BG Reads | News You Need to Know (May 3, 2021)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
BG Podcast EP. 139: Q1 20201 Review: COVID-19's Impact on the Built Environment with Michael Hsu
On today’s episode we speak with return guest, Austin-based Michael Hsu, Principal and Founder of Michael Hsu Office of Architecture.
He and Bingham Group CEO A.J. catch up from their June 2020 show, updating on impacts to the design/built environment sector through Q1 2021.
You can listen to all episodes on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and SoundCloud. New content every Wednesday. Please like, link, comment and subscribe!
[MEETING/HEARINGS]
[THE 87TH TEXAS LEGISLATURE]
LINK TO FILED HOUSE BILLS (5,886)
LINK TO FILED SENATE BILLS (2,673)
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Austin voters approve reinstating bans on camping, resting and panhandling (KUT)
With its passage, Proposition B will restore the city's previous ban on public encampments, prohibition of resting in certain areas and limitations on panhandling. The citizen-led measure passed handily by a 15-point margin.
The measure fueled an unusually large turnout for a May election in an off-year. All told, 90,428 voters in Travis, Hays and Williamson counties supported the measure, while 66,292 opposed it, according to unofficial results.
The measure is a direct response to Austin's policies related to homelessness. Back in 2019, the Austin City Council voted to soften its policy of ticketing people camping, resting or panhandling.
The move became a lightning rod for criticism from opponents who argued it led to a boom in homeless encampments across the city. As early numbers came in Saturday, Gov. Greg Abbott, a vocal critic, praised the proposition's likely passage.
The effort to get Prop B on the ballot was spearheaded by the political action committee Save Austin Now, which submitted a petition in February to trigger the referendum.
The PAC is helmed by Travis County GOP Chair Matt Mackowiak and Cleo Petricek, a Democrat who's been outspoken against Austin's homelessness policies since 2019, when the city tried to build a shelter in South Austin.
Petricek told KUT she wasn't surprised by the turnout and that she hoped city leaders would take heart to the "rebuke" of the current policies.
"I think what you saw with the election turnout is it obviously wasn't a partisan issue, and obviously I was never the only Democrat," she said. "A lot of Democrats feel the same way. The city failed to roll [policies] out with a viable plan."
Mackowiak tweeted shortly after returns began coming in, calling the win a "clear message ... that a majority of Austinites will no longer tolerate failed policies that harm standard of living."… (LINK TO STORY)
Austin voters overwhelmingly reject Prop F, saying no to A 'Strong Mayor' city (KUT)
The makeup and vested powers of Austin’s local government will, for the time being, not change.
On Saturday, voters came out, well, strong against a "strong mayor" form of government. The initiative, also known as Proposition F, was on a ballot of eight propositions having to do with local elections, homelessness and government in Austin.
Nearly 86% of voters cast a ballot against Prop F.
“We are pleased with the outcome,” Ellen Wood, treasurer of Restore Leadership ATX, said in an emailed statement. The political action committee collected more than $90,000 in a campaign against Prop F.
“A broad and diverse coalition of Austinites overwhelmingly recognized that while advertised as transformative, progressive, and more democratic, Proposition F was anything but. We believe that the significant issues Austin faces will be best addressed by effective leadership and more thoughtful policy, not by concentrating power into one person.”
If Prop F had passed it would have changed Austin from its current "council-manager" system of government to a "mayor-council" one. In that case the position of city manager, who oversees most of Austin’s municipal departments, would have been cut. That job would have been given to the mayor, who would have been stripped of a voting role on the City Council and given veto power over Council decisions.
But, of course, none of this will happen now that the proposition has failed.
Those who opposed Prop F said they were concerned about concentrating more power within the mayor’s office and giving one representative the power to nix votes taken by the Council. (The Council would have had the ability to override a veto from the mayor, but doing so would have required a vote in favor from two-thirds of the Council members.)
Austinites for Progressive Reform, the group that led the petition effort to get Prop F on the ballot, campaigned on the idea that the person who directs most city departments, including the hiring and firing of department heads, should be accountable to the voters and thereby elected. (The city manager, who holds this position, is appointed by the Council.)
