BG Reads | News You Need to Know (September 23, 2020)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
*NEW* BG Blog: Leadership changes at City of Austin Economic Development Department (BLOG LINK)
See also, BG Podcast Episode 97: Talking Relief and Recovery with Veronica Briseño, Director of Austin's Economic Development Department (Show Link)
*NEW* Job Posting: Local Government Affairs Program Manager (Austin-Bergstrom International Airport)
[AUSTIN METRO]
SXSW will have online events in 2021. A physical festival on Austin is still a possibility. (KUT)
South by Southwest will host an online event next year, but plans for a physical one are still in the works, the organization announced Tuesday.
The annual series of conferences and festivals, which attracts hundreds of thousands to Austin each spring, was canceled in March because of COVID-19, the first of many festivals to be shut down this year as officials issued stay-at-home orders and put limits on indoor and outdoor gatherings. Shortly after the cancellation, the company laid off a third of its full-time staff, leaving many to wonder what the future of SXSW would entail.
Tuesday’s announcement gives some insight: SXSW Online, organizers say, will have “conference keynotes and sessions, screenings, showcases, networking, and exhibitions.” The education-focused segment, SXSW EDU Online, will take place March 9-11, and SXSW Online will be March 16-20.
“The challenge of building a new future is one that we’re excited to tackle,” Roland Swenson, CEO and co-founder, said in a press release. “This has been such a year of change and we, like the entire world, are reshaping our perspective on how we connect.”
SXSW will start accepting proposals for digital programs and sessions on Oct. 6 for SXSW and SXSW EDU, as well as submissions for the film festival. Rather than doing its typical showcase application process for the music festival, staff will curate music programming, “with priority given to showcase presenters and artists who were scheduled for the 2020 event,” organizers say.
SXSW says it’s working with the city and public health officials on plans for a physical event next year. In 2019, SXSW brought in an estimated $356 million and attracted more than 400,000 attendees from around the world. This year's cancellation was the first in the festival's 34-year history.… (LINK TO STORY)
Austinites for Progressive Reform want different kind of city government (Austin Business Journal)
A newly formed political action committee hopes to alter the structure of City Hall.
Austinites for Progressive Reform, led by some prominent businesspeople, recently proposed four city charter amendments with a stated goal of making city government more accountable, diverse and responsive. The group hopes to have the amendments up for public vote next May.
The suggested reforms include:
Electing the mayor during presidential years, not midterms;Adopting a mayor-council government that transfers city manager duties to the mayor;Eliminating low voter turnout by opting for ranked-choice voting; andCreating a Democracy Dollars campaign finance program that makes it easier for people to run for office.
The founders of APR are Andrew Allison, former CEO and founder of internet company Main Street Hub; Eugene Sepulveda of startup incubator Capital Factory, Entrepreneurs Foundation and Notley Ventures; Jim Wick, a former senior adviser for Mayor Steve Adler; and Laura Hernandez, former deputy campaign manager for Adler.
The group came together this summer after seeing a need for a city government that "better reflects the community," said Sepulveda, who has also been an adviser to Adler. Adler's term is up in 2023 and he is not eligible for re-election because of term limits.
Allison said the group’s overall goal is to make Austin “the most pro-democracy city in the country.” By adopting a mayor-council government, the mayor would take on a CEO role for the city and would be separate from Council. That would eliminate the current city manager role, which is held by Spencer Cronk. He did not return requests for comment by press time.
“When Austin government is more representative and responsive, diverse and accountable, everyone in Austin benefits, including business owners and their employees,” Allison said. “We’re facing a number of challenges as a city and having a government that can respond quickly and robustly to the challenges were facing … allows us to build a community that can thrive and that serves everybody.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin Public Health official warns flu season plus COVID-19 could stress hospital system (KUT)
Coronavirus cases in Austin and Travis County have been inching up since Sept. 1, though hospitalizations have dropped by 20%, Austin's top doctor said Tuesday.
