BG Reads | News You Need to Know (September 27, 2021)
[MEETING/HEARINGS]
Work Session of the Austin Council (9.28.2021 at 9AM)
Regular Meeting of the Austin City Council (9.30.2021 at 10AM) - AGENDA
[BINGHAM GROUP]
***NEW*** BG Podcast Ep. 146: District Organizing with Austin Justice Coalition
A.J. speaks with Austin Justice Coalition (AJC) reps João Paulo Connolly and Rockie Gonzalez about the launch of its new grassroots organizing strategy, District Organizing: Project Engage (DOPE). DOPE is a plan mobilize and build community power at the Council district level. The conversation covers the impetus and vision of the program, and how Austinites can engage. Show link here. with Austin Justice Coalition (AJC) reps João Paulo Connolly and Rockie Gonzalez about the launch of its new grassroots organizing strategy, District Organizing: Project Engage (DOPE). DOPE is a plan mobilize and build community power at the Council district level. The conversation covers the impetus and vision of the program, and how Austinites can engage. Show link here.
CEO A.J. recently sat down with Voyage Austin for an interview on his path to lobbying and founding Bingham Group. Check it out here.
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
With Tesla leading the way, Austin revs up as a key electric vehicle hub (Austin American-Statesman)
With an influx of companies making electric cars, semi-trucks, motorcycles and even batteries, the Austin area has quietly become a key hub in the electric vehicle industry — and it's doing so just as EV technology is gaining widespread adoption by consumers, according to industry experts. The region's reputation as an electric vehicle haven might have gotten its biggest boost in July 2020, when Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the company had chosen a site in southeast Travis County for its newest manufacturing site, a $1.1 billion facility where the company plans to produce its Cybertruck, Semi, Model 3 company sedan, Model Y and batteries. “It was a growing hub before. Tesla puts us over the edge. Now it's one of the strongest EV communities in the country," said Ed Latson, president of the Austin Manufacturers Association. “It's a really exciting, burgeoning sector.”
Across Texas, the electric-transportation sector employed more than 7,100 people in 1,200 businesses in 2019, to a report by the Austin-based Texas Advanced Energy Alliance. The report predicted the number of workers could grow to more than 13,000 by 2024. The industry’s activity had been growing in Central Texas already, but after Tesla chose Travis County, growth went from single to double digits, Latson said. The Tesla facility alone could bring more than 10,000 new jobs to Central Texas through 2022, and the sector has added multiple other new companies, dozens of jobs, new vehicles and even seen two companies go public. “Everybody's talking about Austin as the next place to be and it's easy to look at what's happening here and believe that's true,” Latson said. Austin's reputation as a tech hub helped draw electric vehicle company Hylliion to Central Texas in 2018, said Thomas Healy, CEO and founder. Hylliion, which was founded in Pittsburgh in 2015 but is now based in Cedar Park, designs and installs gear that enables commercial vehicles such as semi-tractors and tractor-trailers to run on electricity. It has become one of the Austin area's biggest electric vehicle players… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin, Travis County, AISD look to build collaboration on community disaster hubs (Community Impact)
After the fallout from Winter Storm Uri in February left many without power or running water—a dangerous and sometimes deadly combination—Austin-area entities began looking to create a network of safe shelters for residents during disaster situations.
At a joint meeting Sept. 24, Austin, Travis County and Austin ISD officials heard updates and voiced support for a process that could see dozens of local facilities improved and added to a network of resilience hubs—places that could provide water, food, electricity or a place to gather in an emergency.
The targeted locations include neighborhood schools, recreation centers, clinics, libraries and other government buildings that in some cases can function completely off the power grid.
"There are disasters happening around us. So these extreme weather events have really highlighted the need for accessible community spaces that can offer services to community members at the neighborhood and interpersonal level when extreme events happen," Austin Climate Program Manager Zach Baumer said.
The facilities' day-to-day uses would not change, but upgrades to offer specific services during weather emergencies would be made.Potential hubs could range from completely grid-independent sites to those with a generator and places with no power adjustments that could still function as a gathering place when needed.
Upgrades to make existing buildings into hubs include adding a generator, battery or solar backups, new storage capacity for food and water, designation of indoor or outdoor staging areas, and other survival-based changes. Baumer estimated that adding every identified upgrade to a building could cost up to $1 million per location, though most hubs are not likely to receive such comprehensive renovations.
A goal of the expansion process is to make resilience hubs available to anyone in the city within a 15-minute walk, which staff estimated will require around 400 hub locations eventually coming online. Growing a network to that size will take time, Baumer said, and staff from the city, school district and county are now working to map out possibilities for expansion and collaboration… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
How Samsung would find enough water, power if it puts $17B plant in Taylor (Austin Business Journal)
With Taylor the frontrunner for Samsung Electronic Co.'s $17 billion chipmaking plant, many wonder how the largely rural city would be able to support one of the most critical elements of semiconductor operations: utilities.
