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- BG Reads 9.11.2024
BG Reads 9.11.2024
🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - September 11, 2024
Bingham Group Reads
Presented by:
www.binghamgp.com
September 11, 2024
Today's BG Reads include:
🟪 South Korean, U.S. ambassadors to make stop in Williamson County as part of three-state trip (Austin Business Journal)
🟪 As rents across the country go up, Austin prices continue to fall (KUT)
🟪 Facial expressions spoke volumes when mics were muted in the presidential debate (NPR)
🟪 US commemorates 9/11 attacks with victims in focus, but politics in view (Associated Press)
Read On!
[BINGHAM GROUP]
🟪 We are proud to represent and have represented a wide range of clients in the Austin Metro and Texas Capitol at the intersection of government and business.
🟪 Learn more about Bingham Group’s experience here, and review client testimonials here.
[CITY OF AUSTIN]
đź’ˇ The Austin Council has seven (7) regular meetings left in 2024.
đź“ş City Council Candidate Forum: District 7 - Video (9.5.2024)
District 4 - September 19th
City of Austin Permitting and Development Center, Room 1405, 6310 Wilhelmina Delco Drive, Austin 78752
District 2 - September 25th
Dove Springs Recreation Center, 5801 Ainez Drive, Austin 78744
District 10 - September 30th
Dell Jewish Community Campus, Epstein Family Community Hall, 7300 Hart Lane, Austin 78731
Mayor - October 3rd
Austin City Hall Council Chambers, 301 W. 2nd St. Austin 78701
District 6 - October 7th
Hope Presbyterian Church, 11512 Olson Drive, Austin 78750
âś… All candidate forums will are scheduled from 6:30pm to 8pm.
âś… All forums will be streamed live and archived on ATXN.
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
South Korean, U.S. ambassadors to make stop in Williamson County as part of three-state trip (Austin Business Journal)
The South Korean ambassador to the United States and U.S. ambassador to South Korea will be in Williamson County on Sept. 11 as part of a tri-state tour to reaffirm the economic relationship between the two countries.
Cho Hyn-dong and Philip S. Goldberg will visit Williamson County and Taylor, where South Korean electronics giant Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. is building its new manufacturing plant as part of a $45 billion investment there and at its existing site in North Austin. They will hold a press conference alongside Taylor Independent School District Superintendent Jennifer Garcia-Edwardson, Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell and Taylor Mayor Dwayne Ariola.
The Williamson County stop comes as part of a week-long trip to Michigan, Texas and Arizona, where the officials will meet with elected officials and businesspeople, hold talks on university campuses and visit semiconductor-related businesses while discussing global affairs and other business issues, according to Korean news outlets. The first stop in Michigan included a roundtable at the University of Michigan, where the leaders discussed the importance of the countries' economic development partnership, according to The Michigan Daily… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
As rents across the country go up, Austin prices continue to fall (KUT)
During the pandemic, Austin came to exemplify the story of housing across the country: prices went through the roof. In 2021, the average monthly rent in the region rose 25%. Similar increases happened in cities in California and Arizona.
But that narrative has flipped. As tens of thousands of new apartments have opened in Austin and the rate of people moving to the city has slowed, rent prices have been falling. For more than a year.
According to new numbers from Zillow, Austin is now leading the country in declining rents. But this time few other large U.S. cities are following.
The typical monthly rent in the Austin metro is down nearly 4% compared to last summer. Rents in similarly priced cities – including Dallas, Phoenix and Atlanta – are rising. The average monthly rent in Austin is now anywhere between roughly $1,500 and $1,800… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Mayoral candidate Doug Greco sues city to overturn campaign finance rule (Austin Monitor)
Mayoral candidate Doug Greco and his campaign, along with Ramon Duran – a Bexar County resident who supports Greco’s candidacy – filed suit in federal court on Tuesday, challenging the provision of the Austin City Charter that prevents City Council candidates from accepting more than $47,000 in contributions from people who live outside the Austin city limits.
The plaintiffs are asking a federal judge to declare as unconstitutional a section of the charter limiting contributions from nonresidents. They also want the judge to grant a temporary injunction and then a permanent injunction against enforcement of that law.
Greco, a longtime social justice advocate and former Austin teacher, has complained that his relatives in other states are unable to contribute because of the limitation.
“I should be able to run a grassroots fundraising campaign from friends, colleagues, supporters and families from inside and outside of Austin so I can continue to fight for working families and stand up to Greg Abbott against his attacks on our civil rights,” Greco said in a news release echoing his comments at a morning press conference... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
New H-E-B to open in Georgetown next summer (Austin Business Journal)
H-E-B LP has confirmed plans to build its third grocery store in Georgetown.
The retail bellwether that attracts smaller stores said Sept. 10 that it has started construction on the store, which is slated to open next summer. Located at Ronald Reagan Boulevard and Ranch Road 2338, it will feature a unique design to complement the Parmer Ranch development, according to H-E-B.
The Austin Business Journal first reported in March that H-E-B was planning a third Georgetown location. The store will anchor Barshop and Oles Co.’s planned 31-acre shopping center, called Parmer Ranch Marketplace. It's about a 10-minute drive from the sweeping Sun City neighborhood.
Georgetown is home to two other H-E-B stores. One opened in summer 2023 at Wolf Lakes Village and the other is located at 4500 Williams Drive… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
Abbott says potential power outages from Tropical Storm Francine will be restored within hours (Texas Tribune)
Tropical Storm Francine could bring life-threatening storm surge, dangerous winds and high water on Texas roadways along the Gulf Coast, Gov. Greg Abbott said Tuesday morning, urging Texans to heed advice from their local officials and remain vigilant because the storm could still change course.
