BG Reads | News You Need to Know (September 2, 2021)
[MEETING/HEARINGS]
Mayor Adler's State of the City Address - FULL SPEECH HERE
Austin Council Regular Session - Today, 10AM - AGENDA
COVID-19: Press Q & A Virtual News Conference - Friday, 10:30AM
[BINGHAM GROUP]
OUT NOW - BG PODCAST EP. 145: Talking Austin's FY22 Budget and Beyond
The team discuss the City of Austin's recent FY22 budget season, and challenges ahead in FY23 and on.
Featuring Bingham Group CEO A.J., and Jimmy Flannigan, Bingham Group Advisory Board Member and former Austin Council Member.
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Texas Supreme Court orders Austin City Council to change ballot language for police staffing measure (KUT)
The Texas Supreme Court is ordering the Austin City Council to rewrite the ballot language for a proposition about police staffing brought forth by Save Austin Now.
The political action committee sued the city in the state’s highest court last month over the city-approved language, arguing it would mislead voters. The court ruled the city was correct in modifying the language to include the measure's potential financial impact but that the rest of the revisions were not called for.
Save Austin Now gathered signatures to get the measure on November's ballot. It would require the city to have two police officers for every 1,000 residents, mandate officers spend 35% of their time on patrols or in communities, and require officers to undergo 40 more hours of training. (Currently, the Austin Police Department has 1.7 officers for every 1,000 residents.)
The Austin City Council voted in August to put the following language for the measure on the ballot:
“Shall an ordinance be approved that, at an estimated cost of $271.5 million - $598.8 million over five years, requires the City to employ at least 2 police officers per 1,000 residents at all times; requires at least 35% of patrol officer time be uncommitted time, otherwise known as community engagement time; requires additional financial incentives for certain officers; requires specific kinds of training for officers and certain public officials and their staffs; and requires there be at least three full-term cadet classes for the department until staffing levels reach a specific level?”
It differs from the language Save Austin Now wrote:
“A petitioned ordinance to enhance public safety and police oversight, transparency and accountability by adding a new chapter 2-16 to establish minimum standards for the police department to ensure effective public safety and protect residents and visitors to Austin, and prescribing minimal requirements for achieving the same.”
Save Austin Now argued the city charter compels the city to use the ballot language written by the group that brings forth a measure. But the city argued the changes it made complied with state law by giving factual information to voters.
In its ruling, the Texas Supreme Court said the city should have used Save Austin Now's language word-for-word because it complied with state law. However, the court said, omission of the financial impact did violate state law, so it was acceptable to add.
“We agree with the City that the omission of any cost information can be misleading,” the court opinion reads, “and we cannot say that including the City’s cost estimate in the ballot language affirmatively misrepresents the ordinance’s character and purpose or its chief features so as to make it potentially misleading.”
The rest of the revisions the city made “were not necessary,” it said.
The court directed the City Council to put Save Austin Now’s exact language on the ballot with the estimated cost — $271.5 million-$598.8 million over five years — added to the end… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
New city guidelines require proof of negative COVID-19 test for special events in Austin (Austin American-Statesman)
On Aug. 27, the Austin Center for Events announced updated COVID-19 guidelines for city-sanctioned special events. Most notably, the new guidelines state that indoor events with 1,000 or more people and outdoor events with 2,500 or more people must screen event attendees at entrances and require proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours before the event.
The guidelines also require event organizers to develop social distancing strategies and implement “mask zones” in outdoor event areas where maintaining 6 feet of distance between attendees is not possible.
The new guidelines only apply to events that require a special events permit to take place on city property and parkland. Large events at privately owned music venues and stadiums like the Circuit of the Americas are not affected… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Samsung may be eying nearly 1,200 acres in Taylor for $17B factory (Austin Business Journal)
Public documents shed new light on where Samsung could possibly put its $17 billion factory if it chooses the Austin suburbs.
Taylor City Council plans to meet Sept. 9 to consider the creation of a tax increment financing reinvestment zone and a tax abatement reinvestment zone for nearly 1,200 acres in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, according to documents recently posted to the city’s website.
The zones, which are economic development tools under Chapters 311 and 312 of the state’s tax code, would cover 35 plots totaling 1,187.5 acres between Taylor and Hutto. The land is located southwest of downtown Taylor, in an area south of State Highway 79, north of County Road 1660, east of County Road 3349 and west of Farm to Market Road 973, according to the documents. That's near the RCR Taylor Logistics Park and the Hutto megasite, which been touted by city officials as prime opportunities for economic development.
