BG Reads | News You Need to Know (October 30, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
TODAY is the last day for early voting October 30 (7:00 AM-7:00 PM). Find early voting locations here (Travis County only).
*NEW* Announcing The Bingham Group Foundation
Today, we proudly announce the launch of The Bingham Group Foundation, our company sponsored 501(c)(3) nonprofit. With a board representing Austin’s diversity, the Foundation will contribute financially to inspiring nonprofits creating educational and economic access for underserved communities in the Austin Metro. Learn more here.
*NEW* BG Podcast Episode 112: Discussing Community Healthcare with Perla Cavazos, Deputy Administrator, Central Health (SHOW LINK)
On this episode we speak with Central Health executive Perla Cavazos about the agency’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic and initiatives going into 2021.
[AUSTIN METRO]
Anticipating election protests, Council Members ask Austin Police how they plan to avoid injuries (KUT)
Four Austin City Council members sent a letter Thursday to the head of police asking him to explain how he plans to keep protesters safe during anticipated demonstrations following the results of the presidential election next week.
“As we’re sure you agree, what happened at previous Austin protests this year represented a failure to keep people safe,” Council Members Greg Casar, Jimmy Flannigan, Delia Garza and Natasha Harper-Madison wrote in a letter to Police Chief Brian Manley.
“We request updates on how, under your leadership, APD will maintain an environment where free speech and assembly are not only tolerated, but welcomed, without injury either to the public or our own public servants," the members said.
During protests in late May, Austin police seriously injured at least two people after shooting lead-pellet-filled bags, also called beanbag rounds, and other so-called "less lethal" munition at protesters; APD is currently investigating 10 incidents where police allegedly injured demonstrators. Local doctors say these bullets caused serious injuries, including brain bleeds, and one patient remained in the hospital for 23 days before being discharged to a rehab center… (LINK TO STORY)
Downtown Austin Alliance CEO worries about small businesses entering eighth month of pandemic: 'It is the reason why people want to be here' (Austin Business Journal)
There's evidence that some activity is returning to downtown Austin as the seventh month of the pandemic nears a close, but pedestrian traffic is still far from pre-pandemic levels.
The slight boost in foot traffic was outlined in an October economic update from the Downtown Austin Alliance, which indicated that activity is starting to pick up likely in conjunction with UT football games. Pedestrian traffic is down 65% from pre-pandemic levels, compared with an 80% reduction at the onset of the pandemic, said Downtown Alliance President and CEO Dewitt Peart.
But, it's still unclear how long businesses will be reeling from the pandemic.
Over the last seven months, construction has continued to ramp up downtown with more than 8 million square feet underway and another 10 million square feet in the pipeline, according to the update. At the same time, leasing activity has dropped significantly since March and the amount of available space for sublease has grown 223%, a picture that worsened in the last quarter.
Some of the available space on the ground floor of buildings may be attributable to businesses that are closing for good downtown — namely music venues, bars and restaurants, critical industries to Austin's economy and cultural indetity… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin's economy is crawling slowly back to recovery. So why is the housing market booming? (Community Impact)
The national and local economies are in recession, and unemployment rates are double what they were last year, but the housing market has been unscathed by the COVID-19 pandemic—especially in Austin, where demand for housing has soared in recent months.
“It’s one of the few industries that really is going strong when you look at the U.S. economy, the tate economy and the Austin economy,” said Jim Gaines, chief economist at the Texas A&M University Real Estate Center.
In the Austin metro, data from the Austin Board of Realtors shows home sales to date in 2020 are higher than in 2019 despite a dip in early spring when, Gaines said, buyers were reluctant to put their homes on the market and risk exposure to COVID-19. In Central Austin, the median price is up over 13.2% year over year—reaching $550,000 as of September.
From January through September, buyers have spent more than $2 billion on Central Austin homes—a 7.3% increase from the same period last year, despite the fact the actual number of Central Austin home sales is down more than 4%.
