BG Reads | News You Need to Know (July 30, 2021)
[MEETING/HEARINGS]
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Council chooses developer for St. John Home Depot site (Austin Monitor)
After years of community engagement, redevelopment of the city-owned St. John Home Depot site is finally happening.
City Council Thursday voted unanimously to select the joint proposal from developer Greystar and the Housing Authority of the City of Austin. The proposal includes 560 residential units – half of which would be affordable at 50 to 70 percent area median income – along with 15,000 square feet of community commercial space and an expanded and improved St. John Park. A former Home Depot and defunct car dealership currently occupy the 19-acre East Austin site.
“Too often, families in St. John have either been left behind by the city or pushed out by gentrification,” said Council Member Greg Casar, who has pushed for the redevelopment before and during his time on Council. “With this project, we’re demanding something different.”
Casar said that the project, located in his District 4, will do right by the mostly Black and lower-income community, offering right-to-stay and right-to-return policies, on-site community benefits and continued neighborhood involvement.
Neighbors who spoke at Thursday’s meeting supported the project, but were still wary about its potential for gentrification. “We ask that you don’t just take our property and make it something that is for others that don’t look like us,” said Terry Mitchell, an entrepreneur who grew up in East Austin.
With Council’s vote, city staffers may now begin negotiations with the development team with the goal of bringing back a master development agreement before Council. If Council approves the MDA, construction can begin as soon as next year. Council in 2017 signaled its intent to redevelop the site, and community engagement has been ongoing since.
Plans could change as the project goes through the process, which takes several months. Council’s direction pushed for more from the project, including family-sized units, a child care center and affordable local businesses chosen by the community. Separately, Casar said he wants to see less surface parking and even more housing.
The Greystar/HACA proposal scored best in metrics prepared by city staffers compared to other proposals, leading staff to recommend the team last week. The decisive factor may have been the fact that the chosen proposal does not need city subsidies. Casar compared the proposal to two recent affordable housing projects that together received about $40 million in city and state subsidies for around 300 homes. “In this case, we’re getting 280 low-income homes,” he said, “so nearly twice as many homes for zero in city subsidy.” Casar did, however, leave open the possibility of offering subsidies to increase the affordable housing on the site… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin musician nonprofit creates petition to require vaccine verification at Texas venues (KXAN)
Some Austin area musicians are making a push for vaccine verifications.
The Austin Texas Musicians Association launched a petition requesting music venues ask for vaccine proof, or to wear a mask.
“I was like many of my friends who were vaccinated, and I felt it was safe to perform again,” said Kevin Russell.
Kevin Russell, the lead singer of Shinyribs, got COVID while performing at an indoor venue 10 days ago. He says several of his friends in the Austin music world have also come down with COVID-19 in recent days.
“I don’t want another shutdown situation to happen,” said Russell. “In my option, unvaccinated people are spreading it, and that vaccinated people are getting it.”
He and the nonprofit Austin Texas Musicians Association think they have a solution to COVID spread in venues. The group has launched a petition with more than 200 signatures, calling for staff, musicians and fans to show proof of vaccine at all Texas venues, and if not, to wear a mask.
“Thinking through it, I think the only way to mitigate this is to ask for proof of vaccinations and if you don’t want to do that, then just wear a mask,” said Russell.
It’s a movement management at the Elephant Room in Austin says they would consider.
The venue reopened on June 22, but 15 days later it closed after four staff members tested positive for COVID. Whether or not they would enforce the vaccine passports depends on several factors… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
In wake of mass shooting, Austin council weighs safety plan for Sixth Street (Austin American-Statesman)
Following a string of recent shootings on Sixth Street — including a mass shooting in June that left one person dead and 13 injured — the Austin City Council has expressed interest in trying to make the party area safer by reducing opportunities for fighting and underage drinking.
A resolution the council members approved Thursday went so far as to direct the city manager to explore the possibility of opening Sixth Street to vehicular traffic on weekend evenings as a way to prevent crowds from congregating in the street.
