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- BG Reads 1.14.2025
BG Reads 1.14.2025
🟪 BG Reads - January 14, 2025
Bingham Group Reads
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January 14, 2025
➡️ Today's BG Reads include:
🟪 City outlines proposed code changes to regulate short-term rentals (Austin Monitor)
🟪 135 Central Texas first responders join the fire lines in Los Angeles (CBS Austin)
🟪 Austin looks to 2026 for next major bond vote; more than $1B in approved debt unspent (Community Impact)
🟪 The Texas Legislature is back. Here’s what we’re watching. (Texas Tribune)
🟪 Texas lawmakers will have $194.6 billion to spend for the next budget, comptroller projects (Texas Tribune)
Read On!
[CITY OF AUSTIN]
📝 City Memos:
💬 Council Message Board:
📺 Insight:
City Executive Changes
Robert Goode is now Interim Director of Capital Delivery Services and Mobility Officer for Project Connect Office. He most recently served as Assistant City Manager (ACM) over Austin Water, Aviation, Capital Delivery Services, Project Connect, and Transportation and Public Works Departments.
No announcements yet on a new or interim ACM, but we heard the potential candidate is coming from the City of Frenso.
Council District 10 Staff
Per Council Member Marc Duchen’s newsletter, his staff are:
Carrie Smith, Special Assistant to the Council Member / Acting Chief of Staff
Annie Candido, Constituent Liaison
Laura Yeager, Senior Policy Strategist
Sophia Mirto, Communications Director
ℹ️ Helpful City Links:
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
➡️ City outlines proposed code changes to regulate short-term rentals (Austin Monitor)
The city plans to move forward with an overhaul of its short-term rental regulations, with public hearings beginning next month to discuss the code amendments under consideration to manage the industry and collect Hotel Occupancy Tax from the more than 10,000 STRs believed to be operating throughout the area.
The proposed changes are outlined in a memo from Assistant City Manager Veronica Briseño, with hearings beginning Feb. 4 and continuing Feb. 11 and 27. A second set of hearings centered on housing preservation incentives is slated for April.
In recent years, leaders inside City Hall have favored making the city’s licensing process for STRs easier to complete to encourage participation rather than relying on code enforcement for quality-of-life issues.
The proposed changes include making STRs an accessory use in all residential zoning districts for licensed operators, imposing density caps on STR ownership and requiring platforms like Airbnb to collect and remit Hotel Occupancy Tax on behalf of users... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
➡️ 135 Central Texas first responders join the fire lines in Los Angeles (CBS Austin)
Central Texas is sending a massive firefighting force to battle the Los Angeles wildfires. More than 135 firefighters, medics, and other personnel are now on the fire lines of the Pacific Palisades fire near Malibu.
Fire departments from Austin and Round Rock to Jarrell and Hutto are answering the call for help. In addition to first responders, 45 fire engines, ambulances, and trucks are being driven from Texas to California to help contain the still-spreading wildfires… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
➡️ Property where south Austin homeless encampment fire occurred in violation of dumping, trash code (KXAN)
The private property where the Saturday homeless encampment fire occurred has four active complaints for illegal dumping, trash, and debris, according to Austin’s Development Service Department.
The code compliance department first issued a notice of violation at the property in March 2024, but the property owners received an extension to comply the following month.
“Since that extension has expired, and unsanitary conditions continue on the property, this case will be referred to Municipal Court,” a DSD representative told KXAN.
The Austin Fire Department responded to the fire, which was near the 7800 block of Peaceful Hill Lane in south Austin, at around 6 p.m. Saturday. Neighbors told KXAN that they have made many complaints about the encampment in the last year. “Every night, [unhoused people are] burning stuff out here.
They’re cooking food and they’re trying to take care of things the best they can,” Jeff Miller, who lives in the neighborhood, said. “We understand people need to keep warm, but at the risk of burning down our neighborhood or catching these woods on fire back here, It’s just not worth it.”… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
➡️ Austin looks to 2026 for next major bond vote; more than $1B in approved debt unspent (Community Impact)
Austin's next major bond package, likely including a slate of climate-related projects, is on track for a 2026 vote as community members will soon begin weighing which projects and spending could be included.
Austin traditionally has held comprehensive bond elections with propositions on several different priorities every six years, including:
Nearly $570 million for mobility, parkland, housing and cultural facilities advanced in 2006
More than $300 million for transportation, parks, public safety and public health was approved in 2012
More than $900 million was backed by voters in 2018 to address a mix of those areas
While aiming for a six-year cycle for broader packages, spending has also been authorized in between, such as with 2020's $460 million transportation bond and 2022's $350 million affordable housing bond. The outlook for spending the remainder of those funds is one reason Austin is now holding off on a comprehensive package until 2026.After City Council called for investment in environmental priorities last year, a new volunteer resident board was created to oversee the creation of the next wave of debt-funded initiatives.
The work of the 2026 Bond Election Advisory Task Force is now in progress as city staff develop an early list of potential projects to look over before next year… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
➡️ An education ecosystem is being built in Elon Musk’s image. It starts in rural Texas. (KUT)
From the outside, nothing appears to be special about the house at the end of Earhardt Road.
It looks like many of the other ranches that dot this rural stretch of highway less than half an hour outside Austin’s city limits. Simple, white facade. Black iron gate. A lone star adorning the cut-glass door.
Cars and trucks whizz down the farm-to-market road out front, taking no notice of it.
But behind its walls, the nondescript farmhouse represents a key step in what may be the next big venture for the world’s richest man.
