BG Reads | News You Need to Know (July 23, 2021)
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Police spending proves top concern in first budget comment session (Austin Monitor)
Community members weighed on the city manager’s preliminary budget proposal Thursday before a mostly in-person City Council – the first in-person meeting since the beginning of the pandemic. A vast majority of speakers criticized the proposed police spending, arguing that an increase in the Austin Police Department’s allocation goes against the city’s commitment to reimagine public safety.
City Manager Spencer Cronk’s Fiscal Year 2021-22 budget proposal totals $4.5 billion, an increase of 3.5 percent from last year. Highlights from the proposal include $65.2 million in homelessness spending – the highest amount ever – and money shifted back to APD that Council had decoupled from the department, plus an $8.5 million increase over 2019 levels. The reversal on police spending comes in response to Texas House Bill 1900, which penalizes cities that cut their police budget.
Speakers representing various social justice groups – Austin Justice Coalition, Undoing White Supremacy Austin, Communities of Color United, among others – urged Council to put only the minimum amount of money required by HB 1900 toward policing, which is effectively equal to the prior year’s police budget.
“I understand that the Legislature has made this budget cycle particularly difficult, but the police budget should only meet the bare requirements and not a penny more,” said Amelia Casas, a policy analyst at the Texas Fair Defense Project.
Joao Paulo Connolly with the Austin Justice Coalition argued that HB 1900 makes it especially important not to increase police spending. “We need to really, really be careful when we talk about … adding more money to the police budget,” Connolly said. “Any amounts added to this budget are permanent.”
Advocates supported other uses for the APD money above what HB 1900 requires. “Shift the additional $8.5 million in the budget for policing over 2019 levels to community initiatives,” said Sabina Ibarrola with Undoing White Supremacy Austin. “Fund public health workers and neighborhood hubs, a universal basic income pilot and equity spending review process.” Trauma recovery centers and initiatives to end food deserts were among the other ideas floated.
Many of the pro-defunding speakers urged Council to follow the Reimagining Public Safety Task Force’s recommendations, which on the whole would radically change policing in the city. Though the city manager proposed $1.9 million toward some of these recommendations, many speakers considered that amount paltry.
“With only $1.9 million allocated to the recommendations and a record high for the APD budget, the proposed budget really shows a complete departure from that path that we embarked upon,” said Cate Graziani, who worked on the task force.
A few speakers – all of whom were from the Greater Austin Crime Commission – did support the police budget. Cary Roberts, the group’s executive director, said amidst “challenging times” with higher crime rates and lower response times as a result of an understaffed department, “continuing cadet classes is the most important thing we can do now to address the alarming attrition and staffing crisis.”
Before Council can weigh in on the budget proposal, another round of public comment is set for next Thursday. Council will discuss and adopt the budget Aug. 11-13… (LINK TO STORY)
Facebook expanding in downtown Austin, entering Pflugerville (Austin Business Journal)
Facebook Inc. is expanding its footprint in the Austin metro. The social media giant has leased more than 32,000 square feet of warehouse space in Pflugerville while also growing its presence in a downtown Austin high-rise.
The social media company, which Austin Business Journal previously reported was looking to occupy an additional 1 million square feet in downtown Austin, confirmed it has signed a lease for space at the Heatherwilde 45 industrial park in Pflugerville but declined to say what it will use the space for. It's traditional warehouse space outfitted with loading docks.
Facebook (Nasdaq: FB) also confirmed it added more office space at the 23-story 300 W. Sixth St. tower in downtown Austin, which it has occupied since 2010. The company did not state how many additional square feet it leased. Endeavor Real Estate Group handles the leasing at 300 W. Sixth St., which is owned by California State Teachers’ Retirement System.
Facebook growing its Austin-area footprint, especially adding office space in the heart of downtown, sends a heartening signal to real estate professionals who have been wondering how post-pandemic offices for major employers will shake out. The Austin office market is still on shaky ground — the vacancy rate was 14.8% in the second quarter, up from 14.2% in the first quarter, according to NAI Partners. Average asking rates increased slightly quarter over quarter… (LINK TO STORY)
Block 185, Austin’s new ‘Google Tower,’ officially topped out downtown (Austin Towers)
Block 185, the 35-floor downtown Austin office tower bringing an instantly-iconic sailboat-inspired design to the skyline and reportedly set to be occupied by tech giants Google celebrates its official topping out [Thursday], according to developers Trammell Crow Company and investment firm MSD Capital… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin ISD to ‘strongly encourage’ masks for everyone during 2021-22 school year (KXAN)
The Austin Independent School District on Thursday released preliminary COVID-19 safety measures it plans to implement during the 2021-22 school year.