The news comes as Samsung considers Taylor in its national search for a location to build a $17 billion chipmaking plant, which will create the company's most advanced computer chips. Austin is also under consideration, along with sites in Phoenix and upstate New York.
Samsung is not listed in any of the public documents. But there are no other companies publicly known to be scouting the area for a project of this magnitude.
A Samsung spokesperson said no decision has been made on the factory location.
“As Samsung continues our plans to respond to the needs of global customers and the growing demand for semiconductors, we are still exploring multiple locations for future expansion,” Samsung’s Michele Glaze said in a statement. “We are continuing our due diligence and understand some locations are taking actions to do the same.”
The company has applied for Chapter 313 property tax incentives with Taylor Independent School District. That approval hinges upon the site being designated by the city and county as a reinvestment zone under Chapters 311 and 312, according to the state comptroller’s website… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
110-acre Round Rock project wins first rezoning OK (Austin Business Journal)
A 110-acre mixed-use development is one step closer to springing up in Round Rock near the Kalahari Resort and Dell Diamond.
Indianapolis-based developer Milhaus on Aug. 26 received unanimous approval from Round Rock City Council to rezone the land to allow for a mix of multifamily residences and townhomes, retail, maker space and park space on a lot near East Palm Valley and Kenney Fort boulevards. The project received an unanimous recommendation from the city's Planning and Zoning Commission in June.
The property — informally known as Kenney Fort North Planned Unit Development — is located just west of Kalahari on U.S. Route 79 and less than a mile from Dell Diamond, the home of the Round Rock Express. It will be rezoned from business park to a PUD with greenfield and large lot designation. The rezoning requires a second vote from Council, currently scheduled for Sept. 23… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Latham & Watkins opens new office in Austin (PRNewswire)
Latham & Watkins LLP1 announced Wednesday that it has opened a new office in Austin, Texas — a major hub for emerging companies, technology, life sciences, and private equity in Texas and nationally — and the addition of three new partners, Samer (Sam) Zabaneh, Jenifer Smith, and Scott Craig, who join the Emerging Companies Practice. Zabaneh will serve as the Office Managing Partner of the Austin office.
Austin represents an exciting opportunity to expand Latham & Watkins' platform by establishing a market-leading full-service office in a city that continues to experience strong growth. Latham & Watkins is uniquely positioned to partner with the Austin business community in connection with its members' most complex legal needs. (LINK TO FULL STORY)
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi headed to Austin for Thursday health care event (Houston Chronicle)
U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is headed to Austin on Thursday to speak in favor of expanded health benefits for Texans.
She’ll host an event with U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, at 2:30 p.m. Thursday at one of the offices for Foundation Communities, a local nonprofit providing housing and health care services to Texans in need.
Pelosi and Doggett plan to discuss Medicaid coverage, the Affordable Care Act, Medicare benefits and related topics, according to a press release. Texas’ new law banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy is sure to also come up in discussion, as Pelosi lambasted the legislation on Twitter Wednesday morning.
“This radical law is an all out effort to erase the rights and protections of Roe v Wade,” she wrote. “Every woman, everywhere has the constitutional and moral right to basic reproductive health care. We will fight SB8 and all immoral and dangerous attacks on women’s health and freedoms with all our strength.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Texas retailers tell Dallas Fed they’re worried about absenteeism, supply chain (Dallas Morning News)
Texas retailers’ outlooks weakened in August on pace with the spike in the virus variant even though sales rebounded at the fastest rate since April, according to a survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. “The delta variant is taking the wind out of their sails,” said Emily Kerr, senior business economist at the Dallas Fed. “Optimism from July got sucked away in August.” Staffing shortages, quarantines and supply chain issues are weighing on the retail industry, which has become more resilient throughout the pandemic, she said. Retailers’ perceptions of broader business conditions weakened, and another index that measures “outlook uncertainty” reached its highest level since November, according to the Dallas Fed Bank’s monthly survey of the service sector, which represents 70% of the state’s economy and employs about 8.6 million workers.
