BG Reads | News You Need to Know (September 1, 2022)
[AUSTIN METRO]
Nix drops out of mayoral race, issues endorsement for Israel (Austin Monitor)
Performance artist, fitness instructor and body positivity activist Erica Nix formally announced Wednesday that she would drop out of the mayoral race and endorse former state Rep. Celia Israel. Nix launched her campaign late this summer with a platform centered on saving creative spaces.
“I originally launched my campaign for mayor of Austin because I want to save our creative spaces, amplify weirdo voices, protect marginalized communities, and improve public transportation,” Nix, who removed her name from the ballot ahead of Monday’s deadline, said in a press statement. “As a creative myself I feel the pressure to figure out if I can even afford a future in the city I love so much.”
Nix moved to Austin in 1999 to study photography at St. Edward’s University. That was around the time she, as chronicled by Texas Monthly in 2020, started performing as an aerobics instructor alongside a garage band. As Nix points out, Austin isn’t the same city that once allowed such artistic experimentation to thrive.
“Since I came here in 1999, I’ve seen so many artists and creatives get priced out,” Nix wrote in her statement. “Austin is a refuge for every queer weirdo in Texas and that’s a huge responsibility.”
“I couldn’t ethically stay on the ballot when I think Celia Israel would do a great (even better) job,” Nix concluded in her statement, which was sent to the press via the Israel campaign. “As a lesbian Latina, Celia reflects the diversity of our city, and I know she’ll ensure Austin remains home for people from all walks of life, no matter their income or background.”
Israel, who announced her campaign in January, was elected to represent Texas House District 50 in 2014, and belonged to the cohort of Democrats who left Texas for Washington, D.C., last summer in protest of Senate Bill 1. Israel said she will prioritize transportation and housing affordability while fighting for progressive issues such as abortion and voting rights.
“This one means a lot to me,” Israel said of the Nix endorsement on Instagram. “Let’s work together to make Austin affordable for all the creative weirdos who make this city hum, because they’re worth the fight.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Samsung nominated for additional state incentives through Texas Enterprise Zone Program (Austin Business Journal)
While Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. has already secured some local and state incentives for its $17 billion semiconductor factory under construction in in Taylor, it could receive additional refunds on some state taxes.
Taylor City Council on Aug. 25 unanimously approved nominating Samsung for the Texas Enterprise Zone Program, a state-administered sales and use tax refund program that is designed to encourage private investment and job creation in economically distressed areas.
Whether or not Samsung receives the designation is up to the state, which designates companies on a quarterly basis, with a maximum of 105 awardees each biennium. Companies approved for enterprise zone designations are eligible to apply for refunds of the state sales and use tax they already paid.
Samsung is nominated as a "triple jumbo project," meaning it would be eligible for refunds of $7,500 per allocated job, with an annual maximum refund of $750,000 across 500 allocated jobs or $3.75 million over five years. Approved projects are required to hit certain benchmarks in hiring candidates — including economically disadvantaged individuals and veterans.
During the Council meeting, Taylor officials said that they hope to participate in the state program because it allows the city "to have another tool" in its economic development toolbox that "doesn't cost the local citizens a dollar."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Real estate, transit leaders see potential for change in Project Connect plans (Austin Monitor)
As planning and early design work on the Project Connect mass transit plan moves forward, with cost increases mounting due to inflation and scope expansion, a Dallas developer told Austin real estate leaders recently that the city has an opportunity to remake transportation policy and serve as a model for other U.S. cities.
At the August breakfast panel discussion held by Urban Land Institute Austin, Joseph Pitchford, managing director of development for Crescent Real Estate, said Project Connect’s emphasis on anti-displacement measures and attempts to include equity considerations in transit-oriented developments along new transit lines will bring attention from around the country.
“There is still that fear and concern of, are we going to get it right? Coming from the perspective of Dallas where we’re proud of the miles of light rail we have … we lag in terms of how those miles have been put together for use of transit-oriented development,” he said. “And for sure, we lag in terms of how those miles have been put to use related to equitable transit-oriented development. Here’s a chance for Austin with an incredible investment to get it right.”
Progress on the assorted light rail and bus lines and other components of the transit plan approved by voters in 2020 remains in the very early stages, with the city in June approving the first use of some of the $300 million in anti-displacement funds to purchase apartment complexes earmarked for low-income residents… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin City Council to consider rezoning for massive Statesman redevelopment (Austin Business Journal)
A mammoth and somewhat controversial proposal to redevelop the longtime site of the Austin American-Statesman and bring downtown's skyline across Lady Bird Lake in earnest will be in the spotlight again on Sept. 1.
Austin City Council is set to consider the second of three readings for a proposed rezoning at 305 S. Congress Ave. The project’s master developer is Austin-based Endeavor Real Estate Group LLC, which brought The Domain and Southpark Meadows to life, and it wants permission to build higher than city ordinances would otherwise allow.
The rezoning request was postponed in August with council and Endeavor's lawyer, Richard Suttle of Armbrust & Brown, sparring over just how many affordable housing units the deal would create for the city’s residents burdened by rising home prices and rental leases.
