BG Reads 6.27.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - June 27, 2024

June 27, 2024

Bingham Group Reads

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June 27, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 Affordable child care investment for Travis County may be on November ballot (Austin Monitor)

🟣 Charges dropped against 79 people from April 29 pro-Palestinian protests at UT Austin (KUT)

🟣 On homelessness, Broadnax seeks connections with housing and service providers (Austin Monitor)

🟣 Conservative-backed group is creating a list of federal workers it suspects could resist Trump plans (Associated Press)

Read On!

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[CITY OF AUSTIN]

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Affordable child care investment for Travis County may be on November ballot (Austin Monitor)

At its June 25 meeting, the Travis County Commissioners Court took a step toward expanding access to early childhood care and after-school services for low-income residents, setting Aug. 13 for a public hearing on a proposed 2.5-cent property tax rate increase election this November to fund those services. The idea began in May, when commissioners unanimously passed the CARES Resolution, directing Health and Human Services to begin the process of researching how child care options could be expanded. In its update Tuesday, county HHS provided commissioners with some proposed details. 

The No. 1 priority is to expand the number of slots available because federal and state funds for child care that got a boost from COVID relief have now largely dried up. There are only around 3,000 state-funded slots locally, and around 4,500 people are on a two-year wait to access them. Last year, a study by the National Database of Childcare Prices found that the cost of child care in Travis County is higher than anywhere else in the state. In addition to being financially out of reach for most families, there aren’t enough options available to parents who work outside of 9-to-5 schedules.

HHS has a specific focus on expanding slots within nontraditional hours – meaning after school, evenings and weekends. The goal is to add 1,407 new slots overseen by a contractor (or several) that would procure providers for those services. HHS said Tuesday that an unnamed major hospital chain has expressed interest… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

On homelessness, Broadnax seeks connections with housing and service providers (Austin Monitor)

The Austin Monitor recently sat down with new Austin City Manager T.C. Broadnax to discuss some of the more prominent issues facing city staff and City Council as he gets situated in his job. For the last of four portions from the interview, he shares his thoughts on addressing homelessness in the city.

On the homelessness question, when you were in Dallas there were some really good strides made in addressing that issue. Are you seeing anything that could be brought to bear here from Dallas that you learned, or is it too different of a situation?

Being so new, one of the things that I’m finding most rewarding is just sitting with individuals, particularly in the homeless space, and trying to understand where we’ve been, what we’ve done, what we’ve tried, what worked and what didn’t work in some cases. Dallas has made some success. It wasn’t always easy, and it didn’t start out like that. Where we were in Dallas as I left, they’ve been seen as a best practice as it relates to a model that really is touching people where they are, meaning an encampment to housing and wrap-around services, even out in the field, as you’re moving through encampments so that you don’t lose the person while you’re having the conversations and you get them placed. So they don’t have to go, “Where are you going to be?” And we never find them again. They would go straight from encampment into housing and do the triage out in the street… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

See also:

Panelists offer cautious optimism on HOME and other city land use changes (Austin Monitor)

Local real estate and development professionals weighed in Wednesday on the potential impact of the city’s many recent changes in land use policy, which were intended to add housing stock and address the affordability problem that has affected the area for roughly a decade.

At the monthly breakfast panel held by Urban Land Institute Austin, the discussion focused on the policy slate that sought to reduce minimum lot sizes and add more single-family units, reduce compatibility requirements for developments surrounding single-family homes and tailor equitable transit-oriented developments to maximize affordability and encourage use of mass transit. Panelists were supportive of City Council and staff’s work on those changes since late last year, with guarded optimism about how successful each policy initiative could be.

Josh Lickteig, principal with Endeavor development company, said high interest rates and other financial considerations have slowed down building projects in general. That slow pace of construction and sales volume will likely make builders more hesitant to begin new projects in areas where they previously weren’t allowed… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Longtime city executive Angela Means named Austin's interim parks director (Community Impact)

Longtime city executive Angela Means began leading the Austin Parks and Recreation Department as interim director this spring, following the recent departure of former Director Kimberly McNeely."Director Means is excited to help lead the Parks and Recreation Department's mission of inspiring Austin to learn, play, protect and connect by creating diverse programs and experiences in sustainable natural spaces and public places," department spokesperson Kanya Lyons said in an email.

Means rejoined Austin's parks department in her new role on May 28, soon after the announcement McNeely would be leaving to serve as CEO of The Trail Conservancy nonprofit.Means has more than 25 years of experience in local government administration, according to the city. That includes several leadership roles across Austin's parks, code, development services and housing departments, and past city finance and budgeting roles in San Diego… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Charges dropped against 79 people from April 29 pro-Palestinian protests at UT Austin (KUT)

More charges have been dropped against people who were arrested at pro-Palestinian protests on the UT Austin campus in April.

