BG Reads | News You Need to Know (July 2, 2021)
Photo by John R. Rogers made available through a Creative Commons license
[MEETING/HEARINGS]
The Austin Council next meets for regular business on July 22.
[BINGHAM GROUP]
What Will a Post-Pandemic Austin Look Like? (for Texas CEO Magazine)
Following a prolonged, pandemic-induced pause, Austin is on its way somewhere. Could the city be back in a significant way? That’s possible—and for most of us, it can’t happen fast enough. Arms have been jabbed with vaccines, most mask requirements have been lifted, flight traffic at Austin-Bergstrom International has picked up, and festivals are scheduled to reignite the city’s recent glory as a music lover’s destination—i.e., the “Live Music Capital of the World.”
However, taking an honest temperature of Austin means cogently visualizing both the positives and negatives laid bare during the worst of the pandemic. Yes, Austin is on its way back; but it’s how we politicians, leaders, and constituents collectively choose to steer its direction going forward that will make the difference… (LINK STORY)
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
For now, just two Austin sites in play as sanctioned homeless campsites, city says (Austin American-Statesman)
After vetting 78 potential sites for city-sanctioned homeless encampments, Austin officials say just two of them are still in the running — and they aren't yet ready to tell the public where those sites might be.
In a Thursday memo to Austin City Council members, the city staffers working to find places for homeless individuals to stay said they would give more details on the two potential sites after looking into whether zoning changes might be needed for the properties.
The 78 sites on the list were vetted for factors including access to public transportation, wildfire and flooding risk and proximity to schools… (LINK TO STORY)
County presses pause on Palm School, pending community input (Austin Monitor)
On Tuesday, the Travis County Commissioners Court discussed what to do about the Palm School. On June 15, commissioners rejected the city’s 2020 offer to buy the Palm School building. The news disappointed many in the Latino community who had hoped a transfer of ownership would take place so that the building would remain a fully public space, preserving its Mexican American cultural heritage.
Diana Ramirez, with the Economic Development and Strategic Investments Office, briefed commissioners on the county’s past and future plans for the building. She reviewed the actions the Commissioners Court has taken over the past three years “to formalize the court’s commitment to the protection and restoration of the historic and culturally important school.”
She highlighted the fact that past actions will result in additional funding for social service programs and enhance connectivity from the county-owned Palm School to the city-owned Palm Park.
“At no time has a commissioner or staff contemplated dropping a big tower on the north portion of the Palm School grounds to maximize revenue,” Ramirez noted. “Nor do we do think the private sector would be interested in doing that.”
She mentioned that commissioners have been soliciting community input on the plan for the building since 2017, via advisory boards, committees, community hearings and surveys. The result, Ramirez said, is the court’s commitment to preserve and restore Palm School.
“This includes ensuring that all restoration is done in compliance with federal standards for the rehabilitation of historic properties, requiring that Palm School achieve historic designation status at the state and national levels,” she said.
She underscored commissioners’ prior commitment to public uses of the building as museum space, nonprofit office space, community event space, committee meeting rooms and artist studio space.
“The programming of that space should focus on honoring and emphasizing the cultural heritage of the site. This language is included in the restrictive covenants,” Ramirez told the court.
She also noted that 20 percent of the space is not required to be dedicated to public use, but will instead be needed “for mechanical housekeeping and closets, and other administrative and support uses.”
Ramirez called on commissioners to approve an amendment that would allow her office to work on the “entitlements to the property” before moving to the pre-construction phase of the process.
Given the high community interest in the project’s outcome, Ramirez called on commissioners to look into how resources from the American Rescue Plan Act could be used to assist in community engagement… (LINK TO STORY)
Popular Blues on the Green series returns to Zilker Park in July and August (Austin 360)
Blues on the Green, the popular series of free concerts in Zilker Park that went virtual last year during the pandemic, will return to in-person events this summer, presenter Austin City Limits Radio announced on its website Thursday morning.
The shows will be on July 27-28 and August 10-11. Those are Tuesdays and Wednesdays, essentially condensing the series' usual routine of spreading the shows across four Wednesdays from May to August. The schedule was a result of ACL Radio waiting until July for lower COVID-19 risks, the station's Andy Langer confirmed on Thursday.
Performers for the first two dates will be announced on July 19, with acts for the last two dates announced after the first show. Blues on the Green concerts in recent years have included Gary Clark Jr., Shakey Graves, Wild Child and Gina Chavez. The series is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin FC nets 4 goals for first win at Q2 Stadium (KXAN)
Austin FC made history by scoring its first-ever goal at Q2 Stadium Thursday night. Then, the flood gates opened for a green wave of goals.
Austin FC claimed its third win of the season — and first at Q2 Stadium — with a 4-1 win against the Portland Timbers in front of a sellout crowd in north Austin. Verde split its goal output evenly over the two halves, breaking Portland’s spirits in the final 20 minutes.
The historic first-ever goal came from Jon Gallagher in the 28th minute. Gallagher’s redirection was cause for massive celebration across Q2 Stadium and a sense of relief for the Austin FC XI on the pitch.
This goal was hard-earned by Verde after weeks of build up.
Prior to Thursday’s game, Austin FC hadn’t scored a goal in two straight home games and three games overall. Austin was just the third MLS franchise to go goalless during the first two home games of its inaugural season.
Prior to Thursday’s game, Austin FC had tallied just one goal in its last seven games, which came in a 1-1 draw against Sporting Kansas City on June 12… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
"Everything is on the table": Democrats mull options for special session, including another walkout (Texas Tribune)
Outnumbered and virtually powerless to block conservative priorities they oppose, Democrats in the Texas Legislature say they are keeping their options open as they prepare for a special session that is expected to revive the GOP elections bill they killed last month.
