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BG Reads 2.21.2024

BG Reads 2.21.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - February 21, 2024

February 21, 2024

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Bingham Group Reads

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February 21, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 What's on the primary election ballot in the Austin area

🟣 Billions of federal light rail dollars hinge on Austin land use changes

🟣 Austin Transit Partnership moves to resolve light rail funding dispute in court

🟣 How far can cities go to clear homeless camps? The U.S. Supreme Court will decide

Read on!

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

[BG BLOG]

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

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

What's on the primary election ballot in the Austin area (AXIOS Austin)

With early voting kicking off, now's your chance to help shape policy, from the Travis County district attorney's office to the Texas Capitol.

Why it matters: Most districts are drawn to favor one party and many counties tip heavily Democratic or Republican, making the primaries the de facto definitive election.

What we expect: Very low turnout.

Yes, it's a presidential election year, but there's little doubt about who will be the nominees at the very top of the ballot.

Races we're watching: The Travis County district attorney Democratic primary, pitting incumbent José Garza against attorney Jeremy Sylestine.

Read our interviews with both candidates in a race about public safety and the direction of criminal justice in the community… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin Transit Partnership moves to resolve light rail funding dispute in court (Community Impact)

The Austin Transit Partnership—the government entity tasked with building the Project Connect light rail system—took legal action Feb. 20 seeking official approval of the rail project’s funding structure and in hopes of resolving a resident lawsuit contesting the plan.That action means that lawsuit aiming to thwart the transit plan may resolve sooner than expected.Officials also moved to issue the ATP’s first chunk of bonds, totaling $150 million, for the design and engineering of the project... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Billions of federal light rail dollars hinge on Austin land use changes (Austin Business Journal)

New real estate development opportunities lay ahead as Austin prepares to introduce a light rail system to the city.

Longstanding land use regulations in Austin are slated to be rewritten in the coming months to ensure the groundwork is laid for an estimated $5 billion light rail line through the city's center. The changes are intended to encourage a denser and more walkable transit-oriented development — and they're essential to Austin securing billions in federal funding.

The changes — encouraging taller buildings and denser development along the rail route — will mark a significant opportunity for real estate developers and investors. But the rewrites are likely to generate controversy as well.

The goal of City Hall is to secure as much funding for the project as possible from the federal government, which mandates transit-oriented development near rail routes as a condition of its financial participation.

Some of Austin's proposed land-use changes, such as an increase in building heights and the relaxation of density limitations, will be taken up by City Council as early as late February. Still, opponents have had success in court in the past and could mount legal challenges to implementation.

Austin's planned 10-mile light route, expected to cost $4.5 billion to $4.8 billion, would run north-south and have 15 stations, with half of the cost anticipated to come from the Federal Transit Administration's New Starts grant program. The process of securing the grants will take several years and the city will be required to show progress throughout to keep the federal dollars flowing… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Gov. Greg Abbott’s approval rating is rising amid border confrontation with Biden administration (Houston Chronicle)

Gov. Greg Abbott’s approval rating has rebounded to its highest point in nearly four years as he clashes with the Biden administration over the southern border, according to a recent poll from the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin.

The poll, conducted earlier this month, found that 53% of Texas registered voters approve of Abbott’s performance as governor. That’s up from 48% in December. It is also Abbott’s strongest showing in the Texas Politics Project’s polling since April 2020, the first full month of the COVID pandemic, when 56% approved of the Republican governor’s job performance. Abbott gained ground from the December poll among voters in both parties.

Twenty-seven percent of Democrats approved of his job performance in this month’s survey, up from 19%. And 83% of Republicans approved of him in the recent poll, compared to 78% in December.

The latest poll was conducted from Feb. 2 through Feb. 12, shortly after the U.S.

Supreme Court cleared the way for federal authorities to remove razor wire that Texas officials had strung along the banks of the Rio Grande to deter migrants from crossing. It also came after state soldiers seized control of Shelby Park, a key border area near the Eagle Pass International Bridge. Abbott says the Biden administration is helping migrants cross the river by cutting the razor wire, while federal officials say they are trying to prevent injuries to migrants who can legally claim asylum once on U.S. soil. The third-term governor has emerged as a leading voice in the country’s immigration debate, drawing praise from fellow GOP governors and influential conservative commentators.

Democrats have accused Abbott of using anti-immigrant rhetoric and interfering with the federal government’s immigration enforcement to score political points. President Joe Biden’s approval rating also saw a modest rebound in the Texas Politics Project’s latest poll, going from 38% approval in December to 42% this month. But his approach to immigration and border security remains unpopular among Texas voters, with just 30% saying they approve of how he’s handled those areas. Voters voiced nearly the opposite view of Abbott on immigration, with 54% approving of his approach to the issue... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Texas governor building 2,300-bed military base at seized border park (ABC News)

Texas is building a new military base for National Guard members deployed to the southern border in Eagle Pass, Texas -- where state and federal authorities have been in a tense conflict over dealing with immigration -- Gov. Greg Abbott said.