Semiconductor plants use an enormous amount of electricity and water every day, and the facilities run 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With a 6-million-square-foot chipmaking factory expected, Samsung has unique utility needs wherever it lands, and the tech giant's plans will also impact the rush of residents and companies expected to follow it, plus those already in Taylor.
If it chooses the Taylor area, the tech giant will partner with a division of Canada-based Epcor Utilities Inc. to funnel millions of gallons of water into Williamson County for its project. It would be a positive outcome for a region where water resources are front of mind, Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said.
The site Samsung is considering — roughly 1,200 acres west of Taylor — is also in the utility area of Oncor Electric Delivery Co., which is Texas' largest transmission and distribution electric utility… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Manufacturer wins incentives, reveals hiring plans for Kyle facility (Austin Business Journal)
Plastikon Industries Inc., a plastic parts manufacturer that supplies Tesla Inc. and Toyota Motor Corp., plans to hire more than 200 full-time jobs and invest $13.6 million at its new facility at the Plum Creek Industrial Center in Kyle.
The Hayward, California-based company Sept. 21 received unanimous approval for a performance-based Chapter 381 incentives agreement from Hays County Commissioners Court. It also revealed new details about its planned facility, which Austin Business Journal reported in June was expected to be nearly 100,000 square feet.
While no details were immediately available about the incentives, the company said that it has already started construction at the site — its first in the state of Texas — and has plans to open in Building 2 in early December, according to an announcement. It will begin manufacturing almost immediately thereafter.
Plastikon also said it is hiring locally to fill positions at all levels, from senior management to production workers, with salaries described as "competitive" that will either meet or exceed the county's average wages, according to the announcement.
"For quite a few years, we wanted to come into Texas, specifically near Austin," Mark Petri, executive vice president of sales and business development for Plastikon, said in a statement. "Hays County is strategically located for our business operations, and when you add in the huge talent pool, the available building infrastructure and the accommodations made by the developers at Plum Creek, now was the right time for Plastikon to establish a new operation in the Texas Innovation Corridor."
Plastikon uses plastic injection molding to create products for several industries, including automotive and medical. In the automotive field, the company makes molded plastic parts such as steering wheels, mud guards, consoles, seating, braking and railing, according to its website.
The company also plans to develop training and recruiting programs with local school districts to prepare its future workforce, according to the announcement.
"Plastikon is a prime example of a manufacturing company requiring an accelerated site selection process, allowing them to begin production in just a few months," Jason Giulietti, president of the Greater San Marcos Partnership, said in a statement. "This location announcement was made possible thanks to the investment and foresight of the Plum Creek developers who provided the spec facility and the great continued support of the Hays County Commissioners."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Texas has a constitutional amendments election this year. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 4. (Texas Tribune)
There's a statewide election on Nov. 2, but it’s one without any statewide candidates.
Instead, the election will feature eight statewide constitutional amendments that address topics ranging from religious freedom to taxes to judicial eligibility. The last day to register to vote is Oct. 4. The last day to apply for a ballot by mail is Oct. 22. Early voting in the state runs Oct. 18-29… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
No, El Paso has not actually reached herd immunity, according to Texas medical experts. Here's why. (Houston Chronicle)
El Paso county officials claim its largest city has reached a level of herd immunity from COVID-19, but state medical experts say it’s not that easy to discern. As of Sept. 20, 75 percent of El Paso residents 12 and older were fully vaccinated, according to Jorge Rodriguez, the El Paso assistant fire chief and emergency management coordinator. In a meeting with El Paso county commissioners, Rodriguez said the city is ahead of federal vaccination goals. “That is in terms of herd immunity, something we’ve been working on as a community,” Rodriguez said. “We’re the first city in Texas to receive this level of vaccines within a community… we’re really proud of the effort to get to this point, and we’re seeing the benefits of it.” But experts say the city is not yet at herd immunity levels, nor is the definition of such a level quite as cut and dry as some presume.
Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, does not use the phrase “herd immunity” anymore because it’s so often misunderstood by government officials and can be used as a way to avoid COVID prevention measures, he said.
“Everyone wants it to be a percentage that we get to, and (the pandemic) is over,” said Ben Neuman, chief virologist at Texas A&M’s Global Health Research Complex. “But it doesn’t work that way.” Herd immunity is when the virus naturally controls itself without any further public health measures, like vaccines, face masks and social distancing, Neuman explained. The phenomenon requires an observation of cases and vaccine rates over a longer period of time. “It’s not cases went down this week, therefore we’ve hit it; we need more data,” he said.
