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BG Reads 2.13.2024

BG Reads 2.13.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - February 13, 2024

February 13, 2024

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Bingham Group Reads

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February 13, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 Austin police officers raked in nearly $50 million in overtime money

🟣 Nearly 73,000 students apply to UT - Austin for fall, setting record

🟣 Austin airport sees record number of travelers in 2023

Read on!

🟣 Click here for this week’s Austin public meeting times and agendas.

[BG BLOG]

✅ NEW - City of Austin org chart red line (as of 2/9/2024)

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Amid a staffing crunch, Austin police officers raked in nearly $50 million in overtime money (KUT)

The Austin Police Department paid out nearly $50 million in overtime in the last fiscal year, a KUT analysis of city data has found. While that's a sliver of the department's current record-setting budget, it's a substantial increase from the previous year. Here's a breakdown of how we got here and what comes next.

The simple question: Why? A record number of officers left the police force last year, forcing other officers to fill in the gaps and work overtime. At last check, the department had 358 officer vacancies. But it’s not just patrol officers. There are also roughly 200 vacancies in non-patrol positions at the department. APD struggled to staff its 911 call center last year, for example, leading to excessive wait times. (Though the department is in a much better place as of late.)

How much overtime are officers working? It’s hard to tell how much overtime officers are individually working. The system is kind of a black box, because state law protects certain employment records from being released. KUT tried to get a breakdown from the city on how many hours each of the highest earning officers worked, but the city’s public information office said that wasn't possible under current law. APD limits officers to 16-hour workdays, and they can't work more than 76 hours a week. Right, but how much money are they making? While the city won't provide data on the total number of OT hours worked, officers' 2023 salaries — and what they made in overtime — are publicly available… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

'Really talented people': Nearly 73,000 students apply to UT for fall, setting record (Austin American-Statesman)

The University of Texas at Austin received almost 73,000 undergraduate applications for the fall 2024 semester — yet again breaking a record for the UT System’s flagship university. Most students, excluding a few programs on a different schedule, received their admission decision Feb. 1, Joey Williams, the director of marketing supporting undergraduate admissions recruitment, told the American-Statesman.

As required by state law, the top 6% of all Texas high school students are offered automatic entry to the university — making up 75% of UT’s incoming class. The remaining 25%, students not automatically admitted, are chosen from a holistic review process, and this year that group had an acceptance rate of 11%.

“There’s a lot of really talented people trying to get into UT, and they’re all really high caliber,” Williams said. “The staff, they work very hard to recruit the best that they can, so it’s an exciting time of year.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

City of Austin seeks community input on the next City Manager (City of Austin)

The City of Austin is recruiting for its next City Manager. This position is appointed by, and reports to, the Austin City Council, and members are seeking valuable input from the community to help guide their selection. Austinites are asked to help shape the future of their city by participating in this short, three-question, anonymous survey in English or Spanish which closes on Friday, Feb. 16th. The survey allows the public to share their preferences regarding Austin’s next City Manager’s priorities and characteristics. It also includes a space to provide additional open-ended recommendations… (Survey Page Link)

Austin airport sees record number of travelers in 2023 (KUT)

A record 22 million-plus travelers hopped on or off a flight at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport last year. The record beat the airport’s previous record set in 2022 by more than a million people.

The City of Austin's Aviation Department has launched a $4 billion airport expansion with the goal of boosting ABIA's annual capacity to 30 million travelers. One of the biggest additions, expected to be complete sometime around 2030, is a new concourse opening with 10 to 20 gates and space for up to 40.

Before the concourse can be built, ABIA needs new taxiways — roads for planes to move between runways and the rest of the airport. The city recently finished demolishing about 40 buildings near the South Terminal to make space for those roads. The South Terminal will close as early as 2026 to be demolished for the project… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[BG Podcast]

On this episode (237) the Bingham Group CEO A.J. Bingham and Associate Hannah Garcia wrap up the week of February 5th, 2024 in Austin politics.

Topics include:

✅ Austin Interim City Manager search and current events with the office.

✅ Items on next week's Council meeting (2.15.2024)Austin's interim police chief talks priorities, goals for 2024 (CBS Austin) including potential Artificial Intelligence guidelines and a Climate Bond (Items 24 and 25).

LISTEN ON: SoundCloud, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify

[TEXAS NEWS]

Texas Republicans censure House Speaker Dade Phelan (The Hill)

The Texas GOP censured the Speaker of its state House of Representatives on Saturday, Rep. Dade Phelan (R), after he voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton (R), according to a press release.

“The Republican Party of Texas officially censured Representative Dade Phelan today, imposing the full set of penalties allowed by the rules, for lack of fidelity to Republican principles and priorities,” the release by the Lone Star State’s Republican Party read. “Rule 44 of the Republican Party of Texas allows the party to censure elected officials who violate Republican Party of Texas principles and priorities three times or more in a given biennium.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Here's what the mayor has missed during his absences (D Magazine)

We’re a little more than halfway through the Dallas City Council’s attendance year, and much has been made about how many times Mayor Eric Johnson has been absent from his duties. KERA’s Nathan Collins started the discussion in September, reporting that the mayor had missed more than 130 hours of Council meetings from that point since 2019, when he took office. Those 130 hours were marked unexcused, the most of anyone on the Council horseshoe. A pending (long-shot) effort to recall the mayor cites the missed meetings as its reason. City Secretary Bilierae Johnson (no relation) is responsible for tracking absentia, which is as granular as when council members might excuse themselves to use the restroom or take a call during a public meeting.

