BG Reads | News You Need to Know (April 12, 2022)
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[BG Podcast]
Episode 154: A Conversation with Jason Alexander, Chief of Staff to the Austin City Manager
Today’s episode (154) features Jason Alexander, City of Staff to the Austin City Manager.
Appointed in January 2022, Jason has a nearly 18‐year career with the City, which in addition to the City Manager’s Office, includes Parks and Recreation, Human Resources, Emergency Medical Services, and the Fire Department.
Jason and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss the role, a first for City Manager Spencer Cronk (but not new for the city, Jason's path to the public sector and journey to his current role.
As Chief of Staff, Jason is responsible for the administrative functions of the City Manager’s Office, and provides leadership and oversight to the City’s Equity, Innovation, Sustainability, and Resilience Offices.
Austin operates under a “Council-Manager” system of government. In this model, the Mayor and City Council are responsible for all legislative functions of the City. They appoint a professional City Manager who operates much like a CEO in private-sector businesses and who is tasked with carrying out City Council’s legislative and policy objectives. -> EPISODE LINK
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Project Connect light rails will likely cost $10.3B, twice as much as first planned (KXAN)
New cost estimates for Austin to add two light rails as part of Project Connect are nearly double the original numbers, according to Capital Metro. The cost estimate now sits at $10.3 billion.
In a memo Thursday, Project Connect Program Officer David Couch outlined updates to the program, a transit overhaul designed to improve the city’s current mass transit network.
Originally, the two lines and a tunnel were expected to cost $5.8 billion ($2.5 billion for the Orange Line, expected to stretch from north to south Austin; $1.3 billion for the Blue Line, expected to connect downtown to the airport; and $2 billion for a tunnel).
The new estimate adds $4.5 billion to the initial amount. That includes an additional $600 million for the Blue Line, $1.8 billion for the Orange Line and another $2.1 billion for the tunnel.
Project Connect said it’s normal for cost estimates to be refined as the process moves forward and added “the three specific cost drivers that are impacting changes in the cost estimates are real estate, inflation/supply chain and scope refinement/change.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
City opens applications for $20M in anti-displacement projects (Austin Monitor)
The city is accepting proposals from community organizations involved in affordable housing and related services to apply for some of the $20 million available for anti-displacement efforts related to Project Connect.
At a news conference Monday, leaders from the Austin Housing Finance Corporation and the Housing and Planning Department explained that there is about $64 million available from the $300 million total approved by voters to combat gentrification that could be caused by the ambitious transit plan. Of that amount, $23 million will be used for land acquisition, $21 million will fund land development and $20 million will be directed toward community solutions to prevent vulnerable residents from being priced out of their homes as property values rise near train and bus corridors.
June 13 is the deadline to apply for some of the $20 million in community funding, with proposals falling into three categories: renter/tenant stabilization, expansion and preservation of home ownership opportunities, and other services focused on economic mobility with a housing component.
“Connect sends a clear message that our community values growth and equity,” said Rosie Truelove, director of the Housing and Planning Department. “The goal of the anti-displacement investments is to create a long-term impact with a focus on creating affordable housing units and asset-building opportunities that enhance people’s economic mobility and prevent displacement. Their investments can protect households living in areas vulnerable to displacement with solutions to help them to afford to remain in their homes and neighborhoods.”
Interested applicants can attend an April 20 virtual information session to learn more about the submission and evaluation process, including how the city will use a newly created equity tool that half a dozen city departments collaborated on to prioritize projects.
“Austin is known as a city of innovation. As our city experiences explosive growth, we must work intentionally to keep communities intact,” Nefertitti Jackmon, community displacement prevention officer, said in a statement. “To do this we must center community-driven solutions to address displacement. People nearest to the problems have relevant solutions; we must build mutual trust and respect and provide resources for the community to create these solutions. This is a new approach, and a necessary approach to build thriving communities.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Developer eyes demolition of downtown Austin block home to Oilcan Harry's, Coconut Club (Community Impact)
A portion of a downtown Austin block home to several LGBTQ bars is in line for total demolition as developer The Hanover Co. seeks to transform the site into a new mixed-use high-rise.
Members of the project development team appeared before the Austin Historic Landmark Commission's architectural review committee April 11 to discuss initial plans for the demolition and redevelopment of 201-213 W. Fourth St., Austin. If the demolition is approved, a new residential tower anchored by ground-floor commercial space could soon rise in the rapidly developing downtown space.The landmark commission, tasked with determining whether structures throughout the city are historically significant, could consider and potentially sign off on a demolition permit as soon as next month.
During the mid-April architectural review session, developer representatives and commission members spent time discussing Hanover's plans for retaining some of the block's historic features—and one of its tenants. The company is looking to reconstruct some of the existing brick facades on Fourth if the development moves along. Additionally, Hanover development partner David Ott said the Oilcan Harry's club would be temporarily relocated during construction and welcomed back into a new space at the tower at a reduced rent… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
UT Austin Students Win National Urban Design Competition (UT News)
A multidisciplinary team of students from The University of Texas at Austin has won the 20th annual Urban Land Institute (ULI) Gerald Hines Student Competition. Composed of students from the School of Architecture and the McCombs School of Business, the team was awarded $50,000 for its forward-looking redevelopment plan for a mixed-use site in Oakland, California.
