BG Reads 5.21.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - May 21, 2024

May 21, 2024

Bingham Group Reads

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May 21, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 Following T.C. Broadnax, two top Dallas city officials to take roles with city of Austin (Austin American-Statesman)

🟣 Following HOME 2 passage, advocates seek Council action on short-term rentals (Austin Monitor)

🟣 Austin adopts new zoning rules for electric vehicle charging stations (KUT)

🟣 Texas’ Republican old guard mobilizes to protect Dade Phelan from the far right (Texas Tribune)

Read On!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Following T.C. Broadnax, two top Dallas city officials to take roles with city of Austin (Austin American-Statesman)

Two of Dallas' top-level city executives will soon be working at Austin City Hall with their former boss, T.C. Broadnax, the former city manager of Dallas who recently took on the same role in Austin.

Jon Fortune, the deputy city manager of Dallas, will be the deputy city manager of Austin starting on June 10, according to a memo sent from Broadnax to Austin Mayor Kirk Watson and the Austin City Council on Monday. Genesis D. Gavino, the chief of staff for the city manager of Dallas, will begin as a special assistant to the Austin city manager on June 3.

The deputy city manager role was created by interim City Manager Jesús Garza but remained vacant during his tenure, and the special assistant position is a newly created role, Michele Gonzalez, a city of Austin spokesperson, told the Statesman.

Fortune, according to Broadnax's memo which was obtained by the Statesman, has served as both the deputy city manager and assistant city manager overseeing public safety in Dallas. Before that he was an assistant city manager for the city of Denton for 17 years.

"As Deputy City Manager, Jon Fortune will serve and function as the Chief Operating Officer, assuming critical responsibilities in the absence of the City Manager and will oversee the management and direction of city departments and organization-wide initiatives to help ensure the necessary alignment," Broadnax wrote in his memo…(LINK TO FULL STORY)

Following HOME 2 passage, advocates seek Council action on short-term rentals (Austin Monitor)

Members of the Tourism Commission are pushing City Council to move forward with an agreement with short-term rental platforms that could make it possible for the city to more easily regulate the thousands of unlicensed homes operating as lodging businesses across Austin.

Earlier this month, Bishop Chappell – a commissioner and also a member of the commission’s STR working group – reminded city leaders of the list of 10 recommendations approved in February, which focus on increasing adoption of STR licenses issued by the city, addressing enforcement issues with problem STR homes and improving communication between all stakeholder groups.

As Council prepared in early May for the consideration of the HOME 2 slate of land use changes, Chappell said at the time that attention shouldn’t be taken away from passing regulations that many Council members have supported in private meetings on the matter… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin adopts new zoning rules for electric vehicle charging stations (KUT)

After adopting ordinances that promise to provide more housing on smaller pieces of land and changing compatibility requirements to allow taller buildings to be built closer to single-family housing, City Council quickly adopted changes to the city Land Development Code to allow some properties to be used for electric vehicle charging stations.

The vote came on Friday afternoon, following a morning of amending and voting on the principal land use changes the majority of the council believes will help more people secure housing at lower costs. Thursday’s council meeting lasted about 13 hours, with citizens arguing pro and con on the rules for land use. Very few people commented on the vehicle charging stations. Those who did were in favor.

Council Member Alison Alter told her colleagues, “This is an item that I initiated and builds off work that I have done and Mayor Pro Tem [Leslie] Pool and others have done to support EVs in our community.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Zilker Eagle mini train on track for public opening soon (KVUE)

 It’s full steam ahead for the restored Zilker Eagle mini train.

In an update on Monday, the Austin Parks Foundation said if upcoming testing goes according to plan, a date will be set to open the train to the public soon.

Once given the green light, the train will be replacing the longtime Zilker Zephyr. The Zephyr announced its end in early 2020 after its previous vendor cited issues due to erosion from heavy rainfall in 2019.

The parks foundation announced the train's new name in April 2021, a nod to Zilker Park's very first train of 1961.

Extensive testing has been underway the last month in Zilker Park. A few weeks ago, the train was tested with a full load of staff members and experienced clearance issues, the Austin Parks Foundation said.

