BG Reads | News You Need to Know (April 19, 2021)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
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BG Podcast EP. 138: Q1 2021 Review with Veronica Briseño, Chief Economic Recovery Officer, City of Austin
On today’s episode we speak with return guest Veronica Briseño, Chief Economic Recovery Officer for the City of Austin.
Veronica and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss developments in Q1, including recent efforts by the city and Austin Council including the Economic Recovery and Resiliency Framework (bit.ly/3sbsJ6d), released last month.
You can listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. New content every Wednesday. Please like, link, comment and subscribe!
[MEETING/HEARINGS]
[THE 87TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE]
LINK TO FILED HOUSE BILLS (5,611)
LINK TO FILED SENATE BILLS (2,581)
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
City Council exploring ways to shrink APD scope of work (Austin Monitor)
This Thursday, City Council will meet to work through more of the logistics of the city’s biggest policy priority over the last year: reimagining public safety.
In a memo sent to Council on April 9, Rey Arellano, assistant city manager for public safety, detailed several agenda items that revolve around “budget amendments and decoupling activities.”
The first item is the creation of the Emergency Communications Department, a standalone department that would replace the Emergency Communications Division, which is currently under the jurisdiction of the Austin Police Department. The division, which is staffed by more than 200 employees, is operational 24/7 and receives approximately 1 million calls a year. This is the part of the police department where 911 call receivers and police dispatchers work.
A newly created Emergency Communications Department would report not to APD, but to Arellano. The division would have 222 full-time equivalent civilian positions and an annual budget of $16,085,640.
According to the memo, Arellano sees this change as an “opportunity to streamline and provide for continuous improvement in emergency communications while also allowing APD to focus on their primary law enforcement functions.”
Another operational change Council will consider are security contracts for municipal court services.
Currently, many court security services like operating screening stations, conducting building patrols and hand inspections are performed by APD officers. However, G4S Secure Solutions Inc. has been identified as a vendor to supplement these services with unarmed security guards.
There are some caveats; not all responsibilities would transfer over to G4S guards.
According to the memo, responsibilities “such as prisoner transfers; inmate monitoring; warrant service; contempt of court arrests ordered by a judge; and enforcement of lawful orders” would still be handled by APD officers, though the long-term goal is to establish a court marshal system that would replace APD responsibilities entirely.
City management also recommends separating the APD Alarm Administration Unit, a small unit dedicated to eliminating false alarms that tie up public safety resources.
According to the unit’s website, “firefighters and paramedics respond to thousands of false alarm calls every year. These unnecessary responses result in an enormous burden in resources and expense; which in turn reduces emergency unit availability to respond to real emergencies.”
Separating the unit from APD would move six positions out of the police department and have a total cost of $551,790.
The city manager’s office is also looking to remove many administrative functions from APD’s scope of work, including human resources, public information, facility maintenance, and finance.
The city manager would also contract funding for things like Axon body cams and AT&T phone contracts. These contracts will be managed by the corporate Financial Services Department.
The memo also pushes the city to further its relationship with Joyce James Consulting, a firm that provides diversity trainings and produces equity reports and has consulted for the city on many of its public safety reforms over the past year.
Arellano says the consulting firm would help “ensure successful implementation of Reimagining Public Safety efforts, including providing reform recommendations, facilitating strategy sessions, and assisting to provide a racial equity lens to key decision-making.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Travis property owners have until May 17 to protest appraised values (Austin American-Statesman)
Travis County property owners who wish to contest their property’s appraised value have until May 17 to file a protest with the appraisal district.
Travis County property owners are encouraged to file their protests online through the appraisal district's online portal, which is at traviscad.org/protests.
Property owners who file through the portal can upload documents, review the appraisal district’s evidence and review a settlement offer through their online account.
Protests and documents also will be accepted by mail and through a drop box outside the Travis Central Appraisal District's office at 850 E. Anderson Lane in Northeast Austin… (LINK TO STORY)
Weaver Buildings seeks workforce housing development on 11th St. (Austin Business Journal)
With Austin’s housing market tight on supply, a developer hopes her latest project downtown can be oversized to help meet the demand for places to live.
Austin-based developer Weaver Buildings LLC has submitted an application to the city of Austin seeking a height increase — to 90 feet — for a proposed workforce housing project in the Central Business District. The zoning application for the height increase request was filed on April 12.
The proposal for the 120,000-square-foot mid-rise includes a parking structure.