“Herd immunity is how you can explain that a vaccine is working by being able to look at the point where the virus started to control itself. We’ve been trying to use it as a predictive tool.” According to the Texas Department of State Health Services, El Paso County has fully vaccinated 519,425 people over the age of 12. That’s 62 percent of the estimated county population of 836,062 people. Dr. Paul Klotman, president and CEO of Baylor College of Medicine does not believe El Paso has reached the necessary vaccination rate to claim herd immunity… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Erica Grieder: Houston City Council should insist on answers from Mayor Turner in housing deal flap (Houston Chronicle)
Houston has a strong mayor-city council system — and in Sylvester Turner, a strong-willed mayor. Still, City Council members need to set aside their rubber stamps and ask some real questions about the $15 million affordable housing contract that Turner wants to award to a group of developers, including his own longtime law partner. It was a dramatic week for city leaders, thanks to Tom McCasland, who until this past week was the director of Houston’s housing and community development department. McCasland on Tuesday lived out every bureaucrat’s dream, or nightmare, by showing up to the council’s housing and community affairs committee with a packet of documents, arranged in chronological order, and an explosive story to tell.
“Unfortunately, I’ve reached a point where I can no longer do the bidding of this administration, as it relates to this development,” McCasland said. “This administration is bankrolling a certain developer to the detriment of working families who need affordable homes.” Some months ago, McCasland continued, he was contacted by Marvalette Hunter, Turner’s chief of staff, who was interested in how the city could help finance a project, Huntington at Bay Area. It would include 88 affordable housing units for senior citizens in Council District E, which encompasses parts of Kingwood and Clear Lake. He said he explained that, in such situations, developers have to go through a competitive process. And, as it turned out in this case, Huntington at Bay Area wasn’t up to snuff. McCasland’s team ranked it eighth out of 12 proposals submitted — and recommended instead that the available funds be directed to four other projects, which would create a total of 362 affordable housing units. Still, McCasland said, Turner decided to opt for the Huntington at Bay Area project.
“We knew that we were supposed to set up this (Notice of Funding Availability) funding to fund a particular developer,” he told the gobsmacked council members of the committee. “But we don’t do business that way at the housing department. We scored this like it truly was a competitive scoring process.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Congress heads into tumultuous week pressured by converging deadlines (Wall Street Journal)
A slew of high-stakes deadlines will collide on Capitol Hill this week, setting up potentially chaotic negotiations against the backdrop of expiring government funding and the threat of a possible U.S. default.
Even by the standards of a Capitol used to operating under pressure, this week’s maelstrom of legislative and fiscal crosscurrents is setting the stage for an extraordinary sprint. Democratic leaders are trying to shepherd two complicated legislative packages: a roughly $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill and a sprawling healthcare, education and climate package whose proposed $3.5 trillion price tag and contents are still under intense debate within the party.
At the same time, the government’s funding is set to expire at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 1, which would partially shut down the government if Congress doesn’t act. Lawmakers also are feuding over who is responsible for raising the debt limit and avoiding a potentially catastrophic default. Absent swift action, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen notified Congress this month that the Treasury may be unable to keep paying all of the government’s bills on time during October.
“The next few days will be a time of intensity,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said in a Saturday letter to House Democrats… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Tesla owners can now request ‘Full Self-Driving’, prompting criticism from regulators and safety advocates (Washington Post)
Tesla began letting owners request its “Full Self-Driving” software early Saturday, opening up for wide release its most advanced driver-assistance suite and signaling that thousands of drivers will soon be on the road with the unregulated and largely untested features. It’s the first time the company has let typical owners upgrade to the software it terms self-driving, although the name itself is an exaggeration by industry and regulatory standards. Tesla chief executive Elon Musk had said owners would be able to request this weekend the upgraded suite of advanced driver-assistance features, which Tesla says is a beta, although they wouldn’t receive the capabilities right away. Owners will have to agree to let Tesla monitor their driving behavior through the company insurance calculator. Tesla issued a detailed guide specifying the criteria under which drivers would be graded. If their driving is deemed to be “good” over a seven-day period, Musk said on Twitter, “beta access will be granted.”
It’s the latest twist in a saga that has regulators, safety advocates and relatives of Tesla crash victims up in arms because of the potential for chaos as the technology is unleashed on real-world roads. Until now, roughly 2,000 beta testers have had access to the technology. This weekend’s release would make it available to those who have purchased the now-$10,000 software upgrade, and those who have purchased a subscription from Tesla for about $100 to $200 per month — if they can first pass Tesla’s safety monitoring. As recently as July, Musk said the technology was a “debatable” proposition, arguing that “we need to make Full Self-Driving work in order for it to be a compelling value proposition.” And already, investigators are looking at its predecessor, dubbed Autopilot, which navigates vehicles from highway on-ramp to off-ramp and can park and summon cars, with a driver monitoring the software. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration opened an investigation last month into about a dozen crashes involving parked emergency vehicles while Autopilot was engaged.
“Full Self-Driving” expands Autopilot’s capabilities to city streets and offers the ability to navigate the vehicle turn-by-turn, from point A to point B. Tesla and NHTSA did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Tesla has repeatedly argued that Autopilot is safer than cars being driven manually when the modes are compared using Tesla data and information from NHTSA… (LINK TO FULL STORY)