As a rule, any exit for more than 15 minutes gets counted against the public official’s attendance record. Anytime council members (or the mayor) miss more than 50 percent of a meeting, they are required by the city charter to submit a memo explaining why. If they cannot, the absence is deemed unexcused.

In January, the Dallas Morning News reported that Johnson had also skipped roughly 70 percent of the DFW International Airport Board meetings, too.

The mayors of Fort Worth and Dallas have permanent seats on the airport board, which decides everything from the airport’s CEO to the vendors that work within the the terminals. In his stead, Johnson has sent a rotating group of Dallas council members, including Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins and Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Carolyn King Arnold. His attendance is the lowest of any airport board member. But what is the mayor actually missing when he isn’t present to run the meetings from the horseshoe? Using the Council’s attendance tracker, we examined Johnson’s City Hall absences from this year and last. The city charter requires an attendance percentage of at least 90 percent to remain in “good standing.”

Absences can be excused if the council member or mayor submits an absence memo indicating the travel was for city business—like a trip to lobby Congress or the Texas Legislature. The Council’s attendance tracker shows Johnson’s current attendance at 89 percent, but it doesn’t yet account for a February 7 briefing, which he attended. We then looked through each agenda to see what city business the mayor was not present to discuss. In short: The mayor has missed some really consequential votes and discussions. A few days out of school might not be a big deal. (For instance, in his last year in office, former Mayor Mike Rawlings missed a handful of days while out on city business.) But if every day you missed was a big test day, your grade would suffer… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Elon Musk isn’t the only billionaire fighting Delaware (Wall Street Journal)

Three powerful shareholders are trying to loosen Delaware’s long-held grip over public companies. Tripadvisor, under media executive Greg Maffei, wants to reincorporate in Nevada, over the objection of minority shareholders. Billionaire Barry Diller is awaiting a ruling that could relax Delaware’s scrutiny of transactions like the 2020 split of some of his online businesses. And Elon Musk, who reincorporated Twitter as X in Nevada last year, has said he would ask shareholders about reincorporating Tesla in Texas.

“I recommend incorporating in Nevada or Texas if you prefer shareholders to decide matters,” Musk posted on X on Jan. 30, the day a Delaware court threw out his $55.8 billion Tesla pay package. On Thursday, Neuralink, Musk’s closely held brain-implant company, incorporated in Nevada, state records show. Delaware, of course, has long held primacy in the world of U.S. corporate law, including the scrutiny devoted to transactions between a public company and any shareholder who effectively controls it.

Nevada and Texas are among the states that want a piece of that business and are hoping to appeal to at least some companies by setting up an alternative legal environment. Companies most commonly register in their home state or Delaware. Still, states are doing more to compete. Four have created new statewide business courts since 2019, joining about two dozen that had them. A specialized business court in Texas, among the newest, is scheduled to open in September… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

Biden disparages Netanyahu in private but hasn’t changed U.S. policy toward Israel (NBC News)

President Joe Biden has been venting his frustration in recent private conversations, some of them with campaign donors, over his inability to persuade Israel to change its military tactics in the Gaza Strip, and he has named Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the primary obstacle, according to five people directly familiar with his comments. Biden has said he is trying to get Israel to agree to a cease-fire, but Netanyahu is “giving him hell” and is impossible to deal with, said the people familiar with Biden’s comments, who all asked not to be named.

“He just feels like this is enough,” one of the people said of the views expressed by Biden. “It has to stop.” Biden has in recent weeks spoken privately about Netanyahu, a leader he has known for decades, with a candor that has surprised some of those on the receiving end of his comments, people familiar with them said.

His descriptions of his dealings with Netanyahu are peppered with contemptuous references to Netanyahu as “this guy,” these people said. And in at least three recent instances, Biden has called Netanyahu an “asshole,” according to three of the people directly familiar with his comments. Asked about Biden’s private comments about Netanyahu, a spokesperson for the National Security Council said in a statement that the two leaders have a respectful relationship. “The president has been clear where he disagrees with Prime Minister Netanyahu, but this is a decades-long relationship that is respectful in public and in private,” the spokesperson said. Since he embraced Netanyahu in a bear hug during a visit to Israel after 1,200 Israelis died in the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, Biden has grown steadily more frustrated with the rising Palestinian civilian death toll in Gaza, now a reported 28,000, and Netanyahu’s reluctance to pursue a long-term peace deal. The bluntness of Biden’s private, unfiltered reflections on Netanyahu, as well as Israeli premier’s failure to shift tactics in Gaza, suggest that the dynamic between the two leaders could be nearing an inflection point… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

GM’s Cruise robotaxi unit hires veteran Ford and Apple official to be its safety chief after crash (Associated Press)

Cruise, the troubled General Motors autonomous vehicle unit, has hired a veteran automotive and technology company safety official for the critical position of chief safety officer.

Steve Kenner, who has held top safety positions at multiple companies over nearly four decades, started the job on Monday, Cruise said in a statement.

Most recently he was vice president of safety at Kodiak, a self-driving truck company, the statement said. He also has held leadership positions at Apple, Uber and Aurora, another company that makes hardware and software for autonomous trucks... (LINK TO FULL STORY)