BG Reads | News You Need to Know (July 12, 2021)
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[MEETING/HEARINGS]
The Austin Council next meets for regular business on July 22.
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Austin EMS Association 'disappointed in lack of funding' for 2021-22 fiscal year proposed budget (KVUE)
On Friday, Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk announced the proposed budget for the Fiscal Year 2021-22, and Austin EMS Association said they were left out at a time where they are experiencing a historic staff shortage.
Austin EMS Association President Selena Xie said Austin-Travis County EMS is short 100 medics, forcing them to drop two ambulances this week.
"In fact, last night, we took down two of our ambulances because we simply can't staff them right now and that's a failure of long-term planning," said Xie.
The proposed budget allocates $105 million for emergency medical services. Xie said within that is no new funding. EMS is getting 12 medics and the new Loop 360 Fire/EMS station, which was already in the works.
"I was actually highly-disappointed in what we saw for EMS," said Xie. "We have added one new ambulance, which has been agreed to by ordinance a few years ago, and so we actually didn't add any new resources in this budget."
Xia said the pandemic and the historic winter storm exposed the need for more EMS staff and equipment. But she added that June's mass shooting on Sixth Street, which left one dead and 14 others injured, put a blaring light on it.
The world witnessed Austin police transport most of the victims because EMS couldn't get through the crowds.
On Friday, Cronk said the City will look for more funding.
"Our budget had pretty much been backed when that incident, unfortunately happened, so that is part of how we will move forward to say how do we find additional resources to support those efforts," said Cronk.
Xie said before the mass shooting, the association asked for downtown response units on weekend nights with golf carts and life-saving equipment for faster response times.
"Also have a stretcher so that they can actually transport patients," said Xie. "We're asking for two motorcycle medics that can quickly navigate through the crowds and through the road blockages and assess the situation. And then also we are hoping that we can bring a trailer where we can bring patients to while they're waiting for treatment in the trailer. We can actually provide treatment for intoxication, including rehydration, IV rehydration, and nausea medication."… (LINK TO STORY)
600 Congress is back on the market, sources say (Austin Business Journal)
One of Austin’s original high-rises is back on the market — perhaps an indication the commercial real estate market is recovering from the pandemic downturn.
Multiple sources confirmed 600 Congress Ave., also known as One American Center, is up for sale once again.
Endeavor Real Estate Group has 600 Congress listed on its website as available for purchase. Travis Dunaway and Anne Swift are the property’s brokers. Attempts to reach Dunaway and Swift for additional information about the listing were unsuccessful.
A listing price was not revealed, but potential buyers have already inquired about making bids this past week, according to sources.
The building is owned by the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, or CalSTRS. Travis County public records point to Houston-based Lionstone Investments LLC, operating as CSHV-One American Center LLC, which is financial adviser to CalSTRS. The retirement system — the world's largest pension fund dedicated to educators — bought 600 Congress in 2014. The CalSTRS website states its investment portfolio has a market value of $306.7 billion.
The building’s assessed value is $285,460,000, though county records aren’t an accurate indicator of market price. One American Center is 503,951 square feet, with ground-floor retail.
“The impending sale signals a looming return to healthy market conditions in the office environment,” NAI Partners Managing Director Ryan Bohls said. “The disposition could mark an inflection point with building sales activity in Austin as companies follow millennials and investors follow companies toward Texas.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Halfway through 2021, Austin has nearly tripled job announcements from same time last year (Austin Business Journal)
2020 was a record-setting year for jobs pledged from company relocations and expansions in the Austin metro — a metric the region is pacing to leave in the dust this year.
More than 100 companies have chosen to invest in Central Texas in the first six months of 2021, which resulted in nearly 15,100 jobs announced from relocations and expansions through June. That was nearly triple the number of jobs pledged during the same timeframe last year, according to a recent report from the Greater Austin Chamber of Commerce and data from Opportunity Austin, the economic initiative of the chamber. Overall, the metro has reached 68% of last year's record of 22,114 jobs announced.