A representative for Austinites for Progressive Reform told KUT on Saturday night that voters they talked to were generally opposed to giving someone in the mayor’s role veto power.
“In forums and discussions that we had over the last several months, many people acknowledged that the current system could be improved on,” Andrew Allison, chair of the political action committee, said. “But this proposal is one they did not favor.”… (LINK TO STORY)
Prop E approval OKs ranked-choice voting, with legal questions ahead (Austin Monitor)
Austin voters came out in favor of a new system for conducting local contested elections beginning in 2022, though how or if that change will be made appears unclear.
Proposition E was approved 87,516 to 63,510 on Saturday, with nearly 60 percent of voters showing support for a switch to ranked-choice voting for City Council and mayoral elections. The amendment to the city charter is intended to eliminate runoff elections, which typically have far lower voter turnout than general elections, via a process of throwing out candidates with the lowest vote totals and counting second-, third- and subsequent-place votes until a majority winner is reached.
The practice is gaining popularity in cities across the country, but some election officials and city staffers question whether ranked-choice voting is allowed under Texas state law.
Before the election, a city spokesperson told the Austin Monitor that state election law specifies how ballots must be set up to allow voters to support an official candidate or write-in option.
“The Texas Election Code (Sec. 275.002) provides that in cities with a population of 200,000 or more, a candidate must receive ‘a majority of the total number of votes received by all candidates for the office’ in order to be elected to office. The term ‘majority’ is understood as more than 50 percent of the original un-reassigned votes, according to Secretary of State Election Law Opinion HC-1 …. Since ranked-choice voting is in conflict with state law, ranked-choice voting would not be implemented in Austin until or unless the state legislature amended the Texas Election Code to allow it.”
Jim Wick is the campaign manager for Austinites for Progressive Reform, the group that pushed for Prop E as well as several other propositions decided over the weekend. He said state law doesn’t explicitly prohibit ranked-choice voting, which would give Austin the ability to implement the change in time for the 2022 City Council and mayoral elections.
“I hope city staff will take another look at that and consider the will of the voters, because with state law there are several attorneys that feel state law does not address ranked-choice voting since it is not mentioned. I’m not sure how someone could think something is illegal under state law when it isn’t mentioned,” he said. “Because we are a home-rule municipality, if state law doesn’t specifically forbid something then we’re allowed to do it, and I hope all parties would respect the will of the voters who spoke pretty loudly that they don’t want elections decided in runoffs and they want ranked-choice voting.”… (LINK TO STORY)
With Prop C passage, Council can decide how to oversee police oversight office (Austin Monitor)
Austin voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition C Saturday, paving the way for City Council to change who the director of police oversight reports to – an independent body or Council itself.
According to the unofficial results, 62.9 percent (96,888 people) voted for the measure and 37.1 percent (57,271) voted against it.
The Office of Police Oversight is in charge of reviewing complaints and feedback about police conduct and policies. Director Farah Muscadin currently reports to City Manager Spencer Cronk.
Backers say the change will enable Council and the community to find a reporting structure that makes the office – and police – more accountable to the public.
“This election, Austin voted for stronger police accountability,” said Council Member Greg Casar, who initially brought the proposition to Council.
Casar tied the proposition to last summer’s protests against police brutality and racism: “We cannot forget what tens of thousands of Austinites marched and called for last year. Proposition C will help us truly address police misconduct.”
Prop C, largely overshadowed by more contentious ballot measures like the camping ban and strong-mayor proposition, subtly amends the city charter – the rules dictating how Austin’s government is set up – so that the director of police oversight reports to Council, cutting out City Manager Spencer Cronk… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
With half of eligible Texans still unvaccinated and supply exceeding demand, Texas shifts COVID-19 vaccination strategies (Texas Tribune)
At its peak, the mass COVID-19 vaccination site at the Kelly Reeves Athletic Complex in Williamson County was administering about 4,000 doses per day.
Now it’s half that.