One of the reasons for that is an increase in infections among 10- to 19-year-olds, most of whom don’t need to be hospitalized, Austin Public Health’s Dr. Mark Escott said. He told Travis County commissioners that hospital capacity is not a problem right now, but that could change with the onset of flu season.
“When we look at last year and the bad flu season that we had, our ICU capacity was maxed out just from flu,” he said. “If you imagine flu plus COVID-19, it’s just not going to be sustainable. We are going to have to ration care.”
Public health officials have been urging people to get vaccinated against flu. The Southern Hemisphere, where winter is ending, offers a glimmer of hope: Australia had a record light flu season, thanks to vaccinations and people wearing masks.
Also Tuesday, the Travis County commissioners approved Escott's reappointment as interim public health authority. Precinct 2 Commissioner Brigid Shea voiced some exasperation over how long the process of finding a permanent health authority has taken. The position has officially been open for more than 18 months… (LINK TO STORY)
County works toward December deadline for CARES expenditures (Austin Monitor)
In just over three months, Travis County will come up against its federally set deadline of Dec. 30 to spend the entirety of its $61.1 million in federal coronavirus relief dollars. As of Sept. 22, the county has spent only 17.2 percent of that allocation – just $2 million more than what the county had spent by the end of August.
Part of that low spend is attributable to the slow ramp-up of the programs rolled out by the county to support residents.
The $10 million rent and mortgage assistance program, in particular, has experienced less traction in the community than previously thought with just under 20 percent of the total allocated dollars spent. The county’s joint response funding commitments with the city of Austin also remain untapped since the two governmental entities are continuing to parse out their individual financial responsibilities when it comes to funding coronavirus response efforts.
Similarly, the $7.3 million in small city grants remains underused, with only 75 percent of the earmarked dollars spent. Of the 21 small cities eligible for funding, 13 have executed interlocal agreements with Travis County, three have declined and five have yet to indicate whether they intend to decline funding or seek an allocation.
Travis County Budget Director Travis Gatlin told the Commissioners Court that the expenditure update on Oct. 15 will be “more meaningful” as the county will close out its current fiscal year and will be better able to identify whether a reallocation of funds from certain programs will be necessary.
County Judge Sam Biscoe said that with the Dec. 30 deadline looming, it’s imperative that the federal funds are spent as quickly and as judiciously as possible. “We’re kind of running out of time to be super-patient,” he said.
Gatlin said staffers anticipate spending the entire $20 million allocated to the county’s direct response efforts. He said he also expects that the TCTX Thrive program will be fully executed by mid-October. As of Sept. 17, 107 small businesses had signed contracts for the program totaling approximately $4.2 million. The county expects to execute the remaining 118 contracts this week… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS]
Half of Texas restaurants will most likely close in six months, survey says (Eater Austin)
The National Restaurant Association released a survey of Texas restaurant operators amid the novel coronavirus pandemic last week, and the results sound dire. Half of the operators surveyed said that their businesses will have to close in six months if there is no federal relief provided. 46 percent said that their businesses will close in six months if the current pandemic-related circumstances are the same. 80 percent said that the total sales from August are lower than numbers from August 2019. This is while 73 percent said their total operating costs are greater compared to pre-COVID-19 pandemic times. And then 77 percent shared that to-go sales make up a higher percentage of their businesses, compared to before the pandemic. Scope out the infographic below.
Of the Texas Restaurant Association (which operates as part of the National Restaurant Association) members, 70.27 percent are independently owned, 29.07 percent contain multiple locations, and 0.66 percent are chains or franchises, according to a rep for the group… (LINK TO STORY)
From Convention Center to skate parks, San Antonio begins to reopen as coronavirus surge tapers of (San Antonio Express-News)
The coronavirus risk has eased enough that San Antonio is reopening public places, such as the Convention Center, the Alamodome, basketball courts and city performance theaters, even if on a somewhat limited basis. As of Monday, residents could return to reopened skate parks, playgrounds, sports fields and fitness stations. Officials also lifted the 10-person limit on in-person gatherings at city parks and plazas. Some services, such as the city clerk’s vital records office, that had been put on pause by the virus will resume later this year. And some now-closed indoor facilities, such as senior centers and libraries, will reopen in the weeks and months to come. “I want to thank the residents of San Antonio, who by following the recommended protocols have helped put us in the position of being able to reopen many of the services they use on a regular basis,” City Manager Erik Walsh said in a statement.
