Bingham Group joined Mayor Kirk Watson and the Austin business community last night for a welcome reception in honor of new City Manager T.C. Broadnax.

[AUSTIN CITY HALL]

The Austin City Council meet’s today at 10AM for its Regular Session.

View the agenda here

Meeting livestream here (ATXN)

Posted LDC Amendments from the Council Message Board:

Mayor Kirk Watson

Council Member Vanessa Fuentes (District 2)

Council Member José Velásquez (District 3)

Council Member Chito Vela (District 4)

Council Member Ryan Alter (District 5)

Mayor Pro Tem Leslie Pool (District 7)

Council Member Zo Qadri (District 9)

CLICK HERE TO REVIEW CITY OF AUSTIN PUBLIC MEETINGS / AGENDAS FOR THE WEEK OF MAY 13, 2024

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Austin begins search for new Chief of Police (KXAN)

On Wednesday, the City of Austin launched its search for a new Chief of Police for the Austin Police Department. The job posting is expected to remain open until June 10.

According to the city, candidates will be identified shortly after the position closes, and the city will then begin the interview process.

The Chief of Police is accountable for the day-to-day operations of APD, which includes the management of operational and administrative controls, policies and procedures.

“Several interview panels will be scheduled to meet to include community members, law enforcement personnel, and City leadership. Additionally, a meet-and-greet community event with the finalists will also be scheduled,” the city said.

City Manager T.C. Broadnax, who began May 6, said the hiring of a permanent police chief was one of his first priorities… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Travis County is shifting focus to prevent overdose deaths as fentanyl ravages the area (Texas Tribune)

Travis County is in the midst of a drug epidemic, and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon as fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid often mixed with other substances, is ravaging the state’s capital city.

Texas Department of State Health Services data shows that overdose deaths in Travis County are higher than in other urban Texas counties.

In 2023, Travis County recorded 440 accidental drug-related deaths, or 33 deaths per 100,000 residents.

That’s higher than Dallas County, which reported 25 deaths per 100,000 residents last year, Tarrant and Bexar counties, which saw 23 deaths per 100,000, and Harris County, with 21 deaths per 100,000 people… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin will vote on rules that impact housing. Here's what's on the table. (KUT)

How do you retrofit a city that never planned for a population of nearly 1 million or for an extensive public transit system? Should you?

These are the questions facing council members as they prepare to vote Thursday on a slew of land use changes. Land use rules determine what can be built in the city and where. Elected officials and their supporters have increasingly turned to loosening these rules as a way to encourage builders to construct more homes in Austin and to help slow the increasing cost of housing and sprawl that has come to define this city.

Council members have been amending zoning rules bit by bit since 2020, when it became clear their plan to revise the city’s thicket of land development rules would be derailed by a lawsuit. But changing zoning rules in Austin is always controversial.

People generally fall on one of two sides: Supporters say changes will allow more people to afford to live in central neighborhoods and make public transit more efficient; opponents worry enacting these changes will drastically alter the look of these blocks and the demographic makeup of the people living there.

Members of the council held a public hearing in April on a list of land use changes. The changes are scheduled for a final vote Thursday. Here’s what is proposed... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin Police release five-year plan to enhance department, community engagement (CBS Austin)

The Austin Police Department released its roadmap that will lead them into the next five years.

The first-of-its-kind strategic five-year plan will help drive priorities, guide decision-making, and enable them to gauge progress.

It's a plan that has been in the works since November of 2022.

The plan has five focus areas: protecting Austin, engaging the community, developing their workforce, fostering leadership excellence, and enhancing organizational capacity.

“Our job, officers' job is to serve the public," said Austin Police Association President Michael Bullock.

"It’s to take care of our citizens and the best way that that’s going to be accomplished is by investing and by taking care of the officers that are responsible for providing those services.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin’s Q2 Stadium to host 2025 MLS All-Star Game (Austin Chronicle)

Austin FC’s home of Q2 Stadium will host the 2025 Major League Soccer All-Star Game, MLS commissioner Don Garber announced Wednesday afternoon at Antone’s Nightclub.

The event will bring a full week of soccer festivities to the Texas capital, culminating in an exhibition match pitting a full roster of the league’s brightest stars – potentially including the likes of Lionel Messi, Olivier Giroud, and Austin FC’s own Sebastián Driussi – against an opposing team yet to be named.

