BG Reads | News You Need to Know (May 28, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
BG Podcast Ep 88: Austin Council Member Paige Ellis discusses the Healthy Streets Program (LINK TO SHOW)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Audit: Austin police need more time, better data in community policing (Austin American-Statesman)
Taking a hard look at Austin’s community policing effort, a city audit found that police have little time to engage with people outside of responding to crime and the department needs better methods of tracking such initiatives. In community policing, officers embed themselves in an area to build connections between the community and the department, said Alfred S. Titus Jr., an assistant professor of criminal justice and research at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. “The main idea that most people consider when they think of community policing is that it allows the community to understand that the police are regular people, they’re not to be feared,” Titus said.
It also helps officers who are not from the neighborhood they’re patrolling to feel less like an outsider, he said. The audit, whose findings were released Wednesday, looked into community policing efforts after the Austin Police Department requested a followup to a 2016 audit, City Auditor Corrie Stokes said. In 2016, Matrix Consulting gave the city 60 recommendations. By August 2019, according to a draft of the latest audit, the department had implemented 40 of them. Three key findings emerged from the latest audit: More time is needed to determine whether the Austin Police Department has been effective since 2016 in improving community policing. How the department gathers and uses community policing data may be limiting how effective its community policing measures are; Officers don’t have a single block of time scheduled for community engagement, and instead, are expected to do community policing in between regular calls. Downtime between calls can sometimes be only five minutes… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Possible second wave of coronavirus cases could hit Austin in June (CBS Austin)
A second wave of coronavirus cases could hit Austin in June. On Wednesday, Austin Public Health (APH) laid out a timeline for a surge if people don't stop risk-taking.
“The UT model, other models, are all suggesting that beginning mid-June and particularly toward the end of June that we may see a significant increase in the number of cases and hospitalizations,” said Dr. Mark Escott, Interim Health Authority at Austin Public Health.
Dr. Escott says while there is concern about a surge in cases the public can tame those predictions by not doing as much risk-taking as Texas bars, restaurants and other businesses reopen.
“The models aren’t predicting the absolute future. It’s important for us to remember that we as a community can change what that future looks like,” said Dr. Escott at a media briefing on Wednesday.
One way that APH is dealing with the reopened local economy is increasing the availability of coronavirus tests. Austin's free, drive-thru testing site can handle 1750 people a day, but demand is nowhere close to that.
“Right now, we are only seeing about 200 people per day,” said Janet Pichette, Chief Epidemiologist at Austin Public Health… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Some developments continuing to move forward in Austin (KVUE)
The COVID-19 pandemic isn't slowing down some development plans in the Capital City.
A big development is coming soon to an area just south of Downtown Austin. The property is on West Live Oak Street, near South First Street.
There are plans for it to become a mixed-use development. It's not clear yet how tall the building will be or if it will be apartments or condos, but the developers – who also own a nearby property – hope to break ground by next year… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Lack of immunity to coronavirus alone isn’t enough for mail-in ballot (Texas Tribune)
The Texas Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that a lack of immunity to the new coronavirus does not qualify a voter to apply for a mail-in ballot.
In the latest twist in the legal fight over voting by mail during the coronavirus pandemic, the court agreed with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton that the risk of contracting the virus alone does not meet the state’s qualifications for voting by mail.
“We agree with the State that a voter’s lack of immunity to COVID-19, without more, is not a ‘disability’ as defined by the Election Code,” the court wrote.
Texas voters can qualify for mail-in ballots only if they are 65 years or older, have a disability or illness, will be out of the county during the election period, or are confined in jail. The Texas election code defines disability as a “sickness or physical condition” that prevents a voter from appearing in person without the risk of “injuring the voter’s health.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Dallas weighing property tax hike as city faces revenue shortages (Dallas Morning News)
Dallas is feeling COVID-19?s financial impact, and now officials may consider raising property taxes to shore up next year’s budget. City Council members will vote Wednesday on a resolution to allow the Dallas County Tax Office to calculate a property tax rate that would increase the city’s revenues by 8%, which is higher than the 3.5% cap enacted by the Texas Legislature last year. Texas’ recently overhauled tax code said cities’ year-to-year property tax revenue cannot increase beyond 3.5% without voter approval, but provided an exception if an area is under a disaster declaration issued by the governor or the president.
Texas is currently under a disaster declaration issued by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott on May 12. And the entire country is under a disaster declaration issued by President Donald Trump. The exception would allow Dallas to bypass the voter approval process, Elizabeth Reich, the city’s chief financial officer, said in an email. If approved, Wednesday’s resolution wouldn’t automatically set the revenue growth rate at 8% but provides an option for city officials as they start preparing for the 2021 budget, Reich said. “It would allow the city to set a rate that raises 8% more revenue, but it does not obligate the council to do so,” she said. Dallas last year set its tax rate at 77.66 cents per $100 valuation. Though the city has cut rates four years in a row, property values have remained high. Property tax revenue currently makes up about half of the city’s general fund and pays for the entirety of the city’s debt service, Reich said… (LINK TO STORY)
Mayor Ron Nirenberg Names Ivalis Gonzalez Meza as New Chief of Staff (Rivard Report)
Ivalis Gonzalez Meza, who comes from a family of political activists and joined the mayor’s office in 2018, will become Mayor Ron Nirenberg’s new chief of staff effective June 1, officials said Friday.
Meza currently serves as the mayor’s director of policy and public engagement.
“Ivalis has continually demonstrated her value and commitment to the city from the
day she walked into the office,” Nirenberg said in a press release.Meza will replace Jim Greenwood, a former Valero executive who became chief of staff shortly after Nirenberg won reelection last June. Greenwood has decided to retire, according to the press release.
“I am deeply appreciative of Jim’s willingness to devote his time and considerable talents to our team,”’ Nirenberg said. “Jim’s contributions have been significant.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Twitter Places Fact-Checking Warning On Trump Tweet For 1st Time (KUT)
Twitter has placed a fact-checking warning on a pair of tweets issued by President Trump in which he claims without evidence that mail-in ballots are fraudulent.
Twitter's move on Tuesday marks the first time the technology company has sanctioned Trump as criticism mounts about how the president has amplified misinformation to more than 80 million followers on the social media platform.
Trump responded by accusing Twitter of stifling free speech… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Trump, Furious at Twitter, Aims Order at Tech Giants (Bloomberg)
Donald Trump has been raging against Twitter Inc. since the social media platform that helped vault him to the presidency slapped fact-check links on a pair of his tweets.
Now, he’s poised to take action Thursday that could bring a flurry of lawsuits down on Twitter, Facebook Inc. and other technology giants by having the government narrow liability protections that they enjoy for third parties’ posts, according to a draft of an executive order obtained by Bloomberg.
The companies’ protections against lawsuits apply when they act “in good faith” in taking down or limiting the visibility of inappropriate tweets, videos and other social media posts, but the law doesn’t define bad faith. The draft order would push the Federal Communications Commission to issue rules clarifying the issue, potentially allowing users to sue over takedowns if they were inconsistent with companies’ terms of service, did not provide enough notice or meet other suggested criteria… (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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