BG Reads | News You Need to Know (October 5, 2022)
[HEARINGS AND MEETINGS]
Wednesday
Thursday
[AUSTIN METRO]
Vivent Health's new Austin center opened as its community dealt with monkeypox threat (Austin American-Statesman)
We forgot about HIV. Or at least, many people who haven't been affected by the disease stopped thinking about it.
Newer classes of medications have enabled people with the virus to live longer and healthier lives and made it undectable in them.
Then this summer's monkeypox outbreak happened, bringing back memories of the 1980s AIDS outbreak. In Travis County, 176 people have been infected with monkeypox, which causes a painful rash and is often contracted through close contact, such as kissing or sex. There have been 225 cases in the region and 2,268 statewide.
The monkeypox outbreak has disproportionately affected men who have sex with other men. Last week Travis County confirmed its first case in a woman. There have been 62 statewide.
Many of the more serious cases have occurred in people who are HIV-positive.
One group on the front lines of this outbreak has been Vivent Health, which took over AIDS Services of Austin in 2020.
"Vivent's vision is to relentlessly champion people with HIV," said James Greer, senior vice president of operations in Texas and Colorado for Vivent Health.
When monkeypox first began appearing in the United States, Vivent Health created a task force to become educated on the virus rapidly and to create a plan for testing and vaccination, once the vaccine became available. The effort was successful in helping community groups and government health authorities spread good information… (LINK TO FULL STORY) (NOTE: Vivent is a Bingham Group client)
$90M budget for Austin agency leading Project Connect draws questions (Austin American-Statesman)
In just its second budget cycle, the Austin Transit Partnership — the agency created to manage Austin's giant Project Connect transportation plan — is facing questions from its own board members about how it plans to spend millions of taxpayer dollars.
The partnership is an independent local government corporation charged with implementing Project Connect, the multibillion-dollar public transportation program that Austinites voted to fund through a dedicated property tax.
The Austin Transit Partnership recently passed its annual budget for fiscal year 2023, which wll be the agency's second fiscal year since its creation. Several members of the partnership’s board said the budget fulfills the agency's commitment to the voters, with funds for additional auditors to improve transparency and money set aside to prevent displacement in economically vulnerable communities.
However, board member Tony Elkinsexpressed concerns that the budget is too big, with too many staff positions and too much being spent on consultants. Elkins is a vice president for Meridiam Infrastructure and has decades of transportation development and alternative financing experience.
The partnership’s budget for fiscal year 2023 is $90.6 million and is set to be split three ways — $35 million is for anti-displacement investment to protect vulnerable communities from being priced out of their neighborhoods, $20 million is being put in a reserve fund to spend on future capital projects, and $35.6 million is for operating expenses… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Toll road agency, tech firm square off in court (Austin Monitor)
At the end of a lengthy hearing Tuesday, Judge Eric Shepperd of Travis County Court at Law No. 2 told lawyers for the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority and the technology company suing the agency he would be back with a decision as soon as possible on whether the toll road authority must repair drainage problems related to construction of the U.S. Highway 183 toll road.
Tech 3443, which is turning the former Motorola campus in East Austin into a mixed-use innovation district, is seeking to force CTRMA to fix a severe water pollution problem it claims the agency caused by poor planning and using negligent construction techniques.
After the hearing, Tech 3443 CEO Adam Zarafshani told the Austin Monitor, “The CTRMA should stop delaying and poisoning our environment and just finish the project.” He added, “I think the court listened to what we had to say and I’m looking forward to understanding what’s next.”
He told the Monitor that the group wants to get on with its development, fix the road, and “treat the dirty water coming from the expansion of 183.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Micron chooses New York for $100B factory instead of Central Texas (Austin Business Journal)
Micron Technology Inc. announced Oct. 4 it will invest up to $100 billion to build a massive semiconductor fabrication facility in Central New York, rather than Lockhart south of Austin.
