BG Reads | News You Need to Know (November 11, 2021)
Texas Capitol Dome (Inside)
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Council members pose tough questions about city’s storm response (Austin Monitor)
During Wednesday’s City Council Audit & Finance Committee meeting, Chair Alison Alter and fellow committee members Kathie Tovo and Mackenzie Kelly praised city staffers’ heroic efforts as Winter Storm Uri ground the city to a halt in February. But those heroic efforts were not enough and Council members had many questions after hearing the city auditor’s report on the city’s lack of preparedness for the storm.
Alter said city officials had fair warning that the storm was coming, but failed to inform citizens in a timely manner – and in their native languages. Staff had received numerous recommendations on what they could do better to get ready for such an emergency. But when that emergency came, they had not followed up on recommendations from FEMA in 2020, for example. And probably because they never imagined a winter storm hitting the city with such ferocity for so many days, they were unprepared. In addition, all eyes were on the Covid-19 pandemic, which left many city employees isolated from one another.
Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director Juan Ortiz explained that his staff was activated in March 2020 in response to the pandemic. That has taken all their time and they simply could not focus on planning for additional emergencies. As the city auditor’s disaster preparedness report pointed out, the HSEM staff consisted of only 15 people and they were focused on the pandemic. The audit reported, “While the storm was unprecedented, the city’s lack of preparedness for Winter Storm Uri led to a less effective and disorganized response. … By acting on disaster preparedness and community resilience now, the city may be able to improve its response in future disasters.”
Ortiz told committee members, “The frequency of disaster events has gotten in the way of planning.”
Jessica King, leading the communications team, tried to explain why warnings in languages other than English did not go out at the same time as warnings in English. The answer boiled down to a complicated system for translating at the time of the emergency, coupled with a lack of power and access to the internet.
Alter said, “We need to do better, and I have to say as chair of the Audit & Finance Committee … I have never seen a management response that was so defensive in light of the magnitude of the challenge that’s before us and the real possibility that something like this will happen again.” City management “owes it to our employees” to do better, she said, adding, “The audit speaks very eloquently to the numerous recommendations and reports on how we could be better prepared … and it’s my hope that city management will take these recommendations seriously.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Travis County sets new commissioner district boundaries for next decade (Community Impact)
Travis County has finalized new maps adjusting representative districts that will last through the next decade.
County commissioners began the redistricting process after receiving data from the 2020 U.S. census. According to Julie Wheller, Travis County intergovernmental relations officer, the county grew by 20.6% between 2010 and 2020, totaling 1.29 million residents. County staff and consultants were tasked with overseeing the development of maps that balanced the size of the county's four commissioner districts, which experienced unequal growth over the past decade.
"It's not a perfect map, but we think it's a very good map," redistricting consultant Gary Bledsoe said at Commissioners Court Nov. 10 special voting session. "It recognizes ... areas of growth and development in terms of what's actually going on in the county."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
How COVID politics intruded on the Austin Veterans Day Parade (AXIOS Austin)
Austin's annual Veterans Day Parade has been pulled into coronavirus politics.
Driving the news: Gov. Greg Abbott kicked off Tuesday by inviting veterans to convene at the state Capitol — and throwing shade on Austin for its COVID-19 restrictions.
Austin Veteran Parade Foundation officials said they had to cancel the annual parade after city officials required them "to verify all participants and spectators to have either a current negative Covid test or be vaccinated," per the AVPF website.
"This is something that we could not do as we anticipated some 30,000 attendees to the parade," they said.
What they're saying: "The City of Austin's overreaching COVID-19 requirements have placed an undue burden on large events like the 2021 Veterans Day Parade, forcing the Austin Veterans Parade Foundation to cancel their annual event," Abbott said.
"That is why I am inviting the Austin Veterans Parade Foundation and military veterans to host a rally on the south steps of the Texas State Capitol to celebrate our nation's heroes," he continued. "The State of Texas will always support our military veterans, and we are committed to ensuring that the traditions of Veterans Day are kept alive in the capital city."
The other side: Austin spokesperson Sara Henry said officials had worked with event organizers over the summer to plan "for this important event to honor the American heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for our great country."
But the organizers never submitted a required COVID-19 Health & Safety form to Austin Public Health… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Texas schools can again set their own face mask rules after federal judge overrules Gov. Greg Abbott's ban (KUT)
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order prohibiting mask mandates in schools violates the Americans with Disabilities Act — freeing local officials to again create their own rules.
The order comes after a monthslong legal dispute between parents, a disability rights organization and Texas officials over whether the state was violating the 1990 law, known as the ADA, by not allowing school districts to require masks. U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel barred Attorney General Ken Paxton from enforcing Abbott’s order.
“The spread of COVID-19 poses an even greater risk for children with special health needs,” Yeakel said. “Children with certain underlying conditions who contract COVID-19 are more likely to experience severe acute biological effects and to require admission to a hospital and the hospital’s intensive-care unit.”
