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BG Reads 4.25.2024

BG Reads 4.25.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - April 25, 2024

April 25, 2024

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Bingham Group Reads

Presented by:

4.17.24 // Bingham Group celebrates 7 years in business!

April 25, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 New entrants in Austin Council District 4 Race

🟣 Austin Water floats updates on conservation and drought contingency plan

🟣 Workforce leaders talk how to grow skilled trades pipeline to 10,000+ workers annually

🟣 Police arrest multiple protesters during pro-Palestinian demonstration at UT Austin

Read On!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

✅ (NEW) BG Podcast Ep. 248: Austin Politics Weekly Recap and What's Ahead

✅ BG Podcast Ep. 246: 2024 Elections - Austin Mayoral Round Up

On this episode we welcome back Jack Craver, independent reporter and founder of The Austin Politics Newsletter. Jack and Bingham Group CEO A.J. Bingham discuss the candidate field for the 2024 Austin Mayoral elections, including incumbent Mayor Kirk Watson.

✅ BG Blog: Land Development Code Amendments (4) Overview

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

[AUSTIN CITY HALL]

✅ FY 24/25 Budget Talk

Worth a review -> Briefing on Austin’s five-year financial forecast and economic outlook (Council Work Session, April 16, 2024)
- FY25-FY29 Forecast Presentation
- 2024 Economic & Sales Tax Forecast for the City of Austin
See also -> Mayor Watson’s Watson Wire Newsletter (4.18.2024)
Key Date -> Friday, July 12: City Manager T.C. Broadnax and his team will present the budget to Mayor and Council.

CLICK HERE TO REVIEW CITY OF AUSTIN PUBLIC MEETINGS / AGENDAS FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 22, 2024

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Workforce leaders talk how to grow skilled trades pipeline to 10,000+ workers annually (Austin Monitor)

In February 2021, when a deep winter freeze caused burst pipes in homes and businesses all over Austin, a city staffer looking for available plumbers called Tamara Atkinson, CEO of Workforce Solutions Capital Area and one of the local experts in training for skilled trades jobs.

The news she had for them wasn’t good.

“They said, ‘Tamara, pipes are bursting all over Austin. We need at least 200 plumbers to go out and help both businesses and residents fix their pipes to stop the water flooding into their homes. Where can I find 200 plumbers?’” Atkinson recalled Wednesday during a panel discussion on the shortage of skilled workers in the Austin area. “I said with as straight of a voice and face as I could, ‘With all due respect, we should have started at least two years ago.’”

During the most recent Urban Land Institute Austin session, Atkinson and other leaders in workforce training shared the realities of the local economy, which will need more than 10,000 new skilled workers every year for roughly a decade. Those workers will help to carry out construction and production on major projects such as the Interstate 35 reconstruction, the Project Connect mass transit system, the expansion of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and the assorted semiconductor manufacturing plants across the region that collectively represent tens of billions of dollars in investment... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

In return to Austin, Cedar Park's new economic development director says 'sky's the limit' (Austin Business Journal)

Arthur Jackson's return to the Austin area to lead economic development in Cedar Park was all about relationships.

First and foremost, the born-and-raised Central Texan and his wife wanted to be closer to their family. Second, there was his relationship with Ben White, his predecessor in Cedar Park who he views as a mentor. There was also a foundation he laid years ago with Cedar Park leadership, including City Manager Brenda Givens. And lastly, there was the support of regional partnerships and the county government to continue "international economic development growth in this part of Austin," he said.

Those factors and more helped seal the deal for Jackson to take over as Cedar Park's chief economic development officer on April 15. Jackson previously handled economic development at Opportunity Austin from 2015 to 2021 and served as senior vice president of the Tulsa Regional Chamber in Oklahoma until recently… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Police arrest multiple protesters during pro-Palestinian demonstration at UT Austin (KUT)

Dozens of people were arrested during a pro-Palestinian protest on the UT Austin campus Wednesday. The protest, organized by the Palestine Solidarity Committee in Austin, was the latest in a wave of demonstrations sweeping college campuses across the U.S.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said state troopers were called at the request of the university and Gov. Greg Abbott to "prevent any unlawful assembly and support UT Police in maintaining the peace by arresting anyone engaging in any sort of criminal activity, including trespass."

The day before the protest, UT Austin administration sent a letter to PSC warning organizers not to hold the event.

PSC "has declared intent to violate our policies and rules, and disrupt our campus operations," the letter said. "The University of Texas at Austin will not allow this campus to be 'taken' and protesters to derail our mission in ways that groups affiliated with your national organization have accomplished elsewhere."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Amid worsening drought, Austin Water floats updates on conservation and drought contingency plan (Austin Monitor)

As Austinites prepare for another round of scorching temperatures, stewards of their dwindling water supply are strategizing, with updates to the city’s Water Conservation and Drought Contingency Plan expected to hit City Council’s desk next week.

The new plan, which outlines targets for per capita water usage and drought-triggered restriction measures, is part of a standard five-year update procedure that will replace similar policies amended in 2019. But as the city approaches nearly two years of consecutive drought, the stakes are higher for what some view as an underwhelming approach.

Austin entered the first stage of drought back in June 2022, when reservoir levels in the Highland Lakes fell to 70 percent of their roughly 2 million acre-feet capacity. Last August, the city progressed to Stage 2, where it currently remains – hovering around 42 percent storage capacity… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Here’s what the law says about protesting on Texas college campuses (Texas Tribune)

In response to the continued conflict in Israel and Palestine, student demonstrations in solidarity with people in Palestine have drawn scrutiny across the country and in Texas.

In late March, Gov. Greg Abbott ordered public universities to revise their free speech policies and singled out some pro-Palestine student groups, saying they should be subject to discipline. The order told officials for Texas university systems to report back free speech policy changes within 90 days.

Still, students and organizations have continued to announce pro-Palestine demonstrations, including at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at Dallas. On Wednesday, multiple people were arrested on the UT-Austin campus during one such demonstration.

Gov. Greg Abbott cheered the arrests and called for the students to be expelled…(LINK TO FULL STORY)

[NATION/WORLD NEWS]

The Supreme Court will hear Trump's claim he's immune from criminal prosecution (NPR)

A genuinely historic event takes place at the Supreme Court on Thursday. The justices hear arguments on Donald Trump's claim that he is immune from prosecution after leaving office for any of his official acts while he was president. Specifically, Trump claims that the steps he took to block the certification of Joe Biden's election were part of his official duties and that he thus cannot be criminally prosecuted.

The question of presidential immunity from criminal prosecution after leaving office has never been decided by the Supreme Court... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Reggie Bush is reinstated as 2005 Heisman Trophy winner, with organizers citing NIL rule changes (Associated Press)

Reggie Bush has his Heisman back.

The Heisman Trust reinstated the former Southern California tailback as the 2005 Heisman Trophy winner on Wednesday, citing fundamental changes in the structure of college athletics during the 14 years since Bush forfeited the trophy and the honor.

Bush gave up his Heisman following an NCAA investigation that found he received what were impermissible benefits during his time with the Trojans. College football players are now allowed to profit from their work in many ways, and the Heisman Trust decided it was time to move past the conflict with one of the most exciting players in the sport’s history… (LINK TO FULL STORY)