BG Reads 12.3.2024

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Bingham Group Reads

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December 3, 2024  

➡️ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Mike Siegel and Gary Bledsoe vie for District 7 seat in runoff election (KUT)

🟪 Here's how the city of Austin is incorporating AI into its services (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Texas has billions pledged to expand broadband. Spending it is taking a while. (Texas Tribune)

🟪 Construction industry braces for one-two Punch: Tariffs and Deportations (Wall Street Journal)

🟪 Writer Thoreau warned of brain rot in 1854. Now it's the Oxford Word of 2024 (NPR)

Read On!

🟪 LINK TO THIS WEEK’S CITY OF AUSTIN HEARINGS + AGENDA

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🟪 The Austin Council has one (1) regular meeting left in 2024:

• [NEW] December 12 - Austin Council Agenda Link

🟪 MEMO: City of Austin Executive Leadership Team and Organizational Announced (Effective November 4, 2024)

In an October 30 memo, City Manager T.C. Broadnax announced several key additions to the city leadership team, effective November 4.

You can view the memo here: CITY OF AUSTIN MEMO: Executive Leadership Team and Organizational Announcements. An org chart is included on page 3.

We particularly wanted to flag the creation of a Grants Division within the Intergovernmental Relations Office to focus on creating a centralized grant funding strategy and governance for the City that advances City Council’s strategic priorities, leverages local resources, and targets investments for Austin. 

The memo notes “the City lacks a centralized grants function causing us to potentially leave federal and state funding on the table. Staff from across the organization are currently being identified for potential reassignment to the Grants Division.”

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

➡️ Mike Siegel and Gary Bledsoe vie for District 7 seat in runoff election (KUT)

Residents in District 7 will head back to the polls this month to decide who will represent them on the Austin City Council.

There were initially six candidates in the race, but because no candidate earned a majority of the vote, or at least 50% plus one, on Nov. 5 the two top finishers head to a runoff on Dec. 14.

Mike Siegel, who has raised more than $140,000 throughout his campaign, will attempt to stave off Gary Bledsoe, who has raised nearly $69,000 since June. Siegel finished with about 40% of the vote on Nov. 5, while Bledsoe finished with about 19%… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ Here's how the city of Austin is incorporating AI into its services (Austin Business Journal)

Artificial intelligence has the potential to enhance plenty of operations at City Hall — with functions such as optimization of vehicular traffic patterns, streamlining of permitting processes and the tracking of fires and smoke high on the list.

But the city of Austin has been taking a careful approach to the technology. It has been working with the University of Texas since 2019 on ways to integrate AI tools into municipal operations, and now it's increasingly deploying them.

Daniel Culotta, the city's chief innovation officer, said AI already has been implemented in areas where there's a good match for the current technology. The goal is to start utilizing it even more in data-heavy city operations, he said.

“Anywhere where there's tons of data that would be very hard for humans to go through and analyze, just for sheer volume is where AI is a great helper, because it gives us those inputs and that data to make better decisions and better designs," Culotta said.

In October, the city announced it signed a contract with Archistar to use the company’s AI platform to assess building permits, after a successful three-month pilot program using the technology. The Archistar system will initially focus on reviewing permits for single-family properties and then expand to other types of property… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

HEB’s $1M donation to fund two affordable housing projects in East Austin (Austin Monitor)

To aid in the construction of affordable housing in East Austin, HEB has announced a $1 million donation to Austin Habitat for Humanity to help fund two new clusters of affordable homes in East Austin.

The grocery giant’s contribution will help fund construction on Habitat’s 126-unit Persimmon Point project, and the organization’s work at the Whisper Valley development in Manor that will see more than 70 new homes constructed by the end of next year. AHH is still fundraising to cover the roughly $2.5 million still needed to complete Persimmon Point, which is already under construction.

Amy Jackson, Austin Habitat for Humanity’s chief development officer, said Persimmon Point will be the organization’s most densely populated project to date.

Its funding sources for affordable housing projects typically involve a mix of public money including the Housing Authority of the City of Austin, partnerships with foundations and philanthropic donations… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Pflugerville breaks ground on Downtown East project (Community Impact)

The city of Pflugerville held a groundbreaking ceremony Dec. 2 for its Downtown East project, an initiative to develop the Pfluger Tract. The ceremony marked the beginning of Phase 1, which will include constructing a new city hall, multigenerational recreation center and civic plaza.

Pflugerville’s largest downtown initiative, Downtown East, will create a new city center with public amenities for residents.“This project enables us to serve our community today while laying a strong foundation for future generations,” Assistant City Manager Emily Barron said… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

➡️ Texas has billions pledged to expand broadband. Spending it is taking a while. (Texas Tribune)

The goal of expanding broadband availability in Texas has been a long time coming.

Depending on the day, the finish line either looks closer than ever or so very far away.

Late last month, Texas won final approval to use billions of federal money to help connect every corner of the sprawling state. The news came about 17 months after the $3.3 billion was first pledged for Texas — part of the bipartisan infrastructure deal signed by President Joe Biden.

Yet two days after federal regulators OK’d the state's plan to spend the money, Texas’ own junior U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz suggested in a letter that money might be delayed amid a presidential transition and Republicans taking control of Congress... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ Texas public health experts brace for RFK Jr.'s impact on vaccine policy (KERA)

Texas public health officials say they’re used to setting the record straight about vaccinations and other scientifically sound treatments – but some are bracing for even more challenges under President-elect Donald Trump's picks for top cabinet posts.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's nominee for Health and Human Services secretary, has raised alarms for policy experts across the country. More recently, Trump announced Dr. Mehmet Oz as his head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Terri Burke, who leads The Immunization Partnership, said under Kennedy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Food and Drug Administration could lose funding; health and immunization guidance for school districts could weaken; and misinformation — already widespread after the pandemic — could worsen.

