BG Reads | News You Need to Know (February 20, 2023)

News
Written By AJ Bingham

Bingham Group CEO A.J. at Sunday’s Austin Marathon finish line (this was his first official marathon).

Photo by Nick Barnes Photography

[AUSTIN city hall]

[AUSTIN METRO]

Chaotic Austin 'street racing incidents' Saturday night fuel local policing discoursE (Austin American-Statesman)

Austin police responded to multiple "street racing incidents" Saturday night that officials said resulted in one officer getting hurt and several squad cars being damaged, immediately intensifying the political discourse around policing in the city.

Also, a Travis County sheriff's office spokeswoman told the American-Statesman on Sunday that two of its patrol vehicles were damaged after a crowd threw objects at them, shattering windows, and the cars had to be towed.

"Lawbreaking in this manner will result in enforcement and arrest," the Austin Police Department said in a social media post.

Police did not say Sunday how many people were arrested or what charges they would face. Obstructing a road is generally a misdemeanor.

Officials said the injured officer was treated and released from a hospital but offered no specifics. They described damage to several patrol cars as shattered windows and dents.

There were no reported injuries among the participants.

The incident — which led to viral social media posts — immediately fueled a long-running public debate about policing in Austin, including staffing levels and the effectiveness of officers in combating crime.

The Austin police union seized on the opportunity to blame local politicians for what happened, saying that they "continue to defund, destroy, & demoralize public safety.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Cronk's firing will cost taxpayers. Will it help Austin? (AUstin American-Statesman)


Early in Spencer Cronk’s tenure as city manager, Austin leaders embraced the idea of “outcome-based budgeting,” tying every dollar spent at City Hall to one of six strategic goals.

These goals are noted alongside almost any City Council agenda item that involves spending, from contracts for crime data software (“Strategic Outcome: Safety”) to parkland purchases (“Strategic Outcome: Health and Environment”).

The whole concept of labeling these items struck me as a bit gimmicky, adding a shimmer of branding to the stuff we expect government to do anyway. Especially with the items labeled “Strategic Outcome: Government That Works for All.”

Shouldn’t that be the mission of everything coming out of City Hall?

There was no strategic outcome listed on last week’s council agenda item about firing Cronk, an earnest public servant who ran the day-to-day operations of city government for five years before hitting the managerial trifecta of doom.

Cronk and his administration couldn’t keep the lights on for a third of the city in the recent ice storm. He stubbornly wouldn’t budge in a police contract showdown that demanded a pivot. And with worrisome staffing shortages in every department from the water utility to the 911 call center, Cronk had exhausted the patience of a new mayor and council who ran on promises of fixing City Hall.

Clearly this was not Government That Works for All.

But this move, sending Cronk packing, bears a price tag all the same.

For starters, taxpayers will foot nearly a half-million dollars in severance payments — $463,001.50, to be exact. The value of Cronk’s unused vacation time, cashed out at $45,537, is just $3,000 shy of what the average Austinite earns in a year.

This isn’t chump change.

Then we’ve got the cost of bringing in the interim city manager, Jesús Garza, at a total annual compensation package of $378,083.

Plus, he’s just the stopgap guy — we’ve got a new city manager to hire. That probably means bringing in a consultant.

The last time Austin went through this exercise in 2017, the city spent $153,366 on the headhunting firm Russell Reynolds. That didn’t include the legal costs the city incurred when, at the headhunter’s urging, city leaders kept the search as secretive as possible, and the American-Statesman successfully sued for the records that rightly belonged to the public.

All told, we’re in the neighborhood of the city manager ouster costing taxpayers $1 million, and that’s just with the readily quantifiable costs. It’s harder to price the new manager’s learning curve or the cost of delayed initiatives while leadership is in flux.

Last time around, Austin took 17 months to land a new city manager… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

HealthSouth redevelopment receives nod from Downtown Commission (Austin Business JourNal)

Aspen Heights Partners has gained a nod of approval from Austin’s Downtown Commission for its plans to redevelop the former HealthSouth rehabilitation hospital on city-owned land next to Waterloo Park.

The commission unanimously approved the project's initial design plans during the its Feb. 15 meeting, marking a small step toward bringing more housing — a significant amount of it affordable — to the Central Business District. The project proposes building two 37-story residential towers at 1215 Red River St. and 606 E. 12th St.

It's long been in the works. Plans are now circulating among the public commissions as Aspen Heights negotiates a master development agreement with City Hall.

The agreement is expected to be voted on by City Council in late spring or early summer.

