56
  records or someone's playing good
• 19:58
  records.
• 19:58
  Francesca Hymas was part of a small
• 20:00
  group that started coming early on.
• 20:02
  Some usuals would be here and
• 20:04
  we would draw and then we started
• 20:06
  making like games out of it.
• 20:08
  I was drawing with a friend and we
• 20:10
  would always like make like fun
• 20:11
  characters and we'd play like
• 20:13
  Pictionary and stuff.
• 20:14
  I try to come as often as possible.
• 20:16
  Over time, the word spread.
• 20:18
  Maria Vargas found out about Doodle
• 20:20
  Night through Instagram.
• 20:21
  I lived in a neighborhood for years
• 20:22
  and I just had always seen on social
• 20:24
  media that they had a doodle night
• 20:26
  and so I texted these guys
• 20:27
  and I was like, hey do you want to
• 20:28
  check it out?
• 20:29
  Almost three years later, the
• 20:31
  event has become a Wednesday night
• 20:32
  tradition.
• 20:33
  I think it's like a lot of first
• 20:35
  dates and then a lot of just cool
• 20:37
  creative people that come and like
• 20:39
  having, you know, an outside space
• 20:41
  to come and draw or
• 20:43
  do whatever kind of art they
• 20:45
  would like to do.
• 20:46
  And there's good music.
• 20:47
  Although rooted in music, Community
• 20:49
  Garden now hosts all kinds of
• 20:51
  creatives. No two weeks are the
• 20:53
  same.
• 20:53
  Whether it's a food pop-up or
• 20:55
  a market, zines,
• 20:57
  book pop-ups, vintage pop- ups,
• 20:59
  there's always going to be something
• 21:00
  new and interesting.
• 21:02
  But Wednesday doodle nights, where
• 21:03
  DJs cultivate a different theme or
• 21:05
  vibe, and Tuesday listening room
• 21:07
  sessions where DJ's play full
• 21:09
  albums, are mainstays,
• 21:10
  drawing big crowds on slow nights,
• 21:13
  and showcasing the diversity of
• 21:14
  music played at Community Garden.
• 21:16
  This is Marshall Spaulding, an
• 21:18
  employee and DJ.
• 21:19
  We are so good at being a
• 21:21
  canvas for like any
• 21:23
  type of person or music that
• 21:25
  wants to come here and express
• 21:27
  themselves.
• 21:28
  And as the venue has grown as a host
• 21:30
  for artists, the business itself
• 21:32
  has grown, much to Hargrove's
• 21:34
  surprise.
• 21:35
  I would have never thought that the
• 21:36
  space would then go into be a wine
• 21:37
  bar that also served espresso,
• 21:40
  that also then turned into a spot
• 21:42
  that's serving these elevated
• 21:44
  small plate.
• 21:45
  But for Harcrow, the greatest
• 21:47
  achievement is that people keep
• 21:48
  coming in.
• 21:49
  You know, I think at the core of it,
• 21:51
  it was my love for all
• 21:53
  the people that were around me and
• 21:55
  wanting to create a home that would
• 21:57
  foster a bit more connection.
• 21:59
  And the community of Community
• 22:00
  Garden keeps growing.
• 22:03
  For KUT News, I'm Ella
• 22:04
  Kopaken in Austin.
• 22:13
  And that is it for
• 22:14
  today's show.
• 22:15
  Thank you for tuning in and spending
• 22:17
  some time here with us.
• 22:19
  Don't forget that you can find more
• 22:20
  from today's show in the show notes
• 22:22
  wherever you listen to your
• 22:23
  podcasts, as well as over at
• 22:25
  kut.org
• 22:27
  slash signal.
• 22:29
  Rayna Sevilla is our technical
• 22:30
  director and Kristen Cabrera is our
• 22:32
  managing producer.
• 22:33
  Special thanks today to Casey Cheek,
• 22:36
  Greta Díaz, González Vázquez,
• 22:38
  Andrew Weber and Ella Kopeikin.
• 22:40
  I'm your host Jerry Quijano.
• 22:43
  Austin Signal is going to be back on
• 22:44
  the radio at the same time tomorrow.
• 22:47
  We'll talk to you then.
• 22:48
  Be careful out there.
• 22:49
  Stay warm.