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BG Reads 3.11.2024

BG Reads 3.11.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - March 11, 2024

March 11, 2024

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Bingham Group Reads

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March 11, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 Austin City Manager Search: Kansas City city manager Brian Platt withdraws

🟣 Travis County declares local disaster ahead of April 8 total solar eclipse

🟣 Council approves changes to environmental protections to upgrade Butler Trail

Read on!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

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

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Kansas City city manager Brian Platt withdraws from Austin top job consideration (Austin American-Statesman)

Five days after Austin Mayor Kirk Watson announced three finalists for Austin's next city manager, one has already dropped out of the running.

Brian Platt, the city manager of Kansas City, withdrew from the running of the position Sunday afternoon, according a statement from Platt provided by Kansas City Press Secretary Sherae Honeycutt.

Platt was one of three finalists for the top-level executive position in Austin. The remaining two candidates are the city manager of Dallas, T.C. Broadnax and Sara Hensley, the city manager of Denton.

After some Kansas City news outlets reported Platt planned to withdraw from the running, Watson in a post to the City Council message board on Friday said, "We have been in contact with Mr. Platt through our search firm. He has not withdrawn from consideration for the Austin job."

Watson said last Tuesday candidates will participate in city meetings on March 25 and will have a public town hall later that evening. The next day, the mayor and City Council will interview the candidates in executive session. The plan is to have a candidate selected by early April… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Travis County declares local disaster ahead of April 8 total solar eclipse (KUT)

Travis County declared a local disaster on Friday ahead of the April 8 total solar eclipse.

The eclipse is expected to bring an influx of people to the area, putting a major strain on roads, emergency services and other needs.

The declaration allows Travis County Judge Andy Brown to control and coordinate traffic and other needs during the eclipse. It also requires business and property owners planning to host events with more than 50 attendees to register with the county to ensure proper life safety and critical infrastructure is in place.

"The emergency services personnel asked me to enter this declaration so that we have the ability to regulate traffic to allow for the passage of emergency vehicles during the eclipse," Brown told KUT.

"We also want to make sure we have a good sense of all events in that area and how that will impact traffic."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Council approves changes to environmental protections to upgrade Butler Trail (Austin Monitor)

With little discussion, City Council last week approved amendments to environmental protections to clear the way for capital improvements on the popular hike-and-bike trail at Lady Bird Lake.

The code changes allow for exemptions from critical water quality zone rules protecting Lady Bird Lake, thus giving the Trail Conservancy the ability to make upgrades to the 10-mile Ann and Roy Butler Trail. The Conservancy operates and maintains the trail under an agreement forged with the city in 2022.

The amendments, prompted by City Council direction last spring, eliminate the existing 12-foot cap on the trail’s width and allow a mitigation minimum of a one-to-one ratio of watershed revegetation and restoration for each square foot of trail construction.

Council approved the proposed changes with eight votes. Council members Alison Alter, Ryan Alter and Mackenzie Kelly stepped off the dais before action was taken…(LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

The far right in Texas crashed through its last guardrail (Texas Monthly)

Dade Phelan may soon have the distinction of becoming the first Texas House Speaker to lose his seat since 1972, when Democrat Fred Head, one of those rare do-gooder types in state government, knocked off Rayford Price. Phelan’s opponent, oil and gas consultant David Covey, is no Fred Head, and little about this matchup has to do with good government. Still, Phelan’s inability to avoid a runoff against his Republican primary challenger is a political earthquake.

Even if he does win his runoff on May 28 and clings to his Beaumont district, his speakership is in jeopardy. The stench of defeat hangs over the two-term Speaker. The GOP primaries this year were remarkably ill-tempered and contentious. Governor Greg Abbott targeted sixteen House Republicans who voted against his school voucher plan, knocking out six and forcing four more into runoffs. Attorney General Ken Paxton endorsed 47 candidates, part of his fervent campaign to punish House Republicans who impeached him. No one bore the brunt of those efforts as much as the Speaker of the House.

In all, nine House incumbents, all but one an ally of Phelan, lost on Tuesday. Eight more are headed to runoffs against challengers who accuse them—as conservative as they are—of apostasy against, variously, the Republican Party, God, the Constitution, and Paxton. Historically, legislative incumbents have had tough sledding in runoffs, losing 27 of 34 since 1996. The upshot is that the House will lurch, once again, to the right, and the dream of removing the last vestiges of restraint, however modest, will be at hand. The great economist John Kenneth Galbraith argued that capitalism needs “countervailing power”—unions, civic organizations—to function properly. Otherwise, elite business interests grow into behemoths and prey upon the weak. The Texas GOP may soon lack any significant countervailing power: the Democratic Party is missing in action, unions are constrained, outside the fervent Republican grassroots most voters are apathetic, and the more-responsible voices within the GOP are on the retreat.