“We are thrilled to bring the 2025 MLS All-Star Game to Austin,” Garber said. “This club deserves to have our biggest event. The fan support, the community support, the corporate partner support, the commitment of ownership just has over-delivered in so many different ways for our league and for the sport of soccer in America. So what better way to say thank you than to have the MLS All-Star Game [here]?”

In addition to the MLS All-Star Game, the week will also include the MLS All-Star Skills Challenge, the MLS NEXT All-Star Game, and the MLS All-Star Concert, along with several other activations and fan experiences.

An exact date for the event was not announced, though it will likely take place July or August 2025… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

2024 Austin State of Downtown report shows increase in office vacancies (KVUE)

On Wednesday evening, Austin city leaders presented the latest State of Downtown report, meant to give insight on the area's economic health.

The report found office vacancy rates went up slightly last year to 18%, but downtown employment also increased by 21%.

Around 88% of available downtown storefronts were occupied in 2023, down 2% from the year before.

Sixty-eight downtown businesses permanently closed last year, but new business openings were up significantly from 2022, with 55 new establishments…

(LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Mayor Whitmire unveils $6.7 billion proposed budget for new year – with no tax hikes or garbage fee (Houston Chronicle)

Amid Houston’s strained financial outlook, Mayor John Whitmire unveiled a $6.7 billion budget proposal Tuesday, announcing he does not intend to raise taxes or significantly cut city services during the fiscal year starting in July.

The proposed budget, the first of Whitmire’s tenure, features a 7% increase from last year’s plan. It includes additional costs from the $1.5 billion firefighters’ settlement and likely pay raises for municipal workers. It does not, however, account for the approximately $100 million fiscal impact from an April court ruling concerning the city’s drainage system.

Whitmire’s administration previously floated the idea of a property tax hike and a garbage fee to close the existing budget gap of around $160 million and help fund the firefighters’ deal. But the mayor said these measures will not be considered in the upcoming year. Instead, the city plans to use the remaining COVID-19 federal funds to close the deficit, which he said he inherited from former Mayor Sylvester Turner’s administration.

Earlier this year, the mayor asked all city departments, except for police and fire, to identify ways to cut their spending by 5%. The resulting plan shows $11.7 million in departmental savings, primarily from eliminating vacant positions, according to Finance Director Melissa Dubowski. She and the mayor said they will continue to seek cost-saving opportunities in the coming days.

“I wasn’t prepared to raise taxes or cut services in the short five months that I’ve been here if we could possibly do it a different way,” Whitmire said during a Tuesday news conference. “I actually said during the campaign we didn’t know the true state of the city finances. And we’re still learning on a daily basis where we can have savings.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Texans triumph in fight to get direct flights from San Antonio to Washington, D.C. (Texas Tribune)

In a major victory for San Antonians in Congress, the city is poised to get more nonstop flights to the nation’s capital after the House voted to pass this year’s Federal Aviation Administration Reauthorization Act on Wednesday.

Members from San Antonio across the political spectrum, from Democratic Rep. Joaquin Castro to Republican Rep. Chip Roy, unified in pushing for more flights between the two cities as Congress deliberated on the legislation. The bill authorizes $105 billion for the Federal Aviation Administration over the next five years. It also includes a host of measures designed to improve passenger safety and comfort.

But it was a bumpy path to passage, with members of Virginia’s delegation fighting aggressively against adding new flights out of Washington’s Reagan National Airport. Virginia’s members asserted adding flights would burden the already crowded airport, potentially opening it to greater risk of accidents… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US/WORLD NEWS]

The first Mexican taco stand to get a Michelin star is a tiny business where the heat makes the meat (Associated Press)

Newly minted Michelin-starred chef Arturo Rivera Martínez stood over an insanely hot grill Wednesday at the first Mexican taco stand ever to get a coveted star from the French dining guide, and did exactly the same thing he’s been doing for 20 years: searing meat.

Though Michelin representatives came by Wednesday to present him with one of the company’s heavy, full-sleeved, pristine white chef’s jackets, he didn’t put it on: In this tiny, 10-foot by 10-foot (3-meter by 3-meter) business, the heat makes the meat. And the heat is intense.

At Mexico City’s Tacos El Califa de León, in the scruffy-bohemian San Rafael neighborhood, there are only four things on the menu, all tacos, and all of which came from some area around a cow’s rib, loin or fore shank… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[2024 Austin City Council Race Watch]

This fall will see elections for the following Council Districts 2, 4, 6, 7, 10, and Mayor.

Declared candidates so far are:

Mayor

District 2

Council Member Vanessa Fuentes

District 4

District 6

District 7 (Open seat)

District 10 (Open seat)

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