BG Reads | News You Need to Know (May 13, 2022)
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[AUSTIN METRO]
Judge hears arguments on Council election lawsuit (Austin Monitor)
After a hearing Thursday, Travis County District Judge Lora Livingston told attorneys for the city and for plaintiffs seeking to force the city to hold City Council elections in all districts this fall that she would make a decision on the case by early next week. Attorney Bill Aleshire is representing the plaintiffs. Assistant city attorneys Brandon Mickle and Sara Rice argued on the city’s behalf.
The case hinges on whether, under the Texas Constitution, a voter who is moved from one district to another under redistricting must be allowed to vote for a Council member in the new district in the next election even when that seat is not scheduled for an election.
Elections are staggered under the city charter. Council districts 2, 4, 6, 7 and 10 elected Council members to four-year terms in 2020. Those seats are not scheduled to be on the ballot until November 2024. The mayor and representatives for districts 1, 3,5, 8 and 9 will be on the ballot this November… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
South Congress retailers grapple with street's future as rents touch $150 per square foot (Austin Business Journal)
There’s one place in Austin where retailers pay Manhattan-like rents: South Congress Avenue. Interest from around the globe has boosted demand to stratospheric levels for a city known more for cowboy boots than expensive handbags.
“When we talk to retailers who are headquartered in New York, Chicago, LA, and even European retailers, the one street that they all ask about in Austin is South Congress,” said John Heffington, a CBRE Group Inc. vice president for retail services.
South Congress has developed an international profile, akin to Abbot Kinney Boulevard in Venice, California, according to Heffington. South Congress, a onetime red light district where an old adult theater has been converted into offices, is now one of America's premier retail destinations. What does that mean for the future of the strip, and for the many homegrown stores that still call it home?… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Planning Commission recommends rezoning amid ‘heartwrenching’ testimony (Austin Monitor)
A case at the Planning Commission Tuesday highlighted the vulnerability of renters amid Austin’s rapid growth, as older apartment buildings are increasingly torn down to make way for new development.
At issue is the Old Homestead apartment complex, an 80-year-old, 16-unit building at 1120 and 1124 Clayton Lane. Developer JCI Residential seeks a zoning change from Community Commercial-Mixed-Use (GR-MU-CO-NP) to Vertical Mixed-Use (GR-MU-V-NP) in order to build 295 units on the 2-acre site.
The VMU designation means 10 percent of the units will be affordable for those making 80 percent of the median family income (or 60 percent MFI if Council adopts proposed changes to VMU). If the zoning change fails, land use consultant Alice Glasco said a different developer would happily build up to 106 “very expensive condos” – none of which would be income-restricted – under current zoning… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Expect more traffic downtown Saturday due to Trump event (KXAN)
Drivers should expect more traffic downtown this weekend due to heightened security for former President Donald Trump’s visit to Austin.
Downtown Austin Alliance sent out a notice Thursday advising people to watch out for more congestion and delays Saturday around the Austin Convention Center, which is where Trump will hold an “America Freedom Tour” stop most of the day.
“There could be significant impacts to hotels and businesses within a 2-3 block radius of the Convention Center due to Secret Service protocols,” the alliance’s advisory read. “Please plan and communicate accordingly.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott resists conservatives’ pleas to declare border ‘invasion’ (Dallas Morning News)
Gov. Greg Abbott is resisting staunch conservatives’ pleas that he declare a migrant “invasion” is under way at the nation’s southern border. Also Wednesday, Abbott disclosed that Texas has donated spools of razor wire to Coahuila, a Mexican border state. For weeks, to deter unauthorized migrants, Texas has been deploying concertina wire on its side of the Rio Grande River. Appearing on “The Valley’s Morning News” on Edinburg’s KURV-AM, Abbott offered his most detailed explanation yet of why he hasn’t invoked war powers by officially declaring an “invasion” and letting state police arrest and deport undocumented immigrants. “I’m not afraid of a court fight” with the administration of President Joe Biden, the Republican governor insisted. However, “if you read every study” of plans for states to argue conditions on the border qualify as an invasion, “which I have, there is one thing that’s clear,” he told conservative talk-show host Sergio Sanchez. “It’s one thing to try to implement it and there’s two problems with regard to the implementation.” First, Texas Department of Public Safety officers might get prosecuted by federal officials, Abbott warned.
“If I make that declaration and tell law enforcement to do it, and law enforcement does do this, they are subject to potential criminal penalties imposed by Merrick Garland, the United States attorney general and the Biden administration, that would be more than happy to arrest and to prosecute a Texas law enforcement official,” he said. “And so we’re looking forward to greater answers about that before we pull that trigger.” Also, while state police might drive undocumented immigrants back across the Rio Grande, the migrants simply would “go a mile up the river and cross the border there,” he said. “And so it creates a revolving door.” Abbott, who is seeking a third term in November, has aggressively challenged Biden’s immigration policies over the past 15 months – even committing Texas to building its own border wall and deploying police and National Guard soldiers to make trespassing arrests of migrants. But the governor’s “Operation Lone Star,” though it’s on track to spend more than $5 billion of state discretionary funds in the current two-year budget cycle, has drawn little respect from immigration hard-liners… (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]
Thursday (5/19)
Regular Meeting of the Austin City Council - Agenda Link -> https://www.austintexas.gov/department/city-council/2022/20220519-reg.htm