BG Reads 12.9.2024

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December 9, 2024  

➡️ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Ryan Alter and colleagues propose revision of boards and commissions (Austin Monitor)

🟪 Rural land continues to be a seller's market; 'no rational reason' for these prices (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Lago Vista city leaders take fight over water infrastructure funding to Washington (KVUE)

🟪 Dustin Burrows says he has votes to be Texas House speaker after David Cook wins GOP caucus vote (Texas Tribune)

🟪 Musk and Ramaswamy's DOGE echoes past budget promises that faced big hurdles (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:

• December 12 @10AM - Austin Council Agenda Link

  • 💡 Item 2: Approve adoption of Austin Energy’s Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan to 2035.

  • 💡 Item 38: Approve a resolution adopting the City’s State Legislative Agenda for the 89th Texas Legislative Session.

  • 💡 Item 39: Approve a resolution adopting the City’s Federal Legislative Agenda for the 119th Congress.

  • 💡 Item 138: Approve a resolution directing the City Manager to propose options and make recommendations to create programs for and allow digital transit-oriented and bikeshare signage along transit lines and corridors; to modify relocation requirements for nonconforming signs, including non-conforming off-premise commercial advertising signs; and to allow for off-premise commercial advertising in the City’s public right-of-way.

🟪 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]

➡️ Ryan Alter and colleagues propose revision of boards and commissions (Austin Monitor)

Austin may be known as the Live Music Capital of the World, but it could also be known as the boards and commissions capital. In fact, our city has more than 90 commissions, boards, task forces and other advisory bodies, some of which are very active and others of which are dormant.

City Council Member Ryan Alter and several of his colleagues will be asking Council to approve a resolution on Thursday directing city staff to help them get more information on these groups and eventually pare them down.

Alter told the Austin Monitor, “Council members (Chito) Vela and (Natasha) Harper-Madison asked me about our boards and commissions and their ability to continue to meet. When I first came to office I was surprised by how many boards and commissions we had and I think they do provide a lot of value for us. But I also think we could better structure the boards and commissions to provide even better value for the Council.”

Other sponsors of the resolution include Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool and Council members Vanessa Fuentes and Mackenzie Kelly.

Their resolution is in part a response to a special report from the city auditor released in 2023 outlining some problems with some commissions – such as long-term vacancies. Auditors compared Austin’s boards and commissions to those of San Antonio, El Paso and other cities and made recommendations based on their findings... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ Rural land continues to be a seller's market; 'no rational reason' for these prices (Austin Business Journal)

Red Oak Development Group CEO Tom Staub has a plan: He wants to invest $15 billion to build 10 "mini cities" on thousands of acres mostly around Austin. He envisions ample housing, commercial space, schools, medical campuses and much more to meet the demand of the booming market.

The only problem? It's hard finding the land to do it.

At least anecdotally, Staub said he's seen some large tracts around Lockhart, one of the remaining rural portions of the Austin metro, selling for between $60,000 and $80,000 an acre. He said that's nearly double what he paid a little more than three years ago for the nearby sites that house his first two projects, the 371-acre Seawillow Ranch and the 346-acre Gristmill at Prairie Lea.

It's not any better elsewhere, he said. In Georgetown, he's found large parcels are going at the lowest between $120,000 and $180,000 an acre. It's well into the six figures on the west side of Austin. Even in Bastrop, land can be priced between $55,000 and $75,000 an acre.

"What we're seeing, and what we're hearing from a lot of builders, including ourselves as developers, is we cannot find land prices that make sense," Staub said. "I think in the next 12-to-24 months, Austin is going to have a lot of trouble filling that supply."

That marks just one example of the continued trend of limited activity in rural land sales in the outskirts around Austin. It's one that could have a big impact on both job creation and efforts to improve the region's affordability and housing crisis, the latter of which is top of mind among Central Texas' biggest crises… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ Lago Vista city leaders take fight over water infrastructure funding to Washington (KVUE)

Lago Vista's growing population is putting a strain on the city's water infrastructure, and city leaders are concerned about the burden on taxpayers to expand wastewater and drinking water systems. Because of this, they went to the White House this week to ask for federal help.

In the last 10 years, the city's population has grown from around 6,000 to around 14,000. According to projections, it could grow to 22,000 in the next 10 years, reach 51,000 by 2040 and eventually top out at around 86,000.

"That's an immense amount of growth out here that we don't have the infrastructure for," Place 1 Council Member Shane Saum said. Lago Vista is going through a lot of growing pains, and Place 5 Council Member Paul Roberts said it creates an untenable situation for growth.

"We can't grow infinitely and continue to try to bring in funding through impact fees to fund these water and wastewater developments," Roberts said.

So they took the fight for water from Hill Country to Washington D.C. after Saum requested a meeting with the White House. On Tuesday, Saum, Roberts and Place 2 Council Member Adam Benefield met with the White House Office of Intergovernmental Affairs, which serves as a bridge between the federal government and elected officials in state and local government and works to address issues in communities across the country. Saum said they discussed water supply concerns in small towns like Lago Vista and federal funding opportunities for water infrastructure projects.

"My initial message to them was not just about Lago Vista, but I was trying to convey, I think this is something cities all over Texas are dealing with," Saum said. "If you're located near a high growth city like Austin, their policies are leading to many people moving into your community, but you have to pay for it."

For the city council members, walking through the gates of the White House and into the West Wing was a surreal experience. "It was a sense of great reverence, honestly," Roberts said. "It was amazing getting to the White House for something like this on behalf of the citizens of Lago Vista."... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ Texas Longhorns head to college football playoffs after loss in SEC title game (KUT)

The Longhorns will host ACC champion Clemson in the first round of the college football playoffs Dec. 21. The game will be at DKR Texas Memorial stadium at 3 p.m.