This is Ad Astra, a private school for kids ages 3-6. It’s opened right around the corner from Elon Musk’s massive corporate compound in Bastrop County, which already houses offices for SpaceX, the Boring Company and, soon, X (formerly Twitter).
Records show an entire system of education — from pre-K to college — is being created in Musk’s image. And it starts right here in rural Central Texas… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
➡️ The Texas Legislature is back. Here’s what we’re watching. (Texas Tribune)
Texas lawmakers returned to Austin on Tuesday to begin a 140-day session, during which the Republican-led Legislature is poised to pass an array of conservative priorities and decide how to spend more than a quarter trillion dollars in state money over the next two years.
The session follows an election cycle that saw Republicans maintain firm control of both legislative chambers. But the party is deeply fractured, with a leadership battle looming for control of the Texas House that will shape the next five months of policymaking.
Whoever is in charge, lawmakers will race to address a number of key challenges before the Legislature gavels out in early June, including shoring up the state’s water supply and power grid, addressing health care and public school workforce shortages, and continuing to rein in property taxes around the state… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
➡️ Texas lawmakers will have $194.6 billion to spend for the next budget, comptroller projects (Texas Tribune)
Texas is projected to have $194.6 billion available in general revenue to fund the business of the state over the 2026-2027 biennium, a slight decrease from the last budget cycle while still putting Texas in a strong financial position, Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar said Monday in his biennial revenue estimate to state lawmakers and leaders.
The estimate comes one day before the Texas Legislature convenes on Tuesday for the start of the 2025 legislative session. The only thing lawmakers are constitutionally required to do during the 140-day session ending on June 2 is pass a balanced budget, one that spends no more than what is estimated to be available.
Texas’ economic output will be below the state’s average but will continue to outpace the growth in the country overall, Hegar predicts.
“Texas’ economy doesn’t forecast a recession. We just don’t think it’ll grow in the next year or two at the same pace,” Hegar said during a Monday conversation with Texas Tribune editor-in-chief Matthew Watkins, adding that the state is “in a good position” compared to other states dealing with deficits… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[US and World News]
➡️ Surging job market could prove costly for households, businesses as odds of quick rate cuts fade (Associated Press)
U.S. job growth surged and unemployment fell last month, an unexpected show of strength that may prove costly to homebuyers and businesses who were counting on sharply lower interest rates to lower the cost of buying everything from refrigerators to homes.
Employers added 256,000 jobs last month, up from 212,000 in November, the Labor Department reported Friday. Unemployment, which was expected to hover around 4.2%, fell to 4.1% last month. Health care companies added 46,000 jobs, retailers 43,000 and government agencies at the federal, state and local levels 33,000.
The final jobs report of 2024 underscores that the economy and hiring were able to grow at a solid pace even with interest rates much higher than they were before the pandemic. As a result, the Federal Reserve could be much less likely to cut borrowing costs again in the coming months. The Fed cut its rate three times last year in part out of concern that hiring and growth were flagging.
Overall, the solid jobs figures suggest the economy is entering a post-COVID period of steady growth, higher interest rates, low unemployment, and slightly elevated inflation.
“There’s just no need for additional cuts in the Fed’s rate any time soon,” said Joe Brusuelas, chief economist at RSM, an accounting and tax advisory firm. Brusuelas says that the economy, fueled in part by greater productivity, can grow at a steadily faster rate than it has since the Great Recession 16 years ago. Low unemployment can fuel healthy consumer spending. Yet greater demand can also push up inflation.
“The economy is going to grow at a much higher equilibrium level, which implies higher inflation and higher interest rates relative to what we got used to from 2000 to 2020,” he said. The U.S. continued to create jobs steadily throughout 2024, 2.2 million in all.
That is down from job growth of 3 million in 2023, 4.5 million in 2022 and a record 6.4 million in 2021 as the economy bounced back from massive COVID-19 layoffs. But last year’s average of 186,000 new jobs a month still slightly exceeds the pre-pandemic average of 182,000 from 2016-2019, solid years for the economy… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
➡️ Arrested by AI: Police ignore standards after facial recognition matches (Washington Post)
A Washington Post investigation into police use of facial recognition software found that law enforcement agencies across the nation are using the artificial intelligence tools in a way they were never intended to be used: as a shortcut to finding and arresting suspects without other evidence. Most police departments are not required to report that they use facial recognition, and few keep records of their use of the technology.
The Post reviewed documents from 23 police departments where detailed records about facial recognition use are available and found that 15 departments spanning 12 states arrested suspects identified through AI matches without any independent evidence connecting them to the crime — in most cases contradicting their own internal policies requiring officers to corroborate all leads found through AI. Some law enforcement officers using the technology appeared to abandon traditional policing standards and treat software suggestions as facts, The Post found. One police report referred to an uncorroborated AI result as a “100% match.” Another said police used the software to “immediately and unquestionably” identify a suspected thief.
All of the cases were eventually dismissed. Police probably could have eliminated most of the people as suspects before their arrest through basic police work, such as checking alibis, comparing tattoos, or, in one case, following DNA and fingerprint evidence left at the scene. In eight known cases of wrongful arrests involving facial recognition, police failed to take one or more basic investigative steps.
Quran Reid was arrested for stealing purses from a Louisiana store even though he repeatedly told the officers who arrested him in his hometown of Atlanta that he’d never been to the state. Investigators never sought proof he was at work in Georgia on the day the crime was committed. Police in Woodbridge, New Jersey, were so intent on building a case against Nijeer Parks, a robbery suspect, that they cast aside DNA and fingerprint evidence pointing to another potential suspect… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
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