Sixth Street has been closed to vehicular traffic on weekend evenings since the 1990s.
The item from Council Member Kathie Tovo passed unanimously, 11-0, but did generate controversy over discussion of a juvenile curfew and the emphasis on Sixth Street at the exclusion of other areas with potential safety concerns… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Council sets maximum tax rate (Austin Monitor)
City Council took the first step toward setting next year’s property tax rate by voting Thursday to designate the maximum tax rate for Fiscal Year 2021-22 at 55.42 cents per $100 valuation. On a vote of 9-2, they followed staff advice and set the maximum tax rate that allows them the most flexibility. Council members Alison Alter and Mackenzie Kelly voted no.
As Mayor Steve Adler explained, “This is not deciding what the tax rate is, but it is deciding what is the maximum rate we could use.”
As Assistant City Attorney Leela Fireside explained, Council was required to set the maximum rate this month ahead of their adoption of any tax rate in August. This year’s maximum rate that does not require voter approval is 8 percent higher than last year’s because the governor issued two disaster declarations, one related to the Covid-19 pandemic and one in response to the impacts of Winter Storm Uri.
The city’s financial planners have recommended a budget that would raise taxes just 3.5 percent, setting the tax rate at 53.59 cents per $100 valuation. This is the maximum number allowed under state law without a vote or disaster declaration. This number is slightly lower than city staff members initially projected when City Manager Spencer Cronk laid out his budget earlier this month. The current rate is 53.35 cents per $100.
Kelly and Alter did not explain their opposition to setting the theoretical number. However, it is easy to imagine a future political opponent using the vote against a Council member, even if she did not ultimately vote for such a tax increase.
Council will take its first vote on the tax rate on Aug. 11… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
SEC votes to invite Texas, Oklahoma (Texas Tribune)
A conservative media publisher on Tuesday posted a video of Kerri Strug’s gritty performance 25 years ago, when the legendary gymnast battled through a serious ankle injury to help the U.S. women’s team on its way to winning Olympic gold.
“The great ones find a way,” the publisher wrote on Twitter.
The message was unsaid but clear: Simone Biles — who has withdrawn from both the gymnastics team and individual all-around finals in this year’s Olympics, citing mental health reasons — was not great.
For anyone who didn’t connect the dots, a Texas deputy attorney general did it for them.
“Contrast this with our selfish, childish national embarrassment, Simone Biles,” Aaron Reitz wrote in a tweet that quoted the original about Strug.
Biles, a fellow Texan, is the most decorated gymnast of all time, with 31 Olympic and world championship medals. Explaining why she withdrew from this week’s Games, Biles cited the overwhelming pressure to perform, the stress of dealing with pandemic life and a sudden onset of “the twisties” — a dangerous condition in which a gymnast becomes disoriented while flipping and twisting through the air.
Other Texas conservatives joined Reitz in criticizing Biles, according to the Houston Chronicle. A conservative radio host in Dallas wrote a column about how the gymnast’s decision “reveals our softened world.” The head of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility tweeted a video of a robot at the Olympics sinking a basketball shot from half court, saying “they will never have to take a mental health day.”
Reitz’s boss, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, was not one of them. A day after Reitz attacked Biles, Paxton chastised “one of our employees” for making “a very inappropriate and insensitive tweet.”
The tweet from the Attorney General’s Office account included more from Paxton: “I know Simone Biles — she is a fantastic athlete but an even better person. Mental health is far more important than any athletic competition and I fully support her decision.”
Six hours later, Reitz deleted his original tweet and apologized on Twitter: “I owe [Simone Biles] an apology. A big one,” he said, adding that he spoke out of turn in “frustration and disappointment.”
