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BG Reads 3.25.2024

BG Reads 3.25.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - March 25, 2024

March 25, 2024

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Bingham Group Reads

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March 25, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 BG Blog - City Manager Spotlight: 5 Issues To Watch for Monday’s Candidate Town Hall

🟣 Travis County approves ambitious ‘Marshall Plan’ for northeast planning district (Austin Monitor)

🟣 Years after being announced, Velocity rises in SE Austin

🟣 Here's what's being built under the HOME initiative in Austin so far

Read on!

✅ CLICK HERE for this week’s City of Austin meeting times and agendas.

[AUSTIN CITY HALL]

As part of the City Manager recruitment process, the two candidates under consideration, T.C. Broadnax and Sara Hensley, will be introduced today at the Permitting and Development Center, 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive.

The event begins at 6 p.m. and doors will open to the public at 5:30 p.m. Free parking will be provided at the adjacent parking garage, which can be accessed from Wilhelmina Delco Drive, Middle Fiskville Road or East Highland Mall Boulevard.

[BINGHAM GROUP]

✅ [NEW] BG Blog - City Manager Spotlight: Five Issues To Watch for Monday’s Candidate Town Hall

Tonight’s city manager town hall gives voters a chance to hear from candidates T.C. Broadnax and Sara Hensley. We took a look at the five big issues they’ll need to address:

Land Use & Affordability
Public Safety Priorities
Addressing Homelessness
Austin's Transportation Future
Promoting Equity and Opportunity

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

✅ BG Podcast Ep. 241: Austin Politics Weekly Recap and What's Ahead

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Travis County approves ambitious ‘Marshall Plan’ for northeast planning district (Austin Monitor)

According to Travis County commissioners and staff, eastern Travis County has long been blighted. Lack of investment and economic opportunities along with displacement and systemic racism have left the area systemically impoverished.

In 2024, after years of dilapidation in the area, Travis County and the city of Austin have set their sights on changing – if not transforming – the lives of residents of this swath of the county.

On March 19, the Travis County Commissioners Court approved an interlocal agreement (ILA) with the city of Austin to plan, prepare and implement a “Marshall Plan” – an ambitious program which, according to the Travis County Office of Economic Development & Strategic Investments (EDSI), “identifies quality public investments and funding mechanisms to support communities in East Travis County that have faced displacement and systemic racism that has left people of color falling further behind economically; made them more likely to be in a generational cycle of poverty; and less resilient to natural disasters, weather events, and national or personal economic or health crises.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Years after being announced, Velocity rises in SE Austin (Austin Business Journal)

A sprawling mixed-use development in Southeast Austin is budding out of the dirt years after it was first announced.

Velocity, a 314-acre master-planned district entitled for seven million square feet of space and situated east of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, began vertical framing for the ambitious development’s first phase in mid-March.

The first piece to rise will be an “urban-style” apartment community, according to a March 21 announcement from Dallas-based Velocity developer Presidium Group LLC.

Once complete, Velocity will add thousands of homes, retail space, hotels and about 100 acres of green space to Southeast Austin.

Plans for the site have been about a decade in the making. Velocity won approval for its preliminary site plan in Oct. 2022. At the time, Mark Bulmash, Presidium’s then-president of mixed-use and master plan development, told ABJ, "There's still quite a bit of work ahead of us.” A Presidium spokesperson confirmed recently that work has involved horizontal infrastructure and road work required prior to vertical construction… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Here's what's being built under the HOME initiative in Austin so far (Austin American-Statesman)

Late last year, you probably remember hearing a lot of buzz about the HOME initiative — a proposal to amend Austin's land development code to allow for up to three units on many lots in Austin and, eventually, to reduce the minimum square footage of single-family lots.

Part one of this plan, the three units per lot portion, passed with overwhelming support from the Austin City Council in December, and part two, reducing minimum lot sizes, is expected to be taken up this year.

The initiative, which was lauded by its supporters as a way to create more housing options for middle-income earners in Austin, caused quite the controversy at City Hall, with hours of public testimony from supporters and opponents who voiced concerns about displacement, specifically on the city's Eastern Crescent.

Applications to build under phase one of the HOME initiative opened Feb. 5. The city's Development Services Department had received 12 applications to build under HOME phase one as of March 6, according to data provided by the department… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

All signs point to green light for NASCAR race at COTA in 2025 (Austin American-Statesman)

All signs point to NASCAR returning to Circuit of the Americas for a fifth year in 2025.

NASCAR's flirtation with Austin, a previously untapped market for stock-car racing, began with a rain-soaked race in 2021, yet its popularity with drivers, television, sponsors and organizers has them looking for more.

So much so that COTA Chairman Bobby Epstein, who rents the track to Speedway Motorsports, is counting on it.

"I don't believe we have a contract yet for next year, but I don't foresee any problem going forward," he said Saturday. "I'm sure we're both happy to have them back."

Less than an hour later, Epstein indicated there is a deal for next year. NASCAR officials won't go that far.

