BG Reads | News You Need to Know (May 11, 2022)
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[AUSTIN METRO]
Developer releases proposal to clean up East Sixth Street (Austin Monitor)
Following years of public outcry over the deterioration of East Sixth Street, Dallas-based Stream Realty has stepped forward with aspirations to give the notoriously rowdy block a facelift.
Real estate attorney Richard Suttle stopped by last Wednesday’s meeting of the Historic Landmark Commission to share a preliminary look at Stream’s vision. Increasing height and density, introducing a more varied mix of uses and opening the street back up to through traffic are all on the table.
“The folks that have been there a long time are crying out for help,” Suttle said. “The police officers are wringing their hands and pulling their hair out, they don’t know what to do. But we all agree we’ve got to change the mixes of uses.”
Since the onset of the Covid pandemic and temporary shuttering of the downtown bar scene, Stream has acquired dozens of properties along East Sixth. To make a return on its investment, Stream hopes it can redesign the space to welcome a wider variety of businesses and rehabilitate its “dirty” reputation.
Concerns over Sixth Street’s safety have intensified with four high-profile shootings occurring in the past year alone. Last June, a mass shooting that left 13 injured and 1 dead galvanized passage of the Safer Sixth Street Initiative, directing staff to develop public safety strategies to mitigate violent crime and underage drinking.
Stream Realty has embraced this momentum, incorporating a number of Safer Sixth Street recommendations into its proposal. Chief among these is reopening the streetscape, which is currently closed to through traffic on weekend evenings… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
CapMetro CEO departs, leaving two Austin transit organizations without permanent leadership (KUT)
Capital Metro CEO Randy Clarke will leave Austin to head the public transit agency in Washington, D.C.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) announced this morning Clarke will take over in late summer as general manager and CEO.
Clark'e five-year agreement with WMATA includes an annual salary of $485,000 and a $4,000 per month housing allowance for up to to six months. At CapMetro, Clarke's 2021 earnings were $376,687.
During his four years at CapMetro, Clarke oversaw the transit agency's biggest overhaul to the city's bus route system. He presided over the agency as Austin voters in November 2020 authorized the single-largest expansion of transit in the city's history.
Clarke’s departure means both transit agencies responsible for overseeing the implementation of that multibillion dollar expansion will be without permanent leaders.
The Austin Transit Partnership — a local government agency created to oversee Project Connect — voted last month to remove Clarke as CEO after a consultant's report recommended a change in governance structure. An interim director was named during the search for a permanent replacement.
And now Capital Metro, which has been struggling to keep routes running on time amid a driver shortage, will be without an executive.
Capital Metro's board of directors will meet this month with Clarke to figure out a transition plan… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Trump bringing tour to Austin, which hasn't been hotbed of support for ex-president (Austin American-Statesman)
A tour promoting former President Donald Trump and conservative values is coming to Texas, and it picked a peculiar place: Austin, which is considered by many to be the state's most left-leaning big city.
Austin has largely been enemy territory for Trump in his political career. In 2016, Travis County voters — the vast majority of them Austin voters — opposed him in the general election, favoring Democrat Hillary Clinton over Trump by 38 percentage points and 181,000 votes. The swing was even bigger in 2020, when Joe Biden won the Travis County vote by 225,000 votes and 45 percentage points over Trump.
Even the staunchest Trump supporters in Austin might be doing a double-take when they drive by one particular billboard on U.S. 183 promoting the event, stating, "Austin Loves President Trump."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
ACL Fest announces $369M economic impact, $6.7M parks donation
Austin City Limits Music Festival released the results of its annual local economic impact study on Tuesday, the same day it announced the lineup for this year’s two-weekend event that takes place in Zilker Park each October.
The study, conducted by AngelouEconomics, put the economic impact of last year’s festival at $369 million, a number that was initially publicized at $345 million but was updated later to correct a “calculation error.” That total was stated as being equivalent to more than 3,500 full-time jobs for the local economy, with the festival accounting for more than $2.6 billion in economic activity since its organizers began tracking business impact data in 2006.