County health officials will close the North Austin drive-thru hub in mid-May, shifting the responsibility to a growing number of doctors, pharmacies, public health offices and other smaller providers who have closer relationships with and easier access to the county’s estimated 200,000 eligible residents who haven’t yet gotten vaccinated.
“We’re still moving along,” said Jen Stratton, director of communications for Family Hospital Systems in Williamson County, which partners with the county to run the hub. “Our focus is just changing.”
It’s part of a new approach by health officials across the state to get vaccines moving again as Texas confronts the next chapter in its massive vaccine rollout: Its first dip in demand and glut in supply since vaccinations began last winter.
On Friday, Texas health officials sent letters to the state’s nearly 8,000 registered vaccine providers that some 280,000 doses would be coming into the state’s warehouse next week and are up for grabs.
Starting this week, the state will start only asking the federal government for doses that providers have ordered, as opposed to asking for as much as they can get, an agency spokesperson said.
“I encourage you to consider what you can do to make one more big push to quickly vaccinate those who are willing,” read a letter from the Texas Department of State Health Services Commissioner John Hellerstedt to vaccine providers on Friday. “This is our path out of the pandemic and back to normal lives.”
Both state and local health officials predicted months ago that the tables would eventually turn from not enough supply to more than enough.
“It happened with H1N1 [the “swine flu” pandemic of 2009-10] too. As it happens in all of these types of events,” said Dr. David Lakey, vice chancellor for health affairs and a chief medical officer at the University of Texas System, and a member of the state's Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel. “Early on, there is so much more demand than there is supply. And then it quickly tips in the other direction, where supply exceeds demand.
“So the state right now has a lot of vaccine in freezers, and other providers have vaccines in freezers, that they’re trying to get out to individuals.”… (LINK TO STORY)
San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg wins a third term as former Councilman Greg Brockhouse concedes (San Antonio Express-News)
Bolstered by his calm, cool-headed response to the COVID-19 pandemic, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg sailed to a third term Saturday.
Nirenberg fended off a field of 13 other candidates led by former City Councilman Greg Brockhouse, who nearly ousted the mayor two years ago, and avoided a runoff for only the second time in his career.
What could have been a dramatic rematch between Nirenberg and Brockhouse never materialized. The mayor struck a commanding lead of 30 percentage points early on and held it for the rest of the night — showing Nirenberg’s broad support among residents across the city.
With the final tally in before 11:30 p.m., Nirenberg had 62 percent of the nearly 150,000 votes cast in the race to Brockhouse’s 31 percent.
To a packed crowd at The Backyard on Broadway restaurant near downtown, Nirenberg expressed gratitude and relief — and acknowledged the human and economic toll wrought by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve been through a lot this year,” Nirenberg said. “I’m not going to belabor the point but it has been an incredibly challenging time in this entire city. And we’re not through with it.”
Brockhouse recognized reality early — sending congratulations to Nirenberg and wife Erika Prosper barely an hour after the polls closed Saturday.
“My family wishes them the best of luck,” Brockhouse said in a statement to the media. “Their success is all of our success.”
Denise Gutierrez-Homer, a conservative East Side businesswoman who came in a distant third, grabbed less than 2 percent of the vote. Most of the other candidates scored less than 1 percent.
The mayor’s race lacked the bitter, contentious nature of the 2019 election when Nirenberg and Brockhouse first faced one another.
This time, Nirenberg refused to debate Brockhouse one-on-one — part of a broader strategy to deprive the former councilman’s campaign of oxygen.
Nirenberg barely, if ever, mentioned Brockhouse’s name — instead opting to campaign on a sunny message about the city’s recovery both from the pandemic and its resulting economic downturn.
The mayor touted the number of residents who have received COVID-19 vaccinations. He pointed to the millions of dollars the city has plugged into economic relief for ailing businesses and residents struggling during the pandemic. And he hyped the more than $1 billion in major manufacturing investments the San Antonio region has secured during the last two years… (LINK TO STORY)
Mattie Parker, Deborah Peoples head to June 5 runoff in race for Fort Worth mayor (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Fort Worth voters will chose a new mayor for the first time in a decade in June with Mattie Parker and Deborah Peoples apparently headed to the runoff.
