BG Reads 6.13.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - June 13, 2024

June 13, 2024

Bingham Group Reads

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June 13, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 Project Connect lawsuit finally headed to court Monday (Austin Monitor)

🟣 Effort to remove Travis County District Attorney Jose´ Garza likely won't go forward (Austin American-Statesman)

🟣 UT Austin, one of the city's largest employers, is eliminating most remote work (KUT)

🟣 Austin community groups present $5.2 million budget proposal for housing, health, safety (CBS Austin)

Read On!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Project Connect lawsuit finally headed to court Monday (Austin Monitor)

Although the matter has been postponed in the past, it seems likely that Monday will be the trial date for the Austin Transit Partnership and the city of Austin lawsuit to validate voter-approved bonds for Project Connect, combined with the Dirty Martin’s lawsuit to prevent issuance of those bonds. The other important player on this field is Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose office has opposed issuance of the bonds to fund the rail system, an atypical move for an official who routinely approves bonds for local jurisdictions.

The hearing is set for 10 a.m. in Travis County Judge Eric Shepperd’s courtroom.

As explained by a city spokesperson, each year City Council approves a transfer of voter-approved tax revenues to Austin Transit Partnership through its yearly budget process: “At its February 14, 2024 meeting, the City Council authorized amendments to the Interlocal Funding Agreement between the City and Austin Transit Partnership that memorialized this annual transfer and clarified that the revenue transfer is subject to annual appropriation.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Effort to remove Travis County District Attorney Jose´ Garza likely won't go forward (Austin American-Statesman)

An effort to remove Travis County District Attorney Jose´ Garza from office under a new state law that critics say targets progressive prosecutors is likely dead, according to new court filings obtained Monday. Bell County Attorney Jim Nichols, a Republican prosecutor appointed by a Republican judge to review evidence in the case, filed a three-page motion late Friday to dismiss the case "with prejudice."

Nichols wrote that he investigated whether Garza's office had a policy of not prosecuting certain crimes — a key basis for the suit — and found no such policies in place. He found that previous policies about not prosecuting drug crimes, for example, were rescinded and new directives adopted after the new "rogue prosecutor" law was put in place in September 2023.

The move comes two months after Travis County resident Mary Elizabeth Dupuis filed the lawsuit under Texas House Bill 17, alleging Garza’s refusal to prosecute certain crimes, which she contends amounts to “incompetency and official misconduct.”

Nichols also found that the way in which Garza's office handles cases against police officers is not "a valid grounds for removal." The lawsuit targeted Garza's approach to such cases to boot him from office. The case marked the first time since the law went into effect in September that a judge accepted a lawsuit for consideration and appointed a special prosecutor to review the matter. The case is set for a hearing Tuesday. Dupuis wrote on social media that she filed the petition because she did not think Garza’s office properly handled her sexual assault case.

The filing alleged that the district attorney’s office has adopted a “blanket non-prosecution policy” for drug possession and cites Garza’s promise not to prosecute abortion crimes. The petition also points to Garza's approach to police use-of-force cases, which it describes as “discriminating” against law enforcement officials, as evidence of prosecutorial misconduct… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

UT Austin, one of the city's largest employers, is eliminating most remote work (KUT)

UT Austin will require "almost all" staff members to return to working on-site, full-time ahead of the fall semester.

In an email to the campus community Wednesday, UT President Jay Hartzell said leaders of individual colleges and schools will finalize logistics by early July, and the policy will fully take effect by Aug. 19 — the week before fall classes start.

"Staff members can most effectively serve our students, faculty, fellow staff members, and other stakeholders when working together in an environment that fosters collaboration, innovation, availability, and reliability," Hartzell said in the email. "We are here because of our students, and your consistent presence will help provide a more complete and engaging learning experience for students throughout campus."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Pursuing better business connections, Economic Development Corporation rebrands as Rally Austin (Austin Monitor)

The Austin Economic Development Corporation has rebranded as Rally Austin, in an attempt to better communicate its goals of helping to create and preserve affordable housing and cultural spaces throughout the city.

The change, which was announced Wednesday, comes as the real estate nonprofit organization is poised to help facilitate some of the most important components of the long-planned redevelopment of Blocks 16 and 18 on East 11th Street. A preferred development group is expected to be selected for that project at Monday’s meeting of the Urban Renewal Board.

The city helped facilitate the creation of the former AEDC in 2020. Since forming, it has used mostly city funding for its $2 million operating budget but is able to operate with more flexibility and speed in creating real estate deals that satisfy the city’s goals related to affordable spaces… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Austin community groups present $5.2 million budget proposal for housing, health, safety (CBS Austin)

A coalition of 41 community organizations in Austin released their annual Community Investment Budget on Wednesday, calling for the city to prioritize funding for housing, health, and safety initiatives in the upcoming 2025 fiscal year budget. The proposal, which amounts to 5% of the city's general fund or $5.2 million, includes investments in park maintenance, library resources, and infrastructure repairs guided by equity and sustainability.

"This proposal has emerged from a months-long collaboration among the undersigned organizations," said Kathy Mitchell, Senior Advisor to Equity Action. "These items are the ones that dozens of community organizations agree should be prioritized by the City Manager and Council in the upcoming budget process. They can absolutely be funded if they are made a priority by our new manager and elected leaders."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

How the Supreme Court’s affirmative action ruling may change San Antonio’s contracting decisions (Texas Tribune)

A national political fight over affirmative action — including lawsuits filed systematically across the U.S. by conservative groups hoping to take the issue up to the Supreme Court — is quickly reshaping the procurement industry in one of the largest minority-majority cities in the country.

In September, San Antonio-based software company DigitalDesk Inc. sued Bexar County after it wasn’t selected to receive a federal pandemic aid grant, alleging the company was placed at the bottom of the priority list because its owner, Greg Gomm, is white and male.

A judge dismissed the case last month, saying Gomm didn’t have standing because he didn’t file the required paperwork to be considered for the grant.

Despite that setback, “it’s just a matter of time” before one of the cases makes it to the Supreme Court, Dan Lennington, a lawyer with the conservative Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty who is representing Gomm and plans to appeal the case, told the San Antonio Report... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Houston city leaders want extra HPD cadet class, new fees and drainage dollars in next year's budget (Houston Chronicle)

Houston Mayor John Whitmire has agreed to fund an additional police cadet class as he weighs around 50 changes City Council members have proposed to his budget plan for the new fiscal year starting in July.

The mayor unveiled in May the first spending plan of his tenure. The proposal’s current version consists of $7.3 billion in expenditures across city operations. Of that total, $3 billion would go into the general fund, primarily supported by property and sales taxes and covering essential services such as policing, trash collection, parks and libraries. The remaining dollars would be directed to enterprise funds, which are self-sustaining and use fees and charges to pay for specific functions.

Under Houston’s “strong mayor” system, the power to propose amendments is the most significant tool at council members’ disposal during the annual budget season. Thirteen of the 16 members have submitted at least one. Per usual, most of these suggestions aim to draw extra funds from the city's savings to boost services such as policing, drainage repairs and community code enforcement.

At the same time, with the city facing serious financial challenges and no measures in Whitmire’s current plan to generate new revenue, over a dozen amendments aim to stabilize Houston’s finances by creating new fees or cutting certain expenses. Most budget amendments historically fail to pass, with the mayor's backing often being the deciding factor. Mary Benton, the mayor’s spokeswoman, said Whitmire is still reviewing and considering most of the amendments… (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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