The Idaho-based global semiconductor company ended months of speculation, announcing plans to build "the largest semiconductor fabrication facility in the history of the United States." Micron (Nasdaq: MU) could create nearly 50,000 jobs, including 9,000 "high paying" roles, in Clay, New York — just north of Syracuse.
Construction is set to begin in 2024, and Micron is set to receive $5.5 billion in incentives from the state of New York. Combined with state and local deals, the incentives for Micron could total $6 billion over two decades, Albany Business Review reported. Full buildout could take more than 20 years and eventually reach 2.4 million square feet of cleanroom space.
The Central Texas city of Lockhart, located about 35 miles south of Austin, had been a contender for the semiconductor facility. The project could have brought thousands of jobs to an 1,800-acre site off Farm to Market Road 2720, in northern Caldwell County.
Caldwell County Judge Hoppy Haden said he was informed late Oct. 3 by the office of Gov. Greg Abbott that Micron was going with New York… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
District 5 Council candidates chat with the ‘Monitor’: Part I (Austin Monitor)
District 5 will choose a new City Council member this November. Ann Kitchen was elected to a first term in 2015 and ran a second time unopposed in 2019. The environmentalist and attorney was known for her pragmatic approach and tireless commitment to public engagement.
Term limits prohibit Kitchen from running again, and the field to replace her as representative of the South Austin district is crowded. Six candidates from a range of backgrounds, from longtime Austin residents to relative newcomers, are working to distinguish themselves ahead of election day. The candidates sat down with the Austin Monitor to discuss how they would tackle the affordability, housing and transportation challenges facing the district and the city at large… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Big build-to-rent housing developer to make Texas debut in Hutto (Austin Business Journal)
A national developer of build-to-rent homes has chosen Hutto for one of its first two communities in Texas.
Arizona-based Empire Group of Companies will build Village at Hutto Station on 30.6 acres in the Williamson County city northeast of Austin.
The community was announced in early August but the company recently provided Austin Business Journal with additional information about the project and why it was attracted to Hutto.
Hutto was picked because of its overall "economic climate" and because it is just a few miles from the new Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd plant and other large projects, said Bryan Freel, director of national land development for Empire Group.
The development will consist of 276 one-, two- and three-bedroom rental homes, according to the announcement. Floor plans are expected to be about 680 to 1,300 square feet… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Semiconductor plants propel Sherman into a high-tech future (Dallas Morning News)
A small-town past and a cutting-edge future are colliding in Sherman.
In the past year, the city of 45,000 has landed two multibillion-dollar projects that will cement its place as a semiconductor manufacturing hub. Taiwanese company GlobalWafers is building a $5 billion silicon wafer plant, and Texas Instruments is investing $30 billion in a complex that will build the chips themselves.
Sherman has long punched above its weight in attracting high-tech manufacturers. Texas Instruments has a decades-long history there, and GlobalWafers subsidiary GlobiTech, which runs a plant applying a coating to silicon wafers, was founded there.
But the new projects are still a big deal. Even after big tax breaks for the companies, the plants represent hundreds of millions of dollars in taxable property value, boosting revenue for the city, its school district, Grayson County and Grayson College. City leaders hope to use their slice of the pie to invest in parks, infrastructure, police and firefighters.