Also Tuesday, the Austin Parks Foundation announced it has received $6.7 million from the festival this year to help fund improvements in parks throughout the city. The annual donation from festival organizers C3 Presents comes in addition to the $100,000 fee paid to the city for using Zilker Park, though it also pays more than $2 million annually to cover all city costs for public safety and restoration of the grounds after the festival.
To date, ACL Fest has contributed more than $48 million to the parks foundation. That annual infusion is a significant piece of the organization’s annual budget that in past years has been around $8 million… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Council looks at changes to transit partnership board (Austin Monitor)
City Council has tentatively agreed to consider changes to the membership of the board of the Austin Transit Partnership, with just a small change now, and the possibility of a larger and more controversial change in the future. Council approved a resolution on Thursday adding two ex officio members to the ATP Board of Directors, which is in line with what the Capital Metropolitan Transportation Authority board has already approved. The two would be the Austin city manager or a designee, and the executive director of Capital Metro or a designee.
Another part of the resolution will allow the board to waive residency requirements. Mayor Steve Adler explained that the Capital Metro board might want to keep Colette Pierce Burnette on ATP’s board. Pierce Burnette, who is currently chair of the ATP board and president of Huston-Tillotson University, is retiring from the university on June 30 and will apparently be spending a considerable amount of time in Ohio. Council Member Vanessa Fuentes expressed concern about adding members to the board who live outside the Project Connect service area.
However, the more controversial question is whether ATP should add voting members to its five-member board. One proposal would add four new members. Council Member Ann Kitchen sponsored a direction to the city manager, which included language that would allow for those new members to be appointed once there is consensus on the issue.
“I would really like to have the new ATP CEO in place, give that person a little bit of time to kind of get oriented, you know, get familiar with the organization, put some thought into next steps and then get that person’s opinion,” Council Member Chito Vela said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Downtown Austin Residential Tower Planned for Defunct State Pension Site (Towers)
A one-acre downtown property currently occupied by the former headquarters of a state pension fund is up for rezoning at tonight’s meeting of the Planning Commission, with city staff recommending the zoning change for the site, located at East 12th Street and the I-35 Frontage Road, to a central business district (CBD) designation — paving the way for a plan by an unknown developer, described in the review sheet document for the case as a tower project containing 350 residences and 35,000 square feet of retail space in the heart of Austin’s newly-formed “Innovation District.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Chipmaker NXP considers Austin for $2.6 billion expansion, up to 800 new jobs (Austin American-Statesman)
In a move that could further add to Austin's booming technology sector, chipmaker NXP Semiconductors is considering Austin for $2.6 billion expansion that could create up to 800 jobs.
NXP Semiconductors is seeking tax breaks from the Austin Independent School District, and Kroll, a site selection consulting firm representing NXP, made a presentation to the district's school board on Tuesday night.
The initial presentation didn't specify the amount of the potential tax incentives deal, but previous incentives agreements from Texas school districts for similar deals have been for tens of millions of dollars.
The jobs created by the expansion would pay an average annual salary of more than $100,000, NXP's representative told the AISD school board. NXP Semiconductors already has about 1,300 employees in Austin, where it has multiple facilities, including a chip fabrication facility. Headquartered in The Netherlands, NXP Semiconductors has more than 29,000 global employees and had revenue of $11 billion in 2021… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
UT-Austin, other University of Texas System schools plan to offer more microcredentials (Austin American-Statesman)
The University of Texas System plans to increase its focus on short-term microcredentials to provide people with more pathways to careers. The UT System schools, including UT-Austin, will be offering more certifications, known as microcredentials, that show a specific skill was learned through short training or courses. The goal is to help fill workforce gaps and respond to changing labor market demands, particularly in such fields as cybersecurity, business and technology. Across the UT System, hundreds of microcredential programs already exist, from short courses to certificate programs, but the UT System has been training faculty and staff members; securing funding; and increasing its capacity for the past two years as it plans to expand such offerings.