This is the second round of cases dismissed against people who participated in the April demonstrations.

Travis County Attorney Delia Garza announced the news on Wednesday. She said her office received 79 cases for criminal trespass, a misdemeanor, related to the April 29 protests.

She said all those cases will be dismissed, but she made it clear that the dismissed cases are specifically for people who were charged with criminal trespassing on UT's South Lawn on April 29.

"We had a team of prosecutors spend approximately 90 hours evaluating these cases," Garza said. "We reviewed the evidence and the law, and considered many factors including the legitimate concerns of violations of free speech."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

SXSW drops U.S. Army sponsorship after boycotts (AXIOS Austin)

South by Southwest will no longer partner with the U.S. Army and weapons manufacturing companies after pro-Palestinian boycotts roiled this year's festival.

Why it matters: The decision comes after 80 artists withdrew from the 2024 festival, citing SXSW's ties to defense contractor RTX Corporation and its U.S. Army sponsorship.

What they're saying: "After careful consideration, we are revising our sponsorship model," the event festival's online FAQ reads.

"As a result, the US Army, and companies who engage in weapons manufacturing, will not be sponsors of SXSW 2025."… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

Fastest growing group in Texas: Asian Americans (Texas Tribune)

The Asian American population in Texas is growing fast.

Asian Texans made big gains from 2022 to 2023, growing faster than any other racial group in the state, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday. Their numbers increased by 5.5%, or 91,921, over the previous year's count. This was faster than the overall population growth of the state, which grew by 1.6%.

The increase reflects several decades of steady growth in the group’s population and diversity in the state. And within that growth, the figures reflect another trend seen across the state: the increase in seniors. As Texas gets older, research groups raise questions about the resources available for older adults… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

Conservative-backed group is creating a list of federal workers it suspects could resist Trump plans (Associated Press)

From his home office in small-town Kentucky, a seasoned political operative is quietly investigating scores of federal employees suspected of being hostile to the policies of Republican Donald Trump, a highly unusual and potentially chilling effort that dovetails with broader conservative preparations for a new White House. Tom Jones and his American Accountability Foundation are digging into the backgrounds, social media posts and commentary of key high-ranking government employees, starting with the Department of Homeland Security.

They’re relying in part on tips from his network of conservative contacts, including workers. In a move that alarms some, they’re preparing to publish the findings online. With a $100,000 grant from the Heritage Foundation, the goal is to post 100 names of government workers to a website this summer to show a potential new administration who might be standing in the way of a second-term Trump agenda — and ripe for scrutiny, reclassifications, reassignments or firings.

“We need to understand who these people are and what they do,” said Jones, a former Capitol Hill aide to Republican senators. The concept of compiling and publicizing a list of government employees shows the lengths Trump’s allies are willing to go to ensure nothing or no one will block his plans in a potential second term. Jones’ Project Sovereignty 2025 comes as Heritage’s Project 2025 lays the groundwork, with policies, proposals and personnel ready for a possible new White House. The effort, focused on top career government officials who aren’t appointees within the political structure, has stunned democracy experts and shocked the civil service community in what they compare with the red scare of McCarthyism.

Jacqueline Simon, policy director at the American Federation of Government Employees, said the language being used — the Heritage Foundation’s announcement praised the group for ferreting out “anti-American bad actors” — is “shocking.” Civil servants are often ex-military personnel and are required to take an oath to the Constitution to work for the federal government, not a loyalty test to a president, she and others said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

‘It’s not enough:’ Experts question whether social media warning labels can protect teens (The Hill)

The surgeon general’s call for warning labels on social media platforms has largely been met with ambivalence as experts tout the idea as a step in the right direction but question the effectiveness of labels without more concrete action. In an op-ed in The New York Times last week, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy called for warning labels on platforms advising users that social media is associated with significant mental health risks for teens. These tobaccolike warning labels would remind parents and teens that social media “has not been proved safe,” Murthy said.

“I think the surgeon general’s warning is the start,” said Richard Hanna, a professor of practice in marketing at Babson College. However, he argued “it’s not enough” without action from other players.

The proposed social media warning labels come in the wake of Murthy’s advisory last year, warning that social media use may be harmful to the mental health of young people. “I’m issuing this advisory because we’re in the middle of a youth mental health crisis and I’m concerned that social media is contributing to the harms that kids are experiencing,” he said at the time.

Both then and now, Murthy pointed to a 2019 study showing that adolescents who spent more than three hours per day on social media had double the risk of developing symptoms of depression and anxiety. As of last summer, teens were spending an average of 4.8 hours per day on social media platforms, according to a Gallup poll the surgeon general also cited. Warning labels on social media platforms could open up conversations between parents and teens, said Nicole O’Donnell, an assistant professor at Washington State University who focuses on health communication… (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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