The judge said the governor's order impedes children with disabilities from the benefits of public schools’ programs, services and activities to which they are entitled… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Gov. Abbott directs Texas officials to investigate ‘criminal activity’ related to porn in school (Dallas Morning News)
Gov. Greg Abbott is directing Texas education officials to investigate whether pornography is available in public schools and to notify law enforcement if such material is accessible. His directive comes amid a political backlash against books related to race, gender and sexuality. Some parents have railed against books that include scenes of sexual abuse and LGBTQ relationships. Earlier this week, Abbott called on the Texas Education Agency, State Board of Education and Texas’ library and archives commission to develop standards to prevent the presence of “pornography and other obscene content” in schools -- though he didn’t specify what kind of standards. The state agencies said they would comply with his request. The Republican governor intensified his push with a letter Wednesday to Education Commissioner Mike Morath noting that while standards are being developed, “more immediate action is needed to protect Texas students.” “The presence of pornography in schools is not only inappropriate, but it is also against the law,” Abbott wrote… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Dallas housing developer gets 8 years in prison for bribing city council members (Dallas Morning News)
For the third time in roughly a decade, a low-income housing developer is going to federal prison for bribing a member of the Dallas City Council. Ruel Hamilton, 65, was sentenced on Tuesday to eight years behind bars. The Dallas developer and Oak Cliff native had faced as many as 20 years. The judge cited his serious health issues and “wonderful record” of service to the community, in opting for less time. She also gave him 90 days to report to prison. Chief U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn also ordered him to pay a $150,000 fine for his “sordid” behavior. Hamilton follows in the footsteps of Brian Potashnik, who got 14 months in 2010 for a similar City Hall bribery scandal, and Devin Hall, who was sentenced in August to 12 months for bribery. Hamilton, however, chose to go to trial -- unlike the other two men, who pleaded guilty and cooperated with the government.
A jury convicted Hamilton of bribery in June for making payments to two former Dallas City Council members in exchange for their help with his low-income apartment projects in the city. He was found guilty of two counts of bribery and one count of conspiracy to commit bribery. The jury acquitted him of the fourth count, use of an interstate facility to commit a Travel Act violation, following the two-week trial. Prosecutors said he paid Dwaine Caraway and Carolyn Davis for their support and approval of his development projects while they served on the council. His company, AmeriSouth Realty Group, has built apartment complexes in southern neighborhoods over the years. Hamilton tried to convince the jury his motive for the payments was altruism, not self-interest. His lawyers portrayed him as a generous man who donated money for a charity and to help Caraway with medical expenses. But prosecutors noted that Hamilton wrote a $7,000 check to Caraway after the two talked city business even though the men were not close friends and had only met in person once. The developer also secreted bribe payments to Davis through her nonprofit of choice, run by a close friend and associate of hers. The roughly $40,000 in bribes Hamilton paid to Davis from 2013 to 2015 included “illegal campaign donations for the candidates of her choice,” prosecutors said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Judge refuses Trump request to delay release of Jan. 6 docs amid appeal (The Hill)
A federal judge on Wednesday declined to delay a Friday deadline for the National Archives to begin handing over Trump administration documents to the House January 6 Select Committee.
Lawyers for former President Trump had asked for a stay after U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan rejected his lawsuit seeking to block the documents from being released while he appeals.
In a six-page decision on Wednesday, Chutkan, an Obama appointee, denied Trump's request for a temporary stay for essentially the same reasons that she ruled against blocking the documents from being handed over.
"In his renewed motion, despite the fact that he requests essentially the same relief as in his original preliminary injunction motion, Plaintiff has not advanced any new facts or arguments that persuade the court to reconsider its November 9, 2021, Order," Chutkan said in her decision.
"The court’s analysis previously rejecting Plaintiff’s requested relief is thus equally applicable here: Plaintiff is unlikely to succeed on the merits of his claims or suffer irreparable harm, and a balance of the equities and public interest bear against granting his requested relief," she added… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Biden's ‘I feel your pain’ conundrum (Politico)
President Joe Biden is trying to convey that the economy is doing great, though its greatness still isn’t all that good; that his massive infrastructure bill is historic, but far more spending is needed and soon; and that even though America has bounced back from the pandemic better than other countries, its recovery is nowhere near complete.
Presidents rarely find themselves trapped in such obvious and politically perilous limbo as Biden now finds himself. He’s been tasked with convincing the country that things are on the right track when the vast majority of voters have made clear they still view the nation as altogether adrift. Though White House officials cheer the more than 5 million jobs added since February, the surging stock market and the rising number of vaccinations, it’s been tempered by the jump in wholesale prices, spiraling costs at the gas pump, worker shortages and supply chain bottlenecks that have dominated headlines and voter concerns… (LINK TO FULL STORY)