BG Reads | News You Need to Know (April 5, 2021)
[BINGHAM GROUP]
BG Podcast EP. 136: Q1 2021 Review: Austin's Residental Real Estate Market
Today's episode (136) features a conversation with Austin Board of REALTORS® CEO Emily Chenevert.
She and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss the Q1 2021 performance of Austin’s residential real estate market.
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 (5,389)
LINK TO FILED SENATE BILLS (2,496)
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
New strategy to combat Austin’s homelessness expected to be unveiled next week (KVUE)
The City of Austin is expected to unveil a new comprehensive strategy next week to combat homelessness after non-profit organizations, business leaders, service providers, and social advocates met in a so-called "homeless summit."
“I think they’re going to propose a system-wide plan that not only has us investing what’s necessary for permanent supportive housing long-term, but also doing what’s necessary to get people housing and off the streets and out of tents that people are seeing right now,” said Mayor Steve Adler on Sunday’s Inside Texas Politics.
Austin’s unsheltered homeless population has grown in recent years.
The summit was composed of six working groups: prevention/diversion, crisis beds, permanent supportive housing, rapid re-housing, street management and encampment response.
Summit recommendations are expected mid-month, perhaps as soon as April 12.
There are also expected to be varying levels of implementation to the new strategy including a 30, 60 and 90-day plan along with goals after one and two years.
But the issue could get even more complicated after May 1. That’s when Austin residents will vote on Proposition B, which would reinstate a homeless camping ban.
If passed, Proposition B would make it illegal to camp in certain public places, sit or lie on public sidewalks and some outdoor areas and panhandle at night… (LINK TO STORY)
Panel weighs future potential of city’s health care innovation district (Austin Monitor)
The battle over reconstructing Interstate 35, and the stalled Land Development Code update, are factors that continue to influence the shape and scope of the developing health care innovation district in the eastern section of downtown Austin.
Those larger civic questions were among the points of discussion during a recent Urban Land Institute Austin panel about the development efforts planned around the Dell Medical School at the University of Texas.
Along with the ongoing Waterloo Greenway parks program, the expansion of the Austin Convention Center and the future of the Palm district, the innovation district is seen as one of the forces that will impact the composition of downtown Austin going forward. Much like health care districts in California’s Bay Area or greater Boston, the intent of Austin’s district is to attract health care startups that will interact with each other and spur growth more smoothly than would happen through uncoordinated development.
A recent Downtown Austin Alliance market analysis found that there will be a 50 percent increase in economic development impact – $293 million in total value – from the work led by Capital City Innovation and other groups to populate the area with the right mix of tenants.
Stephen Coulston, principal of urban design for Perkins+Will architects, said health care districts carved out of existing urban centers need a highly planned development road map to help prospective occupants make the most of their investments in areas with high property costs.
“With a distributed model, anyone who comes in has to do a Ouija board thing of figuring out where is the there of it. There is a struggle, but the innovation district plants a flag … it creates a central location of economy, place and culture,” he said.
“If you purposely develop this as an innovation district with all the mixed-use components, we have a 1.5 multiplier. Why would you not create that $293 million in value? To not develop this as an innovation district would be real estate malpractice.”
Panel members said there are potential community partners located beyond downtown, including Huston-Tillotson University in East Austin, but the boundary of I-35 and its future reconstruction will have a large influence on the physical makeup of the redevelopment efforts in the quadrant.
Coulston also said the uncertainty of the city’s planning and land use priorities will continue to impact work to bring partners into the district.
“We do have some barriers and when you think about real estate there’s always going to be stumbling blocks along the way. The fact that we’ve not been able to effectively pass a Land Development Code update in the city is a problem,” he said. “We’re trying to advance the discussion on how important that is and that has a direct implication on development opportunities in this area.”
One of the primary components of the district is the flagship 17-story office tower under construction on the former site of the Brackenridge hospital. The building will serve as the focal point for a mix of companies in a setting that is intended to maximize “accidental” interactions among researchers and creators with the potential to spur innovation.…(LINK TO STORY)
Opinion: To empower Austin voters, choose 'strong mayor' (Austin American-Statesman)
In Austin, we believe in democracy and voting rights. This city and the heroes I grew up admiring — my immigrant parents and Barbara Jordan — moved me to spend my career amplifying the voices of young people and women in politics, as a founder and leader of voter engagement organizations and as an advisor to aspiring candidates. But though we in Austin believe in equal access to the ballot and the right to choose our leaders, right here in the city we love, we still have a significant barrier between us and our local government. In Austin, the most powerful person in the city is not elected nor accountable to voters.
We are one of the few large cities in the country where an unelected city manager, not an elected official, leads our government. Voters do not have the power to choose the person who oversees the police department, transportation, or the drafting of the city budget. An unelected city manager holds the job for an indefinite term and receives a compensation package worth more than $400,000 per year. The city manager makes key decisions on day-to-day services and our long-term vision.