“It really is a fork in the road with respect to what our downtown area looks like,” Mayor Steve Adler said. “We should pause here and discuss whether or not we want to go in a different direction. That is where we are. This is the time for us to have the conversation on whether or not we want the city to generate more revenue, and house more people in that part of our city.”
If passed by City Council on Sept. 1, that would mark the project’s second vote of approval. However, there is nothing set in stone to determine whether the project will move forward… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas cities in fear of running out of water (The Hill)
As the Western U.S. suffers under its worst drought in a millennium, the government of Texas, a state that faces its own unique set of dangers from extreme weather, is at last turning to deal with the threat that climate change poses to its long-term water supply.
Texas’s situation is sufficiently dire that in July, a majority-Republican panel on the state legislature voted unanimously to require the state water planning board to consult with the state climatologist as it advises cities in planning to meet the state’s water needs in the future.
The rule change “removes the possibility that the political climate could harm [local water officials’] ability to plan responsibly for the future,” state Sen. Nathan Johnson (D), a major backer of the shift, told The Hill.
“It kind of insulates the regional water authorities from political pressures that would harm their ability to do what they need to do,” Johnson said.
But that process won’t bear fruit for years — and Texans increasingly worry that the crisis is here now… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas’ housing market shows signs of cooling down after the pandemic drove it to new heights (Texas Tribune)
After years of sharp rises in home prices and stiff competition to buy a home amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Texas housing market is starting to cool off.
Until recently, buyers competing for a limited supply of homes routinely had to pay more than the asking price and make offers on the spot. Now there are more homes for sale in Texas than at any time since fall 2020 — when the state’s pandemic housing crunch kicked off in earnest.
Home sales in Texas declined by more than 5% in the three months from April to June compared with the same period last year, data from the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University show. The Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio metropolitan areas saw similar drop-offs. In Austin, home sales have fallen more sharply — by 12%… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Investigating parents of transgender youth has agency on ‘brink of collapse,’ staff warns (Dallas Morning News)
Continuing to investigate the parents of transgender youth could put Texas’ child protection agency over the brink of collapse, a group of its staffers said in a new court filing.
In an Aug. 25 brief filed with the Austin appeals court, 16 current and former employees at the Department of Family and Protective Services said there has been an exodus from the agency that could hamper its ability to perform basic and necessary functions. They urged the court to keep the abuse investigations on hold while the policy continues to be litigated.
“As career DFPS employees,” they wrote to “respectfully advise the Court that DFPS is on the brink of collapse, and that the politically motivated decision to compel DFPS employees like themselves to investigate nonabusive loving and supportive families who merely rely in good faith on their doctor’s advice would put DFPS over that brink.”
They noted that age-appropriate and individualized gender-affirming care, including puberty blockers and hormone therapy, are supported by the state and nation’s largest medical organizations. These treatments are meant to help treat gender dysphoria, the feeling of discomfort or distress that can occur for those who identify as a gender different from the gender or sex assigned at birth.
“The great mass of DFPS employees did not choose the child welfare profession to break up loving families who, with no ill motive, malice, or negligence toward their child, are simply following medical advice and administering medicine under a doctor’s supervision,” they added… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas laws protecting gun and oil industries are costing Texans hundreds of millions of dollars (NPR)
Texas is banning state and local government agencies from doing business with financial firms that they say are “boycotting” the gun and fossil fuel industries. It’s a move other Republican-led states are following. But experts say the move in Texas already is costing taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars. Republican Texas State Representative Phil King introduced his bill, HB 2189, a year ago last April, saying it would stop Wall Street firms from “discriminating” against the fossil-fuel industry. King’s bill, and its senate companion SB13, prohibits Texas agencies from investing in companies that have adopted policies that prohibit investing in some fossil fuel companies because of the financial costs of climate change and the environmental risk of drilling in the Arctic.
Minutes later the same committee heard a proposal for a similar bill from Republican State Representative Giovanni Capriglione. This one was aimed at punishing firms divesting from the gun industry. Both these bills passed and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed them into law. They’re aimed at ESG — or Environmental, Social and Governance policies. These are policies, companies say, that are good business because they address the risks they face from things like climate change and school mass shootings. But Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar called ESG’s an opaque and perverse system where financial companies use their clout to push a social and political agenda. Last week Hegar banned 10 firms from doing business with Texas after he determined that they did not support the fossil fuel industry enough — including Blackrock, Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan. “The result is, it's costing Texans,” said Daniel Garrett of the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He studied the impact of Texas’ Anti-ESG laws on the state’s municipal bond borrowing. Garrett said the top five lenders left the Texas municipal bond market because they wouldn't support the manufacturing of AR-15 style weapons — the kind of gun used in the Uvalde school massacre… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[BG PODCAST]
Episode 163: Managing Growth in the City of Round Rock with Mayor Craig Morgan
Today's episode (163) features Mayor Craig Morgan of the City of Round Rock. He and Bingham Group CEO A.J. discuss his path to office, and the challenges and opportunities facing Round Rock. -> EPISODE LINK
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