The House under Phelan wasn’t much of a guardrail—more of a speed bump worn down by overuse—but even that modest check and balance will be gone soon. In an interview after being forced into a runoff with an Abbott- and Paxton-backed challenger, East Texas Republican Gary VanDeaver was asked how the Legislature could possibly become any more right-wing. VanDeaver, who’s served for five terms, responded: “It’s hard to imagine . . . because really, there’s not much left to do. And what is left to do is probably unconstitutional.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Business school leaders converge on TCU to strategize on keeping up DEI (Dallas Morning News)

Higher education experts from around the country gathered at Texas Christian University’s Neeley School of Business this week to talk about the three-letter acronym crowding legal landscapes and campaign agendas: DEI. It’s a high-pressure topic as opponents and supporters alike of diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives carefully watch for shifting precedent.

The Supreme Court ruled against affirmative action and a statewide ban outlaws Texas public universities from diversity efforts. It’s led to business leaders like Mark Cuban and Elon Musk jousting online about DEI and hidden cameras aimed at exposing Texas educators pursuing diversity initiatives. Discussions about how to foster and continue DEI at business schools across the country likely could not have happened at public schools like the University of Texas at Austin, Texas A&M or the University of Houston. But as a private institution, TCU is free to host discussions about how to strengthen DEI strategies and commitments at a business school collaborative conference titled, “Staying the DEIB Course: Courage Under Fire During Uncertain Times.”

While TCU ought to be immune from most legislative dictation on DEI, Jonathan Benjamin-Alvarado, the university’s chief inclusion officer, warned it’s not unaffected by the consequences.

“We all drink from the same water here in the state of Texas,” Benjamin-Alvarado said. “These are huge issues and challenges that we are facing. But that’s just the beginning of it.” As a result of state schools having to reconfigure their operations to abide by the constraints, Benjamin-Alvarado said prestigious faculty positions at public universities like UT Austin have gone unfilled and Texas is losing high-quality scholars as they seek less legally precarious states to work in. It’s at universities where conversations about developing and supporting a diverse workforce should be happening, said Ian Williamson, dean of the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California at Irvine.

“We have universities for that purpose – to have that rigorous discussion, to actually collect data, to analyze that data, to train people to understand how to think about these issues,” Williamson said. “That’s what we do.” Successful businesses and schools recognize the importance of recruiting, retaining and propelling talent in an inclusive environment, said Hettie Richardson, interim dean of Neeley School of Business... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

Biden releases ad addressing age, attacking Trump as campaign shifts (Washington Post)

On Saturday, President Biden’s reelection campaign released the first ad as part of its $30 million post-State of the Union advertising campaign, in which the president directly confronts concerns about his age. The ad — part of the campaign’s pivot to the general election — features Biden speaking directly into the camera as he contrasts his record with his likely opponent in November, former president Donald Trump.

“Look, I’m not a young guy,” Biden says at the start of the 60-second advertisement. “That’s no secret, but here’s the deal: I understand how to get things done for the American people.” The president then outlines his record on curtailing the coronavirus pandemic, passing legislation to reduce health care costs and invest in infrastructure projects. He also criticizes Trump for rolling back reproductive rights, promising to codify Roe v. Wade if legislation passes Congress.

“Donald Trump believes the job of the president is to take care of Donald Trump,” Biden says.

“I believe the job of the president is to fight for you, the American people, and that’s what I’m doing.” The ad campaign will air over six weeks on national cable and local broadcast in seven swing states: Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina — targeting voters of color and young voters. The buy follows an advertising campaign of more than $25 million that ran over the last five months of 2023, as the Biden campaign flexes its significant financial advantage over Trump’s effort. The new spending on advertising comes as part of Biden’s ramped-up campaign activity to capitalize on momentum from Biden’s State of the Union address Thursday night.

The president campaigned in Pennsylvania on Friday night and will appear in Georgia on Saturday. Next week, he will make stops in New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Michigan. Vice President Harris and Cabinet officials are also fanning out across the country to sell the president’s record. Biden and his aides have largely dismissed questions about his age, even as polls continue to show voters across the political spectrum have concerns about his fitness for the job. “Y’all want to talk about age? Let’s talk about age,” Michael Tyler, the campaign communications director, said in a statement, ticking of Biden’s accomplishments at various ages over the past four years… (LINK TO FULL STORY)