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October 2, 2023

In today's BG Reads:

☂️ Cooler temperatures, rain expected to relieve Austin this week

⚖️  Gov. Greg Abbott says special lawmaking session will begin on Oct. 9

✅  Congress averts government shutdown with last-minute scramble

Read on!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

🆕   BG Podcast Ep. 220:

• On this episode the Bingham Group CEO A.J. Bingham and Associate Hannah Garcia, wrap up the week of September 25th in Austin politics.

• The BG Podcast is also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify.

➡️ Check out our red lined City of Austin org chart.  The changes reflect the many changes in city leadership since February 2023.

➡️ You can view those here: BG Blog: Tracking City of Austin Leadership Changes (Updated September 1, 2023).

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Austin interim city manager appoints head of police oversight without promised national search (KUT)

Austin has named interim Director Gail McCant to run the Office of Police Oversight — one of the highest profile offices in the city. And it has done so without public notice.

Created in 2018, the office oversees police policy, conduct and discipline. Essentially, the department is tasked with holding police accountable. Farah Muscadin, who started in 2018, ran the department until last September when she stepped down.

Then City Manager Spencer Cronk promised the city would begin a national search for a new director. When Jesús Garza was appointed interim city manager after Cronk was fired, he promised the same.

“[We] will be conducting a thorough national search,” he wrote in a memo to the mayor and council members in May.

But that did not happen.

On Friday, Garza sent an internal memo naming McCant to the position permanently. She became interim director in June. The appointment was made without public engagement and without notifying employees in the oversight office… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

APD’s 911 center seeing progress in filling dispatcher, call taker vacancies (Austin Monitor)

Austin Police Department has made progress in filling vacancies and improving retention in its Emergency Communications Center over the past 12 months, with more new hires expected by the end of the year.

A memo released last week from Robin Henderson, interim chief for Austin Police Department, informed City Council that since last October, ECOMMS has reduced its number of vacancies for call taker and dispatcher positions to 39 remaining openings, a decrease from the 69 openings listed 12 months ago. Those hires bring the dispatcher pool to 91 percent filled for 75 total positions, while the call taker pool’s 104 positions are 69 percent filled.

The memo notes that the average class size for new hires has increased since last year, and that 20 new employees are expected to be hired in the next three months, with four former ECOMMS employees who’d left in good standing reapplying with the department… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Cooler temperatures, rain expected to relieve Austin this week after a hot September (Austin American-Statesman)

The beginning of the week will start out with temperatures similar to what we've seen for most of September, with the weather service predicting dry conditions and highs in the 90s. That should start to change sometime on Wednesday, likely later in the day, as temperatures begin to drop and rain chances go up… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Gov. Greg Abbott says special lawmaking session will begin on Oct. 9, likely on school vouchers (Texas Tribune)

Gov. Greg Abbott has notified the Texas Legislature that a third special session will begin on Oct. 9.

A Sept. 26 letter signed by Abbott and addressed to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and House Speaker Dade Phelan, did not indicate the focus of this special session. But the governor has said repeatedly the next special session would focus on public education, including the issues of school vouchers and public school funding.

Abbott’s decision comes nearly four months after lawmakers failed this year to either allocate new money to help school districts make ends meet amid rampant inflation and a volatile economy, or reach an agreement on “school choice,” a moniker for proposals that would allow parents to use taxpayer dollars to pay for their children’s private schooling. School choice has been one of Abbott’s top legislative priorities this year… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

House votes to avert government shutdown over opposition of most Texas Republicans (Dallas Morning News)

Two-thirds of Texas Republicans in the U.S. House opposed a stopgap measure to stave off a government shutdown for 45 days, defying Speaker Kevin McCarthy, whose last-minute proposal passed Saturday thanks to overwhelming Democratic support.

The House sent the measure to the Senate on a 335-91 vote just hours ahead of a midnight lapse in funding with support from nearly every Democrat and a majority of Republicans — though only eight of the 25 from Texas. Conservatives were disappointed, having pushed for sharp spending cuts and border security measures.

“The national debt is a crisis that hurts taxpayers, drives inflation, makes home ownership impossible and pushes younger generations further away from the American dream. I am fighting for systemic changes that will rein in spending to create better futures for all Americans,” Rep. Beth Van Duyne of Irving, one of the Texas Republicans who opposed the stopgap, wrote on X… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Lawsuit calls for Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo's removal from office during mental health leave (Houston Chronicle)

Five people filed a lawsuit with Harris County District Court on Friday to remove Judge Lina Hidalgo from office, days before she is scheduled to return after two months of leave for inpatient mental health treatment. The petition claims Hidalgo is not able to do her work as Harris County judge because of health concerns. The lawsuit was filed by David B. Wilson, Thomas Andrew Thrash, Melinda M. Morris, Thomas A. Bazan and Tommy B. Slocum Jr., which was first posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, by the Texan reporter Holly Hansen. Under state law, a petition to remove a county official can be filed by anyone who “lives and has lived for at least six months” in that county. “The petition is meritless and an absolute joke,” said Brandon Marshall, Harris County Judge’s Office spokesperson. “It repeatedly misspelled several words. Judge Hidalgo is looking forward to returning to the office on Monday.”

The Harris County Attorney’s Office is not yet involved in the lawsuit. “I’ve been made aware of this lawsuit. By law, the case is not active until a judge reviews the allegations and decides whether to issue a citation. Only then would my office be involved. As far as I’m aware, that has not happened,” Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said. Reelected in 2022, Hidalgo is chief executive of the state’s largest county and presiding officer of the Commissioners Court meetings. She has been a rising star in Democratic politics and has drawn steady criticism from Republicans.

In May, Hidalgo joined a national board advising President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign and traveled to Washington in July, shortly before her leave, to discuss county projects fueled by federal American Rescue Plan Act money. The petitioners claim Hidalgo is “unfit or unable to promptly and properly discharge her official duties because of serious physical or mental defect that did not exist at the time of the election.” Petitioners also claim Hidalgo’s absence from three consecutive meetings while on leave means that she has “abandoned the office.” “Judge Hildalgo (sic) has abandoned the office of the Harris County Judge,” the petition states, claiming that she is “required to vote on agenda items.”

… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

Congress averts government shutdown with last-minute scramble (Washington Post)

A last-ditch effort on Capitol Hill Saturday staved off a government shutdown with less than three hours to spare, as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), in an abrupt strategic reversal, offered a plan that won the support of nearly all House Democrats and most Republicans to keep the government open through mid-November.

The legislation, which the Senate then passed with broad bipartisan support, marked a stunning reversal after many in Washington expected the government to close at midnight following several failed attempts by House Republicans to agree on spending legislation over the past week… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Gov. Newsom Names Laphonza Butler to Dianne Feinstein’s Senate Seat (NPR)

Longtime Democratic advisor and labor leader Laphonza Butler will be California’s next U.S. Senator, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office confirmed late Sunday. She will become the second openly lesbian person to serve in the U.S. Senate and only the third Black woman.’

Butler, currently president of the pro-choice women’s fundraising group EMILY’S List, will fill the seat left empty by Sen. Dianne Feinstein’s death Thursday at the age of 90. She has advised Vice President Kamala Harris and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and has close ties to Newsom’s inner circle… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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