An ideas contest for graduate students, the ULI Hines Competition invites multidisciplinary teams from across the country to engage in a challenging exercise in responsible land use. Designed to simulate a real urban planning and development scenario, the competition allows teams just 15 days to design and submit a comprehensive master plan proposal for a large-scale urban site, complete with site plans, renderings, analytical tables and market-feasible financial data.
This is the second time a UT Austin team has won the ULI Hines Competition; the first was in 2017. The team advanced from an initial round of 93 applications from more than 50 universities, and placed ahead of three other finalist teams from Harvard University, a joint team from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, and one from the Georgia Institute of Technology… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Nightlife veterans breathing life into long-shuttered building at Riverside, South Congress (Austin Business Journal)
After 15 years of vacancy in one of the most desirable spots in Austin, a neglected building near the corner of East Riverside Drive and South Congress Avenue will soon get a new tenant: a nightlife venue that plans to open in the fall.
The site, at 110 E. Riverside Dr., has hosted numerous night clubs over the decades. Most recently it was home to a male strip club called LaBare but since that closed in 2007, the building became a popular graffiti target — despite a prime location between downtown and South Congress Avenue, two of the city's premier commercial districts.
NoCo Hospitality LLC, a restaurant and nightlife company led by partners Charles Ferraro and Paolo Soriano, aims to change that. It has leased the location from Crockett Partners Ltd., according to public documents. Details are sparse at this point but the men behind the idea have experience running bars and music venues around town. Ferraro is co-owner of East Austin spots Hotel Vegas, The Volstead Lounge and LoLo. Soriano is co-owner of Rainey Street bar Reina.
"The building has hosted many nightlife concepts over the decades and is an interesting piece of old Austin," Ferraro said. "This history, along with its extended vacancy in recent years, has only added to its lore."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin cybersecurity firm SailPoint being sold to Thoma Bravo in $6.9 billion deal (Austin American-Statesman)
Austin-based cybersecurity company SailPoint is being acquired by private equity firm Thoma Bravo for $6.9 billion, the company announced Monday.
SailPoint was founded in 2005 by Austin tech industry veteran Mark McClain. The company specializes in identity and access management software, and went public in 2017 with an initial public offering of $240 million.
Thoma Bravo had been the majority stakeholder in the company when SailPoint went public, but no longer was by the end of 2018. In this latest deal, the equity firm will acquire SailPoint in an all cash transaction that is expected to close in the second half of 2022. Thoma Bravo plans to take SailPoint private after the transaction closes.
McClain, SailPoint CEO, said identity security is core to cybersecurity and businesses are realizing that it is a necessity for business growth… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Three of Lina Hidalgo’s aides, including chief of staff, indicted in Harris County contract award scandal (Texas Tribune)
Three employees of Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo have been indicted by a grand jury on charges related to how they helped award a contract for COVID-19 vaccine outreach last year.
The Harris County district clerk lists two felony counts each for chief of staff Alex Triantaphyllis, policy director Wallis Nader and former policy aide Aaron Dunn. The charges are misuse of official information and tampering with a government record.
The charges add weight to a scandal Hidalgo has attempted to dismiss as politically motivated, and they threaten to tarnish her carefully cultivated image as an ethically minded public servant as she seeks reelection this year. Hidalgo is widely seen as a rising star in the Texas Democratic Party and a future statewide candidate… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
International trade halted at Texas border crossings as truckers protest Greg Abbott’s new inspections (Texas Tribune)
Commercial traffic at a key South Texas border crossing has stopped after Mexican truckers on Monday blocked north- and southbound lanes on the Mexico side of the Pharr-Reynosa International Bridge in protest of Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s decision to have state troopers inspect northbound commercial vehicles — historically a job done by the federal government.
The bridge connecting Pharr and Reynosa is the busiest trade crossing in the Rio Grande Valley and handles the majority of the produce that crosses into the U.S. from Mexico, including avocados, broccoli, peppers, strawberries and tomatoes. On Monday, with trucks backed up for miles in Reynosa for the fifth day in a row, some produce importers in Texas said they have waited days for their goods to arrive and already had buyers cancel orders.
“One of our customers canceled the order because we didn’t deliver on time,” said Modesto Guerra, sales manager for Sterling Fresh Inc., which imports broccoli from Central Mexico via the Pharr bridge before shipping it to the Midwest and East Coast. “It’s something beyond our control.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Elon Musk, again an outsider at Twitter, emerges as unshackled wild card for company (Wall Street Journal)
Elon Musk’s surprise decision not to join Twitter Inc.’s board gives the social-media company less control over its largest shareholder, paving the way for him to press for changes and speak out freely about the company as an activist investor.
After unveiling last week a roughly 9% stake in Twitter, Mr. Musk was offered a seat on the board, which he declined on Saturday.
A series of tweets over the weekend by Mr. Musk, taken together, targeted the core of Twitter’s business, seemingly suggesting the company shut down its headquarters and cut staff while shifting from an ad-based business to one that depends more upon subscriptions to survive.
“The power of corporations to dictate policy is greatly enhanced if Twitter depends on advertising money to survive,” Mr. Musk said in a tweet that was later deleted.
On Monday, Mr. Musk indicated in a regulatory filing that he still might engage with Twitter on a range of issues “without limitation.” The company’s product and services, potential mergers and governance issues, were among the issues Mr. Musk might discuss with Twitter’s board and management, he said in the filing. The Tesla Inc. chief executive can express his views about Twitter on social media or speak directly with executives and board members, the filing states… (LINK TO FULL STORY)