Residents can once more make reservations for pavilions at city parks. And special events in the parks can have up to 250 people in attendance. The Alamodome and Convention Center have to operate at reduced capacity — 17 percent and 25 percent, respectively. The Lila Cockrell Theatre and the Jo Long Theatre, housed at the Carver Community Cultural Center, will be held to 15 percent capacity. Not every outdoor space and in-person service will reopen immediately. For example, splash pads will stay closed through March. While the coronavirus is far from gone, seven weeks of promising indicators have placed San Antonio in the “safe” zone for risk, officials reported. For the second day in a row, one COVID-19-related death, a Hispanic man in his 60s, was reported in Bexar County on Monday. New cases also were down — 102, six fewer than the 108 reported Sunday by the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. That number, in turn, was down from 173 reported Saturday. But even with the new safe designation and reopened facilities, now is not the time to ease up on precautions, Mayor Ron Nirenberg said at the daily city-county coronavirus briefing… (LINK TO STORY)
Workforce favors Austin, Dallas if TikTok moves its U.S. headquarters to Texas (Dallas Business Journal)
Workforce talent will be the key consideration of where in Texas TikTok plants its headquarters and an estimated 25,000 jobs if the video-streaming app does indeed move to the Lone Star State, specialists in economic development and corporate relocations say.
Labor is the main driver for tech companies during the site selection process, said King White, CEO of Dallas-based Site Selection Group. The key is to find the balance of tech talent with the required skills at a reasonable cost, said White, whose firm conducts site searches for companies of all sizes worldwide.
“Texas can provide these things as evidenced by major commitments by companies like Apple, Uber, Cognizant and others,” White said. “Austin and DFW are the two primary tech markets in Texas which make the most sense. DFW has the population, scalability, tech talent, and local economic incentives, while Austin has a smaller labor market but the level of tech talent is considered one of the best in the U.S. There are pros and cons to each.”
Jon McCarry, senior director of the Murphy Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at the University of North Texas, said he would be surprised to see TikTok go anywhere besides Austin or Dallas-Fort Worth.
McCarry said the large number of universities in North Texas that can contribute talent to tech companies is a draw for companies such as TikTok. In addition, the infrastructure in DFW is superior to Austin’s, he said.
“Austin is great, and it’s got a great vibe, but the problem is its infrastructure,” McCarry said. “Getting around there is a nightmare and it always has been.”
On the other hand, California-based Oracle, which would be a partner in the deal, already has a sizable presence in Austin, with thousands of workers at its campus off East Riverside Drive. Walmart, which will also have a part in the deal, has its technology and innovation hub based in Austin… (LINK TO STORY)
Democrats take aim at Houston suburbs in bid for Texas House majority (Houston Chronicle)
Former Texas state Rep. Mike Schofield felt so confident in 2018 that the voters in his northwest Houston suburban district would give him a third term that he left about $140,000 unspent in his campaign account and dedicated much of his time to helping other Republican candidates.
He ended up losing the House District 132 seat to Democrat Gina Calanni by 113 votes in a race that he says he never anticipated to be so close.
Now Schofield is up for a rematch with Rep. Calanni. This time, he says, he and other Republicans are ready.
“I spent a good chunk of September and October last time trying to get the judges re-elected,” Schofield told the Houston Chronicle editorial board as he launched his campaign earlier this year. “The first lesson I learned was what they tell you when you get on the plane: put on your own oxygen mask first. So, I will have a Schofield-centric campaign and we will work to get everybody else across the finish line after we get there.”
