BG Reads | News You Need to Know (March 2, 2023)
[CITy of AuSTIN]
City of Austin Executive Ranks Shaken Up (BG Blog)
Wednesday, March 1st saw major shake-ups among the City of Austin’s executive ranks.
The changes, part of an ongoing organizational review by recently appoint Interim City Manager Jesús Garza are as follows… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[AUSTIN METRO]
REMEMBERING the 2018 Austin bombings, 5 years later (KVUE)
This week marks five years since a terrifying series of crimes gripped our community. On March 2, 2018, a serial bomber planted his first explosive… (LINK TO VIDEO)
Austin Zoning exodus: 5 of 7 positions vacant, director tells council (KXAN)
In a council committee meeting Tuesday, Austin’s Housing and Planning Department shared of its seven zoning positions, five are vacant.
“That’s through normal attrition. That’s a 20-year group that was working together, and in the last six months or so have decided to shift on and do other things either through retirement or different challenges with the City of Austin,” Rosie Truelove, director of the Housing and Planning Department, said.
State law allows local municipalities to regulate zoning, which determines restrictions including how tall your building can be, how far from other properties you have to build, how much parking you’re required to have, etc… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Watson heralds Austin's 'groundbreaking' transportation partnership with feds (Austin business journal)
Austin has brokered a first-of-its-kind deal that could direct funding to projects to improve transportation.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and Morteza Farajian, executive director of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Build America Bureau, on Feb. 28 ceremoniously approved an emerging projects agreement. Improvements supported through the agreement will bolster the region’s economy in the short term with new work for civil engineers and construction firms and bring long-term benefits to the city with an improved and more efficient transportation network.
The partnership is the first between the federal agency and a municipality.
"We are announcing something that is unique," Watson said. "We are very excited about this. This is a groundbreaking initiative. I think it marks the beginning of an innovative partnership between us. It will be the foundation, I think, for what we will see around the country when it comes to big infrastructure projects."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Greg Canally appointed to lead Project Connect oversight entity amid transparency concerns (Community impact)
The board of directors of the Austin Transit Partnership, the independent group formed to oversee the rollout of the Project Connect transit system, voted unanimously to name Greg Canally as the organization's executive director March 1.
Canally had been serving as the ATP's interim director since the departure of its former leader Randy Clarke last year. The appointment is for three one-year terms, and Canally will start earning a $365,000 salary as well as other benefits with yearly pay increases in line with other ATP staff.
The ATP's leadership move came around one month after the board of Capital Metro, the regional transportation authority behind Project Connect, similarly voted to appoint its interim head Dottie Watkins as the agency's president and CEO. Watkins had also been serving in that role since Clarke's departure… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
State leaders vow to exclude renewable energy from any revived economic incentive program(Texas Tribune)
As Gov. Greg Abbott signals stronger support for the creation of a new program to replace a multibillion dollar corporate tax break program that expired last year, he’s also drawing a clear line in the sand: wind and solar energy projects need not apply.
“I support [the program] not providing economic incentives for renewables,” Abbott said during a news conference in Austin. “There’s already federal incentives for renewable projects, and those will continue to be allowed. As it concerns especially energy and power and the power grid, our focus is on dispatchable power,” such as natural gas or coal.
Abbott’s comments lay down a clear marker as a massive coalition of business groups try to revamp Texas’ economic development tools following the expiration of the program known as Chapter 313. In 2021, the Texas Senate declined to consider a bill extending the program, which discounted local property taxes to lure big companies to the state. It had become plagued with bipartisan accusations of “corporate welfare.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas waited two months to start informing 3,000 people that crooks copied their driver's licenses. DPS explains why. (Houston chronicle)
After discovering in December that an organized crime group had obtained thousands of replacement Texas driver licenses, state public safety officials waited more than two months to publicly reveal the breach and start notifying those swept up in the operation. The criminal effort, disclosed to lawmakers Monday by Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw, targeted at least 3,000 Texans with Asian surnames, whose replacement licenses were then sent to Chinese nationals in the country illegally. McCraw said DPS officials kept the news under wraps to avoid jeopardizing the agency’s investigation, including efforts to arrest the fraudsters who organized the scheme.
The explanation came in response to questioning from state Rep. Mary González, D-El Paso, who expressed bewilderment over the delay. “So, hold on,” González said. “It could be my driver's license, and somebody could be going around as Mary González right now for two months, and nobody has been notified.” González also queried McCraw and one of his top deputies, Jeoff Williams, about whether the state could face fines for possibly running afoul of federal regulations requiring timely notice of certain security breaches. Williams, DPS’ deputy director of law enforcement services, said that was not the case. He added that the criminal investigation — which includes at least four states — “has taken priority at this point.” “We recognize that there's a requirement to notify people, and we want to do that more than anyone, believe me,” Williams said. “ — We're going to handle each one of those (affected Texans) with the individual care that's required, given what occurred to them.” On Tuesday, DPS confirmed that it had begun sending letters informing victims of “fraudulent activity that resulted in your driver license card being sent to an unauthorized party.” The agency reportedly told the victims they would be issued a new replacement license at no charge… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Mayor Sylvester Turner expects the state will soon take over Houston ISD (Texas tribune)
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said Wednesday morning that he has been told that the Texas Education Agency plans to take over the Houston Independent School District as early as next week.
The biggest school district in Texas and the agency that oversees it have been locked in a legal fight for years, with the TEA raising concerns over Houston ISD’s school board management and low scores in one high school.
“I’m talking to legislators, and what they’re saying to me is that the state intends to take over the district, replacing the entire board, replacing the superintendent,” Turner said at a City Council meeting. “I find that totally alarming.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
Chicago mayor’s race shows impact of crime in COVID’s wake (Associated press)
Four years ago, Paul Vallas finished toward the bottom of the pack in a crowded race for Chicago mayor. Trying again, focused this time on crime, he was the top vote getter Tuesday, toppling the incumbent mayor and advancing to an April runoff to lead one of the country’s largest cities.
His new campaign message, concentrated on citizens’ safety and support for the police, resonated with voters in this Democratic city in a way it might not have before the COVID-19 pandemic, when rates of violent crime spiked.
“Public safety is the fundamental right of every American. It is a civil right,” Vallas told a cheering crowd at his victory party. “We will have a safe Chicago. We will make Chicago the safest city in America.”
That would be a tall order. But Vallas, a moderate Democrat endorsed by the police union, is promising what many voters want to hear, including plans to hire hundreds more police… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Five things to watch at CPAC 2023 (The Hill)
Conservative activists, elected officials and luminaries are gathering outside of Washington this week for the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), an annual event that will gauge the mood of Republicans ahead of an expectedly contentious 2024 presidential primary.
The event is set to draw some of the biggest names in Republican politics — including several current and would-be White House hopefuls — to National Harbor, Md., just a few minutes south of the nation’s capital… (LINK TO FULL STORY)