#NEWS // BG Reads | February 10, 2023
[AUSTIN CITY HALL]
[AUSTIN METRO]
Council to make zoning variances more accessible to low-income homeowners (Austin Monitor)
City Council passed a resolution Thursday to make it easier for low-income Austinites to seek zoning variances from the Board of Adjustment.?
The?proposed program ?would help low-income and other qualifying residents put together an application and pay application fees.
Jessica Cohen, chair of the Board of Adjustment, said low-income homeowners rarely seek variances.
“I noticed that the only cases we were hearing were LA (Lake Austin) zoning, dock cases and commercial. And I asked, you know what, where are our residential cases? Why don’t we ever see anything from the east side?”
The program would help fix that by allowing more people to access relief from the BoA for zoning infringements.?Cohen gave examples of residents who build a backyard shed too close to the property line or improperly turn a bedroom into a garage. While these people could get a variance from the BoA to keep these structures in place, the cost, complexity and uncertainty of the process means most don’t even try…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Council delays vote on one-year police contract extension, citing confusion (Austin Monitor)
As major winter storms last week and in 2021 knocked out the power for hundreds of thousands of residents, city officials were?slow to communicate basic information about when the heat and lights would come back on . Austin officials have also faced criticism over their struggles to keep the?water running amid three boil-water notices ?in recent years.
Frustration with the city’s response to disasters?could topple Austin’s chief executive, City Manager Spencer Cronk . The Austin City Council plans to evaluate Cronk’s employment Thursday.
It’s a stark move from newly elected Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, who announced the evaluation weeks after?telling Texas Tribune editor in chief Sewell Chan ?that he had confidence in Cronk. In a Monday interview with the Tribune, Watson wouldn’t say whether he’s lost that confidence but pointed to “perennial” problems that have persisted in Austin, like the city’s inability to communicate with residents during times of crises.
“There’s really not much more basic than keeping the water running, keeping the heat on, keeping the lights on and communicating with your citizens,” Watson said.
In a lengthy statement Tuesday , Cronk apologized for the delays communicating with residents and vowed that the city would make improvements. But he also noted there’s only so much the city can do to prepare for catastrophic weather.
“As a community and as a wider society, we are only just beginning to understand the destructive impact that these extreme weather events will have on our lives in the years to come,” Cronk said. “No amount of preparation or planning can entirely shield us from the destructive side of nature, and it is important to be transparent about our limitations and to work together to find solutions.”…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Round Rock City Council calls for May 6 elections for bond, council seats (Community Impact)
The Round Rock City Council during a Feb. 9 meeting called the largest bond election in the city's history as well as an election to decide two council seats and the city's next mayor.
Council seats for places 1 and 4 as well as the mayor's seat will go to the voters May 6. Incumbents Place 1 Council Member Michelle Ly, Place 4 Council Member Frank Ortega and Mayor Craig Morgan have?announced ?their intention to seek re-election. Greg Rabaey, former planning and zoning commission vice chair, also stated he intends to run for Place 4.
Also going to the voters May 6 will be two propositions for a total of?$274 million in bond-funded projects ?to improve public safety infrastructure and city amenities. Proposition A, representing a $230 million investment in city parks, recreation and sports projects and facilities, according to city documents, would include the following…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Advocacy group demands investigation into Austin schools' special education waitlist (Austin American-Statesman)
A state disability rights group is asking the Texas Education Agency to investigate the Austin school district's ongoing lengthy wait times for students seeking an evaluation for special education services.
Disability Rights Texas, an Austin-based advocacy nonprofit for people with disabilities, on Thursday sent a letter to the TEA asking the education agency to look into the district's slow evaluation process and “take concrete action, including the appointment of a conservator or management team over the special education department to remedy this systemic failure."
As of the fall semester, there were still many students on the waiting list to be evaluated for special education services, according to Disability Rights…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Inside the Bro-tastic Party Mansions Upending a Historic Austin Community (Texas Monthly)
When the modern, two-story home on Castro Street was sold for nearly $1.3 million this past spring and renovations began, neighbors barely noticed. For several years now, the formerly quiet East Austin neighborhood, which had for decades been home to the majority of the city’s Black and Latino residents, had been in a state of flux. Seemingly overnight, modest one-story homes that had stood for seventy years were being torn down and replaced by large, contemporary dwellings with clean lines, geometric shapes, and conspicuous coats of white or black paint.
It didn’t take long, however, for the Castro Street renovations to strike some neighbors as odd. After weeks of shrill buzz saws and nonstop hammering, the house’s front yard was littered with Amazon boxes and construction trash piled high. At one point, a construction crew converted the residence’s garage into a bedroom. When workers demolished a fence and rolled a yellow school bus into the crowded backyard, past a newly constructed pool, curiosity turned into concern…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS]
Texas DPS review of officer response to Uvalde shooting has ended with no more discipline (Dallas Morning News)
The Texas Department of Public Safety will not be disciplining any more of its officers over the botched police response to the Uvalde school massacre, agency officials said Thursday. The remaining four officers who had been under review were cleared of wrongdoing, according to communications director Travis Considine, and the department’s internal investigation is now complete.
