BG Reads | News - July 27, 2022
[HEARINGS/MEETINGS]
Wednesday
Thursday
[AUSTIN METRO]
Budget season begins with arguments over ‘riders’ (Austin Monitor)
It’s budget time again. Mayor Steve Adler got the ball rolling at Tuesday’s City Council work session by noting that staff had expressed concerns about the number of budget riders Council members might be bringing forward. He also said staff members were concerned about the timing of those directives from Council.
Budget riders are generally policy directives but sometimes they have financial implications. A Council member will often use riders to make sure their areas of interest get the amount of attention from staff that the Council member thinks is appropriate. Sometimes that requires additional funding and frequently it requires analysis from staff.
Adler said Council needed to present the riders early enough for staff to analyze them, suggesting that his colleagues have their budget riders ready by Aug. 10, in anticipation of budget adoption on Aug. 17. He added that the riders should have support from four Council members, like items from Council.
That did not go over well.
Council members Ann Kitchen, Vanessa Fuentes, Kathie Tovo and Chito Vela all pushed back on requiring co-sponsorship. Only Council Member Natasha Harper-Madison said she liked the idea. Council Member Paige Ellis said she might be comfortable with three sponsors, but not four. The idea didn’t make it through the work session, but Adler pointed out that any budget rider that has co-sponsors is more likely to be adopted.
There were also a lot of questions about timing?on budget items…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Council weighs 'calculated risk' with new management of downtown Austin homeless shelter (Community Impact)
Austin is rushing to find a new partner to manage the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless, the downtown shelter home to more than 100 beds and various service offerings for men experiencing homelessness, ahead of the departure of its longtime operator Front Steps.
Public health officials said City Council was informed in early July that Front Steps would be ending its work at the city-owned ARCH, located at 500 E. Seventh St., after the nonprofit's current contract with the city expires in September. Front Steps has received millions of city dollars to manage the homeless resource center since beginning its work there in?2004 .
The ARCH has the capacity to shelter dozens of people on a nightly basis, and it also offers a range of workforce, legal and health care services. As the lone city-owned shelter downtown, the facility has been at the center of discussions regarding Austin's homeless strategy for years and has weathered events such as?capacity cuts ?and local?camp clearings ?in recent years.
With little time to find a replacement at ARCH this month, city staff met with several nonprofits to gauge their interest in stepping in for Front Steps. Austin Public Health Director Adrienne Sturrup said an emergency contracting process yielded one interested party: California-based Urban Alchemy…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
City considers accreditation program for Sixth Street bars to improve security (Austin Monitor)
City staff is considering an accreditation program for bars and nightlife businesses operating in the Sixth Street entertainment district downtown, pushing for more cooperation and standards for safety planning as part of the evolving plan to address safety concerns in the area. Other strategies under consideration include preventing crowds from gathering in the middle of the street during weekend closures, and using temporary barricades and bollards to better manage crowd movement between bars and restaurants.
Staffers from the city’s entertainment services division have in recent months visited Nashville and the Ybor City/Tampa area in Florida to examine how those cities manage their nighttime entertainment districts. The trips are part of the Safer Sixth Street initiative that was launched last summer after a mass shooting on the street left one tourist dead and injured a dozen people.
At last week’s meeting of the Downtown Commission, division manager Brian Block said there has been recent consideration given to at least partially reopening Sixth Street during busy weekend hours, but there is no realistic way to make that happen without a larger redesign and rebuild of the streetscape. Block didn’t say the accreditation program for bars, nightclubs and restaurants would take the place of an entertainment license requirement some City Council members have proposed…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Austin Community College's proposed budget would give all employees a raise. Is it enough? (Austin American-Statesman)
Even with temperatures regularly exceeding 100 degrees in Central Texas, Sandie Smith often opts to go without air conditioning in their apartment because they can’t afford it. Instead, the science lab technician at Austin Community College’s Highland Campus uses a fan to keep cool. For Smith, there’s absolutely “no wiggle room” in their monthly budget, which has recently become even tighter with rising rent costs, food and gas prices. Even after making additional sacrifices to make ends meet, Smith said they’re not sure how they’re going to pay for an upcoming rent increase of about $250 a month for their apartment in Oak Hill. “I have to decide between food, gas and water. I want to run my air conditioning, which I cannot afford to do right now. I have been working with the fan instead of air conditioning, and even rationing how often I come into work. I've been having to take some leave on demand, because I can't afford gas,” Smith said. “It's been bad.”