The district emphasized these plans are subject to change, depending on local COVID-19 data.
In a release, Austin ISD said it’s “committed to providing a safe and healthy environment so that we can welcome each and every student back.”
District leaders are planning to have in-person learning, which is backed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but they are trying to figure out how they can provide virtual options under the governor’s constraints.
Earlier this year, Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order barring school districts and other “governmental entities in Texas” from requiring mask wearing… (LINK TO STORY)
Elgin approves incentives for manufacturer's relocation from North Austin (Austin Business Journal)
A North Austin manufacturer has gotten the approval of the Elgin City Council to subsidize its move to the city, where it plans to add at least 65 employees at a 50,000-square-foot building in the Elgin Business Park.
Carr Lane Manufacturing Co., which is headquartered in St. Louis but has made parts for the aerospace industry near U.S. Highway 290 and U.S. Highway 183 for more than a decade, received July 20 unanimous approval from Council for an economic development performance agreement.
The agreement, which was approved July 13 by the Elgin Economic Development Corp., rebates the company's $272,250 purchase of the land in the 80-acre park, located off Roy Rivers Road and owned by the EDC, plus $100,000 to cover property taxes and closing costs… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Texans not expected to lose power through the rest of the summer, regulators say (Texas Tribune)
Texas electricity regulators told the public Thursday that their electricity should likely stay on through the rest of the summer and that the state’s main power grid is in good enough shape to withstand any potential extreme weather.
With warmer weather expected as soon as next week, Peter Lake, chair of the Public Utility Commission, which oversees the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said his agency and ERCOT are working through the rest of the summer with “an abundance of caution” by calling on more reserve power when warmer weather arrives and Texans crank up their air conditioning.
Lake, speaking at a news conference alongside interim ERCOT President Brad Jones, said the approach is a departure from the way the Texas electricity market has historically operated — cheap power being the first priority and “reliability second.”
That order is being reversed, Lake said.
Another key step regulators plan to take to implement the reversal is providing economic incentives for reliable electricity, which Texans will likely pay for, Lake said. He didn’t elaborate on what form those incentives might take or how they’d be financed… (LINK TO STORY)
Lawmakers concerned about UT leaving Big 12 conference make their case to Gov. Greg Abbott's office (Texas Tribune)
As the college athletics world roils over the possibility of the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma leaving the Big 12 conference, a group of Texas legislators with ties to other universities in the state has mobilized.
Four prominent lawmakers — one each with ties to Baylor University, Texas Christian University, Texas Tech University and Texas A&M University — met with Gov. Greg Abbott’s staff Thursday, one day after news broke that UT and OU had reached out to the Southeastern Conference about joining, according to a source briefed about the meeting and an Abbott spokesperson. Abbott is a UT alumnus and outspoken Longhorn fan.
The four lawmakers were Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood, who chairs the influential House Appropriations Committee and attended Texas A&M; Rep. Dustin Burrows, R-Lubbock, who received his law degree and MBA from Texas Tech and chairs the powerful House Calendars Committee; Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, who chairs the House Committee on Judiciary and Civil Jurisprudence and was a student body president at Baylor; and Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, chair of the Health and Human Services Committee and a former TCU athlete. Kolkhorst declined comment and the other three lawmakers did not immediately respond to requests for comments Thursday evening… (LINK TO STORY)
Fort Worth Star-Telegram Editorial: Fort Worth leaders, get ready to help TCU football if UT, OU leave Big 12 for the SEC (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
The new uncertainty in college football may soon become an all-hands-on-deck moment for Fort Worth and the TCU Horned Frogs. TCU’s sports future might be in question again, after news reports this week that the University of Texas and the University of Oklahoma are inquiring about leaving the Big 12 Conference for the Southeastern Conference. This isn’t just about football. It’s about tourism and revenue for Fort Worth, and the economic success the entire city enjoys from home games and TV contracts at the top level of college sports.