Texas finished the season ranked 5th, giving them the home-field advantage. A win against Clemson will send the Longhorns to play Arizona State, the Big 12 champion.

Making the playoffs marks a successful end to the Longhorns' first regular season in the SEC, although things didn’t end exactly as the team wanted. Texas made a pretty smooth transition to the SEC. They just couldn’t figure out how to beat Georgia.

After storming through the regular season, with only a loss to the Bulldogs blemishing their record, they stumbled again in the SEC title game, falling 22-19 in overtime to Georgia on Saturday... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

➡️ Dustin Burrows says he has votes to be Texas House speaker after David Cook wins GOP caucus vote (Texas Tribune)

In a stunning turn of events, state Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock claimed Saturday evening that he had the necessary votes to become the next speaker of the Texas House.

“The speaker’s race is over,” he said in a news conference that lasted less than two minutes. “I have secured enough to be speaker of the House for the next session.”

Burrows released a list of 76 supporters — 38 Republicans and 38 Democrats.

However, three members say they should not be on the list, debasing Burrows’ claim to have the necessary votes to be elected speaker.

Burrows’ announcement came just minutes after Rep. David Cook of Mansfield, Burrows’ main rival for the speaker’s gavel, had been declared the endorsed candidate by the House GOP Caucus by a vote of 48-14 after a contingent of Burrows’ supporters dramatically left the meeting after the two rivals had stalemated in the first two rounds… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ Abbott supporting Hunter in Corpus Christi mayoral runoff (Corpus Christi Caller-Times)

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott is supporting City Councilman Michael Hunter in the mayoral race, according to an email sent from Abbott’s political campaign. Hunter is challenging incumbent Mayor Paulette Guajardo in the runoff.

Abbott’s involvement illustrates the competitiveness of the race and the volume of resources going into it — as well as political capital, said Paul Gottemoller, a political science professor at Del Mar College.

“I can’t think of the last time a governor got involved” in a mayoral race in Corpus Christi, he said. Hunter, who is the son of Texas Rep. Todd Hunter, did not immediately respond to the Caller-Times’ requests for comment Thursday or Friday. The statement was first posted Tuesday on a Facebook page run by Hunter’s campaign… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

➡️ Donald Trump says he won't try to remove Fed chief Jerome Powell (NBC News)

President-elect Donald Trump said he will not try to replace Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, whose term runs through May 2026. In an exclusive interview with “Meet the Press” moderator Kristen Welker, Trump said, “I don’t,” when asked if he plans to cut short the central bank chief’s term.

“The chairman of the Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell, said he will not leave his post even if you ask him to. Will you try to replace Jerome Powell?” Welker asked during the interview at Trump Tower in New York City. “No, I don’t think so. I don’t see it,” Trump replied. “But, I don’t — I think if I told him to, he would. But if I asked him to, he probably wouldn’t. But if I told him to, he would.” Welker followed up, “You don’t have plans to do that right now?” “No, I don’t,” Trump said.

Trump appointed Powell, a Republican and a former private equity executive, as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in February 2018. Soon after, during a dispute about interest rates, Trump floated removing him. The two clashed several times during Trump’s first term, with Trump threatening to fire him on repeated occasions.

In 2022, President Joe Biden reappointed Powell to a second four-year term. Powell has offered a sharp “no” to recent questions over whether he would leave his post early to allow Trump to pick a replacement sooner. He has also said he does not believe Trump can fire him.

“Not permitted under the law,” Powell said at a postelection news conference. The relationship between Trump and Powell will be closely watched as Trump returns to office. Trump lashed out at Powell during his first term, arguing that he was not moving quickly enough to ease monetary policy. Trump swiped at Powell again in March 2020, at the start of the pandemic, telling reporters that he had the “right to remove” Powell from the post and criticizing what he said were “a lot of bad decisions, in my opinion.”

Trump has lately argued that the president should have the power to weigh in on interest rate decisions, which are made by the Fed… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

➡️ Musk and Ramaswamy's DOGE echoes past budget promises that faced big hurdles (NPR)

Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy test drove their new Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, on Capitol Hill this week, visiting House and Senate Republicans, who celebrated their promise of reduced government and dramatically lower federal spending. But the duo kept their remarks short.

While tossing out a number with a dozen zeroes in it – Musk has spoken of saving "at least $2 trillion" in federal spending -- they offered little by way of programmatic detail. To their credit, they were there to hear from members who have been on the frontlines of the budget wars for decades.

And if they were listening to people like Tom Cole, the Oklahoma Republican who will now chair the House Appropriations Committee, they heard a cautionary note. Cole was among the members meeting with Musk and Ramaswamy this week and told the New York Times they were "trying to understand the full scope" of the DOGE project and "how much would be done by executive action."

People typically talk about "the budget," but the real business of spending takes place in the appropriations process, where the notional becomes real. Such appropriations are the fundamental and ultimate business of Congress, as per the Constitution. Whatever the DOGE winds up offering or contributing, it cannot pass appropriations without Congress. Efforts to circumvent the Hill by using impoundment or other executive maneuvers will confront the Budget Control and Impoundment Act of 1974 – a major victory for Congress' spending powers in the year President Richard Nixon was weakened by impeachment proceedings that led to his resignation.

Yet the DOGE team has an unmistakable swagger, not unlike their sponsor in President-elect Donald Trump. Still, for those with long Washington memories, DOGE stirs echoes of similar promises made in the past – that recall frustrations and futility... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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