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Multiple ACC employees told the American-Statesman that, like Smith, they love working for the college but don’t make enough to keep up with the rising cost of living in the Austin area, leading some to urge the ACC Board of Trustees to increase wages beyond what is envisioned in next year’s budget. The board is expected to approve the college’s proposed budget for the 2022-23 academic year Aug. 1. The current proposal would provide ACC employees with a raise of either 5% or $5,000, whichever is more, and the minimum wage would increase from $15.60 an hour to $18. ACC has about 5,500 employees. Administrators at ACC said that the proposal prioritizes increasing the salaries of the lowest-paid employees and that they can’t afford to boost wages any further without increasing tuition, which they have not done for nine years. However, some employees are advocating a 10% wage increase for more employees because they’re worried that the proposed raises aren’t enough and could cause people to leave…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Workers Defense asks for construction standards on Statesman PUD (Austin Monitor)
In anticipation of one of Austin’s next big construction projects, advocacy group Workers Defense Project demanded Tuesday morning that the redevelopment of the former Austin American-Statesman site at 305 S. Congress Ave. lead to safe and well-compensated construction jobs as well as on-site affordable housing.
“This is a big investment that will be many, many years and thousands of construction jobs,” Emily Timm, co-executive director of Workers Defense Project, said. “And we can’t miss this opportunity to make sure that Better Builder Standards and affordable housing are included in this project.”
The demands are among a litany of public benefits, including parkland, affordable housing and infrastructure, that various stakeholders want developer Endeavor Real Estate to provide. As projected costs for the project escalate, Endeavor has said it is struggling to make the various requests work financially –?a claim backed up by a?third-party report ?last week.?
The project is seeking Planned Unit Development zoning in order to build several towers with a mix of residential, office, hotel, and retail space on the 19-acre site on the south shore of Lady Bird Lake. City Council already?approved ?the PUD on first reading in April, leaving two more votes until final approval.?The PUD zoning will enshrine public benefits on-site into law.
Better Builder Standards, a program created by Workers Defense, includes “a living wage, OSHA-certified safety training, goals to hire from apprenticeship programs, workers’ compensation and independent Better Builder certified on-site monitoring,” according to a press release. Living wage, in this case, is pegged to the minimum wage in city government, which is currently $15 per hour…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Top Texas Republicans, Biden administration look to grow the state’s semiconductor industry (Texas Tribune)
The Biden administration and the state’s top Republicans don't publicly agree on much about what’s happening in Texas. But in the outskirts of Austin, there’s development they’re all eager to tout.
The technology giant Samsung announced plans last year to build a $17 billion semiconductor factory in Taylor. And last week, the South Korean technology giant filed paperwork with the state suggesting it could build 11 chip-making facilities in the Austin area over the next two decades.
The announcement comes as President Joe Biden and Congress are eager to grow the domestic semiconductor industry, with the backing of Texas leaders who see their state as a prime beneficiary. Semiconductors are computer chips that help power modern technologies, such as cellphones and cars. The manufacturing industry continues to grow. In addition to Samsung’s expansion plans, last year Dallas-based Texas Instruments announced a $30 billion investment to build new plants in Sherman…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas economy is a mixed bag in manufacturing and services sectors (Austin American-Statesman)
The latest snapshot of the Texas economy shows a mixed bag in July: manufacturing and services reported modest growth, while the retail sector saw steep declines. That's the upshot from new surveys from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas which point to continued supply chain issues, rising prices and hiring challenges across the board. For manufacturers, the index for general business activity, which measures broader business conditions, fell five points to -22.6, according to business executives responding to the Dallas Fed survey. “Perceptions of general business conditions worsened for a third month in a row,” said Emily Kerr, Dallas Fed senior business economist. “Hiring continues to be a bright spot. While prices continue to rise faster than usual, there was some moderation seen in this month’s price growth, particularly for raw materials.”
After struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, manufacturers are ramping up hiring, but that too has been problematic. “A majority of Texas firms are currently trying to hire, and nearly three-quarters say a lack of applicants is an impediment,” Kerr said. “Workers looking for more pay than offered is also a key challenge, cited by more than half of firms. Among firms trying to hire, more than 90% note at least some difficulty, though the degree of difficulty for filling low- and mid-skill positions has lessened somewhat from last fall.” Other takeaways from the Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey: The production index was unchanged at 3.8, a reading well below average but still indicative of growth; The new orders index remained negative at -9.2, down from -7.3 in June, suggesting a further decrease in demand; The company outlook index posted a fifth consecutive negative reading but moved up from -20.2 to -10.8. The Dallas Fed reports are based on a series of questions on prices, wages and revenue restraints asked of 367 Texas business executives from July 12-20 in an anonymous survey…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
XFL announces Arlington as league’s football operations hub (Dallas Morning News)
The XFL has selected the city of Arlington as its new football operations hub, the league announced Monday. The league — which announced the XFL’s eight team locations, venues and coaching staffs during a public event at Texas Live on Sunday night — signed a three-year agreement, providing a centralized performance facility and multiple practice venues for preseason and in-week training. Choctaw Stadium, former home of the Texas Rangers, will serve as the practice facility for both the Arlington and Houston teams, and will be the home stadium for Arlington. In partnership with REV Entertainment, the XFL will also utilize Choctaw and its surrounding venues for team meeting spaces, in-person entertainment and fan engagement opportunities. “Our new hub allows us to provide 360-degree support for our players, both on and off the field. Professional facilities with centralized training, rehabilitation and recovery resources will allow players to continue to sharpen their football skills,” XFL chairwoman and owner Dany Garcia said in a statement.
The hub will also consist of three additional local practice facilities — Northwest ISD Stadium, Southlake Carroll Dragon Stadium and Mansfield ISD’s Vernon Newsom Stadium. “The XFL has officially landed in the great football state of Texas,” said XFL owner Dwayne Johnson. “We are bringing a new kind of football experience to fans, players and partners, harnessing the power of modern technology, content and interactivity to create a new standard for the future of sports and live event entertainment.” The Arlington hub will also serve the league as an “around-the-clock content engine,” featuring traditional media opportunities, podcasts, social media and more to drive fan interest while also attempting to elevate the stories and individual brands of its players…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Woman who opened fire in Dallas Love Field airport was denied gun sale twice (Dallas Morning News)
Dallas police Chief Eddie García said Tuesday the woman accused of opening fire inside a terminal at Dallas Love Field airport has been prohibited from owning a firearm for years. At a news conference at police headquarters, García said the gun Portia Odufuwa, 37, used Monday was not registered under her name, and added that she tried to buy a gun in Texas at least two times since 2016, but was denied because of an outstanding traffic warrant out of New Mexico. It is unclear how she obtained the gun, and García said Tuesday police had not yet searched her home or talked with people she knows to discern a motive. Odufuwa was dropped off at the airport about 11 a.m. Monday by an Uber driver. García said although the Uber driver noticed something “peculiar” about Odufuwa, they will not be involved in the investigation.
Odufuwa went inside a bathroom, then approached the Southwest Airlines ticket counter where witnesses overheard her making comments about her “husband,” who she said is celebrity singer Chris Brown. García said she declared she needed to make an announcement and, according to an arrest-warrant affidavit obtained by The Dallas Morning News, shouted “I am going to blow this [expletive] up.” Then she pulled out a gun. Surveillance footage from the airport, which was released Tuesday by police and does not have audio, shows dozens of people running and hitting the floor as Odufuwa fires into the air. One woman gets out of a wheelchair and scrambles behind the ticket counter as others, including Officer Ronald Cronin, shield their bodies with ticket kiosks. At the news conference Tuesday, García said Odufuwa fired into the air three times, but a department spokeswoman later clarified that she fired twice into the air and once toward Cronin, a 15-year veteran of the department. Police also wrote in the affidavit that a round with the “trajectory that was located in the kiosk” near where Cronin took cover “confirmed she was shooting at the officer.” The surveillance video does not clearly show Odufuwa firing toward the officer…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
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