#NEWS // BG Reads | July 11, 2023

#NEWS // BG Reads | July 11, 2023

Bingham Group works to advance the interests of businesses, nonprofits, and associations at the municipal and state level.

And check out?BG Media, a public strategy firm ?providing comprehensive communications and engagement services in the Austin Metro area.

[BG PODCAST]

EPISODE 204?// Bingham Group Associates Hannah Garcia and Wendy Rodriguez with CEO A.J. review the week in Austin politics and more.

The discussion covers:

? City of Houston sues state to block new law (HB 2127) they argue erodes cities’ power →?https://www.texastribune.org/2023/07/03/houston-texas-lawsuit-local-control/

??The City of Austin begins their budget adoption process on July 14th. —> viewtopic.php

? The City of Austin Planning Commission is urging a quicker process for Land Development Code Amendments after more than a dozen amendments were initiated this year →?https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2023/07/planning-commission-urges-quicker-processing-of-land-development-code-amendments/

? City of Austin Ethics Review Commissions approves pandemic-era changes to lobbying ordinance →https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2023/07/ethics-review-commission-oks-pandemic-era-changes-to-lobbying-ordinance/

? Fraud revealed after audit of Parks and Recreation Department →?https://www.austinmonitor.com/stories/2023/07/insufficient-staffing-revealed-in-audit-of-fraud-and-waste-at-parks-and-recreation-department/

>>>?SHOW LINK ?<<<

Also available on?Apple Podcasts ?and?Spotify .


[AUSTIN METRO]

Austin Police Department keeps running on overtime (Austin Monitor)

In January 2019, the Austin Monitor?reported ?that APD had 110 vacancies and was making up for those vacancies by paying officers overtime.

On Monday, Assistant Police Chief James Mason told the Public Safety Commission the department now has 329 operational vacancies. Just as reported in 2019,?and again last year , APD is counting on its workforce to work even longer hours. As a result of the vacancies, the department has spent $28 million on overtime during the current fiscal year, even though budget writers had projected that the department would spend just $7.7 million on that item. Last year, he noted, the department was budgeted for $5.8 million in overtime, but actually spent $22 million.

Overall, APD has spent just $256 million of its $337 million personnel budget this year, Mason said. With each retirement or other departure, the department loses an officer whose duties must be taken up by another. But if that person is not on the payroll, their salary can be spent on overtime. APD’s?total operating budget ?is more than $373 million…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

Report: Downtown Austin on the precipice of a ‘major transformation’ (KXAN)

The 600 acres encompassing downtown Austin are not just seeing a post-pandemic new normal. Instead, in a new report leaders describe a significant overhaul in the way the space is used, leading to what they call a “major transformation.”

While the days of large skyscrapers filled with a single major employer are waning, more and more developments are filling with smaller tenants from a diverse variety of industries.

“What we’re seeing is that merging in downtown after the pandemic, or during this current period, is just the growth and entertainment sector,” said Jenell Moffett, chief impact officer of the Downtown Austin Alliance. “Growth in restaurants, growth in pedestrian activity, nights and weekends.”…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

ZaZa hotels for sale across Texas Triangle (Real Deal)

A locally owned chain of Texas boutique hotels is up for sales.

The Hotel ZaZa at 2332 Leonard Street in Uptown Dallas has hit the market, the Dallas Morning News?reported . Two ZaZa hotels in Houston and one in downtown Austin are also up for grabs. Eastdil Secured has been hired to market the properties.

The portfolio comprises 641 rooms, and they’re expected to fetch more than $300 million, the outlet said, citing a real estate newsletter…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

Sporting Director Rodolfo Borrell set to put blueprint on Austin FC (KXAN)

For months, Austin was without a full-time sporting director. On June 30, the team announced the hiring of Rodolfo Borrell, and he met with the media at an introductory press conference Monday.

“We set out the very ambitious goal of finding one the great global soccer talents,” said Austin FC owner Anthony Precourt. “In [Rodolfo], we found our man.”

Borrell comes to Austin after nearly a decade with the most dominant club in the world, Manchester City in the English Premier League. He served as the club’s global technical director and then the first team’s assistant coach…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin Is Getting Bigger. So Are Its Fences. (Texas Monthly)

Going higher than eight feet with a solid fence requires a special permit, but some Austinites sidestep the hassle by installing an “ornamental” fence (defined as one-part solid to four parts see-through), then covering it with vines, says Shaney Clemmons of?Shademaker Studio . That lets them hit a staggering fifteen feet, the height of a female giraffe. “You have to get a structural engineer involved,” Clemmons says.?

More people are also installing front yard fences, sometimes to enclose swimming pools. In the 78704 zip code, which sits south of Lady Bird Lake and includes South Congress, some wealthier homeowners have ignored code and erected seven- and eight-foot fences and walls along the street, complete with automatic driveway gates and keypads, then masked the height by building up the ground with dirt or planters. For the most part, the city only investigates if someone complains…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)


[TEXAS NEWS]

Texas House and Senate reach a deal on how to cut property taxes (Texas Tribune)

After a monthslong standoff among Texas’ top Republicans, state GOP lawmakers finally struck a deal Monday on how to cut Texans’ property taxes.

The $18 billion compromise between the Texas House and Senate — which includes more than $5 billion approved for property tax relief in 2019 — would lower taxes for the state’s 5.7 million homeowners and add a temporary cap on appraisal increases for some non-homesteaded properties.

It would also cut franchise taxes for small businesses and send billions of dollars to school districts so they can cut their taxes across the board. However, none of that money will go toward additional public education funding, according to legislation filed by state budget leaders on Monday…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)


[NATION]

U.S. at Odds With NATO Allies Over Ukraine’s Membership (Wall Street Journal)

President Biden remained at odds with other NATO leaders over Ukraine’s potential membership as alliance leaders gathered for a summit, the mood at which had been boosted by?Sweden’s prospective accession .

Officials of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization had hoped that by the time leaders had gathered for their opening session, wording about?Ukraine joining the alliance ?would have been settled. But as the heads of government and state arrived, the critical portion of the meeting’s official communiqué—as little as one sentence in a multipage document—remained unresolved, according to diplomats close to the talks.

Biden has emerged as the leading opponent to granting Ukraine speedy membership in the alliance, or even offering clear guidance on when membership might be considered, putting him at odds with several key American allies. The question of Ukraine’s place in NATO is testing the Western world’s unprecedented unity in the face of Russia’s assault…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

Tuberville’s hold leaves Marines leaderless for first time in 164 years (The Hill)

The blockade from Sen.?Tommy Tuberville? (R-Ala.) on about 250 of the Pentagon’s general and flag officers has left the Marine Corps without a confirmed leader for the first time in 164 years.

Marine Corps Commandant Gen.?David Berger? officially retired ?on Monday, leaving Assistant Commandant Gen. Eric Smith as the acting commandant and leader of the military branch until he is confirmed in the Senate.

The last time the Marine Corps was left with an acting commandant was in 1859, when Archibald Henderson, the fifth commandant of the Marines, died at 76 without a successor in place.

It’s unclear when Smith could be confirmed. Tuberville’s hold on the Pentagon nominees, which he began in March to protest the Defense Department’s new abortion policy,?shows no signs of weakening , even as the block has sparked bipartisan frustration.

Tuberville’s hold is affecting leadership posts held by key military officers, prompting concern from the White House, Defense Department, former Defense secretaries under Republican and Democratic administrations and congressional colleagues, all of whom have warned about the harm to national security from the block…?(LINK TO FULL STORY)

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