BG Reads | News You Need to Know (January 21, 2022)
Downtown Austin
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Vela leads in Austin District 4 campaign spending, donations ahead of election day (Community Impact)
José "Chito" Vela continues to outpace his competition's spending and fundraising in the Austin City Council District 4 special election race, according to city campaign finance documents.
The Jan. 18 filings cover individual candidates' campaign activity from Dec. 17 through Jan. 15 and are the final reports due ahead of election day Jan. 25. The new disclosures show an uptick in spending among all candidates as the race draws to a close and a financial gap between Vela and the other six candidates in the race. That trend mirrors the results shown in the first finance documents released during the District 4 campaign when Vela's spending and contributions totaled more than that of all his competition. However, a special-purpose political committee opposing Vela and backing candidate Jade Lovera approached his spending and donation totals this month.From mid-December to mid-January, Vela earned more than 60 donations at the city-mandated limit of $400 as well as several dozen more at lower levels for a total of nearly $37,000. Top donors include local developers, real estate attorneys and government employees such as outgoing District 4 Council Member Greg Casar, who endorsed Vela in the race Dec. 16. Consulting payments, advertising, personal protective equipment and other expenses made up Vela's nearly $47,000 in spending for the latest reporting period… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
StoryBuilt turns to huge joint ventures to fund expansion (Austin Business Journal)
(StoryBuilt is a Bingham Group client)
Just one month after announcing a $1 billion joint venture to fund ongoing and future projects across the country, StoryBuilt announced a $44 million partnership to help fund a mixed-use community in Austin. These announcements provide a peek into how the longstanding Austin-based developer is rapidly expanding its business model.
StoryBuilt, which still operates legally as PSW Real Estate LLC, focuses on urban infill products. It’s behind an eclectic range of Austin-area housing types, from “microunit apartments” in South Austin, to condos in Mueller, to single-family homes on Menchaca Road.
It now operates in Austin, Dallas, San Antonio, Seattle and Denver, with more than 40 communities under its belt. The recent $1 billion joint venture with Swiss private market investor Partners Group AG will help develop 17 projects across the country, six of which will be in Austin. The partnership was the company’s first joint venture of that scale.
The most recent partnership, with California-based IHP Capital Partners, will channel $44 million toward developing the Ellie May mixed-use community, which will bring 84 condos as well as office and restaurant space to East Austin. The joint venture helped purchase the land, which formerly housed Springdale Farms. The developer expects to break ground in the second quarter.
The company has grown into one of the top homebuilders in the area. It closed a $7 million funding round in 2020, led by California-based investor Hearthstone. StoryBuilt sold $28 million worth of housing in 2020, according to Austin Business Journal’s data on volume homebuilders… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Overworked amid the COVID pandemic, Austin teachers could lose vital lesson planning time (Austin American-Statesman)
Middle school and high school teachers in the Austin school district are concerned district leaders could eliminate one of the two planning periods that are built into their schedules, and increase their workload.
District leaders have acknowledged conversations about possible daily schedule changes to cope with financial constraints and to pay for proposed pay increases for teachers and hourly employees, but they have not yet shared details.
"We are considering changes to our daily schedules and are engaging with our principals right now on this matter," Superintendent Stephanie S. Elizalde said in a statement provided by the district this week... (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Texas pipeline company walks back threat to cut off gas to power plants (Texas Tribune)
After threatening to cut off fuel to roughly a third of the power plants owned by Texas’ biggest power generator, a major pipeline company said Thursday it will continue selling natural gas to the plants through the end of March. But the companies have still not resolved their underlying financial dispute stemming from last February’s deadly winter storm. Energy Transfer LP subsidiaries walked back their threat after Luminant, a Vistra Corp. subsidiary, on Wednesday asked state regulators to prevent the pipeline company from cutting off fuel to five Vistra power plants, which produce enough electricity to power 400,000 Texas homes, businesses and critical infrastructure such as schools and hospitals.
The pipeline companies had told Vistra that gas would stop flowing to the power plants on Monday unless Vistra paid Energy Transfer $21.6 million that they claim Vistra owes them, according to Vistra’s complaint to the Railroad Commission of Texas, which regulates the state’s oil and gas industry. The “threat to terminate service in the middle of winter is illegal and grossly irresponsible and should be prohibited by this Commission,” Vistra said in the complaint. It called the move by Energy Transfer, run by billionaire Kelcy Warren, “a form of commercial extortion.” Energy Transfer responded Thursday in a short filing with the Railroad Commission, saying it would continue selling natural gas to Vistra on the spot market — a one-time open market transaction for immediate delivery of gas purchased “on the spot.”
