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- BG Reads 7.15.2024
BG Reads 7.15.2024
🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - July 15, 2024
Bingham Group Reads
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July 15, 2024
Today's BG Reads include:
🟣 Council gives first thoughts on $5.9B draft budget for 2025 (Austin Monitor)
🟣 President Biden postpones Austin visit after Trump assassination attempt (KUT)
🟣 Grand expansion of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport closer; City Council poised to consider major contracts (Austin Business Journal)
🟣 Gov. Abbott reprimands CenterPoint and calls for an investigation into the utility’s response to Beryl blackouts (Texas Tribune)
Read On!
[BINGHAM GROUP]
[CITY OF AUSTIN]
🟣 On Friday, City Manager T.C. Broadnax presented the city’s proposed $5.9 billion FY 24/25 to the Austin Council.
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Council gives first thoughts on $5.9B draft budget for 2025 (Austin Monitor)
The early draft of the city’s 2025 budget weighs in at $5.9 billion, a $400 million increase over the current budget. City Manager T.C. Broadnax said the balanced budget offers increases in city staff compensation and benefits despite lower-than-expected sales tax revenues that in recent months had raised concerns that the city may run a budget deficit or have to dip into reserve funds.
The draft budget was delivered during a special City Council work session on Friday, when Broadnax and financial staff expanded the budget timeline to include detailed projections of possible 2026 budget revenues and expenditures. That shift was welcomed by Council members, who said the two-year view offers a better road map for city spending and long-term projects.
The budget is expected to be approved by mid-August.
Budget officer Kerri Lang offered a detailed look at the many discrete sections of the budget – including the General Fund, utilities and the major cost drivers for the next two years. With the city’s annual property tax increases capped at 3.5 percent by state law, Lang said contributions from Austin Energy and other utilities will need to increase relative to the rest of the budget for the city to keep up with funding its many needs and priorities… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
President Biden postpones Austin visit after Trump assassination attempt (KUT)
President Biden postponed a visit to Austin until later this month following an attempted assassination at former President Donald Trump's rally Saturday.
Biden planned to deliver a speech at the LBJ Presidential Library Monday to commemorate 60 years since the Civil Rights Act was signed.
“Given the unfortunate events of the last 24 hours, we anticipated that the President's schedule could change anytime,” Mark K. Updegrove, President & CEO of the LBJ Foundation, said in a statement. “We are honored President Biden remains committed to joining us at the LBJ Library to mark the 60th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Act and we look forward to hosting him later this month.”
Speaking at the White House Sunday afternoon, Biden said he has directed the Secret Service to provide heightened security to former President Trump and to review all security measures for the Republican National Convention, which is scheduled to begin tomorrow in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence or any violence for that matter," Biden said. "An assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Grand expansion of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport closer; City Council poised to consider major contracts (Austin Business Journal)
Some big contracts are set to be signed over the next few months as part of the multibillion-dollar effort to modernize and expand Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.
They'll cover everything from building commissioning services — which is the process of ensuring new construction meets operational and design standards — to utility infrastructure and engineering and architectural work. They'll also include design and construction of a new concourse and connector tunnel, as well as a new "Arrivals and Departure Hall."
The projects are aimed at improving the airport amid booming passenger volumes. In the wake of the pandemic, ABIA has seen more than 21 million annual travelers in each of the last two years and has struggled to keep up. The airport opened in 1999 and was built to support 11 million annual passengers.
On July 18, the Austin City Council will consider the following items that have been recommended for approval by the city's Department of Aviation:
A $24 million contract with Arup US Inc. to serve as airport building commission agent, oversee services needed for airport expansion and development to ensure projects meet specifications. The London-based real estate giant has several U.S. offices, according to its website — including one in Austin.
Authorization for contract negotiations with Global Access Supply Inc. to replace airfield lighting and fixture parts. If approved, the deal would not exceed $1 million and would last for up to five years. It would replace a current agreement that's set to expire in September.
Authorization for negotiations and execution of a utility-related construction manager at risk contract that's not to exceed $120 million.
Authorization for negotiations and execution of a contract with Saab Inc. for development and staffing of virtual ramp control system. The deal would last up to 10 years and not exceed $45 million… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Seat capacity is down at AUS, but new federal rule entitles travelers to refunds for canceled flights (Austin Monitor)
During the Airport Advisory Commission meeting July 10, Deputy Chief of Air Service Jamy Kazanoff updated commissioners on a slight drop in seat capacity for August – so maybe start booking those late summer vacations now. Plus, when a new federal rule goes into effect in October, travelers will be entitled to full refunds for flight cancellations or delays.
May was a record-breaking month for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, as capacity for seating hadn’t grown in a year, but there were 4 percent more passengers. That means more business for airlines. But if you’re worried about overcrowding, never fear: The “load factor” (the measure of overall capacity) in May last year was only 81 percent, meaning there was room to grow. Unfortunately, that room is shrinking.
Airline seat capacity for August is down 10 percent from last year “because the airlines have realized that the back-to-school, second, third week of August affects their travel patterns,” Kazanoff explained. “Also inflation has affected some travel habits for those on a tighter budget. So that’s been ratcheted back a bit.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Abbott reprimands CenterPoint and calls for an investigation into the utility’s response to Beryl blackouts (Texas Tribune)
Gov. Greg Abbott on Sunday slammed utility CenterPoint Energy, which has yet to restore power to hundreds of thousands of customers in the Houston area, and ordered the company to take steps to improve power reliability.
In his first public appearance since returning from a pre-planned economic development trip to Asia, the governor asked CenterPoint to send his office a detailed plan by the end of the month outlining how it will prepare differently for future hurricanes this season. Abbott said the plan must include better preparation for linemen, increasing the number of workers to restore power and trimming trees that could fall on power lines.