DPS has not publicly named all officers who were under scrutiny. But CNN has identified one of them as Capt. Joel Betancourt, who reportedly tried to delay a classroom breach. Law enforcement has been criticized for a delayed response to the May 24 shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead. More than an hour passed between the first call to 911 and when some of the more than 300 officers who had amassed at Robb Elementary School confronted the gunman…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Texas Military Department says it needs $460 million more to keep border mission afloat this year (Texas Tribune)
The Texas Military Department’s chief told Senate budget writers Thursday it will cost $459.3 million to keep thousands of active-duty troops on Gov.?Greg Abbott ’s highly touted border security mission through the end of August, while also acknowledging that the agency is reducing the number of troops on the mission.
Maj. Gen. Thomas Suelzer, who leads the agency, revealed the latest funding gap in the current fiscal year while also asking the Senate Finance Committee, which writes the state budget, for $1.8 billion to keep the Texas National Guard on the border mission for the next two-year budget cycle, which starts in September.
The mission, dubbed Operation Lone Star, is the biggest deployment of Texas National Guard members to the border in size and duration. It began in March 2021, and Abbott once boasted of having 10,000 troops deployed…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Southwest Airlines sends reimbursements to more than 270,000 passengers (Dallas Morning News)
Dallas-based Southwest Airlines has reimbursed more than 273,406 passengers since its December meltdown that left millions of passengers stranded, more than 96% of all requests submitted so far. “Anything that was well documented and under $4,000 our representative approved on the spot,” Southwest Airlines Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson told reporters Thursday before a U.S. Senate hearing in Washington, D.C., to talk about the airline’s holiday fiasco that led to 16,700 canceled flights. “We reimbursed tire chains, strollers, car seats, pet sitting, but things we didn’t reimburse were things like $7,000 shopping sprees at luxury stores or chartering a private jet.” Anything above $4,000 was elevated to a supervisor for review, he said.
Southwest said in late December that it would reimburse any “reasonable requests” submitted by customers put out by the December meltdown between Dec. 24 and Jan. 2. It was trying to repair the reputational hit it took after one of the worst operational disruptions in U.S. airline history. The company also gave $300 worth of frequent flyer points to anyone who was delayed or had a flight canceled during that time and gave bonuses to employees who worked during the meltdown as well. “We emailed every single person that was disrupted and gave them points as well as apologized and gave them resources to contact us back should they need to,” Watterson said at the hearing…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[NATION]
'You were warned': Senators target Southwest Airlines December travel breakdown in hearing (KERA News)
Senators from across the country, including Ted Cruz, shared stories of constituents left stranded by Southwest's widespread cancellations and delays in the aftermath of a winter storm that other airlines seemed to recover from.
Members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation criticized Southwest Airlines during a hearing Thursday on the?December operational meltdown that caused thousands of cancellations and delays during the holiday season .
In his opening remarks to the committee, Southwest’s Chief Operating Officer Andrew Watterson said the weather and crew scheduling issues were key factors in the disruptions but said he and other executives understand they "messed up."
“We understand that for many, this is perhaps the most important trip they take all year,” Watterson said. “Again, on behalf of Southwest Airlines, I am deeply sorry.”…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
Philly may grease poles ahead of the Super Bowl. Eagles fans don't care (NPR)
Many cities brace for rowdy celebrations after a major sports win. But in Philadelphia, one safety precaution has turned into something of a rallying cry - or a dare: greasing the poles.
For the uninitiated, that means using paint rollers to apply biodegradable gear oil to lamp posts and other structures, in order to keep fans from scaling them.
With the Eagles set to take on the Kansas City Chiefs in?Super Bowl LVII ?on Sunday, "Protocols for the upcoming game are being evaluated by the police department including the greasing of poles," City of Philadelphia spokesperson Joy Huertas tells NPR…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)
[MEETINGS/HEARINGS NEXT WEEK]
MONDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2023
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 15, 2023
[BG PODCAST]
Bingham Group Associate Hannah Garcia and CEO A.J. discuss Austin Mayor Kirk Watson's call to evaluate the employment of City Manager Spencer Cronk.
Austin is a Council-Manager form of government, with the City Manager serving as the CEO of the city and reporting, receiving guidance, oversight from the Council.
This call to evaluate Mr. Cronk's employment comes on the heels of last week's ice storm, and public criticsim of the city's response.
The Austin City Council will take up discussion on this item at their Thursday (2/9) meeting.
Helpful Links:
? Austin City Council will consider firing City Manager Spencer Cronk after storm response (KUT, 2.6.2023) -?bit.ly/3Yrl8ku
? Austin Council Work Session Agenda (2/7) -?bit.ly/3HBkIRH
? Austin Council Agenda (2/9):?bit.ly/3jsTTae
? Austin Council Message Board:?austincouncilforum.org
Episode 184
The BG Podcast is also available on?Apple Podcasts ,?Soundcloud , and?Spotify .
Bingham Group works to advance the interests of businesses, nonprofits, and associations at the municipal and state level.