Central Texas has been inundated for years with economic activity as new businesses and residents rush to the area. That's evident in the population boom as well as in rising affordability issues and the lack of housing supply, which has resulted in skyrocketing prices. On the other hand, businesses are breathing life into new industries, such as automotive manufacturing, which experts have said is key to a balanced and healthy economy. Austin's technology scene and venture capital ecosystem also continue to flourish.
The Austin metro population grew faster than any other major U.S. metro each year for the past decade, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. The population climbed an estimated 579,014 from 2010 to 2020, an increase of about 34%, and the latest chamber numbers add credence to a belief among many local leaders that the region is poised for even more growth.
About 2,100 jobs were announced in June from more than 20 corporate relocations or expansions, according to the chamber data. That means that, so far this year, at least 54 new companies have landed in the area with plans to add nearly 6,060 new jobs. Those companies include fitness franchise F45; reported Tesla Inc. suppliers Simwon North America Corp. and Plastikon Industries; and tech company Markaaz… (LINK TO STORY)
Tax break proposal prompts call for changes to county’s public-private partnerships (Austin Monitor)
The Travis County Commissioners Court may consider changes to the county’s affordable housing program to encourage apartment developers to provide more meaningful rent reductions in exchange for property tax abatements.
Commissioner Brigid Shea suggested future changes as commissioners deliberated two public-private housing partnerships at their June 29 meeting. Both proposals were postponed to Tuesday’s meeting.
Brought by Dallas-based developer Presidium, the proposals include the Edison Apartments and River Park/Block 15 Apartments at 4711 and 4700 E. Riverside, respectively; both are part of an expansive multi-use development. The River Park property is currently the Tempo at Riverside Apartments, formerly the Ballpark South Student Apartments.
To obtain property tax abatements for the two developments, Presidium has proposed setting aside a number of units for households earning between 30 percent and 60 percent of the area median income, with the majority of affordable units set aside for higher-wage households earning income ranges between 80 percent and 120 percent AMI. According to 2020 calculations for Austin and Travis County, the AMI for a family of four is $97,600.
The county has approved a handful of similar housing partnerships, but housing advocates assert that taxpayers are getting the short end of the stick. Heather Way, a UT law professor and affordable housing advocate, has been following this statewide trend closely since 2015, the year an eleventh-hour amendment was added to a legislative bill updating state finance statutes. The amendment paved the way for an explosion of public-private apartment deals in Houston and San Antonio as well as smaller cities, with generous property tax exemptions for developers… (LINK TO STORY)
As electric vehicles grow in popularity, so does Austin's need for charging stations (KUT)
As Texas gasoline prices hit their highest level in seven years and the appeal of electric vehicles reaches a wider range of drivers, the public and private sectors are racing to build networks of EV charging stations. And they're looking to Washington where a bipartisan infrastructure deal could add 500,000 charging stations across the U.S. by 2030. The number of charging stations "has been keeping pace with the number of new vehicles being sold generally speaking," said Norman Hajjar, an executive with the EV data company PlugShare. But he warned of "pinch points" that could emerge if charging infrastructure fails to keep up with demand. "We're going to see a huge mushroom of new electric vehicles in the next 10 years, so there's where the rubber needs to meet the road," Hajjar said.
The Austin-area has almost 700 electric vehicle charging locations right now, according to PlugShare. Almost all locations have multiple charging stations. Austin Energy operates 300 of those charging locations — a total of 1,200 charging stations overall — and the publicly owned utility is adding about 200 more charging stations per year. ChargePoint, which runs the nation's largest network of charging stations, is working to add charging infrastructure to more than 4,000 travel plazas and fuel stops in rural communities nationwide by the end of the decade. By that time, electric vehicles will make up 29% of all vehicles sold, according to estimates by the energy research provider BloombergNEF. Americans are being increasingly drawn to electric vehicles as automakers widen their offerings at a range of price points and consumers learn about the improved driving experience: instant power and fast acceleration, a smoother ride, a quieter cabin and lower cost of ownership over the lifetime of the vehicle… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Five low-vaccinated clusters — including two in Texas — pose health risks for U.S., experts say
Five low-vaccinated clusters — including two in Texas — could put the entire country at risk for spreading new variants of COVID-19, according to a new analysis out of Georgetown University. The areas with concentrations of unvaccinated residents 12 and older encompass Texas’ western Panhandle and eastern Piney Woods regions — and are a major cause for concern for health experts. Dallas County, where officials this week said herd immunity has been reached, is not in either. Georgetown researchers, who have been tracking vaccination rates since December, found that there are about 30 clusters across the U.S. that have lower vaccination rates than the national average of 47.8%.