“Texas may double in size. We're going to have a great need to educate a much larger workforce,” UT System Chancellor J.B. Milliken said. “If we can provide — with the strength of our academic programs, and our faculty — the ability for people to get a credential that's recognized by employers and hired, that's a great thing.” UT-Austin, one of the eight UT System academic institutions, offers about 25 microcredential programs for people to obtain various skills, such as the UTeachCS computer science program for K-12 teachers in coding and programming. UT also announced the UT Oscar Mike program last month, which aims to provide veterans transitioning to the civilian workforce with certification in fields such as project management, human resources and personal training. UT-Austin President Jay Hartzell said these programs help provide people with trustworthy and affordable skill development that apply to their jobs. “Not everybody can afford to take full time to come pursue an entire degree, but the idea of unbundling that and making it more accessible in terms of either time or money provides people who have fewer means to have a chance to come get those skills ... and they can move their careers forward,” Hartzell said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Gov. Greg Abbott voices clear support for school voucher program (Austin Monitor)
Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday voiced support for a school voucher plan, offering his clearest embrace in recent memory of letting parents use taxpayers dollars to send their kids to nonpublic schools.
“We can fully fund public schools while also giving parents a choice about which school is right for their child,” Abbott said during a campaign event in San Antonio. “Empowering parents means giving them the choice to send their children to any public school, charter school or private school with state funding following the student.”
Abbott has long been a supporter of the broad concept of “school choice,” but his focus on it has ebbed and flowed throughout his governorship. His commitment to the cause was thrown into question by a recent string of endorsements in Texas House primary runoffs in which he backed Republicans opposed by school-choice proponents, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Dallas unveils new proposed rules for people who plan to promote, profit from large events (Dallas Morning News)
Dallas police and city officials on Monday proposed new requirements for people who plan to promote and make a profit from large unpermitted events in an effort to boost safety and hold promoters and venue operators accountable. The proposed changes, presented to Dallas’ public safety committee, were designed after city officials repeatedly voiced a need in recent weeks for policies cracking down on event promoters and property owners in the aftermath of two mass shootings at unpermitted events in the city. The shootings — one at an outdoor concert in southeast Oak Cliff and the other at a spring break party at a South Dallas event venue — left two people dead and at least 25 others wounded over a two-week period. The city and some event attendees have filed lawsuits against the promoters and property owner after the concert shooting.
The ordinance is meant to boost safety at events that don’t already have oversight through current city processes. The city already requires a special-use permit for events that meet a certain criteria and a crowd size of 100 people or more. Under the new, proposed ordinance, “commercial promoters” — or those who advertise an event that isn’t permitted — would be required to pay a fee and register with the city. Events that fall under the proposed ordinance are those that aren’t permitted and which involve commercial promotion. The ordinance stipulates that they must be indoor events with a certain crowd side — the exact number hasn’t yet been determined — or outdoor events that are “of a public nature.” Examples include music shows, concerts, outdoor activities and other performances where fees are charged to vendors or event attendees. The promoted events would also require an approved safety plan with details including the type of event, expected crowd size, crowd and security management, medical and first aid, noise abatement strategies and alcohol licenses, if applicable. Venues may have a general safety plan on file, or may need an event-specific safety plan… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
Episode 158: Managing Growth in the City of Kyle - A Discussion with Council Member Dex Ellison
Today’s episode (158) features City of Kyle Council Member Dex Ellison. He and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss the growth and associated challenges with one the fastest growing cities in Texas.
According to the U.S. Census, the city grew from a populations of 5,000 in 2000, to just over 52,300 (and growing) in 2020.
First elected to Kyle City Council in November 2019, Council Member Ellison was re-elected in November 2019. -> EPISODE LINK
[HEARINGS]
Wednesday (5/11)