Whenever TCU asks, Mayor Mattie Parker, County Judge Glen Whitley and leaders should put their own loyalties aside and join Tarrant County lawmakers to work nationwide and help keep TCU in one of college sports’ top conferences. Big 12 games have brought thousands of visitors to Fort Worth and Arlington, even more than anyone expected when the Horned Frogs replaced Texas A&M in the league nine years ago. Every TCU home conference football game is like a college bowl game, and games in other sports fill restaurants and hotels. The league championship game fills hotels in Arlington. But any realignment of college sports conferences would leave both TCU’s and the Big 12’s future in doubt. Tarrant County leaders must make these points strongly to every college president: TCU is the home of top-tier major college football in a market of nearly 8 million people, where every major college across the country likely has thousands of alumni and where visiting teams play before some of Texas’ most talented recruits; Fort Worth is where your team and league want to play. College football is king here, not the pros. Sundance Square and Mule Alley are great gathering places for college fans; DFW Airport is a nonstop flight from almost anywhere in the U.S. Those sports teams or staff members traveling on commercial airlines can get home faster and miss less classroom time… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Public health experts call on CDC to change its mask guidance (NPR)
The summer surge in COVID-19 cases is an unwelcome surprise for health officials and experts who thought, for a brief period, that the U.S. had the coronavirus pandemic largely under control.
"This is the low season. It shouldn't be spreading as fast during summer," says Ali Mokdad, who tracks coronavirus trends at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington. Respiratory diseases such as the flu and COVID-19 usually spike in the winter, when people spend much of their time sequestered indoors.
But now, in the blazing heat of summer, hospitals in some parts of the country are again getting slammed with COVID-19 patients. Holiday gatherings over the Fourth of July — which President Biden once hoped would mark the country's independence from the virus — may have fueled new outbreaks. Cases, hospitalizations and deaths are ticking up after a long decline… (LINK TO STORY)
Fauci praises GOP encouraging vaccines: 'A very good thing' (The Hill)
Anthony Fauci said Republicans who are now encouraging Americans to get vaccinated are doing “a very good thing” to help stop the spread of COVID-19 as well as misinformation about vaccines.
In an interview with The Hill, the president's chief medical adviser said he was glad to hear some top GOP leaders be more outspoken in recent days about the importance of receiving the life-saving vaccine.
The top immunologist was especially pleased by House Minority Whip Steve Scalise’s (R-La.) new remarks. Scalise revealed that he got his initial dose of Pfizer over the weekend, citing an uptick in cases linked to the delta variant. He called the shot “safe and effective.”
On Thursday, Scalise, the second-highest GOP member of the House, went a step further by explicitly instructing people to protect themselves.
“I would encourage people to get the vaccine,” he said during an outdoor press event with fellow Republican officeholders… (LINK TO STORY)
For Baltimore’s first-ever city administrator Chris Shorter, it’s ‘almost like coming home’ (The Baltimore Sun)
Chris Shorter’s day begins just a few steps from his Reservoir Hill home, across a cafe table from B. Cole.
Like Shorter, Cole is a transplant. She’s an Oakland, California, native who landed in Baltimore in 2016 with plans to reinvigorate Black homeownership in neglected city neighborhoods. Cole bought the Dovecote Café, where the pair sit, sight unseen.
Shorter is newer still. Raised in Detroit, he arrived in January by way of Austin, Texas. Before that, he spent about a decade in Washington, D.C.
The pair have never met, but they speak with passion for Baltimore. Cole regales Shorter with the history of the neighborhood where both have chosen to lay their heads. Shorter listens intently, hands folded in the lap of his pressed trousers.
Moving to Baltimore was “almost like coming home,” Shorter tells Cole, offering a bit of his own back story. Like Detroit, Baltimore is “fueled with Black culture.”
I grew up in an area that didn’t have much in the way of investment,” he says. “When I was a kid, I always felt like my neighborhood is like this, but when I go to play football, these other neighborhoods — they have tree-lined sidewalks and resources and schools and nice facilities.”
“I knew growing up I wanted cities to be better for us. I’ve been able to stick with that public service tent throughout my career.”
Shorter, 42, is Baltimore’s first city administrator, a position created via a charter amendment in 2020 and championed by then-City Council president and now-Mayor Brandon Scott. Scott argued then and now that having a politically neutral executive to oversee municipal services, supervise agencies, help prepare the budget and advise on policy would make city operations more efficient and effective… (LINK TO STORY)