Retail sales rebounded in August and are well above average, Kerr said. “But unfortunately there’s a major headwind of labor shortages. They aren’t seeing relief.” Retailers said the lack of applicants is as big of an issue as it was in April when they thought supplemental unemployment benefits were keeping applicants home. “Then came the delta variant, which has caused absenteeism to spike as parents and caregivers have to be quarantined with household members,” Kerr said. More than 72% of the 43 retailers responding to the survey, conducted during the final week of August, said they are trying to hire or recall workers. Fear of COVID-19 as an impediment to hiring jumped to 29% from only 4% in April. Retailers said that employing the right people has never been harder, and recruiting is “an incredible challenge.” Inventories continued to decline for the sixth consecutive month. Retailers are worried about the availability of goods in the coming months, Kerr said. When Texas retailers were asked to pick three primary factors restraining their company’s revenues, supply-chain disruptions received the highest response of almost 74%, followed by weak demand (26%) and limited operating capacity due to staffing shortages (24%)… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas state senators file suit arguing federal judge must draw political maps for 2022 (Houston Chronicle)
Two Democratic state senators and an activist group have filed a federal lawsuit against Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, alleging that the Texas Constitution doesn’t allow redistricting for the legislature to be done during a special session, putting the onus on a federal judge to draw new political maps in the meantime. In a suit filed in federal court in Del Rio on Wednesday, Sens. Sarah Eckhardt, of Austin, and Roland Gutierrez, of San Antonio, and Tejano Democrats state that the law only allows the process to occur during the first regular session after the U.S. Census Bureau releases its decennial data. “Considering he is a licensed Texas attorney for over 35 years, a former judge, and a former Texas Attorney General, the Governor is well aware of this and is deliberately ignoring the law in a desperate, illegal scheme to try to keep his party in power,” Gutierrez said in a statement.
Abbott, whose office did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has said he will call a special session for redistricting this fall. Legislative hearings have already begun and more are scheduled for later this month. The suit would not affect the timing of congressional redistricting, which is not addressed in the Texas Constitution, according to Michael Li, redistricting and voting counsel at the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU. The Census Bureau was supposed to deliver the data at the end of March, but due to pandemic-related delays, did not release it until mid-August. Eckhardt and Gutierrez argue that the next opportunity, then, would be the regular session in 2023. One of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, Wallace B. Jefferson, is a former chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court, a Republican. The legal team could not be reached for comment. The suit asks the court to issue an injunction barring the Legislature from moving forward with its redistricting process and to create an interim map for the 2022 cycle. Political maps routinely elicit lawsuits against the state alleging discrimination against minority voters. Federal judges, as recently as 2017, have repeatedly found that the Republican-controlled Legislature drew political districts with racially discriminatory intent… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
College-admissions scandal to see first trial next week (Wall Street Journal)
The nationwide college-admissions scandal is returning to the spotlight next week, with the first trial in the sprawling case involving two parents accused of bribery-and-fraud conspiracy in an alleged scheme to get their children admitted to the University of Southern California as athletic recruits.
Forty-six defendants, including Hollywood TV stars, business titans, Division 1 coaches and SAT test proctors, already have pleaded or agreed to plead guilty. The federal criminal proceedings, which came to light in 2019 as “Operation Varsity Blues,” have highlighted how gaining entry to selective colleges amounts to a bruising competition in many affluent pockets of the U.S. and have exposed how parts of the admission process have been ripe for exploitation.
In total, the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts charged 57 people in the case. Newport Beach, Calif., college counselor William “Rick” Singer has admitted to leading the scheme, which entailed rigging SAT and ACT scores or bribing coaches at the University of Southern California, Stanford University, Yale University and other schools to fraudulently present teens as recruited athletes. Being tagged by coaches as even non-scholarship players all but guarantees entry at some schools.
Several defendants have maintained their innocence, and a series of three trials is now set to start after pandemic-related delays. Two parents are scheduled to face a jury on Sept. 13 (with jury selection set to begin Sept. 8) and three more in January. Separately, two former coaches from USC and Wake Forest University and a former USC athletics administrator who pleaded not guilty are expected to go to trial later in the fall. A Georgetown tennis coach has indicated he will plead guilty ahead of that trial, and prosecutors say they may secure another plea as well.
The first parents set for trial are Gamal Abdelaziz, the former president of a Wynn Resorts business in the Chinese territory of Macau, and John Wilson, a private-equity financier and onetime chief operating officer at Gap Inc… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
People are wondering if an Ohio school even exists, after a football blowout on ESPN (NPR)
Days after a blowout loss on national television, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has launched an investigation into the high school football program at Bishop Sycamore and the school's legitimacy.
In a statement released by the governor's office, DeWine said the state Department of Education would investigate further into Bishop Sycamore regarding recent allegations against the charter school.
"Like many Ohioans, I am concerned by the recent reports and questions raised about Bishop Sycamore. While this weekend's football game brought concerns about the health and safety of players, it also raised red flags about the school's operations," DeWine said.
DeWine said schools like Bishop Sycamore "have an obligation under Ohio law to meet certain minimum standards," but whether Bishop Sycamore meets those standards is not entirely clear… (LINK TO FULL STORY)