BG Reads | News You Need to Know (October 6, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
BG Podcast Episode 108: Industry Update with Skeeter Miller, President, Greater Austin Restaurant Association (SHOW LINK)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Lawsuit over Austin's land development code rewrite won't be resolved this year, officials say (Austin Business Journal)
A citizen-led lawsuit surrounding Austin's effort to overhaul the land development code will likely not be resolved this year.
That means the City Council's legal questions about how comprehensive zoning should be done are still pending, leaving fast-growing Austin with zoning regulations crafted largely in the 1980s for the foreseeable future. All this is on top of delays spurred by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jane Webre, attorney at Scott Douglass & McConnico LLP who is representing the city, said the pandemic's impact on legal processes has delayed the case. She estimated that it could be another three to five months after the case is set for submission for an opinion to be reached. At press time, the court of appeals was waiting for the city to file its reply brief.
"Both sides have received extensions on the briefing deadlines, so it's taken longer than ordinary. A lot of it is because of Covid-19 and how it's impacted the processes," she said, adding oral arguments will likely take place over videoconferencing technology. "It will not be this year, for sure."
Aimed at encouraging more dense development, many Austinites believe the revamp can't come fast enough as the city deals with issues such as an extreme shortage of housing supply.
While the lawsuit remains in legal limbo, city staff and Austin City Council appear to be able to make some revisions to the land development code that are unrelated to the massive rewrite. A recent example has been tweaks to processes like demolition permitting. City officials are also considering additional fees-in-lieu for the downtown density bonus program… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin ISD reopens for first time since coronavirus closed schools in March (Austin American-Statesman)
Parents and students greeted administrators Monday morning with waves and squeals on the steps of Doss Elementary’s newly-built campus as the children returned to school for the first time since the coronavirus abruptly shuttered the Austin district in March.
The largest district in the region with 80,000 students, Austin was among the last to reopen campuses to in-person learning Monday, doing so with up to 25% capacity —one of the most conservative approaches to reopening schools in Central Texas. Students in prekindergarten, kindergarten, sixth and ninth grades and their siblings, as well as children of district staff and special needs students, were able to return to school buildings. While campuses were capped, some individual classrooms or grade levels could exceed the amount.
“I’m excited and nervous,” Indy Cargill, who was starting her first day of kindergarten, said as she walked up the sidewalk to Doss Elementary.
“We’re excited to get back to some sort of normalcy,” said her father, Ryan Cargill. “They’d done a lot of preparation for this. So we’re confident they’ve done all the right things.”
Some parents said they were thrilled to have their children back at school after juggling their kids’ virtual learning while working from home… (LINK TO STORY)
Assistant chief talks APD headquarters (Austin Monitor)
The movement for racial justice combined with the Covid-19 pandemic may be reshaping the future of the Austin Police Department and the use of the department’s headquarters at 715 E. Eighth St.
While the conversation about reimagining the headquarters grew out of City Council’s work to reform the department budget, Chief of Staff Troy Gay told the Public Safety Commission Monday that Covid-19 has also shifted the department’s administrative operations.
“We have a lot of individuals right now at headquarters that have traditionally worked here in the building, but we’re realizing that there are some, such as in our records department and others, that can actually telework and be as efficient,” Gay said. “I do think our needs are going to be a little bit different based on the current environment and some of the things that we’re learning that people can be effective and work at home through teleworking.”
With these changes, Gay said the department may need less real estate than it had previously believed, freeing up new opportunities for other organizations to move into the space or even move police administration out of the current downtown building.
Gay said while moving headquarters out of the downtown core could complicate department operations, co-location with other public service organizations downtown “would be beneficial.” He noted the potential benefits of bringing a mental health provider like Integral Care into the building or finding ways to work in closer proximity with organizations like Front Steps, Caritas or the city’s Homeless Outreach Street Team.
“To me the sky’s the limit – it’s just a matter of getting with the right folks and the stakeholders to decide the benefits, the pros and cons,” he said… (LINK TO STORY)
Attorney General Ken Paxton’s choice of outside lawyer to investigate Nate Paul complaint stunned aides (Austin American-Statesman)
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s seemingly unilateral appointment of an outside lawyer to take on a huge responsibility — investigating allegations of unlawful conduct by federal investigators in an August 2019 raid — stunned Paxton’s top aides and was among the revelations that led them to launch a criminal complaint against their boss, the American-Statesman has learned. Houston lawyer Brandon Cammack appeared before a Travis County grand jury on Sept. 28 as a special prosecutor representing Paxton’s office and obtained subpoenas to look into allegations made by Austin businessman Nate Paul accusing federal authorities of wrongdoing when they raided his home and offices, according to documents obtained by the Statesman.
After learning Cammack had participated in the court proceedings, a deputy of Paxton’s sent Cammack a cease-and-desist letter stating that he had no authority under state law to serve as a special prosecutor and that by doing so he might have committed a crime. “You have not been retained, authorized, or deputized by this office as such and your actions are entirely inappropriate and may be illegal,” Deputy Attorney General Mark Penley wrote to Cammack Wednesday. The letter directed Cammack to stop taking any further actions.
