BG Reads | News You Need to Know (October 15, 2019)
[BG PODCAST]
NEW -> Episode 56: Catching up with Chris Shorter, Austin Assistant City Manager (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
It now costs $2 an hour to park on Austin streets, and the price could go higher (KXAN)
New parking rates of $2 per hour went into effect Monday morning citywide, representing a doubling in street parking costs in many places.
The Austin Transportation Department bumped up the rates from $1 per hour around the city and $1.20 per hour in the downtown core in order to free up more spots.
The city’s goal is to have 15% of the parking spaces on any given block open at any given time, and transportation officials say the cheaper rate was preventing that turnover.
And $2 is just the starting point, ATD spokesperson Mary Vo told KXAN. Starting in early 2020, the department will conduct occupancy studies to determine if they’re hitting the 15% goal. If not, ATD will raise prices more on blocks that aren’t meeting the target.
According to the city’s budget, the rate could rise to as high as $5 per hour in some places, but the department can only raise prices once every three months… (LINK TO STORY)
Council poised to revise camping rules Thursday (Austin American-Statesman)
Camping could be prohibited in some areas of the city under a proposed ordinance Austin City Council members will weigh on Thursday.
Council Member Ann Kitchen posted the ordinance to the Council’s online message board over the weekend, clarifying several locations where camping should be barred to keep people experiencing homelessness and the community at large safe.
The changes, co-sponsored by Kathie Tovo, Alison Alter and Leslie Pool, prohibit camping in the following areas: Guadalupe Street between Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and 26th Street; 24th Street between North Lamar Boulevard and Guadalupe Street; Congress Avenue between Oltorf and 11th streets; Second Street between Trinity Street and West Avenue; and Fifth and Sixth Streets between Interstate 35 and Lamar Boulevard.
More streets could be added later with council approval.
The ordinance also lists roadway medians, slopes of underpasses and areas surrounding homeless shelters as off-limits, along with drainage culverts, storm drains, creeks, riverbeds and places with high wildfire risk… (LINK TO STORY)
Planning Commission begins tackling the new LDC draft (Austin Monitor)
Friday, Oct. 4, was a big day for the city of Austin. That afternoon ushered in the draft of the city’s most recent attempt to rewrite its Land Development Code, kicking off months of discussions about the topic.
The Planning Commission had its first discussion on Oct. 8. Though the commissioners only had four days to parse the 1,300-page document, their first order of business was determining how to approach the task of offering city staff and Council feedback on the draft.
With a tight schedule ahead, the commission decided to tackle the feedback process within the working groups and then present any proposed amendments to the full commission on designated working days. The first one will be this Wednesday, Oct. 16.
Subsequent meetings will continue through October into November with a public hearing scheduled for Oct. 22… (LINK TO STORY)
Memo suggests expanding Palm School plan to include Waller Creek, medical district (Austin Monitor)
The city’s Planning and Zoning Department has recommended greatly expanding the scope of revitalization plans focused around the Palm School property, to include the entirety of the Waterloo Greenway project and more of the downtown core.
The change suggested would include substantially more property, and several existing planning areas, than what was included in a May vote by City Council that sought to preserve the historic school property and endorsed an aggressive expansion of the Austin Convention Center.
A memo released last week by Jerry Rusthoven, assistant director of Planning and Zoning, laid out the suggested new work program that would run through spring 2021.
The memo is short on specific reasons for expanding the planning area, other than saying existing analysis and input from stakeholders led to the push, and that it is possible some synergies exist between projects in neighboring areas… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Fort Worth Officer Charged With Murder, Resigns After Shooting (KUT)
A white Fort Worth police officer who shot and killed a black woman, Atatiana Jefferson, through a back window of her home while responding to a call was charged with murder on Monday after resigning from the force.
Aaron Dean, 34, was jailed on $200,000 bond after the police chief said he acted without justification and would have been fired if he hadn't quit.
Police bodycam video showed that Dean did not identify himself as an officer and fired a split-second after shouting at Atatiana Jefferson to show her hands. Jefferson, 28, was killed in front of her 8-year-old nephew, cut down by a bullet fired through her window early Saturday… (LINK TO STORY)
Democratic Senate hopeful MJ Hegar raises $1 million for third quarter (Dallas Morning News)
MJ Hegar hauled in $1 million during the third quarter, showing that she is raising enough cash to mount a credible primary campaign for the chance to face incumbent Sen. John Cornyn next year. According to totals shared with The Dallas Morning News, Hegar has nearly $900,000 in the bank, money that she’ll use for the March Democratic primary for Senate.
“I am proud of the campaign we are building and am excited to see so many Texans hopping on board,” Hegar said in a news release. “As I travel across Texas, I have heard from thousands of working people who are ready for a Senator who knows firsthand the challenges they face and will fight for affordable health care and aggressive action to address climate change, not sell them out to special interests and political cronies.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Key goal for Texans Julián Castro and Beto O'Rourke in Tuesday's debate: Make the next one (Texas Tribune)
The two Democratic presidential candidates from Texas are set to appear Tuesday evening in what threatens to be their last debate, a high-stakes opportunity to propel their campaigns out of the lower tier and prove they deserve their spots onstage.
Julián Castro and Beto O'Rourke are among 12 candidates who will take the stage at 7 p.m. at Otterbein University in Westerville, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus. Hosted by CNN and The New York Times, it is the fourth debate of the primary, and the last one before qualification requirements go up again, potentially leaving the Texans on the sidelines.
In the short term, though, both Texans are being closely watched for their potential collisions with other candidates Tuesday evening. O'Rourke, the former El Paso congressman, is heading into the debate on the heels of his latest clash with South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, while Castro's reputation precedes him after he stood out in the first three debates for his unflinching interrogations of some rivals… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Trump’s ex-Russia adviser told impeachment investigators of Giuliani’s efforts in Ukraine (Washington Post)
Fiona Hill, the White House’s former top Russia adviser, told impeachment investigators on Tuesday that Rudolph W. Giuliani, the president’s personal lawyer, ran a shadow foreign policy in Ukraine that circumvented U.S. officials and career diplomats in order to personally benefit President Trump, according to a person familiar with her testimony.
Hill, who served as the senior official for Russia and Europe on the National Security Council, was the latest witness in a fast-moving impeachment inquiry focused on whether the president abused his office by using the promise of military aid and diplomatic support to pressure Ukraine into investigating his political rivals. In a closed-door session that lasted roughly 10 hours, Hill told lawmakers that she confronted Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union, about Giuliani’s activities which, she explained, were not coordinated with the officials responsible for carrying out U.S. foreign policy, this person said on the condition of anonymity to disclose details of her deposition… (LINK TO STORY)
[BG BLOG]
Proposed Changes to the 2020 COA Calendar and FY21 Budget Timeline
Changes could be coming to the Austin City Council’s 2020 meeting calendar. Such was the discussion last week at Council’s October 1 work session. City staff’s goal is to have a version prepared for Council vote at their October 17 meeting... (LINK TO STORY)