The five they have identified as most vulnerable are scattered across eight states concentrated in the southeastern part of the country, touching Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Texas. The two clusters in Texas together encompass around 141 counties out of 254, said Dr. Shweta Bansal, an associate professor of biology at Georgetown who headed the project. Although that’s a significant portion of the state, the clusters do not include many of the highest-density cities, which have had greater success with vaccination. Texas’ overall vaccination rate does not paint an accurate picture of the state’s danger level, Bansal said. From a glance, Texas appears to be in good shape, with 50.4% of the population 12 and older — or 12 million people — reported as fully vaccinated, according to data provided by the Texas Department of State Health Services. And nearly 14 million people in Texas, or 58%, have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine. But the Georgetown analysis raises a number of troubling concerns. For one, nearly all COVID-19 deaths in the country were people who weren’t vaccinated, according to The Associated Press… (LINK TO STORY)
There’s plenty still to play out ahead of 2022, but Greg Abbott is starting to run up the score (Texas Tribune)
Over the last couple of weeks, Gov. Greg Abbott’s fortunes have lined up nicely. Moments like this are rare and often don’t last long in Texas politics, so take note.
He’s only a few days into the second special session of his governorship — one that’s focused on more restrictive voting and election laws. It includes other issues of interest to Republican officials and voters in particular, including bans on abortion drugs, teaching critical race theory, restrictions on transgender athletes in public schools, and money for policing and for building a wall on the state’s border with Mexico.
Those issues could be helpful to Republican incumbents looking to fend off primary challengers, and while we’re at it, to Democrats who want to show their opposition to some of Abbott’s ideas.
Specifically, the agenda could make it harder for conservative GOP challengers to attack incumbent Republicans as insufficiently conservative.
That would work for the governor, if he needed the help. But Abbott isn’t in political trouble — just look at the smoke coming out of his chimney recently.
First was the announcement that former President Donald Trump, who remains very popular with Republican voters in Texas, was endorsing Abbott for reelection… (LINK TO STORY)
Former state Rep. Matt Rinaldi wins Texas GOP chair election (Texas Tribune)
Former state Rep. Matt Rinaldi of Irving is the next chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.
On Sunday, the State Republican Executive Committee elected Rinaldi to replace Allen West, who announced his resignation last month after a dramatic 10 months on the job and is now challenging Gov. Greg Abbott.
Rinaldi won the election on the first ballot, getting 34 votes from the 64-member SREC against three opponents. He needed 33 to win.
"We cannot lose Texas — and will not lose Texas — if we work together," Rinaldi said in his victory speech.
The runner-up was David Covey, president of Texas Republican County Chairmen’s Association. Covey, also the Orange County GOP chairman and an SREC member, got 21 votes.
Six votes went to Chad Wilbanks, a lobbyist who once served as executive director of the state party, and three votes went to Bill Burch, a party activist.
Rinaldi was one of the most conservative members of the House during his time there. He lost reelection in 2018, with his North Texas seat flipping to Democrat Julie Johnson.
West's controversial tenure loomed large in the race. As chairman, he did not shy from conflict with the state's Republican leaders, and speculation ran rampant for months that he was positioning himself to challenge Abbott — speculation he confirmed when he announced his campaign a week ago.