Proposition F on the May 1 city ballot would let voters choose who leads our city government by designating the mayor as that person. Department heads and other professional managers would report to the mayor, and voters would be able to keep those appointees accountable through the mayor. At the same time, the mayor would no longer have voting power on the council.
Proposition F would set up two co-equal branches of government, legislative and executive, with checks and balances between them. The key difference from today’s system? The city's executive leadership would be democratically accountable, and we all would have a say in choosing that leader.
Opponents of Proposition F argue that because it gives the mayor veto power over policies approved by the city council, we should stick with the undemocratic status quo. But they do not mention that the council will be able to override any veto with a simple two-thirds vote, just like the veto power in the Constitution. With that override power, the council will be able to pass any law or budget, even over the mayor’s objection. A veto is a standard checks-and-balances feature in the American form of government — do opponents really believe that including it in our system is worse than not having a vote at all in deciding who leads our government?
Perhaps opponents are concerned about what a change to a more democratic system would mean for them. Groups that are close to City Hall, like the Real Estate Council of Austin, have endorsed against Prop F. These groups do not need to be able to vote for the city manager to have influence over him or her. They know their way around city hall. They have lobbyists on staff. They spend money in elections. While the rest of us wonder whom to hold accountable for our affordability problem, our recurring water crises, or the confusing vaccine website, powerful interests that oppose Prop F do not have a problem getting their calls returned. Do they worry that if voters had the power to choose the person who leads our government, their priorities might not receive the same attention?… (LINK TO STORY)
Travis DA faces uphill battle as he brings slew of use-of-force cases against officers (Austin American-Statesman)
When he took office in January, new Travis County District Attorney José Garza arrived with a promise that he would hold police officers accountable for any misconduct or brutality.
In the past three months, grand juries have indicted as many law enforcement officers in use-of-force cases under Garza's administration as they did within the entire four-year term of his predecessor, Margaret Moore. But even while his office is accruing indictments, experts say there is no guarantee that Garza and his prosecutors will see a courtroom victory.
"Generally, it is really difficult for prosecutors to get a conviction at trial in a police fatality or police brutality case," said Alissa Marque Heydari, a former prosecutor with the Manhattan district attorney's office. "There are many reasons for that. A lot of laws are written such that it is difficult to secure a conviction. Juries can be reluctant to convict a police officer, for various reasons. It is difficult — but not impossible — to prevail at a trial."
The indictments in several high-profile Austin-area cases come amid shifting demands across America for police accountability. Although many activists have sought more aggressive prosecution against police for years, the death of George Floyd last year reignited calls to bring death-in-custody cases to trial.
The trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin commenced last week and Texas legislators began to hear opinions about the George Floyd Act — named after the man who died while Chauvin kneeled on his neck — which would limit, among other things, some of the immunity officers have in police brutality lawsuits.In Austin, it likely will take many months or years before recently indicted officers go to trial, in part because most judges across America — including in Travis County — have postponed almost all criminal trials during the pandemic. Attorneys are watching the backlog of cases grow as a result… (LINK TO STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Coalition to present charter amendment petition to give Houston council more power (Houston Chronicle)
A coalition pushing to give Houston City Council members more input at City Hall says it has gathered the required 20,000 signatures to place a charter amendment on the ballot. The measure, if approved by voters, would allow any three City Council members to place an item on the council’s weekly agenda. Right now, the mayor has near-full control of the agenda. That allows the mayor to block measures he or she does not support. Houston has a strong-mayor form of government that gives the chief executive far-reaching powers over the city’s day-to-day business. The city charter currently allows three council members to call a special meeting and set its agenda. That power is rarely used, however, and typically occurs as a rebuke of the mayor, failing to attract the majority of council needed to conduct business.
The coalition said it will deliver the signatures, which it began collecting in October, to City Hall on Monday and is eyeing a referendum on the November ballot this year. The coalition is a widely divergent group of organizations, including the Houston firefighters’ union, the Harris County Republican Party, Urban Reform, Indivisible Houston, the Houston chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and Houston Justice The city secretary will have 30 days to validate the signatures, and then council will have to put the measure on the ballot for the next election date. The organizers likely missed the deadline to get on the May 1 ballot, which was Feb. 12, according to the Secretary of State’s website. The next election date is Nov. 2. The last day to order an election for that date is Aug. 16. Charles Blain, an organizer with the coalition and president of the conservative Urban Reform, declined to say how many signatures the coalition gathered. That will be revealed at a Monday news conference, he said. Blain argued the measure is needed to “finally get some resolution” to critical policy issues that have not reached the agenda… (LINK TO STORY)
In San Antonio municipal races, police reform is a touchy topic (San Antonio Express-News)
Nearly a year after protests over police brutality gripped the nation and cries for police reform rang out in City Hall, many candidates for San Antonio municipal office are trying to chart a more middle-of-the-road course on police reform. Sensing the popularity of police among municipal voters, several frontrunners and big names running for mayor and City Council are trying to distance themselves from hot buttons pressed by activists tackling police reforms — while not shutting the door entirely on potential changes. Spending less on the police department is mostly off the table as candidates seek to avoid accusations they want to “defund the police” — activists’ shorthand meaning rerouting funds from the police budget to pay for social services such as housing and help for the homeless. But it’s a slogan that has proved a political millstone for candidates.
