BG Reads | News You Need to Know (July 13, 2022)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Dallas next? Austin FC eye Texas supremacy after defeating Houston Dynamo (MLS News)
After Austin FC defeated Houston Dynamo FC 3-1 on Tuesday night and became the first MLS team to reach the 40-point threshold, Los Verdes winger Ethan Finlay admitted his team are squarely eyeing a trophy. Not that trophy. The other one.
Yes, Austin are the new Supporters' Shield leaders with a one point edge on LAFC following a fourth consecutive victory. But the immediate business at hand is Copa Tejas.
The duel for supremacy among Texas’ MLS clubs will conclude Saturday night when Austin visit FC Dallas (9 pm ET, MLS LIVE on ESPN+ in the US, DAZN in Canada) with a two-point lead in the three-team season series. They need only a draw to secure the honor.
“When I showed up here, very quickly I learned how much this meant to our supporters and to our ownership group, really both,” Finlay told MLSsoccer.com in a phone interview after Tuesday's win. “And that’s unique, where ownership in Year 2 is already saying this matters to us. We’re prideful. We might be a new team in this market and a new team in Texas, but we want to be the best team. They take a lot of pride in that.
“It’s a great opportunity for us to really give (our supporters) something mid-season to be able to really cheer about and be happy about.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Affordable housing advocates want voters to decide $300M bond proposal (Austin Monitor)
Community groups concerned with affordability issues in the Austin housing market are pushing City Council to approve language for a bond proposal in November that could raise $300 million to build more homes and fund programs related to housing opportunities.
A political action committee called Affordable Housing Bond PAC was organized this month to help coordinate activities related to the bond proposal, which would replenish the mostly exhausted $250 million voters approved in 2018.
Those involved in pushing the bond package will hold a campaign kickoff next Thursday morning at the Learning Center at Jordan at Mueller. Proponents will discuss how inflation pressures, Austin’s continued popularity and the lack of privately funded affordable housing makes $300 million the minimum they feel Council should approve.
“If we take an honest assessment of where we’re at, since it seems like we’ve nearly spent down the $250 (million), then we have to ask ourselves what happens if we let our deeply affordable housing programs run out of money, and what would be the consequences for the community,” said Joao Paulo Connolly, organizing director for the Austin Justice Coalition and a spokesperson for the housing bond campaign.
“We want to push the ball and get (Council) to take the next step. We know what we accomplished with previous bonds but there is a very unpredictable landscape around construction costs and the effects of inflation so there are some unknowns.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin ISD weighs two bond proposals for the November election (Community Impact)
During the Austin ISD bond program meeting July 12, AISD confirmed it will ask for a bond to be placed on the ballot in the November election.
There were two potential bond proposals suggested, with each proposal containing different project ideas and costs.
The final version of the proposal will be presented to the AISD board of trustees at their meeting later in the month. Although there were two different proposals, each proposal addressed partial or complete campus modernizations, district wide technology upgrades and secure entry points.
Proposition A would cost $1.55 billion with no tax rate increase. In addition to the campus modernizations, technology upgrades and secure doors, there would also be bus replacements, critical deficiencies fixed across the district and competition fields built at all high schools. Eight campuses would be fully modernized: Allison, Barrington, Harris, Linder, Oak Springs and Pecan Springs elementary schools; the Sadler Means Young Women Leadership Academy; and Travis Early College High School. It would also include partial updates for Andrews, Houston Langford and Wooldrige elementary schools; Burnet Middle School and Northeast Early College High School.
Long-range planning investments for Proposition A include mental health centers at schools, community pantries, kitchen/serving upgrades, and visual and performing arts facility upgrades.Alternatively, Proposition B would cost $2.18 billion and have a $0.01 tax rate increase. This proposition includes everything in Proposition A in addition to seven more full or partial campus modernizations, increased technology investments and teacher housing as well as more upgrades to athletic, and visual and performing arts facilities.
For Proposition B, long-range investments include, in part, outdoor learning/playgrounds, site circulation improvements and special education classroom improvements in addition to all the long-range investments in Proposition A… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Alamo Drafthouse union worker fight isn't over (Austin Business Journal)
It was a calm Tuesday when Alamo Drafthouse union workers decided to go on strike at the South Lamar location — although some of the employees were fed up with the pay, they didn’t want to disrupt a busy movie night.