Despite some Republicans' clear unease with West, the SREC ended up picking a successor most closely aligned with him. Rinaldi had been complimentary of at least some aspects of West's leadership, and he suggested in his nomination speech Sunday that he wanted to continue the party's intensified focus on its legislative priorities that began under West.
Like West, Rinaldi has been a critic of Abbott's response to the coronavirus pandemic. Rinaldi has already endorsed one of Abbot's GOP primary challengers, former state Sen. Donald Huffines of Dallas.
"We need a chair that will work with — and not for — elected officials," Rinaldi said Sunday, adding that the state party and its executive committee "must remain strong, independent and effective."... (LINK TO STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Seattle’s mayoral candidates have plans for homelessness, but they’re staring at an uncertain future (The Seattle Times)
Seattle’s next mayor is going to have to walk, chew gum and build housing at the same time.
Homelessness will be on the ballot in a bigger way this year than perhaps ever, and city residents are demanding solutions from elected leaders as visible homelessness reaches new heights at the end of the pandemic.
Millions are already being spent on the issue, mostly by a powerful coalition of business leaders called “Compassion Seattle” who say they gathered enough signatures to get an initiative on November’s ballot that would force the city to spend more on homelessness and human services through amending its founding document.
Many of the leading candidates for mayor have years of experience in homelessness work or policy, and nearly every candidate has a multifaceted plan for dealing with an issue that no previous mayor has been able to fix.
Still, the number of tents has grown by an estimated 50% during the pandemic, shelters have been forced to focus on fewer clients and the city’s encampment removal process is still hotly debated.
The next mayor will also have to deal with three big unknowns: One, it’s not yet clear how much homelessness has risen since the pandemic, or how it could rise once eviction moratoria expire.
Two, how would the city pay for 2,000 new housing or shelter beds within a year without a new tax or funding stream if Compassion Seattle’s Charter Amendment 29 qualifies for the ballot and passes.
And three, will the city lose much of its control over homeless spending as the new Regional Homelessness Authority starts up with its own set of plans for getting people off the street… (LINK TO STORY)
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic flight opens door to space tourism (Wall Street Journal)
Richard Branson reached the edge of space and safely returned to Earth, a trip that marks a turning point in the billionaire entrepreneur’s multidecade effort to help create a space-tourism industry.
The space trip that Mr. Branson and five other crew members completed Sunday morning on a Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. rocket plane lends credence to the company’s ability to safely take passengers to and from space.
Virgin Galactic, the company Mr. Branson founded, plans to initiate commercial service next year, charging passengers hundreds of thousands of dollars each for such flights. The test flight was aimed at evaluating systems and the passenger experience, as well as providing additional validation of its safety. Vehicles developed by private space companies have been tested a fraction of the number of times compared with the planes used by airlines.
The British entrepreneur and five crew members crossed one threshold of space, climbing 53.5 miles above the Earth’s surface.
At the peak of the spaceship VSS Unity’s 15-minute trip after separating from the launch aircraft, crew members unbuckled from their seats and experienced weightlessness, peering at Earth and into space from a dozen windows in the cabin.
“We’re here to make space more accessible to all,” Mr. Branson said Sunday after landing. His only worry was “some tiny little something” that would prevent the trip from happening, he added later.
The flight is part of a broader push from companies and investors to develop viable businesses based on human space flight, long dominated by government space agencies with scientific and policy missions.
Unity’s trip meant that, for a few minutes, there were a record 16 people in space, including its crew and those on board the International Space Station and China’s Tiangong capsule. Overall, hundreds of people have successfully visited suborbital space since the 1960s, including some private tourists, such as investor Dennis Tito’s visit via a Russian rocket to the station in 2001. But Mr. Branson’s round-trip visit illustrates the efforts that private companies are now undertaking to develop businesses that can ultimately carry hundreds of people a year.
Other companies are expected to join Virgin Galactic in transporting passengers to and from space. Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, plans to fly the chief executive of a payments company and three others into orbit this year…(LINK TO STORY)