BG Reads 7.26.2024

🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - July 26, 2024

July 26, 2024

Bingham Group Reads

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July 26, 2024

Today's BG Reads include:

🟣 Austin, police union closer to finalizing contract but still differ on Prop A compliance (Austin American-Statesman)

🟣 Audit committee wants to keep a close eye on upcoming bond packages (Austin Monitor)

🟣 Downtown Austin Alliance CEO Dewitt Peart to retire early next year (Austin Business Journal)

Read On!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

🟣 Bingham Group has renewed its MBE and DBE certifications with the city of Austin. We are currently seeking sub-consultant services to support projects in the Austin Metro. Learn more here.

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Austin, police union closer to finalizing contract but still differ on Prop A compliance (Austin American-Statesman)

The city and the union representing Austin police officers came closer to finalizing a contract Wednesday, with both sides indicating they are readying to compromise on most provisions related to police oversight — a key point of contention during negotiations after voters last year approved a ballot measure to increase police oversight. However, a "curveball" in the negotiations could delay progress even more, officials warned.

Going into Wednesday's session, the Austin Police Association had expected to present its wage proposal, which will be the final hurdle to finishing the contract. But the anticipated discussion didn't happen after a tense exchange near the end of the day about a final oversight-related provision.

The police union hasn't presented its wage proposals because both sides had to get over the large obstacle of complying with the Austin Police Oversight Act, formerly known as Proposition A, which voters approved in May 2023 to return powers to the civilian Police Oversight Office and allow investigators to access all police records and interview witnesses while gathering evidence of police misconduct.

Wednesday's session, which was the first in months, indicated that both sides seem to have found a compromise on how to comply with the ordinance and "protect officer rights," said Michael Bullock, the police association's president… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Audit committee wants to keep a close eye on upcoming bond packages (Austin Monitor)

The City Council Audit and Finance Committee wants staff to deliver quarterly updates to all relevant City Council committees on all projects being considered for Austin’s next bond package – mainly related to climate change and the effects of severe weather.

At Monday’s meeting, members of the committee said they would prefer a “parallel collaborative process” that would include input from the mobility, public safety and other committees along with a bond task force that is expected to be initiated at the next City Council meeting.

The next bond package could take place as early as next year. Last week, Council approved taking a somewhat slow approach to moving forward with a host of projects that will require major new funding, with the required bond proposal taking place no later than the fall of 2026.

Some Council members had pushed for a bond proposal to fund climate change initiatives on this November’s ballot, but city financial staff said the city’s debt load for previously approved bond packages would make a 2024 package difficult to manage… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Downtown Austin Alliance CEO Dewitt Peart to retire early next year (Austin Business Journal)

Dewitt Peart, president and CEO of the Downtown Austin Alliance, plans to retire early next year, prompting a national search for a successor.

The nonprofit organization that advocates for and promotes downtown as a business and entertainment district announced July 25 that it has hired executive search firm HRS Inc. to lead the effort.

"Ultimately, what we want is a really strong leader," said Whitney May Knight, chair of the DAA board.

"We want somebody who has a very strong ability to work with partners and collaborate and build consensus and really lead the organization" as Peart has been able to do, Knight said… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

CapMetro stops shift to all-electric bus fleet (KUT)

"Honestly, we thought and hoped that the technology would progress a little faster than it has," CapMetro CEO Dottie Watkins told KUT. "The biggest downside of a battery-electric bus today is its range."

Diesel buses can run from early in the morning until past midnight. A battery bus only runs about 8 to 10 hours before it needs to be recharged, creating tough logistical hurdles in scheduling routes.

An analysis by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) — a state-funded research agency at Texas A&M University — found battery-electric buses could only cover 36% of Capital Metro's bus schedules.

"If [the route] is too long, it won't make it," said John Overman, a research scientist with TTI. "You're going to have to charge them mid-route or wherever it is." Austin's hills drain batteries faster. So does trying to cool buses in the city's oppressive heat... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

CenterPoint CEO promises improvements as Texas scrutinizes company’s Beryl response (Texas Tribune)

In a somber public meeting 17 days after Hurricane Beryl took down huge portions of the Houston region’s power infrastructure, CenterPoint Energy President and CEO Jason Wells apologized to customers and vowed to communicate better and make the system more resilient.

Wells and two other company officials at the Public Utility Commission of Texas meeting Thursday outlined a plan for how the utility would improve after this month’s outages left millions of people in the dark and without air conditioning for days in the summer heat. The PUC is responsible for making sure customers get reliable power and oversees utility costs.

CenterPoint maintains power poles and lines to deliver electricity in the area. Wells said the company would significantly increase its vegetation management, which includes trimming tree branches near power lines, and launch a new outage tracker by Aug. 1. It will also hire a new senior leader to focus on emergency response coordination… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

The Obamas have endorsed Harris, capping a week where Democrats embraced her (NPR)

Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama have thrown their weight behind Vice President Harris' push to become the Democratic nominee in the 2024 election.

The endorsement, announced by her campaign in a video, caps a week where the vast majority of people involved in the Democratic party, including convention delegates, lined up behind Harris after President Biden announced on Sunday that he was abandoning his bid for a second term… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

Netanyahu will meet Trump at Mar-a-Lago, mending a years-long rift (Associated Press)

As president, Donald Trump went well beyond his predecessors in fulfilling Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s top wishes from the United States. Yet by the time Trump left the White House, relations between the two had broken down after Netanyahu rapidly congratulated Joe Biden on his 2020 presidential victory.

On Friday, the two men will meet face-to-face for the first time in nearly four years in a test of whether the relationship can be mended. Both have an interest in getting past their differences.

For Trump, now the Republican presidential nominee, the meeting could cast him as an ally and statesman, as well as sharpen efforts by Republicans to portray themselves as the party most loyal to Israel.

That’s as divisions among Americans over U.S. support for Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza open cracks in what has been decades of strong bipartisan backing for Israel, the biggest recipient of U.S. aid... (LINK TO FULL STORY)

In win for Uber and Lyft, California Court upholds gig-worker proposition (New York Times)

The California Supreme Court ruled on Thursday to uphold a four-year-old ballot measure that classifies Uber and Lyft drivers as independent contractors rather than as employees.

In a win for ride-hailing companies, the decision ends a yearslong legal dispute that could have reshaped California’s gig economy if the ruling had been overturned.

The ballot measure, Proposition 22, was first passed by state voters in 2020. 

It was overturned in 2021 by a California Superior Court judge, only to be upheld by three appeals court judges last year. The ruling means that Uber and Lyft can continue to operate in the state as usual, and the hundreds of thousands of drivers who work for both services will continue to be classified as independent contractors.

Opponents of Proposition 22 argued that it was unconstitutional because it would limit the state legislature’s ability to oversee workers’ compensation. Gig companies spent $200 million supporting the measure, which maintained the contractor classification for drivers while conceding some benefits like health care stipends and accident insurance… (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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