BG Reads | News You Need to Know (December 2, 2019)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
NEW -> Episode 63: The Future of Texas Hemp Farming with Robert Head, CEO, Blue Cord Farms (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Adler, Abbott incommunicado over homeless issue (Austin American-Statesman)
As the summer heat sweltered and more and more homeless people set up camps under Austin-area highways, Gov. Greg Abbott took notice and began making his feelings known on Twitter.
On several occasions, Abbott tweeted what he wanted the Austin City Council to do, and the feud escalated online between the state’s top elected official and the mayor of the city where he resides.
While Abbott’s criticisms played out on social media, he did little to communicate with Mayor Steve Adler through official channels. The only direct communication in 2019 from Abbott’s office to Austin were two letters, public records obtained by the American-Statesman show.
Further records obtained through a public information request underscore Abbott’s M.O.: He uses Twitter to offer condolences, praise or even spout off about actions among various Texas municipalities, but he rarely communicates, if at all, via calls, emails or letters to those cities’ elected leaders unless a city has a major emergency… (LINK TO STORY)
State appeals court strikes down Austin rules on short-term rentals (Austin Monitor)
A state appeals court has declared some elements of Austin’s rules governing short-term rentals unconstitutional, including provisions banning non-owner-occupied rentals and occupancy limits.
In 2016, the City Council passed sweeping new regulations of short-term rentals, like those you find through Airbnb or Homeaway. The rules included a phased-in ban on what are called “type 2 STRs” — those that are not occupied by the owner. That ban would be in place by 2022.
The court said a ban on type 2 STRs would not prevent any of the concerns the city cited, and that many of those concerns – about disorderly conduct, public urination and noise – were already prohibited by the law.
The city’s ordinance also limited occupancy to two adults per bedroom and banned “assembly” — like weddings, bachelor/bachelorette parties and other group events — between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin Mayor Steve Adler watched Pete Buttigieg court Chasten. Now Adler’s helping him court America. (Texas Tribune)
At South by Southwest, before the Austin City Council approved an ordinance easing rules for camping and panhandling in public, Mayor Steve Adler wanted guidance on what would prove to be a controversial proposal for addressing homelessness.
So he turned to a mentor and friend: Pete Buttigieg.
Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Indiana, was sleeping over at Adler’s house during his trip to Austin. He didn’t offer a plan for addressing homelessness in the sprawling capital city, but he did act as a sounding board for Adler, a protégé 26 years his senior. The conversations about homelessness in Austin, Adler said, continued throughout the year.
Over the past five years, what began as a collegial, professional relationship has blossomed into a genuine friendship, according to interviews with Adler, several donors who have met Buttigieg through the Austin mayor and Buttigieg’s campaign… (LINK TO STORY)
New 'respectful neighbor policy' aims to address concerns around new homeless shelters in Austin (Community Impact)
When Austin City Council voted to move forward with purchasing the South Austin Rodeway Inn for conversion into a homeless shelter, Mayor Steve Adler and local homelessness leader Matt Mollica promised to personally address the many concerns raised by neighbors about the shelter. The city is now turning that pledge into a policy, according to documents released Nov. 26.
The “respectful neighbor policy” is currently under development, but assistant city manager Rodney Gonzales and homeless strategy officer Lori Pampilo Harris said it would be implemented for all future motel conversions. City leaders have said motel conversions offer the best and most immediate housing solution to address the local homelessness issue. The city plans to pursue the conversion of more motels in the future, they have said.
Adler promised during the Nov. 14 City Council meeting to be onsite with the discontented neighbors as the Rodeway Inn transitioned into a shelter to listen and address their concerns. However, the policy in development would ensure that staff from the city’s Ending Community Homelessness Coalition and the shelter’s on-site service providers be regularly available to nearby residents… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
For Turner, Harvey still hangs over ballot box two years later (Houston Chronicle)
As Sylvester Turner faces a referendum on his first term as mayor in the Dec. 14 runoff election, the largest event of his tenure — Hurricane Harvey, the worst rainstorm to hit the continental U.S. — is still hanging over him two years later. Houston has made little progress building new flood-control infrastructure since the 2017 storm ravaged the region, and, as of Oct. 31, had helped just 71 homeowners through the main home-repair program meant to ensure a full recovery for storm survivors.
These points provided fodder for Turner’s opponents throughout the year, and millionaire trial lawyer Tony Buzbee, the remaining foe Turner will face in the runoff, continues to say the mayor has failed to prepare the city for the next major storm. "The reason people are still waiting is simple: because rather than get busy helping people, the mayor has instead pushed the relief contracts to his friends, partners, and donors who are ill-equipped to do the work,” Buzbee said. “When I am mayor, you will see rapid action. We will fast track flood relief for those devastated by Harvey." A spokeswoman for the Turner campaign said the mayor “has a long list of accomplishments on flooding.” She cited city council’s move to toughen regulations for homes built in floodplains and the mayor’s proposal to advance a $43 million loan to Harris County to widen Brays Bayou, among others… (LINK TO STORY)
Trump administration plans to open national forests in Texas to more oil and gas drilling (Houston Chronicle)
Environmentalists and other opponents are fighting Trump administration plans to open more than 1.9 million acres of national forests and grasslands in Texas to more oil and natural gas drilling activity, which would include plans to drill thousands of feet under Lake Conroe — the principal drinking water source for thousands of people in suburban Montgomery County. Seeking to overturn an Obama-era moratorium, the administration is proposing to lease large areas of Sam Houston National Forest, Davy Crockett National Forest, Angelina National Forest, Sabine National Forest, Caddo National Grasslands and LBJ National Grasslands to oil and natural gas companies.
The forests are part of the Haynesville shale of East Texas and Louisiana, and the grasslands are part of the Barnett shale of North Texas. Oil and gas companies have drilled on those lands for decades, but new leasing on them stopped in 2016, when the Obama administration bowed to pressure from environmentalists and other opponents concerned about the effects of hydraulic fracturing. The Trump administration is seeking to reopen those lands for leasing, which would allow oil and natural gas companies to drill more than 1,000 horizontal wells and 500 vertical wells over a 20-year period. In a 49-page report, the U.S. Forest Service estimates that the 1,500 wells would require more than 5 billion gallons of water to unlock more than 68 million barrels of oil and more than 4.2 trillion cubic feet of natural gas… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
White House Says President Trump Won't Participate In Wednesday Impeachment Hearing (NPR)
As the House impeachment inquiry moves this week from the fact-gathering stage in the Intelligence Committee to considerations of law in the Judiciary Committee, the White House says President Trump does not intend to participate in a Wednesday hearing.
In a 5-page letter released Sunday evening, Pat Cipollone, the White House counsel, declined an offer extended by Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y, for the president or his lawyers to take part in this week's public proceeding.
"We cannot fairly be expected to participate in a hearing while the witnesses are yet to be named and while it remains unclear whether the Judiciary Committee will afford the President a fair process through additional hearings.”… (LINK TO STORY)
The Bingham Group, LLC is an Austin-based full service lobbying firm representing and advising clients on municipal, legislative, and regulatory matters throughout Texas.
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