An entity called Shoal Cycle LP was formed to develop this project.
The full scope of the proposed project isn't nailed down, as it has yet to be presented in front of the City Council, let alone make it out of Zoning and Platting Commission. But Shoal Cycle, which would be located along Shoal Creek at 11th Street in downtown Austin, would offer people working in downtown a residence with limited parking spaces in a mid-rise building. The units would be above 3,500 square feet of ground-floor retail.
The exact number of units available has not yet been determined — all that’s been proposed so far is the allocation of 210 beds and 58 parking spots.
The low number of parking spots — a ratio of about 3.6 people per spot — is meant to encourage alternative forms of transportation, such as bicycling, ridesharing and walking.
Shoal Cycle would cater to those in the creative class or service industry, as well as anyone working in public-funded entities such as the city of Austin or University of Texas. Rents would target those earning about $55,000 annually.
“The City of Austin has one of the most aggressive rebates and incentive packages for green buildings in the country. I would love to see more aggressive parking reduction options for developers included in the city’s sustainability initiatives beyond downtown. For example, corridors targeting high-density development could have centralized infrastructure without the risk of time-intensive and costly PUDs,” said developer Jen Weaver. “Austin is becoming more walkable every day, and we need to turn our attention to creating spaces for people, not housing cars, in our highest valued real estate.”
Austin-based Studio8 Architects is the architect of record. San Antonio-based Pape-Dawson Consulting Engineers Inc. would provide civil engineering services. The general contractor is Austin-based Lott Brothers Construction Company Ltd.
Construction could be completed by the spring of 2023, but the project is still in its infancy and much could change as it goes through Austin’s development review process.
Workforce housing has been mentioned in recent years as a possible solution to low housing inventory and the lack of affordable places to live in metropolitan areas.
A report published by CBRE in July 2020 stated the need for workforce housing has been consistent since the Great Recession of 2008 — what’s lacking is the supply.
“Supply/demand imbalance in affordable housing stock is forecasted to persist into the foreseeable future,” CBRE Managing Director Jeff Arrowsmith said in his published report about affordable and workforce housing. “Trends in income inequality, real wage growth for affordable renters, and societal shifts toward renting vs. owning all increase affordable housing demand.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Music supporters’ budget proposals seek $20M+ for pandemic recovery (Austin Monitor)
Advocates for Austin’s music community have come forward with a pair of budget proposals urging the city to earmark roughly $20 million in its next budget specifically for music-related purposes to help the creative economy recover from the pandemic.
On Friday the advocacy group Music Makes Austin released its proposed budget priorities for the city’s use of funds from the new American Rescue Plan stimulus package, with $22.9 million in total spending broken up into nine categories.
It asks for $9 million in new spending to help save music venues; increasing the Live Music Fund’s allocation to $3.4 million; providing $3.3 million for creative workers; $3 million for the Music Disaster Relief Fund that was created last year; $1 million for events safety; two equity funds for outdoor music and festivals at $1 million each; $1 million for wellness for music workers; and $250,000 for a new white paper on the state of the music economy.
MMA’s proposal comes shortly after the Music Commission unanimously approved a $20 million budget request for the coming year.
While the commission’s recommendation doesn’t include dollar amounts for specific purposes, it suggests best uses for stimulus and General Fund dollars based around City Council’s recent decision to focus stimulus spending on homelessness relief, child care and after-school programs, workforce development, and food and housing insecurity.
Those suggestions include money for mental health and wellness, music education programs for children, assistance for endangered music venues, career development programs for Austin musicians, and multiple affordable housing options to prevent musicians and related workers from being priced out of the city.
The executive summary of the MMA proposal paints a picture of the city’s trademark industry needing more than a year to return to full activity following widespread vaccinations.
“The lingering effects of Covid will have a negative impact on all facets of the music sector ecosystem through 2022, yet with vaccinations increasing and residents eager to resume some sense of normalcy, there is an expectation that some forms of music and live entertainment will resume over the next few months, especially low-profit/high-value local performances. In order to make recovery symmetrical for our community, we are asking for continued support for musicians, music venues, industry workers, and promoters, as well as funding for health and wellness until the spring of 2022.”
Cody Cowan, president of Music Makes Austin, said music stakeholders see the need to give the city as much direction as possible in how to use federal money to stabilize a music economy that was already fragile before the pandemic hit.