“While this was disappointing, it’s also exactly why we test!” Austin Parks Foundation CEO Colin Wallis said. “We want to work out all the kinks and ensure that train is 100% safe before we open it to the public.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia reflects on decision to remain Dallas' top cop, saying 'My heart is here.' (WFAA)

Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia sat down to speak with WFAA for the first time since deciding to remain in Dallas last week -- both Houston and Austin reportedly wanted him to come south and head up their respective police departments. 

Garcia told WFAA that he never wanted to leave the city but needed more assurance that he wouldn't be removed once a new regime of city managers took over. 

Former City Manager TC Broadnax brought Garcia here. After resigning earlier this year, he is now in the same role in Austin. More departures from his old office in Dallas were announced on Monday. 

The city's charter prevents the police chief from holding a contract, meaning the city manager may hire/fire a police chief at any time. The same goes for other heads of departments, which has been challenging for city officials when it comes to retention. 

City leaders added a binding agreement to Garcia's offer letter, sidestepping a contract but laying out a plan to keep him until at least 2027 with a bi-annual retention bonus of $10,000. 

Police association leaders stood together and urged city leaders to get something done to keep Garcia, likely a first for the city… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Mayor Whitmire applauds Houston's unity as it continues through post-storm recovery (Houston Chronicle)

Days after a severe storm swept through the region, causing widespread damage and at least seven deaths, Mayor John Whitmire took time at a Sunday news conference at Houston Emergency Center to applaud how Houstonians worked together amid the crisis. “Once again Houston demonstrated how special we are in terms of coming together,” Whitmire said. As the city moves through its recovery mode, Houston is still under a local disaster declaration, Whitmire said. The majority of the damage occurred in Northwest Houston, as well as in areas like the Heights and the central business district, he added.

The city’s main priority as it continues moving through recovery is energy. Whitmire said at the height of the storm, there were over 900,000 residents without power. That number has since fallen to under 300,000, and CenterPoint currently has thousands of employees working around the clock, Whitmire said. CenterPoint hopes to fully restore power throughout the city by Wednesday. While Houston ISD still has 56 schools without power, classes will be in session Monday, Whitmire said, and schools without power will be provided with food. Whitmire also encouraged residents with debris from the storm to place it curbside so city sanitation workers can start picking it up in the morning. Houston’s Solid Waste Management Department will conduct its Friday routes starting tomorrow... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Texas’ Republican old guard mobilizes to protect Dade Phelan from the far right (Texas Tribune)

The ouster of Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont, would give Dunn’s cohort its best chance yet to elect a speaker who is aligned with Patrick and the Senate, likely clearing the way for unfinished priorities like private school vouchers, expanded state control of elections in Democrat-run counties and various measures aimed at infusing more Christianity into public life.

“This is not the party of George Herbert Walker Bush or [former Sen.] John Tower or Kay Bailey Hutchison or George W. Bush,” said Jon Taylor, a political science professor at the University of Texas at San Antonio. “It is a party that is decidedly more conservative, much less interested in the kind of approach that Texas Republicans took for decades, which was working strongly and closely with the business community … but not pushing very hard on social stuff.”

Some hardline conservatives reject the notion that they have abandoned their pro-business principles, arguing it’s possible to focus on things like loosening the regulatory environment while also restricting abortion and LGBTQ+ rights...

[US/WORLD NEWS]

More companies offer on-site child care. Parents love the convenience, but is it a long-term fix? (Associated Press)

They operate in places like an airport, a resort, and a distribution center, tucked away from the public eye but close enough for easy access. They often emit laughter — and the sound of tumbling blocks, bouncing balls, and meandering tricycles.

They’re child care centers based at workplaces. And in the fraught American child care landscape, they are popping up more frequently.

Skyrocketing child care costs and staffing shortages have complicated arrangements for working parents. Some have left jobs after struggling to find quality care. Employers, in turn, view their entry into the child care realm as both a competitive advantage and a workplace morale booster.

“In the absence of government intervention and investment, a lot of businesses have been stepping up to make sure that their employees can access affordable child care,” says Samantha Melvin, an assistant research professor at the Erikson Institute, an independent graduate school for early childhood education… (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

District 4

District 6

District 7 (Open seat)

District 10 (Open seat)

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