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BG Reads 5.3.2024

BG Reads 5.3.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - May 3, 2024

May 03, 2024

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Bingham Group Reads

Presented by:

4.17.24 // Bingham Group celebrates 7 years in business!

May 3, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 Up to 11 deaths, over 75 cases tied to Austin overdose surge

🟣 Austin City Council approves transgender protections. AG Paxton says not so fast.

🟣 UT-Austin’s Jay Hartzell praised by GOP leaders as university presidents nationwide take heat over

Read On!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

✅ (NEW) BG Podcast Ep. 249: Austin Politics Weekly Recap and What's Ahead

✅ BG Memos - Leadership and Budget Profiles of New Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax

With the upcoming (May 6th) start of Austin's new City Manager T.C. Broadnax, we've put together three memos intended to provide background for organizations with City Hall interests.
The first and second memos are reviews of Mr. Broadnax's time as city manager of Dallas and Tacoma, respectively. The information was pulled from news articles from the time. We've provided links where appropriate.
The last is a review of the seven city of Dallas budget's Mr. Broadnax spearheaded. This was compiled through review of publicly available budget documents.
BG Memo Link - Contact me for general questions or comments. If there are specific business/policy concerns, we’re happy to schedule time to consult -> [email protected].

✅ 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)

CLICK HERE TO REVIEW CITY OF AUSTIN PUBLIC MEETINGS / AGENDAS FOR THE WEEK OF APRIL 29, 2024

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Up to 11 deaths, over 75 cases tied to Austin overdose surge (KUT)

A spate of suspected overdoses that began in Austin early this week has now climbed to 79 cases, an Austin-Travis County EMS representative said Thursday. Nine Travis County residents and two Williamson County residents have died of overdoses this week, according to authorities from both counties.

It is the largest surge in local drug overdoses since 2015. 911 calls originally came in a cluster from downtown Austin then spread to other areas of the city. Authorities from neighboring areas also warned residents to be vigilant of a "lethal batch" of drugs.

However, overdose-related calls appear to be slowing, ATCEMS division chief Angela Carr said at a news briefing Wednesday evening. She attributed this trend to the widespread distribution of Narcan, a medication that can reverse the effects of opioid overdoses.

“As of this afternoon, we have distributed over 400 doses of Narcan in just over 48 hours, and we're happy to report that it appears to be making an impact,” Carr said. “While we continue to see overdose cases across the city, the incident numbers are declining.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

UT-Austin’s Jay Hartzell praised by GOP leaders as university presidents nationwide take heat over protest response (Texas Tribune)

“President [Hartzell] is exactly the right man at the right time to lead our state’s flagship university,” said state Rep. Jeff Leach, R-Plano, in a social media post that derided the hundreds of “radical and feckless” faculty members who signed a letter of no confidence over Hartzell’s protest response.

Rep. Cody Harris, R-Palestine, said on X “the vast majority of us think (Hartzell) is doing a fantastic job” and referred to student protesters as “snot-nosed, entitled, mindless brats.”

UT-Austin has joined the ranks of other universities in the national spotlight as hoards of protesters have been recorded being dragged, pepper sprayed and tear gassed by officers wearing riot gear. But Hartzell’s strategy, which so far has netted more than 130 arrests, has prevented encampments or building occupations that have forced presidents of other elite universities into protracted negotiations with students. This refusal to cede any ground earned him rare praise from Republican officials in an environment where university presidents are increasingly becoming punching bags for conservatives angry over their handling of pro-Palestinian protests… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

UT-Austin says protesters carried guns and assaulted people. Prosecutors haven't seen proof. (Texas Tribune)

Despite University of Texas at Austin officials’ claims about weapons and assaults at the recent campus protests, Travis County Attorney Delia Garza says her office hasn't seen a single charge.

UT-Austin said Tuesday night that pro-Palestinian groups with ties to "escalating protests" across the country brought weapons and assaulted people during the rallies.

On Wednesday, Garza told KUT the university's statement — and its insistence that demonstrators had "guns, buckets of large rocks, bricks, steel-enforced wood planks, mallets and chains" — was "interesting."

“It’s concerning … we work in the world of evidence and facts, and we have not seen a single weapons charge or an assault charge," she said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin City Council approves transgender protections. AG Paxton says not so fast. (KUT)

Austin City Council approved a resolution Thursday aimed at protecting transgender people and their doctors from prosecution under the Texas ban on gender-affirming care for minors.

Within hours, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released a statement rebuking the move, calling it an “empty political statement.”

“If the City of Austin refuses to follow the law and protect children, my office will consider every possible response to ensure compliance," he said.

"Texas municipalities do not have the authority to pick and choose which state laws they will or will not abide by."

Senate Bill 14, which went into effect in September, blocks transgender people under the age of 18 from accessing gender-affirming treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy. Under the law, doctors who offer these treatments can lose their medical licenses… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

The search is on for businesses owned by underrepresented groups to support infrastructure projects (Austin Monitor)

With tens of thousands of workers needed over the next decade to complete a plethora of multibillion-dollar infrastructure projects, local leaders are also looking for a large pool of contractors and consultants who will help with supplementary services. That search is already underway, with a forum held earlier this week allowing small minority-owned businesses the chance to participate in jobs related to the Project Connect mass transit effort.

The forum, which was held by the Austin Transit Partnership, offered insights into how small businesses can become certified as a disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) to qualify for a broad selection of contracting opportunities available to underrepresented groups. Sessions at the forum also looked at the accounting practices required to be compliant for local, state and federal contract work, as well as the many nuances and intricacies involved in obtaining and maintaining DBE certification. (LINK TO FULL STORY)