The line coming from Democrats across the spectrum: “Everything is on the table.” That includes another walkout like the one that doomed Senate Bill 7 in the final hours of the regular legislative session when Democrats broke quorum. But this time, such a move could now imperil the pay of their staffers, since Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed the funding for the legislative branch while telling lawmakers they could restore it in the special session that starts in less than a week.
“From a caucus perspective, since we’re going into the unknown, we have to keep every option open, which includes denying quorum,” said Rep. Jessica González of Dallas, vice chair of the House Elections Committee. “I think a lot of folks want to see what would be in [the elections bill] before making a decision.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Activists plan to keep pushing for public safety alternatives as Dallas police may get more money (Dallas Morning News)
When Classi Nance saw thousands of people last summer protesting police brutality and systemic racism, she believed Dallas was on the cusp of changing its approach to public safety. The mother of four whose family has deep activism roots in the city was part of the chorus of residents hoping to see up to $200 million taken from the police budget. They wanted to see that money go toward social services programs for mental health, housing, job training, food security and other initiatives. The nationwide movement to redistribute money from police culminated in Dallas with a City Council vote to divert $7 million initially proposed for the overtime budget to crime reduction efforts, drawing rebukes from Mayor Eric Johnson and others. But instead of slashing money for the police department, the council approved $15 million more in its overall budget last year.
Now, Dallas police are tentatively projected to get millions more in the upcoming budget from the city’s general fund, which is fueled mostly by property and sales tax revenues. And despite last year’s overtime budget decrease, meant to help reign in years of overspending in that category, the department estimates it will need a record amount of cash to cover those costs this fiscal year. The lingering impacts of the backlash as well as two new state laws to prevent municipalities from reducing their law enforcement budgets have cast doubts on whether the council this year would again divert money from the police. The likelihood of a budget increase this fall and increasing overtime costs come amid a sharper focus on reducing violent crime and street racing in Dallas as well as improving 911 call response times. The police department is also losing officers this year faster than they are being hired. Between January and April, 48 officers have been hired and 68 have left, according to the department, which employs about 3,100 officers… (LINK TO STORY)
2,100 state workers caught in the crosshairs of Gov. Greg Abbott’s veto of Legislature funding (Texas Tribune)
When Gov. Greg Abbott vetoed funding for Texas’ legislative branch, he said he was taking the drastic action as retribution after more than 30 Democrats walked out of the regular session, killing a GOP priority voting bill.
But the veto of the Legislature’s funding reaches far beyond the $600 monthly stipend for the more than 30 House Democrats in Abbott’s crosshairs. It goes further than the 150 members of the House and the 31 members of the Senate. In fact, their salaries are constitutionally protected.
But the veto threatens the livelihoods of 2,165 legislative staffers and individuals working at legislative agencies, with a median salary of $52,000 per year, according to data from the state comptroller.
That includes staffers like Ted Raab, the legislative director for Rep. Mary González, D-Clint, who is worried about how he would financially support himself and his three daughters if he loses his income.
“If the funding isn't there, I'm not going to be there,” Raab said.
Abbott’s veto affects the next two-year budget cycle starting Sept. 1, which means that funding for the staffers working through the upcoming special session beginning next week will be unaffected. Already Democrats and legislative staffers have petitioned the Texas Supreme Court to override the veto, calling the move an overreach of an executive authority.
Abbott, who sets the agenda of what can be taken up during the special legislative session, said he will allow the Legislature the opportunity to restore the funding at the upcoming special session… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
The Supreme Court deals a new blow to voting rights, upholding Arizona restrictions (NPR)
The U.S. Supreme Court Thursday gutted most of what remains of the landmark Voting Rights Act. The court's decision, while leaving some protections involving redistricting in place, left close to a dead letter the law once hailed as the most effective civil rights legislation in the nation's history.
The 6-3 vote was along ideological lines, with Justice Samuel Alito writing the decision for the court's conservative majority, and the liberals in angry dissent.
At issue in the case were two Arizona laws: one banned the collection of absentee ballots by anyone other than a relative or caregiver, and the other threw out any ballots cast in the wrong precinct. A federal appeals court struck down both provisions, ruling that they had an unequal impact on minority voters and that there was no evidence of fraud that would have justified their use.
But on Thursday, the Supreme Court reinstated the state laws, declaring that unequal impact on minorities in this context was relatively minor, that other states have similar laws and that states don't have to wait for fraud to occur before enacting laws to prevent it… (LINK TO STORY)
Biden’s FTC chair makes her public debut (Politico)
The Federal Trade Commission's first meeting under new Chair Lina Khan broke decades of precedent Thursday by taking place in public — something unheard-of for the notably secretive antitrust and consumer protection agency.
Then it pushed through a series of actions on progressive Democrats' wish list: Fines for companies that lie about products being "Made in America." Greater latitude for launching antitrust probes and lawsuits. And a wider door to writing new regulations — something else the FTC hasn't done much of in decades.
All this came despite fierce objections from the commission's two Republicans, in a sign that partisan rancor is also back in vogue at the Biden-era FTC.
Thursday's videoconferenced session was the first public glimpse of what may lie in store for the 106-year-old agency under its youngest-ever chair, a former Columbia University law professor who made her reputation as a critic of tech giants like Amazon. And fellow tech critics were particularly thrilled.
“More progress was made today than in the last quarter-century,” said Jeff Chester, of the watchdog group Center for Digital Democracy, who has done work before the FTC since the 1990s. "Its very, very important and it’s unlike anything I’ve seen at the FTC."… (LINK TO TO STORY)