At a news conference on Friday, Abbott announced the construction of what he said would a new "base camp" that could house up to 2,300 soldiers.

"As opposed to being scattered around many different places across this region, they will be operating out of one place. It will amass a large army in a very strategic area. It will increase the speed and flexibility of the Texas National Guard to be able to respond to crossings," Abbott said.

Officials expect that by mid-April they'll have a 300-bed capacity and will add another 300 each month until completion, Texas Maj. Gen. Thomas Suelzer, Abbott's top military adviser, said at the Friday press conference. The camp will include several features like large dining halls, individual rooms for soldiers and medical care facilities.

The move may also deepen the tension between the state and federal governments as Abbott continues to implement his own strategies to deter migrants from crossing in between ports of entry at the southern border… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

How far can cities go to clear homeless camps? The U.S. Supreme Court will decide (NPR)

In April, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a major case that could reshape how cities manage homelessness. The legal issue is whether they can fine or arrest people for sleeping outside if there's no shelter available. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has deemed this cruel and unusual punishment, and this case is a pivotal challenge to that ruling.

The high court declined to take up a similar case in 2019. But since then, homelessness rates have climbed relentlessly. Street encampments have grown larger and have expanded to new places, igniting intense backlash from residents and businesses. Homelessness and the lack of affordable housing that's helping to drive it have become key issues for many voters. The case, Grants Pass v. Johnson, could have dramatic implications for the record number of people living in tents and cars across the United States.

In the small city of Grants Pass, Ore., homeless people say the city broke the law when it aggressively tried to push them out over the past decade. To discourage people from sleeping in public spaces, the city banned the use of stoves and sleeping bags or other bedding. But during several years when she had lost housing, Helen Cruz says she needed to live in city parks because they're close to the jobs she had cleaning houses.

"We're not out there because we want to be," she says. "We don't have a choice. There's no place to go." Grants Pass has no homeless shelter that's open to everyone. A religious mission takes in a few who agree to attend services. That left Cruz racking up thousands of dollars in fines, which she remains unable to pay. "And I keep getting mail from Josephine County court saying,

'You owe this. If you don't pay this, it's going to collections,'" she says, "which has destroyed my credit." A lawsuit originally filed in 2018 on behalf of homeless people in Grants Pass said the situation there was part of a larger crisis, as homelessness rates around the U.S. were high and growing. It accused the city of trying to "punish people based on their status of being involuntarily homeless." The 9th Circuit agreed, saying the city could not ban people from sleeping outside with "rudimentary protection from the elements" when there was nowhere else for them to go… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Tech leaders fled San Francisco during the pandemic. Now, they’re coming back. (Wall Street Journal)

In 2020, venture capitalist Keith Rabois urged startup founders to join him in ditching San Francisco for Miami, touting the city’s relative safety, lower taxes and tech-friendly mayor. The self-proclaimed contrarian investor, who made a fortune backing companies such as Airbnb and DoorDash, once tweeted that San Francisco was “miserable on every dimension.”

The hard pivot to Miami has faltered. Several of the startups that Rabois backed are relocating or opening offices elsewhere to better attract engineering talent. Late last year, he was pushed out of his old venture firm, Founders Fund, after falling out with some colleagues. Now, he plans to spend one week a month in San Francisco for a new employer, Khosla Ventures, and is busy renovating a house there. During the pandemic, scores of Silicon Valley investors and executives such as Rabois decamped to sunnier American cities, criticizing San Francisco’s government as dysfunctional and the city’s relatively high cost of living.

Tech-firm founders touted their success at raising money outside the Bay Area and encouraged their employees to embrace remote work. Four years later, that bet hasn’t really worked out. San Francisco is once again experiencing a tech revival. Entrepreneurs and investors are flocking back to the city, which is undergoing a boom in artificial intelligence.

Silicon Valley leaders are getting involved in local politics, flooding city ballot measures and campaigns with tech money to make the city safer for families and businesses. Investors are also pushing startups to return to the Bay Area and bring their employees back into the office. San Francisco has largely weathered the broader crunch in startup funding. Investment in Bay Area startups dropped 12% to $63.4 billion last year. By contrast, funding volumes for Austin, Texas, and Los Angeles, two smaller tech hubs, dropped 27% and 42%, respectively. In Miami, venture investment plunged 70% to just $2 billion last year.

“An ecosystem such as SF’s that has been built over the last 50-plus years doesn’t just die because of a pandemic for a few years,” said Mo Koyfman, founder of venture firm Shine Capital. He pointed to the proximity of universities such as Stanford as reasons why top-tier venture firms need to maintain a presence in the Bay Area. Shine Capital, which is based in New York City, opened an office in San Francisco in January… (LINK TO FULL STORY)