“The American Rescue Plan is moving forward and we’ve been watching as things happen, but now that it has been confirmed and communicated to cities, counties and states what the funding will look like … we recognize we’re approaching the deadline to be involved in these conversations,” he said. “Be at the table or on the menu … it’s time for us to share what we see could happen with that money for the music needs in Austin.”
Music Commission members have been in preliminary talks with city staffers and Council members about the best way to help the local music economy, with the expectation that the city would help local groups generate another $20 million in recovery funds in the subsequent budget year when no further stimulus money is expected… (LINK TO STORY)
As COVID vaccine appointments again go unfilled, Austin Public Health looks to partner with more grassroots organizations (KUT)
After another week of leftover COVID-19 vaccine appointments, Austin Public Health is looking to shift its vaccination efforts and adjust its online sign-up system.
“We must be flexible,” APH Director Stephanie Hayden-Howard said during a news conference Friday. “Our goal is to provide vaccines to our community and meet them where they are.”
To do this, she said, the department plans to partner with more grassroots organizations, as well as go to apartment complexes and community centers, and change its hours of operations. On Friday, for example, APH is partnering with the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians to set up a vaccine clinic at Emo's for local musicians.
The department is also looking to change its online appointment scheduler. Right now, APH opens up the scheduler only a couple evenings a week, meaning people must be available to go online during those times to snag an appointment. Cassandra DeLeon, chief administrative officer for the APH Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division, said the agency is considering opening the scheduler around the clock.
APH released appointments multiple evenings this week, but she said it still had appointments left over after the latest release Thursday night.
“We are working to try to fill those appointments to make sure that we are able to offer the vaccine to all individuals who are looking for that,” DeLeon said. “That is an indicator that there are additional ways we need to try to open the vaccine scheduler to ensure that folks are able to schedule whenever they go online to look for a vaccine.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
The Texas Legislature starts its biennial race against the clock (Texas Tribune)
This legislative session began quietly in January, during the state’s worst peak of cases, hospitalizations and deaths from the coronavirus. With just six weeks left of the 140-day regular session, and the pandemic down to a pre-surge level, the pace is quickening.
Legislators are still working on the big problems that were apparent at the beginning — pandemic, voting and election laws, policing and the state budget among them. And they’ve added the disastrous electrical outages during a five-day February freeze that killed more than 200 Texans.
Their list of big and not-so-big things that still need doing is long and varied. The Texas Senate has been racing through Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s priority legislation in the last few days, but the obstacle course known as the Texas House is still ahead.
The state budget is on track, but what looked like a belt-tightening budget back in January has changed considerably, as the economy improved and federal COVID-19 relief came pouring in. Lawmakers started this adventure hoping to protect the improvements they made to public education two years ago; now they’re trying to figure out the best way to use almost $18 billion in federal funds directed to public and higher education. That’s on top of $16.7 billion in federal COVID-19 funds intended for the state itself.
Schools want that money to catch students up on “learning loss” that has resulted from a year of classes disrupted by virtual, half-virtual and face-to-face classes. Many of them hope to get it in time to help with summer school.
And lawmakers want to handle problems like that themselves, instead of leaving them to the governor and the executive branch. Before their time in Austin runs out, they’re looking at legislation that would require a governor to get lawmakers to Austin if emergency executive orders need to run longer than 30 days. They’re talking separately about small panels of legislators who would need to be consulted before the state spends any federal relief funds during times when the Legislature is not in session… (LINK TO STORY)
Biden administration rescinds billions in Medicaid funding for Texas (Houston Chronicle)
A federal waiver granting Texas billions of dollars over the next decade to help cover emergency care for the uninsured was abruptly rescinded Friday, a move that could upend the state’s health care safety net and adds pressure on Republican leaders hesitant to expand Medicaid. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services said in a letter that it had incorrectly allowed Texas to forgo the normal comment period when applying for an extension of its 1115 waiver, which reimburses hospitals in the state for uncompensated care. The extension had been approved in the waning days of the Trump administration, after the state asked for urgency because of the coronavirus pandemic. But the agency asserted Friday that Texas never presented an issue in its application that “related to the public health emergency for COVID-19.”