Meanwhile, Sherman’s population could double in the next five to 10 years, city officials say. The city has a development plan for 8,000 new homes… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Dallas, other North Texas cities aim to deny Oncor’s request to increase electric rates (Dallas Morning News)
The city of Dallas, along with 168 other North Texas cities, is pushing back against Oncor’s request to raise its electric utility rates for residents. In a meeting next week, Dallas City Council members are scheduled to vote on a resolution to oppose request for an 11% increase, which was initially filed in May. The proposed spike would tack on an additional $6 to the average Texans’ electricity bills each month. Oncor operates power lines across Texas and is responsible for distributing power to more than 3.8 million people and businesses. Oncor’s rates are part of the electricity bills from retail electric providers. Despite reporting a revenue increase of $60 million last quarter, Oncor says the increase is necessary to “recover significant system investments” and meet growth needs across the state, according to its website. Since 2017, Oncor has invested more than $10 billion in upgrading infrastructure “in order to provide a safer and smarter electric grid.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Fort Worth city manager reprimanded for trip with Basses (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)
Fort Worth city manager David Cooke will be forced to recuse himself from all city business pertaining to Sundance Square after a trip to Aspen with its owners raised questions of conflict of interest. Mayor Mattie Parker and the City Council said in a statement that the trip displayed poor judgment on Cooke’s part, adding that city officials must be held to a higher standard and demonstrate “the highest level of ethics.” While the statement acknowledged Cooke’s personal relationship with Sundance Square owners Ed and Sasha Bass, it argued he should have displayed more discretion given the numerous contractual relationships between the city and the 37-square block business and entertainment district… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Elon Musk tells Twitter he’ll abandon fight, go through with $44 billion deal (Associated Press)
Elon Musk is abandoning his legal battle to back out of buying Twitter by offering to go through with his original $44 billion bid for the social media platform. The mercurial Tesla CEO made the offer in a letter to Twitter, Musk disclosed in a filing Tuesday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The offer comes just two weeks before Twitter’s lawsuit seeking to force Musk to go through with the deal goes to trial in Delaware Chancery Court. The filing says he’ll complete the deal as long as he gets debt financing and provided that the court gets rid of the lawsuit. By going through with the deal, Musk essentially gave Twitter what it was seeking from the court — “specific performance” of the contract with Musk, meaning he would have to go through with the purchase at the original price. The contract Musk signed also has a $1 billion breakup fee… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
K Street prepares for a House Republican takeover (Washington Post)
The midterm elections are five weeks away, but K Street is already preparing for the possibility of a Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) if Republicans retake the House in November. To prepare for divided government, Washington lobbying firms have been hiring aides to McCarthy, who's currently House minority leader, and other top House Republicans. They’ve held briefings and drafted memos for clients on what a Republican House would mean for them. And they’ve been shepherding clients to meet with Republican lawmakers and staffers who are likely to be in positions of power. Republicans are bullish on retaking the House, which requires them to flip only on a handful of seats. They face tougher odds in the Senate — and it may not be clear until December which party controls the chamber if neither Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D-Ga.) nor his Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, secure 50 percent of the vote next month, forcing a runoff election.
“If only the House goes, I think stuff can get done. If both [chambers] go, I think it’s going to be a wasted two years, because I don’t think the new House leadership is really going to be able to control a lot of the new Marjorie Taylor Greenes to productively legislate,” said Rich Gold, a Democratic lobbyist who leads Holland & Knight’s public policy and regulation group, referring to the Georgia Republican who has at times been a thorn in McCarthy’s side. “And I don’t think the majority’s going to be big enough to ignore those people.” But the likelihood that the House will flip has led companies to reach out to lobbying firms with strong House Republican ties such as Miller Strategies, CGCN Group, the Duberstein Group and the Petrizzo Group, according to people familiar with the matter. Jeff Miller, Miller Strategies’ founder, is a close friend of McCarthy and a top Republican fundraiser. John Stipicevic, McCarthy’s former deputy chief of staff, is a lobbyist at CGCN, while Ben Howard, a former floor director for McCarthy, is a lobbyist at Duberstein. “There are a lot of calls coming in from companies that are looking at our firm’s relationships that we have,” said former Rep. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.), a lobbyist at K & L Gates who was a close McCarthy ally in the House… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
Episode 167: Discussing the Austin Monitor with CEO Joel Gross
Today's episode (167)is an introduction to the Austin Monitor.
The Austin Monitor is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit and nonpartisan news organization covering important issues and key decisions at the intersection between the local government and the community.
Joel and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss its history, present, and future.
NOTE: A.J. serves on the Austin Monitor board as Vice-Chair.
-> EPISODE LINK <-
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