In the letter, Penley said he had become aware that Cammack had served a subpoena on at least one private business earlier that day. Whether Cammack’s actions broke any laws was unclear, but Penley’s letter underscores that Paxton’s decision to appoint Cammack to investigate federal authorities without consulting his top staff caught aides by surprise and raised concerns among them about the attorney general’s relationship with Paul, who has been the subject of a federal investigation for the past 14 months. Paxton’s top deputies told their boss in a text message Thursday that they had alerted law enforcement “concerning your relationship and activities with Nate Paul.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Gov. Greg Abbott has closed Texas bars twice since the pandemic began. Now he’s hinting at opening them again. (Texas Tribune)
Gov. Greg Abbott teased in a tweet Monday that he would soon allow “more openings” of Texas businesses, setting off speculation that he will allow bars to reopen a second time because he ended the message with the word “Cheers!” and included an image of two beer mugs clinking.
Abbott wrote in the tweet that the spread of the coronavirus and numbers of people hospitalized with COVID-19 “remain contained.”
But the state’s seven-day average positivity rate — or the share of coronavirus tests that come back positive in a week — is now slightly higher than 6%. It was slightly lower than that when Abbott first reopened bars, a decision he later said he regretted. And as of Monday, there were 3,318 Texans hospitalized with COVID-19, compared with 1,578 on May 22, when Abbott originally reopened bars.
The disease the coronavirus causes has killed more than 16,000 Texans.
When asked Monday about Abbott’s hint at more reopenings, a spokesperson for the governor referred The Texas Tribune to the tweet that prompted the question.
In a reply to Abbott’s tweet, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said the county’s health committee “strongly discourages the reopening of bars at this time,” citing rising hospitalizations and cases in North Texas.
Spread of the coronavirus in bars and nightclubs — where typical nights can include mingling among strangers, singing along to loud music, shouting and dancing on a packed dance floor — has been widely documented throughout the U.S.
But industry groups and bar and distillery owners have criticized Abbott for months, saying that he is not communicating with them on their proposals to allow them to reopen safely and avoid massive numbers of businesses shutting down for good. The number of service industry employees who have been out of work has been a large driver of unemployment claims in the state this year… (LINK TO STORY)
Paxton rejects calls for his resignation (Austin American-Statesman)
Embroiled in allegations of bribery and misuse of office, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton rejected calls for his resignation Monday and continued to deflect blame onto “rogue employees” in his agency. The most prominent call came from U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a former second-in-command under Paxton, who said that his former boss and fellow Republican must resign amid “troubling” accusations raised by seven top executives at the state agency. “The attorney general deserves his days in court, but the people of Texas deserve a fully functioning AG’s office,” Roy said in a statement posted on his House website Monday.
As Democrats also piled on, Paxton pushed back, denying wrongdoing and defending his actions in seeking a special prosecutor to investigate claims of misconduct by federal authorities that had been made by an acquaintance, Austin businessman Nate Paul. In Monday’s written statement, Paxton blamed “rogue employees” for impeding that investigation. “Despite the effort by rogue employees and their false allegations I will continue to seek justice in Texas and will not be resigning,” Paxton said. The statement mirrored claims Paxton made Saturday, when he blamed the seven executives for “making false claims” against him. For Roy, that Saturday statement was a breaking point when dealing with accusations that are “more than troubling on the merits.”
“Any grace for (Paxton) to resolve differences and demonstrate if the allegations are false was eliminated by his choice instead to attack the very people entrusted, by him, to lead the office — some of whom I know well and whose character are beyond reproach,” Roy said. Roy, in a hard-fought reelection campaign against Democrat Wendy Davis, appeared to be the first Texas Republican to specifically call for Paxton to resign, though moderate state Rep. Sarah Davis, R-Houston, said Sunday that Paxton should resign if he does not “quickly address these allegations.” The state’s top GOP officials, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, have said the accusations against Paxton raised serious concerns, but they added that they will await results of any investigations before commenting further… (LINK TO STORY)
As Ken Paxton faces criminal allegations, an agency at war with itself must carry on the state’s business (Texas Tribune)
It had already been a difficult fall for the Texas attorney general’s office.
The sprawling agency, which employs some 4,000 people in more than 100 offices across Texas, has for months had to contend with the added challenges of the coronavirus, many staff members working from home and others deployed as legal backup to Gov. Greg Abbott in coronavirus-related lawsuits on everything from abortion rights to business closures.
Communications director Marc Rylander departed more than a month ago, and Nick Moutos, an assistant attorney general, lost his job at the agency in early September after revelations that he had shared racist rhetoric and QAnon conspiracy theories on social media. Meanwhile, top state attorneys are juggling a handful of fast-moving election-related lawsuits — When will early voting begin? Will Texas ballots allow for straight-ticket voting? — and gearing up for a Nov. 10 argument before the U.S. Supreme Court, the culmination of a yearslong effort to strike down the Affordable Care Act… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Trump leaves Walter Reed, saying Americans shouldn't be 'afraid' of COVID-19 (The Hill)
President Trump was discharged from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center on Monday evening following three days of treatment for COVID-19, downplaying the deadly threat posed by the virus and telling Americans not to let it “dominate” their lives.