A number of factors support Austin’s especially strong market. Many Austinites, Gaines said, work in industries such as tech that offer the flexibility to work from home and remain mostly unaffected by the economic pressures of the virus. Tech companies such as Apple and Tesla recently announced expansions in the Austin and Travis County areas, showing investment and growth in the city are unlikely to slow down. As of September, the Austin metro’s unemployment rate of 6.4% was 1.5 percentage points lower than the national average, according to numbers from the Texas Workforce Commission and U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics… (LINK TO STORY)
Developer linked to Texas AG Ken Paxton says loan holders, judge conspired to steal his properties (Dallas Morning News)
Nate Paul, the real estate developer at the center of new criminal allegations against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has accused several people, including a federal judge, of orchestrating a vast criminal conspiracy to steal his properties. Paul requested an investigation into unsubstantiated claims that 11 people, including loan holders, lawyers and a federal bankruptcy judge, were scheming to seize millions of dollars in real estate equity, according to a document The Dallas Morning News obtained Wednesday. The allegations apparently were passed on to an outside lawyer Paxton hired to investigate Paul’s concerns, according to an invoice obtained by The News.
The new details raise more questions about Paxton’s alleged use of the resources and power of his position to help Paul, a friend and campaign donor. Paxton personally intervened several times this year in a range of matters that involved or helped Paul — prompting seven senior agency staffers to accuse Paxton of wrongdoing. It’s unclear how the two men know each other. Paxton has not answered questions about the extent of his connections to Paul, whose company owns properties in Austin, Dallas and Houston, as well as out of state.
“This complaint is regarding a fraudulent financial scheme,” Paul wrote in the undated document, adding that it was an “ongoing conspiracy.” Paul alleged that Austin businessman Bryan Hardeman orchestrated a plan to buy up debt on Paul’s properties and consolidate it into a single bankruptcy case. A court-appointed receiver would then oversee a “rigged auction” of the real estate that would allow Hardeman to make a profit of at least $150 million, Paul alleged… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Despite polls showing a close race, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick claims if Democrats win on Election Day, it will be "because they stole it" (Texas Tribune)
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick repeated unsubstantiated claims in a Thursday interview that the only way Republicans can lose on Election Day is if Democrats cheat.
“The Democrats have just decided this election, Mark, we don't have to pay attention to any laws. We're gonna use COVID as an excuse to steal the election, and that's what they're trying to do everywhere,” Patrick, a Republican, said during a radio interview on “The Mark Davis Show.” “If the president loses Pennsylvania or North Carolina, Mark, or Florida, they'll lose it because they stole it.”
A spokesman for his office clarified after the interview that Patrick was referring to “reports of ballot irregularities” and “other potential fraud” being seen in Pennsylvania and other battleground states. There have been no credible reports of widespread fraud or irregularities in Pennsylvania. President Donald Trump’s campaign seized on an announcement by federal authorities that they were investigating why nine military ballots were found in a trash can there, but no arrests have been made and no evidence has been made public that any fraud was involved… (LINK TO STORY)
Texas Republicans sound post-2020 alarm bells (The Hill)
Texas Republicans remain bullish that President Trump will repeat his 2016 win here next week. But they warn the party nonetheless has a lot of work to do in the coming years as Democrats continue to make inroads across the state, especially in suburban areas.
For two cycles now, Texas Republicans have watched as Democrats picked off long-held GOP House seats in the Dallas and Houston suburbs, with the minority party continuing to go on offense in a number of seats few saw as possible pick-up opportunities years ago. This has set off alarm bells for party leaders, who warn that they have to right the ship before it is too late.
"The party's got some work to do, and the reason they've got work to do is when you win the national championship every year — year after year after year — you get complacent," former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) told The Hill in an interview.
"I think the Republican Party in Texas over the last ten years...got complacent," Perry continued, taking some responsibility for the situation, as he was governor from 2000 to 2014. "You didn't build the structure that you need. You didn't go recruit the bench that you need to continue to be a strong team… (LINK TO STORY)
El Paso County’s judge has ordered nonessential businesses to close to slow coronavirus spread. The Texas attorney general says he can’t do that. (Texas Tribune)
El Paso County Judge Ricardo Samaniego ordered a two-week shutdown Thursday of nonessential businesses in this border area to help curb the record-breaking rise of COVID-19 cases that have overwhelmed hospitals. But Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's office swiftly challenged the judge's ability to issue the shutdown, setting up a potential legal battle, and El Paso Mayor Dee Margo said Samaniego never consulted him about that plan.
Samaniego's order comes after Gov. Greg Abbott issued a statewide executive order in September allowing some nonessential businesses to reopen to 75% capacity.
