BG Reads | News You Need to Know (June 9, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
*NEW* BG Podcast EP. 90: Processing with Chas Moore, President and Founder, Austin Justice Coalition (LINK TO SHOW)
He and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss the national conversation on racism sparked by the murder of George Floyd, the ripples in the Austin community, and AJC’s rally this [past] Sunday.
[AUSTIN METRO]
Council unveils resolutions aimed at dismantling systemic racism (Austin Monitor)
On Monday morning, City Council members Natasha Harper-Madison, Delia Garza, Greg Casar and Jimmy Flannigan, along with Mayor Steve Adler, held a press conference to discuss a group of resolutions aimed at reforming the Austin Police Department and dismantling systemic racism in the community. The resolutions will appear at Council’s Thursday meeting.
Harper-Madison opened the conversation. “We didn’t create these problems we have, but there’s no reason we have to pass them along,” she said.
She cautioned the community that the resolutions are just the beginning of the work that needs to be done to address structural racism in the city. “They only represent the first steps down a really long road of difficult policy work,” she said, “but we’re not going to fix this alone.”
Mayor Pro Tem Delia Garza introduced Item 50, which sets a series of goals for eliminating racial disparity in the following metrics: zero racial disparities in traffic stops (and tickets resulting from those stops), zero use-of-force incidents and zero officer-involved deaths. The city manager will return to Council by Oct. 15 with a progress report and a set of interim recommendations.
“How much racial disparity in policing should we be comfortable with?” Garza asked rhetorically. “My answer is, and I know yours is, zero.”
Flannigan’s Item 93 declares an emergency that would allow for the creation of a Public Safety Committee, which would advise Council on policing issues, criminal justice, emergency medical services, fire services, emergency management, and code compliance. It’s the current Judicial Committee with an expanded purview.
Casar introduced Item 95, which puts an end to the use of tear gas and impact (also known as “less lethal”) munitions, use of deadly force against people who are fleeing, and chokeholds. The item also limits the use of “military-grade equipment,” facial recognition software and no-knock warrants… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin Residents To Decide How City Council Districts Will Look For The Next Decade (KUT)
Austin residents can now apply to be on the commission to redraw City Council district boundaries. The city’s charter requires those lines be redrawn after the U.S. Census is taken every 10 years.
“These boundaries will shape how residents are represented … beginning in the election of November 2022 and going forward for the next decade,” City Auditor Corrie Stokes said.
Austin first created council districts in 2013, switching from at-large, or citywide, elections to 10 council districts in the 2014 election. Back then, a similar commission was created to draw the boundaries. This is the first time the lines are being redrawn.
The 14-person Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission will use census data as well as community input to draw the districts. Commissioners, who are unpaid volunteers, will need to consider things like keeping neighborhoods and communities together, geographical compactness, “reasonably equal populations,” and federal and state laws.
Residents fill out applications online, which will be narrowed down by a review board. Then, City Council members and the City Auditor’s office will further narrow down the list… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin economy shrank at record pace amid pandemic (Austin American-Statesman)
There has been no doubt that Austin’s once fast-growing economy slammed into reverse amid the coronavirus pandemic, but new figures from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas illustrate the record speed of the contraction.
Local business activity plunged 76.9% on an annualized basis in April, the first full month of the pandemic’s impact on the regional economy.
The downturn in the Dallas Fed’s Austin business-cycle index for April is by far the steepest decline since 1978, which is as far back as the data on the area’s economic output goes. The index contracted by about 2.3% in 2009 during the last recession, and it contracted by about 6% in 2001 during the dot-com bust.
It began 2020 logging annualized growth above 7%, signaling that the local economy was booming prior to the pandemic.
But Austin isn’t alone in experiencing a collapse in economic activity since then, as stay-at-home orders and consumer fears of catching or spreading the virus sent Texas and the nation into deep freeze beginning in March. The Dallas Fed’s barometers of April economic activity in Houston, San Antonio, Dallas and Fort Worth all fell at record paces as well… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
As Texas businesses reopen, COVID-19 case totals are rising. The state says hot spots like prisons and meatpacking plants are key factors. (Texas Tribune)
As Texas moves forward with a new phase of Gov. Greg Abbott’s plan for reopening businesses, the daily number of confirmed coronavirus cases is on a steady, upward trend.
Throughout the state, the number of new cases reported each day has grown from an average of about 1,081 during the week ending May 24 to about 1,527 in the past week. (Public health data varies day to day, so officials use a seven-day rolling average to better capture trends over time.)