“All of this could have a chilling effect on innovation and development,” she said during a Texas Vaccine Policy Symposium last month. “Will vaccine manufacturers want to produce vaccines if the market is smaller? Will academic institutions approach vaccine research and development in a challenging climate?” Much remains unclear about how Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s plans for the Health and Human Services secretary post will play out. Kennedy, who has repeated baseless claims that vaccines cause autism and other false information, has teased a plan called “Make America Healthy Again.”

The plan’s central goal is to eliminate chronic disease. He previously told NPR that federal health authorities under his leadership would not “take vaccines away from anybody.” He also expressed doubt in existing vaccine safety research… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson says city will help deport undocumented immigrants accused of crimes in new interview (WFAA)

Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson said the city would support efforts by President-elect Donald Trump to deport undocumented migrants accused of violent crimes in an interview on Fox News.

Johnson made the comments during the interview last week after he was asked how Dallas is addressing migrants and whether or not he would support efforts to deport them.

“Of course, we’d support that,” Johnson said during the segment. “Of course, we’d stand by President Trump in an effort to get rid of people in our country illegally who have violent criminal records or who commit violent criminal acts here. But even more than that, people need to understand it’s a strain on our hospital system, there are hidden costs to having a porous, open border, and we need to shut that down.”

As the mayor of Dallas, Johnson doesn’t have the power to unilaterally direct city policy regarding undocumented immigrants. Dallas has a council-manager form of government in which the city manager oversees city operations, and the mayor and the 14 city council members have equal voting power on policies… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

In the name of American freedom, Texas agriculture commissioner wants raw milk sold in grocery stores (San Antonio Express-News)

Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller wants to see raw milk on grocery store shelves. Raw milk has not been pasteurized — the process of heating milk to a certain temperature to kill illness-causing bacteria. Miller said in an editorial on the state agency's website that he grew up on a farm drinking milk straight from the cow, and he thinks others should be able to exercise their freedom to drink raw milk by making it more widely available.

In Texas, people can currently buy raw milk from farms, farmers markets and the internet, but federal law prohibits its interstate sale, the editorial says. "Raw milk isn’t for everyone, but that doesn’t mean it shouldn't be available," Miller said. "Just as we shouldn’t force people to consume something they don’t want, the government should allow people the right to choose what is best for their personal nutrition."

Raw milk has been rising in consumer interest recently as a supposedly more natural alternative to pasteurized, homogenized milk with some health benefits. But raw milk can carry bacteria like Salmonella, E. coli, Listeria and Campylobacter, and consuming it can cause serious illness, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Both agencies say pasteurization does not reduce milk's nutritional value. Last month, a child got bird flu virus after drinking raw milk from California.

"While raw milk contains the same number of amino acids, antimicrobials, vitamins, minerals, and fatty acids as pasteurized milk; for some, it’s about taking the calculated risk to reap the benefits of milk in its purest form," Miller said. The commissioner — whose job it is to over see the state's agriculture, consumer protection, economic development and healthy living — acknowledged the health risks, but said they are risks worth taking. "It takes knowledge, care, and some good cowboy logic to handle raw milk safely," he said. "Just because it’s risky doesn’t mean the option should be removed from the people either. I believe in personal choice and the freedom to decide what’s best for you and your family."… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

➡️ Writer Thoreau warned of brain rot in 1854. Now it's the Oxford Word of 2024 (NPR)

It's not unusual for the words of influencers to gain popularity. But the influential philosopher Henry David Thoreau was born more than 200 years ago -- and now a term he's credited with introducing, "brain rot," is the Oxford University Press's word or phrase of 2024.

Brain rot was selected by thousands of online voters. But that doesn't necessarily mean they're well-versed in Thoreau's work, particularly his 1854 book Walden, or Life in the Woods, where he wrote about "brain-rot." It was the first recorded use of the term, according to Oxford University Press.

Today, brain rot reflects a worry that consuming the internet's endless waves of memes and video clips, especially on social media, might numb one's noggin.

In Walden, Thoreau used the term as he railed against oversimplification.

He asked, "Why level downward to our dullest perception always, and praise that as common sense?"

Thoreau ended that paragraph with another question: "While England endeavors to cure the potato-rot, will not any endeavor to cure the brain-rot, which prevails so much more widely and fatally?"… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ Construction industry braces for one-two Punch: Tariffs and Deportations (Wall Street Journal)

In Texas, California, New Jersey and the District of Columbia, immigrants make up more than half of construction trade workers, according to Riordan Frost, a senior research analyst at the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Undocumented workers make up an estimated 13% of the construction industry—more than twice that of the overall workforce, according to a recent estimate from Pew Research Center.

Trump, a former real-estate developer himself, has said he would support the construction industry by easing regulations and allowing more building on federal land. But many economists and builders say the loss of the immigrant workforce would drive up the cost of wages for some positions and leave others unfilled. 

On top of that, the president-elect’s proposed tariffs of 25% on Canada and Mexico could increase the cost of construction materials. 

Overall, about 7.3% of home-building materials are imported, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Softwood lumber, used to frame buildings, often comes from Canada, which now has a tariff of 14.54%.

The U.S. is also the world’s top importer of the crucial housing materials iron and steel. About a quarter of America’s $43 billion in imported iron and steel came from Canada as of 2022, according to the Observatory of Economic Complexity… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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