A total of 921 apartments are planned across both towers, with 25% of the units set to be leased at affordable rates and remain as such for 99 years — instead of the city’s standard 40 years. Of the 232 affordable units, 117 will be for those earning 50% or less of the city’s median family income level; 115 will be leased to those making 60% MFI or less. Median family income for a three-person household in Travis County is $99,250, according to the Housing and Planning Department… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Kenyan runners top field in both men's and women's Austin Marathon races (Austin American-Statesman)

Kenyans swept the Ascension Seton Austin Marathon on Sunday morning, as runners George Onyancha and Damaris Areba outpaced the men’s and women’s fields. Both runners are coming off victories at the Life Time Miami Marathon just three weeks ago.

“Onyancha and Areba are part of a group of Kenyan runners who come to Texas in January to race marathons for a few months,” said their Grand Prairie-based manager Silvester Mokamba. “Winning here in Austin is very important for them.”

Onyancha, 29, took the pace out fast from the start on the Ann Richards Congress Avenue Bridge and hit the first mile in 5 minutes, 9 seconds. By the time he passed 5K in 15:58 on South Congress Avenue, he had an 18-second lead on Joe Whelan, with Carlos Jamieson trailing nearly a quarter mile behind in third… (LINK TO FULL STORY HERE)

Austin ISD talks top priorities for legislative session at Feb. 17 meeting (Community Impact)

Austin ISD officials met with members of Austin City Council and Travis County Commissioners Court to discuss the district's top priorities during the 88th legislative session at a joint subcommittee meeting Feb. 17.

The top two priorities mentioned by the AISD Chief Financial Officer Eduardo Ramos were increasing the basic student allotment and decreasing the district's recapture payment… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS]

Texas Republicans take their epic battle against blue cities to a new level (Houston Chronicle)

For as long as he's been in office, Gov. Greg Abbott has waged war with Texas cities, warning that the state is being "California-ized" by local overregulation. But until now, the offensive has stuck to single measures, like barring cities from regulating most oil and gas drilling or forcing landlords to accept federal housing vouchers. Republican lawmakers have pushed off more sweeping proposals, including attempts to prohibit local governments from passing any ordinance more stringent than state law. Those sorts of measures are on the table this year in what could be the most productive legislative session yet for conservatives looking to rein in the state's largest cities and counties, most of which are run by Democrats. Among the ideas are enhancing state oversight of county-run elections, taking aim at progressive judges and prosecutors, slashing local officials' emergency powers and broadly restricting the types of regulations cities and counties can enact.

Local officials are watching a few bills in particular, including one backed by Abbott that would bar cities and counties from regulating entire “fields” already controlled by state law. Under the proposal, local regulations covering agriculture, labor and other areas would be limited to what’s “explicitly authorized” in state codes. State Sen. Brandon Creighton, a Conroe Republican who's carrying the bill in the Senate, said it would “streamline regulations so Texas job creators can have ... the certainty they need to invest and expand.” Bennett Sandlin, executive director of the Texas Municipal League, said the idea would kneecap local business regulations and could jeopardize commonplace ordinances that overlap with state codes, like limits on overgrown grass and local drought management plans. “The problem with these bills is just, we don't know the scope when you just talk about whole state codes,” Sandlin said. Local leaders are also tracking a bill that would bar cities from regulating commercial activity unless they’re addressing “a uniquely local concern.” Another proposal would prevent cities from regulating state license holders, such as plumbers, in any way that’s “more stringent” than state law… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Former ERCOT CEO on Texas’ grid: ‘We are much better off today’ (Dallas Morning News)

Two years after the state’s electric grid was pushed to the brink of collapse in February 2021, former ERCOT interim CEO Brad Jones said the situation looks different now. “We’re much better off today,” Jones said. “So much has been done in the last few years and continues to be worked on.” Jones’ confidence in the grid comes from improvements and updated requirements in the equipment’s ability to withstand weather extremes alongside a change in communication. In the years since the deadly freeze, legislators gave the Electric Reliability Council of Texas the ability to inspect facilities to ensure they meet stringent standards, he said. On first inspections, 98% pass, and the ones that don’t make the grade are turned over to the Public Utility Commission.

The February 2021 snowstorm caught energy providers off guard as temperatures plunged to near zero and several inches of snow fell in many areas of Texas, pushing natural gas demand to unexpected levels. Despite promises of rolling blackouts, ERCOT officials admitted they had no ability to control power outages as the grid buckled and broke amid high demand. Statewide, 210 people died, including 37 in North Texas. Lawmakers and consumer groups lampooned energy company leaders and industry groups such as ERCOT, who for years touted that a free market would self-regulate and take care of consumers. After the storm, politicians debated major changes to Texas’ electrical grid including reforming ERCOT and requiring weatherization for power plants, many of which are still being debated today. Recent winter storms and summer heat waves haven’t caused the same energy meltdowns despite record power demand. During the 2021 storm event, Jones said groups were talking over each other with differing recommendations as they dealt with different storms. Now, the state and ERCOT have improved communication channels with each of the generators and the retail electric providers, Jones said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Houston wanted to lead the nation in long-term affordable housing. Now it’s backpedaling. (Texas TRibune)

Four years ago, as Houston recovered from Hurricane Harvey, city leaders turned to a decades-old model devised by civil rights activists and Black farmers to create permanently affordable homes at a scale and pace that no one had ever tried before.