Democrats emboldened by close races in 2018 and by President Donald Trump’s flagging approval in the suburbs have even bigger ambitions in the Houston area in 2020, taking aim at a handful of traditionally bright red districts long thought to be out of reach.
Both parties acknowledge the high stakes involved in this year’s battle for the lower chamber, Democrats’ only chance to gain leverage before the 2021 legislative session, when lawmakers will redraw the state’s political maps. Republicans, who also control the Senate and governor’s mansion, hold an 83-67 advantage in the House after losing 12 seats in 2018.
The Democrats are unlikely to capture a House majority without picking up at least a few seats in the Houston area, party officials and political analysts said. Abhi Rahman, a spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party, said the party’s “path to the majority runs directly through Houston and the Houston suburbs.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATION]
Romney backs vote on Supreme Court nominee, clearing way for Trump (Politico)
Sen. Mitt Romney said Tuesday he would support a floor vote to replace the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, essentially clinching consideration of President Donald Trump’s nominee this year despite the impending election.
Just two Republican senators have asked for the party to put the brakes on the confirmation. And with a 53-seat majority, Senate Majority Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) now has the votes he needs to move forward with a nominee.
The move is a blow to Democrats’ hopes of keeping the seat vacant for the next president, potentially their nominee, Joe Biden. But Romney said he had no qualms about Democrats' charges of hypocrisy or about strengthening the high court’s conservative majority.
“My liberal friends have over many decades gotten very used to the idea of having a liberal court, but that's not written in the stars,” the Utah Republican told reporters after this decision. He called it “appropriate for a nation that is … center-right to have a court which reflects center-right points of view.”
Given his criticisms of Trump and vote to remove him from office during the impeachment trial earlier this year, there was some question about where Romney would come down on a Supreme Court nominee. And though Romney’s position doesn’t mean Trump’s yet-to-be-named nominee will definitely have the votes to be confirmed, it does mean McConnell and Trump can move forward without delay… (LINK TO STORY)
Louisville Mayor declares State Of Emergency ahead of Breonna Taylor announcement (NPR)
Greg Fischer, the mayor of Louisville, Ky., said Tuesday he has declared a state of emergency for the city "due to the potential for civil unrest."
Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron is poised to announce whether his office will bring charges against the police officers who fatally shot 26-year-old Breonna Taylor during a botched narcotics raid at her home on March 13.
The mayor reiterated he has no insight about when Cameron's decision will be announced, but he said the city must be prepared.
"Our goal is ensuring space and opportunity for potential protesters to gather and express their First Amendment rights after the announcement," Fischer said in a statement. "At the same time, we are preparing for any eventuality to keep everyone safe."
The move comes a week after Fischer announced the city would pay Taylor's family $12 million to settle a wrongful death lawsuit as well as to institute several police reforms… (LINK TO STORY)
Trump attacks Omar for criticizing US: 'How did you do where you came from? (The Hill)
President Trump on Tuesday complained that Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) should not be giving input on how to run the country, asking of the Somali refugee, "How is your country doing?"
The president's attacks on Omar came as part of a broader diatribe against a group of first-term congresswomen known as "the squad," which consists of Omar and Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.).
"We’re going win the state of Minnesota because of her, they say," Trump said of Omar. "She’s telling us how to run our country. How did you do where you came from? How is your country doing?"
The comments were the latest personal attacks Trump has levied against Omar, who arrived in the United States with her family after fleeing war-torn Somalia. She is a U.S. citizen.
A crowd at one of the president's North Carolina rallies last year chanted "send her back" about the congresswoman as Trump looked on.
He has also accused her of being anti-Semitic because of her views on the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians, and the president tweeted last year that the four "squad" members, all women of color, should "go back" to their countries. All four are U.S. citizens, and only Omar was born outside the U.S… (LINK TO STORY)