It was a show of good faith, said Bernard Klinke, the organizing department liaison with The Industrial Workers of the World Austin. This sick-out occurred July 5, two days before the release of "Thor: Love and Thunder," which grossed $143 million nationally on its opening weekend.
If workers' demand for a raise ranging between $4 to $5 an hour isn’t met, the next action won’t be on a traditionally slow day, Klinke said. During the July 5 sick-out, Klinke estimates sales were less than half of what they would have been, but management did not share any numbers. In addition to some patrons canceling their tickets, others canceled their season passes.
Alamo Drafthouse pays many servers $3 base pay, but with tips the average wage is about $11 an hour, according to Glassdoor.com. The job review website pegs pay for concierges at $12 an hour, and a line cook may expect $12 an hour, according to Glassdoor.
A calculator developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology shows the living wage for a single adult in the Austin metro was $17.46 an hour in 2019 — and the cost of living has increased dramatically since then due to inflation and real estate costs. Austin City Council recently pegged a good minimum hourly wage for the area at $22 an hour. That's how much city workers — even those who work at restaurants in the airport — can expect soon… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin booms among hottest markets for industrial construction in new report (CultureMap Austin)
It's not just Austin's residential real estate market that's hot. Austin is among the hottest markets in the Southwest for under-construction warehouse and distribution centers.
Data published by Community Property Executive shows Austin had nearly 8.3 million square feet of industrial space under construction in late June. That represents a little over 7 percent of the existing industrial space (more than 114 million square feet) in the region.
Austin ranks third in the Southwest, behind Dallas and Houston, according to Commercial Property Executive, at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively. Dallas is also the No. 1 market in the U.S., beating out Phoenix (No. 2) and Southern California's Inland Empire (No. 3) nationally… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
National general contractor taps Central Texas business development lead (Austin Business Journal)
A national construction management and contracting company has named a director of business development for Central Texas.
Minnesota-based Adolfson & Peterson Inc. tapped Eric Churchill to identify new businesses, markets and clients, according to a July 12 announcement. Churchill has almost three dozen years of professional business development experience, the bulk of which was spent in Central Texas.
“Adolfson & Peterson Construction’s reputation among the construction industry is impeccable,” Churchill said in a statement. “It is a privilege to join one of the top construction companies in the nation. AP’s commitment to producing quality projects along with its integrity and innovation makes this an incredible place to plant my flag.”
In a new role at the firm's Austin office, Churchill will be tasked with developing and executing a comprehensive strategy to identify new business, markets and clients in the Central Texas region, according to the announcement… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Watch Uvalde school shooting video obtained by Statesman showing police response (Austin American-Statesman)
Editor's note: The video footage, audio, and events described in this story about the Uvalde school shooting are disturbing. Discretion is advised. This exclusive story and video are being made available free of charge as a public service. If you value strong journalism from the American-Statesman, support us by subscribing. You can read more about our decision to publish this video here… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
ERCOT didn't think the Texas summer would be as hot as it actually is, says interim CEO (Houston Chronicle)
This summer has already been brutal for ERCOT. Tight grid conditions have become nearly a daily occurrence. The all-time record for demand has already been broken eight times in the past three months. Officials have called for conservation as weary Texans adjust their thermostats out of fear that using too much may stress the system, potentially sparking memories of the power outages that blanketed the state in February 2021. But despite those concerns, the lights have stayed on. At the helm of ERCOT's operations is Brad Jones, the nonprofit grid manager's interim CEO who was appointed after his predecessor was ousted amid the fallout of the February 2021 freeze. Jones, who previously oversaw New York's grid operator for about three years, sat down with the Houston Chronicle on Tuesday to talk about changes made since the freeze, how the grid is faring this summer and his hopes -- and concerns -- about the future of power in Texas.
