BG Reads | News You Need to Know (June 5, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
*NEW* BG Podcast EP 89: COVID-19's Impact on the Built Environment with Michael Hsu (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Council boosts direct economic aid in spending plan for federal Covid-19 money (Austin Monitor)
The city will move more of its federal aid for Covid-19 relief toward direct assistance for residents, with a total of $70 million now dedicated to rental relief, food aid and direct payments to individuals.
City Council approved a resolution Thursday giving staff a broad outline for spending in three main categories – public health, emergency response and economic recovery – as well as specific line items within each category, with the ability to change smaller allocations as needs arise.
The unanimous vote provides a framework for how to spend the $271.6 million available to the city through a combination of federal funding sources, the largest being the roughly $170 million from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Going forward, staff will work on further allocating the $105.5 million in emergency response funding, $62.9 million for public health needs and $103.2 million for economic support.
An amendment from Council Member Greg Casar moved money from several of the economic recovery initiatives to provide more for direct assistance, including more than $18 million in additional rent assistance and another $12 million for the RISE Fund to give cash payments to vulnerable residents… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin ISD Is Looking For A New Leader During A Pandemic. Some Parents Find That Worrisome. (KUT)
There’s a lot we don’t know about the future for Austin’s students: Will Austin ISD's school buildings be open in August? Will online learning still be happening? Will there be sporting events or gatherings of any kind?
The AISD community also doesn't know who will be leading the district when the next school year starts.
In February, Superintendent Paul Cruz announced he was leaving to take a job at UT Austin. His contract is valid through December 2021, but the school board has said it wants to hire a new superintendent by August… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Layoffs, furloughs extended for hundreds of Austin-area hotel workers (Austin American-Statesman)
The coronavirus outbreak is continuing to do damage to the Austin-area hospitality industry, as layoffs and furloughs are being extended for hundreds of workers at local hotels, according to documents filed with the state.
Layoffs or furloughs will be extended for a combined 460 employees at the Renaissance Austin Hotel, the Sheraton Austin Hotel at the Capitol and the Sheraton Austin Georgetown Hotel and Conference Center, according to WARN letters sent to the Texas Workforce Commission.
A WARN letter, which stands for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, is a federally mandated notice employers must provide to state governments in the event of major layoffs.
The Renaissance Austin Hotel, which is at 9721 Arboretum Boulevard, has instituted “temporary furloughs, temporary layoffs, and/or temporary reductions in hours” for all 243 of its employees, according a May 29 letter the company sent to the workforce commission.
Those furloughs and layoffs first took effect on March 21 and were expected to last less than six months, according to the WARN letter. However, the ongoing pandemic and stay-at-home orders “have caused a sudden, severe and worsening downturn in the hospitality industry that now makes it reasonably foreseeable that these temporary actions may extend beyond six months,” according to the letter… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
66-story tower proposed for downtown Austin (Austin American-Statesman)
A Chicago-based company plans to build a tower with apartments and office space at East Fourth and Brazos streets in downtown Austin, according to documents filed with the city. CA Ventures is the developer proposing the project on a half block at the northeast corner of the intersection. The site currently houses Brazos Hall, an event venue that operates in a 1900s warehouse building, as well as an office building.
CA Ventures did not return calls seeking comment about when it plans to start construction, whether financing is in place, when Brazos Hall would be demolished, or other details. The tower would be the first project in Austin for CA Ventures, a real estate investment and development firm. Documents filed with the city show plans for a tower with more than 60 stories and potentially rising about 820 feet tall. At that height, the building would be taller than the mixed-use apartment and office tower now under construction at West Sixth and Guadalupe Streets. That 66-story tower, named 6 X Guadalupe, is in line to become Austin’s tallest building, eclipsing the 58-story Independent condominium tower downtown that is known as the “Jenga Tower” for its distinctive stacked design… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
As police chief urges 'meaningful reform,' critics wonder why it's missing in Houston (Houston Chronicle)
Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo’s voice cracked several times and his eyes welled as he railed against the death of George Floyd beneath a policeman’s knee and implored protesters to demonstrate peacefully with him. “I will not allow anyone to tear down this city, because this is our city,” Acevedo shouted on Sunday to the group of mostly black Houstonians surrounding him at one of many protests in the wake of video showing Floyd’s fatal encounter with police in Minneapolis. “Pay close attention! Because these little white guys with their skateboards are the ones starting all the s--t.”
Video of Acevedo’s profanity-laced remarks went viral and, along with his other blunt statements this week, won the chief acclaim from those outraged by the death of Floyd, a former Third Ward resident. It has also drawn anger from those who say Acevedo has failed to address the very things he’s condemning at home. His calls for police to be more transparent and enact “meaningful reform” have refocused attention on a series of fatal shootings by his own officers, and his refusal to release body camera video of the incidents. “We're looking at him say one thing on camera, but locally, we know different,” said Dav Lewis, a local activist who was friends with Adrian Medearis, one of the men who died in the spate of shootings. “We know different locally. We have not seen police accountability.” The chief has also resisted calls to release the results of an audit of his narcotics division, rocked last year by one of its worst scandals in decades, and he has downplayed calls to bolster the city’s Independent Police Oversight Board, long criticized as a “toothless watchdog” group. “While these are great photo ops, and maybe the chief has political aspirations, and this is all warm and fuzzy kind of stuff he’s doing, it's time for some action,” said Mark Thiessen, president of the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas is short of its contact tracing workforce goal by more than 1,000 people (Texas Tribune)
As Texas moves forward with a new phase of Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan for reopening businesses, the state has fallen more than 25% short of its goal for a workforce of disease detectives that experts say are crucial for tracking the spread of the new coronavirus.
One of Abbott’s reopening metrics for June 1 called for up to 4,000 Texas contact tracers, who work to identify people with possible exposure to the coronavirus and call them to get tested and self-quarantine.
But Texas officials said Thursday there were roughly 2,900 contact tracers working around the state. Of those, some 1,140 are working for the Texas Department of State Health Services, 1,170 are working for local health departments or their nonprofit and university partners, and about 600 are working for a company recently hired by the state… (LINK TO STORY)
University of Texas at Austin to offer 2,100 classes online, limit classrooms to 40% capacity (Texas Tribune)
As many as 2,100 fall classes at the University of Texas at Austin will be taught exclusively online next semester, amounting to about 20% of all fall courses offered.
In a letter to the UT-Austin community announcing reopening updates, interim Dean Jay Hartzell said these courses will be determined by faculty members who agree the quality of the course will remain up to scratch even remotely.
UT is navigating the return to campus next fall after the COVID-19 outbreak prompted a transition to remote learning midway through the spring. The school previously announced it would move 400 of its largest classes online. These will include remote lectures and the possibility of “in-person learning experiences” led by teaching assistants on campus. Any on-campus classes will run from August to Thanksgiving and then continue remotely in an effort to limit student travel… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Mattis's Trump broadside underscores military tensions (The Hill)
Former Defense Secretary James Mattis’s stunning public criticism of President Trump is underscoring growing fears in the military that the president is compromising the integrity of the U.S. Armed Forces by threatening to use them against protesters.
Trump has urged governors to deploy National Guard troops to “dominate the streets” and stop violent demonstrations, saying he would dispatch U.S. military forces to states and cities that do not meet his demands.
On Monday, streets near the White House were forcibly cleared of peaceful protesters by federal law enforcement officers. That night, a National Guard Lakota helicopter flew low over protesters in the city in a show of force previously unthinkable in a U.S. city… (LINK TO FULL 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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