“CMS erred in exempting the state from the normal public notice process — a critical priority for soliciting stakeholder feedback and ensuring public awareness,” it said in a subsequent statement. While the state’s current 1115 waiver won’t expire until September of next year, the reversal has immediate political impacts because the state Legislature has only weeks left in its session and won’t meet again until 2023. Without certainty over how much the federal government will contribute going forward, lawmakers risk leaving huge funding gaps for counties and hospitals. Texas Republicans, who control the state government, have long campaigned against the Affordable Care Act and have declined to expand Medicaid under the act’s provisions as they seek to overturn the law in court. The state has depended on the waiver system as a cheaper alternative that nonetheless leaves millions of Texans uncovered. Today, Texas has the highest uninsured rate in the country, with nearly 1 in 5 people lacking coverage. That results in staggering amounts of uncompensated emergency room visits each year, some of which is reimbursed by the 1115 waivers… (LINK TO STORY)
‘A failure of Texas-size proportions’—state debates how to overhaul its power market (Wall Street Journal)
Two months after blackouts paralyzed Texas, most of the people who participate in the state’s 19-year-old electricity market, including producers, sellers and traders, share a similar view. The freeze wasn’t a one-off event. The state’s power market needs to change. In a single week in February, when a cold front caused wind farms, natural-gas plants and a nuclear plant to freeze, electricity sales in Texas topped $46 billion—more than five times what the state spent on electricity in all of 2020. That exposed a major flaw in a laissez-faire power market that had not required participants to winterize their equipment. Despite the astronomical prices, few of the major players who are supposed to make the Texas market work made money during the freeze. The promise of such a windfall was designed to be an incentive for producers to be ready to operate when electricity supplies are scarce. Unhappy power-plant owners, retail power providers and even some traders are now threatening to reduce investment in the nation’s second most-populous state until a market many liken to a casino is stabilized. “All eyes are on Texas, and they should be, as it relates to electricity-market reforms,” said Curt Morgan, chief executive of Vistra Corp. , the largest power generator in Texas. “If they just put a Band-Aid on a mortal wound…we’re not going to make it.”
Patrick Woodson, active in the Texas power market since its inception, saw his electricity retail firm, ATG Clean Energy Holdings Inc., crushed that week. “This market works really well most of the time,” he said. But when it fails, “it is a failure of Texas-size proportions.” Many of those who did turn huge profits played in a different market altogether. Natural-gas suppliers were able to parlay a shortage of the fuel for power plants into a bonanza. The biggest losers of all were Texas residents, roughly two-thirds of whom lost power. Millions were left in the dark for days, with some resorting to burning furniture in their homes to stay warm. At least 111 died of related causes, such as carbon-monoxide poisoning and hypothermia, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, which estimates the number could still change. Fixing the market promises to be as complex as it is costly. The challenge facing Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and state lawmakers is how to make the state’s deregulated power market more reliable, while limiting added costs that would make its electricity more expensive. Texas operates the nation’s only pure “energy only” electricity market, one in which producers are paid just for the power they sell, not the ability to deliver whenever watts are needed. All other deregulated electricity markets in the U.S. offer power generators some form of payment for being ready to produce power, to ensure the market has sufficient capacity to reliably provide an essential resource… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
SpaceX wins $2.9 Billion contract for next Lunar Lander (NPR)
NASA will pay Elon Musk's SpaceX $2.9 billion to build a lunar landing system to ferry astronauts to the surface of the moon.
SpaceX was one of three companies chosen last year to develop technology for NASA's Human Landing System program. On Friday NASA announced SpaceX's "Starship" design had beat out the other two companies for the contract.
It's the first time the space agency has used a human lander built by a private company, and it marks an important milestone for an agency that has in recent years depended on commercial partnerships for its most important missions.
"With this award, NASA and our partners will complete the first crewed demonstration mission to the surface of the Moon in the 21st century as the agency takes a step forward for women's equality and long-term deep space exploration," said Kathy Lueders, NASA's associate administrator for Human Explorations and Operations Mission Directorate.
"This critical step puts humanity on a path to sustainable lunar exploration and keeps our eyes on missions farther into the solar system, including Mars," Lueders said in a statement.NASA has also contracted with SpaceX on other projects, such as its Falcon 9 rocket and Crew Dragon capsule that will ferry astronauts to the International Space Station in the coming week.
The moon lander is being built as part of the Artemis program, which aims to bring Americans back to the moon by 2024, before setting its sights on Mars and beyond. NASA selected 18 astronauts last year to train for the moon mission.
The plan calls for NASA to send four astronauts aboard the Lockheed Martin-built Orion spacecraft on a multi-day journey to the moon's orbit. Then two crew members will transfer to SpaceX's lander for their descent to the lunar surface. After a week exploring the moon, they'll board the lander to return to Orion and head back to Earth… (LINK TO STORY)