Trump, wearing a suit, tie and light-colored face mask, walked out of the hospital just after 6:30 p.m., ignoring questions from reporters while offering a wave.
“Thank you very much, everybody,” he said before boarding Marine One for a short trip back to the White House, where he will continue to be treated for COVID-19. Upon arrival, Trump walked up the steps to the White House residence and removed his mask, an action that itself immediately triggered controversy.
White House physician Sean Conley told reporters earlier Monday that Trump’s symptoms were improving and that he had met the criteria for discharge as of Monday afternoon, less than 72 hours after being admitted to the hospital. Still, Conley acknowledged that Trump is not “out of the woods” and that his symptoms could deteriorate as the illness progresses.
“Though he may not entirely be out of the woods yet, the team and I agree that all of our evaluations, and most importantly, his clinical status, support the president’s safe return home,” Conley said during a briefing outside Walter Reed in Bethesda, Md.
In announcing plans to leave Walter Reed earlier Monday because he was “feeling really good,” Trump tweeted that Americans should not fear COVID-19 or let it “dominate” their lives, a message that was roundly criticized by health experts as the wrong way to characterize a virus that has killed more than 210,000 people in the United States.
Trump expanded on his statement in a video message filmed at the White House later Monday and disseminated on his Twitter account.
“Don’t let it dominate you. Don’t be afraid of it. You’re going to beat it. We have the best medical equipment. We have the best medicines, all developed recently,” Trump said in the message… (LINK TO STORY)
‘Do they think ... rules for everybody else do not apply to them?’: Chris Wallace slams Trump’s family for refusing masks at debate. (Washington Post)
Inside a Cleveland auditorium on Tuesday, everyone watching President Trump debate former vice president Joe Biden wore a mask, with a notable exception: Trump’s guests, including the first family. On Sunday, the debate’s moderator, Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, demanded answers from the Trump campaign for flouting the debate host’s rules — especially in light of Friday’s news that both the president and first lady Melania Trump later tested positive for the novel coronavirus. “The rules from the Cleveland Clinic could not have been more clear. Everyone, everyone in the audience was to wear a mask,” Wallace said on “Fox News Sunday.”
“After the first family came in, they all took off their masks. So did the White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows. Do they think that the health and safety rules for everybody else do not apply to them?” When Steve Cortes, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, started arguing that the masks weren’t necessary because attendees had been tested for the virus, Wallace cut him off.
“Steve, it doesn’t matter. Everyone in that room was tested. The Cleveland Clinic regulation was, it didn’t matter. Everyone except for the three of us onstage was to wear a mask,” Wallace said. The interview tied off a weekend in which Wallace was a central, often critical, voice in Fox News’s coverage of Trump’s positive diagnosis — a story that could personally affect him after he shared a stage with the president. Wallace has said he won’t be tested until Monday. On Friday, Wallace broke the news that illustrated Trump’s lax approach to safety guidelines, revealing to viewers that the president violated an “honor system” by showing up to the debate without having tested negative. Wallace also said Trump and his staff didn’t wear masks on a walk-through before the debate… (LINK TO STORY)
Trump didn’t disclose first positive COVID-19 test while awaiting a second test on Thursday (Wall Street Journal)
President Trump didn’t disclose a positive result from a rapid test for Covid-19 on Thursday while awaiting the findings from a more thorough coronavirus screening, according to people familiar with the matter. Mr. Trump received a positive result on Thursday evening before making an appearance on Fox News in which he didn’t reveal those results. Instead, he confirmed earlier reports that one of his top aides had tested positive for coronavirus and mentioned the second test he had taken that night for which he was awaiting results. “I’ll get my test back either tonight or tomorrow morning,” Mr. Trump said during the interview. At 1 a.m. on Friday, the president tweeted that he indeed had tested positive.
Under White House protocols, the more reliable test that screens a specimen from deeper in the nasal passage is administered only after a rapid test shows a positive reading. Based on people familiar with the matter, the president’s tests followed that protocol. As the virus spread among the people closest to him, Mr. Trump also asked one adviser not to disclose results of their own positive test.
“Don’t tell anyone,” Mr. Trump said, according to a person familiar with the conversation. Mr. Trump and his top advisers also aimed to keep such a close hold on the early positive results that his campaign manager, Bill Stepien, didn’t know that Hope Hicks, one of the president’s closest White House aides, had tested positive on Thursday morning until news reports later that evening, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Trump campaign said Friday evening that Mr. Stepien had tested positive. The initial secrecy within Mr. Trump’s inner circle has created a sense of anxiety within the West Wing. Publicly, the White House has issued evolving and contradictory statements about the president’s health that has some officials worried about their own credibility. “I’m glued to Twitter and TV because I have no official communication from anyone in the West Wing,” an administration official said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)