If CenterPoint fails to comply with his request, the governor said he will issue an executive order imposing his own requirements on the company. And he said that if the utility is unable to “fix its ongoing problems,” the state would have to reconsider the breadth of the territory it serves. CenterPoint maintains the wires, poles and electric infrastructure serving more than 2.6 million customers in Texas across the greater Houston area and some coastal communities like Galveston.
“Maybe they have too large of an area for them to be able to manage adequately,” Abbott said. “It’s time to reevaluate whether or not CenterPoint should have such a large territory.”… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
New data reveals CenterPoint’s unprecedented glitches and power loss after Beryl (Houston Chronicle)
Two months after May’s derecho took CenterPoint Energy’s outage-tracking map down, the utility’s data systems are still malfunctioning on an unprecedented scale, new data shows. In the wake of Hurricane Beryl, the ongoing technical challenges are exacerbating concerns about CenterPoint’s ability to adequately track and respond to power issues in real time.
On Monday, as millions dealt in the dark with Beryl’s landfall – and the flooding, oppressive heat and storm damage that followed – the utility’s technology crisis left customers in a frustrating information vacuum. CenterPoint’s outage portal displayed only general statistics on power loss in its Bayou City service area, which covers a dozen counties.
The information proved useless to customers searching for updates on local outages and recovery times.
Meanwhile, the system that once fed CenterPoint’s map – which has quietly continued to report data under the hood of the utility’s website – became overwhelmed almost immediately after Beryl reached the greater Houston area. It glitched for hours through Monday afternoon. The utility waited an additional 24 hours before posting a new outage-tracking map online. And that map came with a disclaimer warning about potential inaccuracies and lags. “With the tool not functioning as it should, we worked to provide a short-term solution during the multi-day event,” said Logan Anderson, a CenterPoint spokesperson, in an email.
“We recognize the inconvenience to our customers.” New data made available by a Maryland-based technology company shows what the CenterPoint system should have been reporting all along. A wave of blackouts kept more than 60% of Harris County’s CenterPoint customers in the dark for over 24 hours. Restoration efforts progressed slowly, leaving over 865,000 customers still without power at 5 p.m. Thursday… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson to speak at Republican National Convention (Dallas Morning News)
The GOP released the list of speakers for next week’s Republican National Convention, and it includes Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson.
The Republican National Convention opens Monday in Milwaukee. There will be the usual convention tasks throughout the four days. Delegates, almost 2,400 of them, must approve a platform and formally designate the presidential ticket: Donald Trump and his yet-to-be-named running mate.
On Saturday, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Convention’s Committee on Arrangements announced a list of headliners and keynote speakers. Texans on the list include U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz but not the senior senator from Texas, John Cornyn. Also on the list are U.S. Reps. Ronny Jackson of Amarillo, Monica De La Cruz of McAllen, Wesley Hunt of Houston, Abbott and Johnson.
The Dallas mayor announced in September he was switching political parties, citing his disillusionment with Democrats and a desire to lead one of America’s largest cities under the Republican banner. He blamed Democratic policies for “exacerbated crime and homelessness.” Johnson’s shift to the right positions him as the only Republican-identifying mayor of the top 10 largest cities in America. He was quickly welcomed into the GOP by the state’s top Republicans, including Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[US and World News]
Biden says ‘everybody must condemn’ attack on Trump, hopes to speak with ex-president soon (Associated Press)
President Joe Biden said Saturday that “everybody must condemn” the suspected assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, adding that he hoped to speak with his 2024 presidential rival soon. Addressing the nation about two hours after the shooting, Biden said he was relieved that Trump is reportedly “doing well.” He said he had been unable to reach Trump before his remarks and pledged to update the public later Saturday on whether they speak as well as additional details about the investigation.
“We cannot allow this to be happening,” Biden said. “The idea that there’s violence in America like this is just unheard of.” Biden, speaking without a teleprompter, said he was waiting for additional information before formally calling the attack an attempted assassination on the former president. “I have an opinion, but I don’t have any facts,” he told reporters, pledging to provide updates as he learns more.
The president delivered remarks from the White House’s emergency briefing room in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, which is set up whenever the president travels to allow him to deliver remarks to the country in a matter of minutes. He was spending the weekend at his beach home and was at a nearby church for mass when the shooting occurred. Biden received an “initial briefing” from aides after he left church minutes after the shooting and then convened security officials for a more in-depth update from Kimberly Cheatle, the director of the United States Secret Service, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and White House homeland security adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall.
After the shooting at Trump’s rally, the Biden campaign said it was pausing all messaging to supporters and working to pull down all of its television ads as quickly as possible, the campaign said. Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement that she was also briefed, adding that she and her husband “are relieved” that Trump was not seriously injured. “We are praying for him, his family, and all those who have been injured and impacted by this senseless shooting,” she said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
The Republican National Conventions starts today. Here’s what you need to know (NPR)
The Republican National Convention will officially kick off as planned on Monday in Milwaukee. The convention will be the first national gathering for party members to rally behind former President Donald Trump after he survived an assassination attempt at a campaign rally in Butler, Pa. By the time it concludes Thursday, he will become the party’s nominee along with his running mate, who he has yet to announce.
Trump, who arrived in Milwaukee on Sunday, said in a post on Truth Social the show would go on.
“Based on yesterday’s terrible events, I was going to delay my trip to Wisconsin, and The Republican National Convention, by two days, but have just decided that I cannot allow a “shooter,” or potential assassin, to force change to scheduling, or anything else," Trump wrote on Sunday. In a later post, he wrote, “UNITE AMERICA!”… (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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