The 14-day trend line shows new infections in Texas have risen about 71% in the past two weeks. Although confirmed infections have increased across the state, hot spots like state prisons and meatpacking plants, which have recently been the sites of mass or targeted testing, are responsible for a portion of the increase, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Dallas COVID-19 czar: We are becoming less vigilant about COVID-19 too soon (Dallas Morning News)
Dallas demonstrated remarkable sacrifice during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, adhering to stay-at-home orders and reaching out to help neighbors in need. But as a Dallas resident and as the city’s COVID-19 Health and Healthcare Access Czar, I am increasingly concerned that we are becoming less vigilant too soon about our physical and mental well-being. Mayor Eric Johnson asked me to take on this volunteer role last month, and he and I both recognized the importance of this job amid these unprecedented times for our world, our nation and our city.
Even as the economy begins to reopen, we are still in the midst of a global pandemic that has now claimed over 100,000 lives in the United States. The toll from the virus has been broad, not only leading to deaths, but also to devastating consequences on our economy. But when I have recently begun to venture out into our community, I have witnessed large numbers of people with no face coverings on at all. That alarms me. I recognize the desire to return to aspects of our routines that were displaced or denied over the last few months. I, too, share those desires. Studies have shown that the majority of the population wearing masks reduces viral transmission by as much as 50%. The use of personal protections, combined with hand-hygiene and physical distancing, has saved lives. We must also continue to maintain physical distancing. I applaud the restaurants and other venues that have taken efforts to provide signage and create space to help keep our community safe. In addition, we have all seen a substantial increase in the number of hand sanitizing stations. Please use them… (LINK TO STORY)
Houston City Council member proposes redistributing HPD funds, cutting jobs (Houston Business Journal)
As cities across the nation consider efforts to reform policing, a Houston City Council member proposed a measure to reallocate millions of dollars in potential Houston Police Department funds toward social services, new training and more.
The budget amendment, proposed by Council Member Letitia Plummer representing At-Large Position 4, would redistribute nearly $11.8 million in proposed police funding for fiscal year 2021 toward HPD's Independent Police Oversight Board, training on de-escalation and cultural sensitivity, and other efforts.
The nearly $11.8 million would be realized by eliminating 199 HPD positions, according to the proposed amendment.
"We’re not defunding the police officers or the police department," Plummer told KHOU. "We’re taking away civilian vacancies, which means these are positions for civilians that have not been filled and are not filled within the police budget."
The city's proposed FY2021 budget includes more than $930.62 million for the police department… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
How Federal Dollars Fund Local Police (NPR)
On Sunday afternoon, a veto-proof majority of Minneapolis City Council members announced their commitment to disbanding the city’s embattled police department, which has endured relentless criticism in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, on May 25.
“We’re here because we hear you. We are here today because George Floyd was killed by the Minneapolis Police. We are here because here in Minneapolis and in cities across the United States it is clear that our existing system of policing and public safety is not keeping our communities safe,” Minneapolis City Council President Lisa Bender said Sunday. “Our efforts at incremental reform have failed. Period.”
The City Council’s decision follows those of several other high-profile partners, including Minneapolis Public Schools, and the University of Minnesota, and Minneapolis Parks and Recreation, to sever longstanding ties with the MPD.
The announcement today also arrives after several members of the Council have expressed a complete loss of confidence in the Minneapolis Police Department.
“We are going to dismantle the Minneapolis Police Department,” tweeted Council Member Jeremiah Ellison on June 4, pledging to “dramatically rethink” the city’s approach to emergency response. In a TIME op-ed published the next day, Council Member Steve Fletcher cited the MPD’s lengthy track record of misconduct and “decades-long history of violence and discrimination”—all of which are subjects of an ongoing Minnesota Department of Human Rights investigation—as compelling justifications for the department’s disbandment. “We can resolve confusion over a $20 grocery transaction without drawing a weapon or pulling out handcuffs,” Fletcher wrote… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Lobbying firm cuts ties to Trent Lott amid national anti-racism protests (The Hill)
Lobbying firm Squire Patton Boggs announced Monday evening it is severing ties with former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) following days of anti-racism protests across the country.
Mark Ruehlmann, chair and global CEO of Squire Patton Boggs, said in a statement that the firm “decided that it is the right time to make a change in the leadership of our industry leading Public Policy practice.”
Lott served as co-chair of the firm’s public policy practice. He stepped down as Senate Majority Leader in 2002 after receiving backlash over remarks praising former Sen. Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.), who was famously pro-segregation, for winning Mississippi in the 1948 presidential election.
“As a global law firm, we are obliged to constantly evaluate and tailor our professional offerings to not only respond, but also anticipate the issues and concerns of an evolving marketplace and the clients we serve,” Ruehlmann said in the statement… (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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