"El Paso County Judge Samaniego has no authority to shut down businesses in El Paso County," Paxton's office said in a tweet. "This is a direct violation of @GovAbbott’s executive order. My office is quickly exploring all legal actions."… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Surge in virus threatens to reverse global economic rebounds (Associated Press)
The resurgence of coronavirus cases engulfing the United States and Europe is imperiling economic recoveries on both sides of the Atlantic as millions of individuals and businesses face the prospect of having to hunker down once again. Growing fear of an economic reversal coincided with a report Thursday that the U.S. economy grew at a record 33.1% annual rate in the July-September quarter. Even with that surge, the world’s largest economy has yet to fully rebound from its plunge in spring when the virus first erupted. And now the economy is slowing just as new confirmed viral cases accelerate and rescue aid from Washington has dried up.
If many consumers and companies choose — or are forced — to retrench again in response to the virus as they did in the spring, the pullback in spending and hiring could derail economic growth. Already, in the United and Europe, some governments are re-imposing restrictions to help stem the spread of the virus. In Chicago, where Gov. J.B. Pritzker of Illinois has banned indoor dining and drinking, Grant DePorter, who runs Harry Caray’s Restaurant Group, worries that the blow to restaurants and their employees could be severe. When indoor dining was first shut down in the spring, he noted, employees could get by thanks to a $600-a-week federal unemployment benefit. That benefit has expired.
“Everyone is incredibly disappointed by the state’s decision,” DePorter said. In France, President Emmanuel Macron has declared a nationwide lockdown starting Friday. And in Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a four-week shutdown of bars, restaurants and theaters. Merkel warned of a “difficult winter” as Germany's daily reported coronavirus cases hit a new high Thursday… (LINK TO STORY)
Trump and Biden teams prep for once-outlandish election standoffs (Politico)
The 2020 election has come to this.
Lawyers for Donald Trump and Joe Biden are poring over arcane federal law to prepare for the possibility that a close or contested election might trigger two little-understood and barely tested scenarios.
First, there’s the chance that officials within a closely contested state might send two different results to Congress, one giving Trump the win, the other giving Biden the win. It’s a scenario that almost happened in Florida in 2000, and one that would leave the country without an obvious path to determine who won the state — and possibly the country.
Second, there’s the chance that the House of Representatives has to step in if no candidate clears the 270 electoral-vote threshold needed to win the presidency. While more clear-cut legally, this situation would still create a confusing moment in which each state delegation gets to cast just one vote for president. So even though Democrats control the House, they wouldn’t necessarily have the advantage, angering swaths of the country.
The possibilities are remote, but under a norm-busting administration, in a norm-busting year, with a hyperbolically divided public, the two parties are not taking any chances. Republicans and Democrats have already placed thousands of lawyers across the country to study the law in battleground states and prepare for these potential fights.
Democrats are worried Trump — who has already repeatedly refused to commit to conceding defeat — will cast suspicion on swing-state vote counts or even pressure state lawmakers to certify his desired results if there is a drawn-out counting process… (LINK TO STORY)
GOP faces fundraising reckoning as Democrats rake in cash (The Hill)
Republicans are facing a post-election reckoning about how they cultivate small-dollar donors.
Regardless of who wins on Nov. 3, GOP lawmakers and officials say there needs to be a party-wide discussion about how to better fundraise, as the pandemic magnifies the importance of digital efforts at a time when in-person events are dramatically scaled back.
Republicans, playing defense as they try to hold onto the Senate majority and the White House, have watched Democrats rake in a mountain of cash that has helped move deep red states into toss-up territory and set off alarms throughout the GOP.
“I’m sure we’ll be going to school on how the Democrats are so successful because we just can’t afford to be outspent by these huge margins and expect to be successful,” said Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), who is up for reelection this year.
Asked if the party needed a post-election examination of how to better cultivate small-dollar donors, Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Republican in the chamber, replied: “Oh my gosh, yes, absolutely, yeah.”
“They’ve created a mechanism that’s very effective and we’re trying to catch up,” Thune said, noting Republicans “were just getting crushed.”
Asked if he thought the party needed to do better, Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.), who is up for reelection in 2022, called it an “obvious yes.”
“I think Democrats with ActBlue are way ahead. ...Hats off to them, they did a really good job. We’re just behind,” Johnson said, referring to the main fundraising platform for donations to Democratic candidates and causes.
The looming GOP introspection on fundraising comes as the party’s Senate candidates in most competitive races have been outspent and outraised by their Democratic counterparts, allowing them to put Republican senators, whose reelections were once considered sure bets, on the defense… (LINK TO STORY)