ERCOT officials did not expect this summer to be as hot as it has been: ERCOT's Seasonal Assessment of Resource Adequacy, or SARA, report had projected that peak demand on the hottest day of summer would probably reach around 77,300 megawatts (one megawatt is enough to power about 200 homes on a hot day). But Jones said forecasters did not anticipate temperatures to get close to where they were during the record heat logged in 2011. Temperatures that summer were about 5 degrees hotter than average. "The question we always ask of our weather forecasting team is: Is this 2011? And you’d hear no, this is not 2011. Everyone was saying this is not 2011. And about the end of May they’re saying, this looks like 2011. And at about the end of June, they're saying it's like we're heading into 2011," Jones said. He said the extreme heat scenario for this summer estimated that demand could reach above 81,000 megawatts, which was the original forecast for Monday. Forecasters originally gave that scenario a 5 percent chance of happening, he said. "The 81,500 (megawatts) was the extreme, but those numbers are in the system. We just start with what we think the expected case is, and in early May, the expected case was 77,500" megawatts, he said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
First lady Jill Biden apologizes for comparing Hispanics to tacos during Texas visit (Dallas Morning News)
First Lady Jill Biden apologized Tuesday for comparing the diversity of Hispanics to that of breakfast tacos, a comment that drew widespread ridicule, and not just from Republicans eager to embarrass the White House. “The diversity of this community – distinct as the bodegas of the Bronx, as beautiful as the blossoms of Miami, and as unique as the breakfast tacos here in San Antonio – is your strength,” she said Monday at a conference of UnidosUS, a major gathering of Latino advocates and leaders. “And yet, it’s when you speak with one voice – unidos – that you find your power.” Unlike some of her husband’s most cringeworthy bloopers, the taco comment was scripted – included in the prepared text released by her office before she began speaking at the Grand Hyatt Riverwalk. The Republican pile-on was relentless. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican whose father emigrated from Cuba, retweeted a video clip of Biden’s comment with three taco emojis and the quip: “Personally, I’m a chorizo, egg & cheese.”
Gov. Greg Abbott retweeted a video clip, adding, “Breakfast tacos? This is why Texas Hispanics are turning away from the Democratic [P]arty.” By then, she had issued an apology. “The First Lady apologizes that her words conveyed anything but pure admiration and love for the Latino community,” tweeted her spokesman, Michael LaRosa. The GOP’s House campaign arm tweeted out an image of Dr. Biden in a hail of tacos with the label “Taco Tuesday.” An editor at Human Events, a conservative news site, shared a photo depicting Jill Biden as Marie Antoinette, but with a sombrero, and the tagline “Let them eat tacos.” But it wasn’t just partisans who chastised the first lady. “Using breakfast tacos to try to demonstrate the uniqueness of Latinos in San Antonio demonstrates a lack of cultural knowledge and sensitivity,” the National Association of Hispanic Journalists said in a statement. “We are not tacos. Our heritage as Latinos is shaped by a variety of diasporas, cultures and food traditions, and should not be reduced to a stereotype.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Gov. Greg Abbott talks alcohol to-go and property taxes at Dallas restaurant convention (Dallas Morning News)
Gov. Greg Abbott addressed the Texas restaurant industry Monday at the annual Texas Restaurant Association convention, which was held in Dallas this year at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center. In front of a small crowd on a stage among a swath of exhibit booths on the final day of the three-day convention, Abbott praised the work he did with the Texas Restaurant Association during the height of the pandemic to keep restaurants open. “This relationship is so incredibly important,” he said of his office’s partnership with the TRA. “It’s something that we do all the time, but we did it on steroids during the time of COVID.”
He talked of the push to allow restaurants to sell bulk items and the COVID-19 liability protections that the Texas Senate passed, which bar lawsuits over COVID-19 deaths and injuries against businesses. “Among the other things that happened during COVID, one the people loved the most was alcohol to-go,” Abbott said as cheers broke out. Abbott also touted the Texas economy, corporate relocations to the state and population growth, which he said all bode well for restaurants and mean more customers. He also addressed property taxes. “I know whether you’re a business owner or otherwise a property owner, you feel the pinch of property taxes too much,” he said. “You may have heard that Texas now has a record amount of monetary or dollar reserves in our coffers as we go into the next [legislative] session. I’m here to tell you that you can expect a very large property tax cut coming out of this next legislative session.” The governor did not make any mention in his speech of the recent call from the state’s electric grid operator for the public to conserve electricity to avoid an energy emergency, nor did he take any questions from the audience after his speech. Abbott’s keynote speech was followed by a meet-and-greet, open only to those who have donated to the TRA political action committee. The TRA PAC, which endorsed Abbott in 2017, has donated $52,500 to his campaign since 2018, according to Transparency USA… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
Episode 160: Talking Public Relations, Career advice, and Austin with Kristin Marcum, CEO of ECPR
Today's special weekend episode (160) features Kristin Marcum, owner and CEO of ECPR, Austin's preeminent public relations firm.
Kristin and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss her path into PR and her career leading to the C-suite and ownership of the firm.-> EPISODE LINK
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