“I can’t imagine what Simone Biles has gone through. Simone Biles is a true patriot and one of the greatest gymnasts of our time. I apologize to her, and wish her well.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
‘We saw the writing on the wall’: Texas Democrats testify before Washington committee (NBC News)
State Rep. Nicole Collier, a Fort Worth Democrat, told members of a U.S. House subcommittee that there is a concerted in states across the country to pass legislation that would limit ballot access. She and other House Democrats testified Thursday before the subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. They are in Washington working to block election bills filed during a special session of the Texas legislature called by Gov. Greg Abbott. State Rep. Travis Clardy, a Nacogdoches Republican, also testified. The Democrats from Texas have been advocating for federal voting rights legislation. The bills filed in Texas would prohibit 24-hour voting, bar election officials from sending vote-by-mail applications to people who didn’t ask for them and protect poll watchers — individuals appointed by a candidate or by a political party to observe polling places or ballot counts.
The Democrats also broke quorum during the regular legislative session in May and killed a similar bill, Senate Bill 7. “Our backs were against the wall,” Collier said. “There was no more discussion. We saw the writing on the wall just like it was during the regular session.” Collier was joined by Rep. Senfronia Thompson, a Houston Democrat, and Rep. Diego Bernal, a San Antonio Democrat. Thompson, who is serving her 25th term, described the history of poll taxes in Texas and expressed concerns about poll watchers intimidating voters in minority communities. “I am the voice of my constituents, and if I had to walk to Washington, D.C., to get you to hear what I had to say to fight for my constituents, I’ll use any means necessary to get my point over,” Thompson said. U.S. Rep. Pete Sessions, a Waco Republican, walked through other items on the legislative agenda that aren’t being taken up due to the quorum break and criticized House Democrats for leaving Austin. “I know that here in Washington, D.C., we do not have the votes to win any single vote, so to speak. None,” Sessions said in his opening remarks. “But Republicans don’t walk out. We don’t go and accuse people of things just because we are losing.” Clardy told lawmakers the conversations happening in the subcommittee hearing are better suited for the Texas House floor and said “there is no assault on voting rights in Texas.” He said said lawmakers should want to make voting easier and cheating harder… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
The CDC says the Delta variant has changed the war against COVID-19 (NPR)
An internal slide presentation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention dated Thursday gives new details on how dangerous the delta variant really is.
One chart shows that it could be as contagious as chicken pox — which is one of the more transmissible viruses out there. It spreads more easily than the common cold, the 1918 flu and small pox.
The document was first obtained by The Washington Post.
It also says that in addition to being more contagious, the delta variant likely increases the risk of severe disease and hospitalization, compared to the original strain.
A summary slide says because of the delta variant, the agency should "acknowledge that the war has changed." It also recommends the agency ramp up communications so that the public will understand that vaccines still greatly reduce the risk of death and severe disease.
While most new infections are still occurring among unvaccinated people, the CDC estimates that 35,000 fully vaccinated Americans – out of more than 162 million — may get infected with the coronavirus every week… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Biden rolls out aggressive plan to jump-start vaccination (Politico)
President Joe Biden issued a directive Thursday that will require about 2 million federal employees to disclose whether they've been vaccinated against Covid-19, or else submit to regular testing, as the highly transmissible Delta variant drives up new infections nationwide.
Federal workers and on-site contractors will have to attest to their vaccination status, the White House said. Those who don't must wear masks at work regardless of their geographic location and get tested once or twice a week for Covid-19. Employees who don't disclose being fully vaccinated also will be subject to work travel restrictions and must physically distance from colleagues and visitors, the administration said.
"If people are vaccinated, the transmission rate drops through the floor," Biden said.
The president is directing the administration to extend similar standards to all federal contractors, noting that a return to "normal" can be expedited by employers pushing immunization of employees.
“Fully vaccinated workplaces will make that happen more quickly and more successfully," Biden said during a speech from the East Room of the White House. "We all know that in our gut.”
"The Administration will encourage employers across the private sector to follow this strong model," the White House said in a fact sheet about the announcement… (LINK TO FULL STORY)