At issue is Proposition B, a measure on the May 1 ballot that would strip the San Antonio police union of its power to bargain with the city for a contract. Too many officers accused of egregious misconduct get off scot-free under the contract, proponents argue — a point contested by union leaders. Numerous young progressive candidates haven’t been shy about throwing their weight behind the ballot measure, including those who took part in summer protests sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a Black man, at the hands of a white police officer in Minneapolis. For these progressives, taking away the San Antonio union’s collective bargaining rights is a surefire way of creating greater accountability for bad officers. “San Antonio has the most crooked police union contract in the nation,” said Jalen McKee-Rodriguez, running to represent District 2 on the city’s East Side. Ditto that for Mark Arthur Vargas Jr., running to fill the District 3 seat on the city’s Southeast Side… (LINK TO STORY)
Texas Rangers to host largest crowd for U.S. sporting event during COVID-19 pandemic (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
No sporting event in the United States has hosted as many fans during the COVID-19 pandemic as the Texas Rangers are expecting Monday for their home opener against the Toronto Blue Jays. The Rangers made every seat at Globe Life Field available for all 81 home games this season after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott ended the statewide mask mandate last month and allowed businesses to operate at 100% capacity. That total is 40,158 at Globe Life Field, and the Rangers are expecting a sellout. The Dallas Cowboys saw 31,700 fans at AT&T Stadium on Nov. 8 for a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Rangers remain confident that their $1.2-billion ballpark won’t become the epicenter of a super-spreader event that many fear, including President Joe Biden. The Rangers’ belief is based on the guidelines they are requiring fans to follow as well as what the local data is showing, that the seven-day moving average of COVID cases is falling and that the number of vaccinations is rising. At the same time, the Rangers are relying on fan cooperation to adhere to protocols, as they did during previous Globe Life Field events with limited capacity like the World Series and National Finals Rodeo. “In spite of the challenges that the pandemic presents, there is a safe way and a responsible way to conduct events,” executive vice president Rob Matwick said last week. “We look forward to doing that, but we also understand that it takes everybody’s cooperation to be successful.”… (LINK TO STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Culture wars strain once unshakeable bond between Republicans, corporate America (NBC News)
Republicans and corporate America are on the outs. In the past week alone, American Airlines and computer company Dell came out strongly against GOP-led bills that place restrictions on voting in their home base of Texas. South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, a rising star in Republican Party, continued to take heat for nixing a bill that would have imposed a ban on transgender athletes in sports, citing the potential impact on her state's bottom line. And conservatives spent days bashing "vaccine passports" some businesses think are needed to return to normal. And then there was Georgia, where the Republican-controlled state House narrowly voted to end a tax break worth millions that Delta enjoys on jet fuel after the airline's CEO — along with the CEO of Coca-Cola, another major Atlanta-based business — condemned new voting restrictions in the state. (The GOP-led state Senate did not take up the measure.) On Friday, Major League Baseball pulled this year's All-Star Game out of Atlanta in protest of that same law. Republicans were outraged.
"Boycott baseball and all of the woke companies that are interfering with Free and Fair Elections," former President Donald Trump said in a statement. "Are you listening Coke, Delta, and all!" "Why are we still listening to these woke corporate hypocrites on taxes, regulations & anti-trust?" Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., tweeted. Such public dust-ups between businesses and members of the GOP are becoming more frequent, though the divide — possibly one of the most consequential in U.S. politics and society — is years in the making.
The shift is the product of a Republican Party increasingly driven by "culture war" issues that animate a base invigorated by Trump and corporate powerhouses that are under more pressure than ever to align themselves with the left on voting rights, LGBTQ rights and anti-racist efforts. The result is a fraying in relations between a GOP that has for years advocated for the kinds of libertarian economic policies that have widely benefited these businesses and companies that are using their might to help advance racial and social justice causes. "We have long thought and still think of the big institutional drivers of this culture war as more in academia, the arts, the media, and corporate America has mostly sat it out until recently," retiring Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., told NBC News in an interview. He added that while he does not think of corporate America "as the biggest player yet," companies coming off the sidelines "can change the dynamic."… (LINK TO STORY)