That would nullify the Monday deadline imposed by Energy Transfer. Vistra has been paying those spot market prices to Energy Transfer since Dec. 1, when its long-term contract for gas expired, and Energy Transfer said it would not negotiate another contract until Vistra paid the $21.6 million. For Vistra, paying spot prices means buying gas from Energy Transfer at between $15 and $25 per million British Thermal Units (BTUs), compared to the average national price of $3.91 per BTU in 2021, according to the Energy Information Administration… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
As amendment gives some Texas lawmakers $140K annual pension, one legislator says 'hell no' to offer (Houston Chronicle)
State Sen. John Whitmire is turning down a big pay raise that was slipped into an overhaul of the state employee retirement system in the final hours of the last regular legislative session. The Houston Democrat, who wants to be the city’s next mayor, is one of at least three Texas legislators made eligible for a dramatic boost in take-home pay, courtesy of an 11th-hour amendment last May by Rep. Greg Bonnen, R-Friendswood. Bonnen’s office did not respond to requests for an interview to discuss the measure. “I didn’t vote for it. Won’t vote for it. And will not accept it,” Whitmire told the Houston Chronicle The other two who qualify for the lucrative perk are longtime state representatives Senfronia Thompson, D-Houston and Tom Craddick, R- Midland, who served six years as House speaker before his own GOP colleagues overthrew him in 2009. Thompson’s office did not respond to phone and email messages.
Whitmire pointed to Craddick, currently the longest serving state legislator in Texas history, as the mastermind of the amendment that allows them to collect a $140,000 annual pension without ever leaving office. “They call it the Craddick amendment in the House,” Whitmire told the Chronicle. Craddick’s office did not respond to messages left via phone and email. The amendment currently allows just 46 state employees around Texas, including the three state legislators, to draw their salaries and pensions simultaneously. The Legislature years ago shut down a loophole that famously let former Gov. Rick Perry double dip his salary and pension. Bonnen’s amendment effectively opens up a new loophole. To qualify for the accelerated pension benefit, a state employee or legislator needs 43.5 years worth of credit. Whitmire and Thompson were first elected to the Legislature 50 years ago, in 1972; Craddick was first elected in 1968. In the state employee system, credits can be bought or transferred from certain other retirement plans, so even more career Texas politicians could be eligible now or soon. A blanket of secrecy over individual retirement records makes it impossible to know who’s getting what… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
FBI activity at Rep. Cuellar's home part of Azerbaijan probe (The Hill)
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) activity at the home of Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) on Wednesday was related to a federal probe involving several U.S. businessmen and Azerbaijan, ABC News and CBS News reported, citing sources familiar with the matter.
ABC News additionally reported that Cuellar’s campaign office was also involved in the FBI activity, and that the FBI had raided both the office and his home, citing a source familiar. The outlet noted that a federal grand jury is investigating the case and that it was not immediately clear if Cuellar is a target of its probe.
Rosanne Hughes, a spokesperson for the FBI's San Antonio office, on Wednesday told The Hill in a statement that "the FBI was present in the vicinity of Windridge Drive and Estate Drive in Laredo conducting court-authorized law enforcement activity," which is reportedly the neighborhood in which Cuellar lives… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATIONAL NEWS]
Aiming to make CDC nimble, agency director has rankled many (Associated Press)
From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the top U.S. public health agency has been criticized as too slow to collect and act on new information.
Now, increasingly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is also being criticized for moving too fast.
One year into Dr. Rochelle Walensky’s tenure as director, her bid to make the CDC more agile is being challenged by political pressures, vocal scientists and the changing virus itself. In its haste, some experts say, the agency has repeatedly stumbled — moving too quickly, before the science was clear, and then failing to communicate clearly with local health officials and the public.
“I think they are absolutely trying to be more nimble — and that’s a good thing. I don’t criticize that,” said Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association. “I criticize the fact that when you’re doing this quickly, in an evolving environment, you can’t just put it out there and think that people understand it.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)