The city’s ambitions caught the attention of housing advocates across the country.

“Mayor, I want to say the nation is excited about Houston,” Assata Richards, a third-generation resident of Houston’s Third Ward, told Mayor Sylvester Turner in the November 2018 City Council meeting where the project was unanimously approved.

“Houston could be the largest community land trust and a model for the nation,” said Richards, the new program’s board chair. “All eyes are on Houston.”

The city allocated around $60 million to help the Houston Community Land Trust create 1,100 affordable homes within five years. As housing prices in Houston skyrocketed, the land trust helped low-income residents buy homes and stay in their neighborhoods. And unlike other programs, it guarantees that even if housing prices continue to rise, these homes will always remain affordable.

But with just 136 homes in its portfolio, the land trust is nowhere near meeting its original goal. And Turner, who has made affordability a cornerstone of his mayorship and once championed the program’s creation, recently pushed to cut its funding by more than half because it wasn’t growing fast enough. Earlier this year, the Houston City Council voted to redirect the money to other housing initiatives that critics say provide only short-term relief and may be doomed to repeat past mistakes… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

State Rep. Chris Paddie to stop lobbying after regulators crack down on loophole he used(Texas Tribune)

Former state Rep. Chris Paddie, R-Marshall, said he will stop lobbying after Texas ethics regulators cracked down on a loophole in a revolving-door lobbying law he was using, potentially exposing him to fines.

The 2019 law says a former lawmaker cannot register to lobby until two years after they last used campaign funds to donate to another politician. Paddie sought to get around that earlier this year by reimbursing his campaign account with personal money to cover political donations that were implicated by the law.

But the Texas Ethics Commission plainly disapproved of that tactic Thursday as it signed off on a new advisory opinion. The vote was unanimous… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Gov. Greg Abbott proposes devoting $15 billion to property tax cuts in budget plan (Texas Tribune)

Gov. Greg Abbott wants lawmakers to spend $15 billion to lower Texans’ property taxes and at least $750 million on school safety measures such as security and expanding mental health services, while continuing to fully fund his border safety operation, according to his 2024-25 budget proposal distributed Thursday.

“To build the Texas of tomorrow, we must continue the State’s unrelenting efforts to build infrastructure, grow the energy sector, improve job training and public education, and ensure healthcare access — all while keeping Texans safe and preserving the freedoms we enjoy today for future generations,” the Republican governor wrote in the 25-page document, first reported by the Quorum Report.

The proposal lays out, for the first time, how Abbott wants lawmakers to deliver property tax cuts — an idea agreed upon by Republicans in both chambers even as details vary among plans… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[NATION]

Biden visits Kyiv ahead of anniversary of Russia’s invasion (politico)

President Joe Biden made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Monday, arriving in Ukraine’s capital in a show of support for the war-torn nation and statement of defiance ahead of the one-year anniversary of the war Russia launched.

Biden arrived at 8 a.m. local time and the presidential motorcade drove to Mariinsky Palace, where he was met by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Nearly 30 percent of work remains remote as workers dig in (The HIll)

The pandemic may be winding down, but the work-from-home revolution marches on.  

Nearly 30 percent of all work happened at home in January, six times the rate in 2019, according to WFH Research, a data-collection project. In Washington and other large urban centers, the share of remote work is closer to half. In the nation’s biggest cities, entire office buildings sit empty. 

The COVID-19 pandemic transformed the American workplace. The share of all work performed at home rose from 4.7 percent in January 2019 to 61 percent in May 2020. Some economists consider the remote-work boom the greatest change to the labor market since World War II.  

“It’s affected so many things,” said Nicholas Bloom, a Stanford University economist and WFH researcher. “It’s affected city structure. It’s affecting days of the week that people play sport: golf, tennis. It’s affecting retail. It’s completely skewed, mostly in a positive way, the American economy.” 

In 2021 and 2022, employers gradually summoned American workers back to the office. Last spring, the back-to-the-office movement hit a wall, and the work-from-home population stabilized around 30 percent… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

AJ Bingham
Previous

BG Reads | News You Need to Know (February 21, 2023)

Next

BG Reads | News You Need to Know (February 17, 2023)