Mayor Betsy Price’s decision not to seek an unprecedented sixth term sparked 10 candidates to run, including two council members, the Tarrant County Democratic Party chairwoman and a slew of political newcomers.
According unofficial results in Tarrant County, Peoples, a former AT&T vice president, led with 33.60% of the vote Saturday night while Parker, a former Price chief of staff, had 30.82%, with all 176 vote centers reporting. Council member Brian Byrd was in third place with 14.75%.
Parker and Peoples maintained the upper hand with results for Denton County. There, Parker took 35.17% of the vote compared to 16% for Peoples. In Parker County, Parker had 42% of the vote followed by Byrd’s 23.3%. Peoples had 12.5%.
The runoff will be June 5… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Opinion: Census confirms Texas and Florida are America's future (The Hill)
We suspected people were moving by the thousands to Texas and Florida. Now Washington has proof. The recent census results added two congressional seats to Texas and bolstered Florida's representation by one seat, while California and New York each lost a seat. American politics and culture are changing, and ground zero of that change is these two Southern states. Their trajectory will come to define the future of America.
No longer are Texas and Florida only for escaping high taxes, onerous regulation and frigid weather. These states are the foundation of America's future. They may be raising the future presidents of this country, and they're housing both white- and blue-collar workers. Florida is on the map, and Texas — despite the problem it’s had keeping the lights on — is quickly becoming the nexus of industry and innovation.
We've already begun to notice Texas and Florida aggregating America's largest corporations over the past year. Everything associated with the future of America can be found in these states. Wall Street's Goldman Sachs is expanding to sunny Miami, and technology giant Oracle moved to Austin, Texas. Even Silicon Valley has started getting a little thin.
Ron Conway, founder of SV Angel, told Business Insider, "Candidly, some of those leaving have already found great wealth here in the Bay Area ecosystem, and so they have the privilege of leaving and declaring some other city 'the next big thing.'"
Elon Musk's transition to Austin could make this Southern city "the next big thing." He made a new home for his rockets in Texas to escape California regulations — with the "final straw" being disrespect from California Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D).
If the only new additions to Florida and Texas were corporations, the movement wouldn't be so monumental. But the traffic is not solely from big business; grandparents, parents, children and siblings are escaping the traditional coastal hubs. A Redfin report revealed that nearly 45 percent of its January Austin home searches came from users in other metro areas. The Orlando, Fla., region alone is projected to add 1,500 people per week to reach 5.2 million by 2030. Where the people are is the hub of culture.
Engineers and information systems experts will settle in Texas; the same cycle will occur in Florida with bankers and day traders. They'll have children, and their children will have children. Along with this current migration will come consequential changes in the fabric of American society for generations… (LINK TO STORY)
4 astronauts splash down In SpaceX Dragon capsule after 6 months In orbit (NPR)
Four astronauts who've spent the past six months aboard the International Space Station as part of the first operational mission of SpaceX's Crew Dragon capsule are back on Earth after splashing down safely on Saturday in the Gulf of Mexico.
The capsule, nicknamed Resilience, undocked from the space station at 8:35 p.m ET, taking a 6 1/2-hour journey to its splashdown just before 3:00 a.m. ET. The astronauts are the first U.S. crew to make a nighttime splashdown since 1968, during the Apollo 8 mission to orbit the moon.
Mike Hopkins was joined on the mission by two other NASA astronauts — rookie Victor Glover and Shannon Walker, who previously flew aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft — and Japan's Soichi Noguchi. Their spacecraft, Resilience, set a new record for the longest spaceflight by a U.S. space capsule that carried a crew, surpassing the 84 days set by an Apollo capsule on the final flight to Skylab in 1974.
They topped the old record by nearly three months, unexpectedly tacking on a few more days this week after high winds in the Gulf delayed their originally planned April 28 return… (LINK TO STORY)