"We love bringing NASCAR to Austin and working with the talented team at Circuit of the Americas. Nothing is final until the official NASCAR schedule comes out, but we're planning for another big event week in Austin at COTA in 2025," said Marcus Smith, president and CEO of Speedway Motorsports… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Under new immigration law, DPS plans to arrest only migrants seen crossing Rio Grande (Dallas Morning News)

If the courts allow Texas’ sweeping immigration law to go into effect, Department of Public Safety troopers will arrest only migrants they see crossing the Rio Grande and will limit enforcement to counties along the border, according to a top DPS official.

Troopers would not check an individual’s immigration status during traffic stops or other encounters farther inland. In addition, only adults would be arrested. Family units and children would not be charged with any of the crimes created by the new law but would instead be handed over to Border Patrol agents, said Lt. Chris Olivarez, a spokesman for the agency’s South Region. “This law was not designed for interior enforcement,” Olivarez said. “This law is designed for border security along the river.”

Olivarez’s comments provided the first clarification by the DPS about how the state agency plans to enforce Senate Bill 4, which authorizes state and local police officers to arrest undocumented migrants. Texas has asked a federal appeals court to reinstate the law after a U.S. district judge found it to be unconstitutional in February. The law would also allow state district judges to order unauthorized migrants to be deported. The U.S. Justice Department and civil rights groups oppose the law, arguing that immigration enforcement is the federal government’s responsibility. Last week, SB4 briefly went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court gave the state permission to enforce the law and sent the matter back to the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, which blocked SB4 about nine hours later.

The back-and-forth rulings had law enforcement agencies scrambling for advice on what to do, with some along the border ready to arrest migrants who they believed were violating the law and others holding off until they heard back from the DPS or Gov. Greg Abbott’s office.

The DPS did not enforce the law last week, Olivarez said, because the agency did not receive approval from Abbott or the attorney general’s office. The appeals court heard oral arguments last week on whether to continue blocking the law or let it go back into effect while the judges determine its constitutionality. Additional oral arguments are set for April 3 on the heart of the case — whether Texas can legally enforce SB 4. (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Texas AG Ken Paxton could see criminal charges dropped in deal with prosecutors (Austin American-Statesman)

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is nearing a resolution to the 9-year-old securities fraud charges that have dogged his tenure as the state's top attorney through a special agreement with prosecutors, the American-Statesman has learned.

Under a draft agreement, prosecutors would dismiss felony charges against Paxton if he successfully completes the terms of the deal, according to three sources familiar with the negotiations.

The sources, with knowledge of the discussions between Paxton's legal team and prosecutor Brian Wice, a Houston attorney appointed to handle the case, said the terms could include community service, advanced legal education classes and a six-figure restitution, among other possible punishment. Two sources said the restitution could be between $300,000 and $400,000.

Under the conditions, Paxton likely would not have to formally enter a plea but must not violate any law for an extended period. Paxton, a 61-year-old Republican, could have faced up to 99 years in prison if convicted… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

South Texas cities are rebranding themselves amid unprecedented SpaceX-fueled space tourism (San Antonio Express-News)

On a gravel road less than 4 miles from the Starship launch site, a row of SpaceX “millionaire mansions” are rising next to private outposts where people pay to camp along the Rio Grande to watch liftoffs. One of the sites, Keith Reynolds’ Raptor Roost, drew 75 people for the most recent launch, more than doubling the occupancy from Starship’s last flight in November. Each guest paid at least $150, arrived before authorities shut down Texas 4 and signed a liability waiver to be there for the launch.

A few lots away, dozens more gathered at an outpost called Rocket Ranch. In between, construction workers on the riverfront homes being built for SpaceX employees paused to watch Starship fly. Across the bay on South Padre Island, hotels had a historic sellout the night before the launch, with space fans bolstering spring break crowds that descend on the beach destination each year. Other area cities also reported hotel sellouts. Rental car businesses sold out, too.

As with the first two, Starship’s third launch was a boon for businesses across the region — and an apparent turning point in the evolution of SpaceX in South Texas.

As launches become more regular and successful, the race among South Texas cities to nab space tourism dollars is ratcheting up. Some signs of their efforts are easy to spot. Before the March 14 launch, a banner reading “Your Space Escape” welcomed people to South Padre Island. It’s a play on the island’s “Your Island Escape” branding, said Cindy Trevino, director of marketing for South Padre’s convention and visitors bureau.

“We wanted to go full bore” in presenting South Texas as “the third space coast” along with Florida and California, said Blake Henry, executive director of the bureau. About 20 miles west, Brownsville has been angling for its piece of the action, too. Two years ago, the commercial space company’s rapid growth inspired that city to tweak its motto from “On the border, by the sea” to “On the border, by the sea and beyond!”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

Trump faces a crucial day in his hush-money trial, and a deadline to post bond (NPR)

Former President Donald Trump faces a pivotal day in New York on Monday: A criminal court judge will hold a hearing and could set a trial date in the hush-money case. Separately, the New York attorney general could move to seize one or more of his properties to satisfy a judgment in a civil fraud case.

This, as Trump, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, is running against the man who defeated him in 2020, President Biden. Trump's legal troubles are entwined with both the 2020 and the 2016 campaigns: He faces state and federal charges related to trying to overturn the results in 2020. He also faces federal charges related to his handling of classified documents... (LINK TO FULL STORY)