Galveston County Judge Mark Henry issued a voluntary evacuation order for the Bolivar Peninsula through Wednesday evening because flooding and high tides could hamper travel to and from the peninsula, leaving vulnerable people at-risk.
The storm is currently moving northeastward across the Gulf of Mexico and is expected to become a hurricane before making landfall in Louisiana on Wednesday.
A storm surge warning is in effect for Sabine Pass, Texas, to the Mississippi-Alabama border, according to the National Hurricane Center. Storm surge warnings and watches for the Texas coast from High Island southward were discontinued as of Tuesday afternoon… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Dan Patrick asks Senate to consider bills to unmask protesters, change runoff elections (Texas Tribune)
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick wants the Texas Senate to reexamine how the state conducts runoff elections and recommend new laws aimed at stopping protesters from covering their faces when the Legislature meets next year.
On Tuesday, Patrick — who oversees the Senate and has serious power over what bills it passes — released a second round of directives for Senate committees, building on a list of 57 items from earlier this year that focused on, among other things, housing costs, school vouchers, property tax relief and strengthening the power grid.
The new list includes a number of right-wing priorities, and would escalate Republicans’ wars against diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
Last year, Texas lawmakers banned such programs at public universities — prompting layoffs and protests at some schools. Now, Patrick wants lawmakers to “examine programs and certificates” at higher education institutions that still have DEI policies, and then “expose” them as “damaging and not aligned with state workforce demands.” He then wants lawmakers to recommend “any needed reforms to ensure universities are appropriately educating students to meet workforce needs.”… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[US and World News]
Facial expressions spoke volumes when mics were muted in the presidential debate (NPR)
In a presidential debate, the split screen shot of the candidates — with one candidate speaking and the other reacting non-verbally — can easily become the story of the debate.
In Tuesday night's presidential debate, while former President Donald Trump delivered voluble answers often looking and sounding angry, Vice President Harris’ face was doing a lot of work.
At times her expression was pained, at other moments she leaned her head back and took a breath looking to the sky in a motion that was just one step shy of an eye roll.
And at other times, she got a look that said "bless your heart" without actually saying it… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Republicans blame moderators for Trump’s poor debate performance (Politico)
Republicans know Donald Trump didn’t win Tuesday’s debate. And they know who to blame: the media. “It was three-on-one. They continued to engage in so-called fact-checking of Donald Trump. They never did that to Kamala Harris,” Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) told reporters.
“You have two moderators there who acted as agents of the Harris campaign,” said David Bossie, a longtime Trump adviser and Republican National Committe member from Maryland… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
The stereotype of immigrants eating dogs and cats is storied — and vitriolic as ever (NPR)
It was understood that immigration would be front and center during Tuesday night’s presidential debate. More surprising was that the conversation veered into bizarre falsehoods about migrants eating pet dogs and cats in Ohio.
While certainly strange, these accusations are hardly unprecedented. In fact, there’s a long history of accusing immigrants of eating cats and dogs.
For context, in the last few days, vice presidential candidate JD Vance has echoed a rumor about Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio eating people’s pets. Springfield, a city of around 60,000, has received 15,000 to 20,000 migrants in the last four years, many from Haiti… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
US commemorates 9/11 attacks with victims in focus, but politics in view (Associated Press)
The U.S. is remembering the lives taken and those reshaped by 9/11, marking an anniversary laced this year with presidential campaign politics.
Sept. 11 — the date when hijacked plane attacks killed nearly 3,000 people in 2001 — falls in the thick of the presidential election season every four years, and it comes at an especially pointed moment this time.
Fresh off their first-ever debate Tuesday night, Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are both expected to attend 9/11 observances at the World Trade Center in New York and the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.
Then-senators and presidential campaign rivals John McCain and Barack Obama made a visible effort to put politics aside on the 2008 anniversary. They visited ground zero together to pay their respects and lay flowers in a reflecting pool at what was then still a pit… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
How Americans voted their way into a housing crisis (Bloomberg)
In housing circles, Jerusalem Demsas has emerged as a critical voice for supply-side policy. As a staff writer for The Atlantic, she argues that lawmakers should address housing unaffordability by focusing on a severe shortage of homes.
She has distinguished herself within the supply-side camp by zeroing in on the unlikely way that communities landed themselves in a housing crisis in the first place: From sea to shining sea, Americans voted for it.
On The Housing Crisis: Land, Development, Democracy is a collection of reported essays by Demsas that explores the role that democratic structures play in perpetuating a housing shortage. Writing with plain yet authoritative language, she tackles the difference between such thorny economic concepts as shortage denialism and supply skepticism, showing how they manifest in real communities.
Yet she also writes from the ground level to explore the toll of hyperlocal overdemocracy, connecting rational decisions by neighborhoods to reject development to an irrational picture of a country that can no longer build.
“Americans are aware by now that the housing affordability crisis is acute, but many don’t understand what’s causing it,” Demsas writes in the introduction to her new book. “All too often, explanations center around identifying a villain: greedy developers, or private equity companies, or racist neighbors, or gentrifiers, or corrupt politicians. These stories are not always false, nor are these villains imaginary, but they don’t speak to root causes.”
Over 14 essays, Demsas makes the case that solutions to the housing crisis will have to come from states, not cities. Bloomberg CityLab spoke to Demsas about how local democracy is set up to stymie development, and how fewer democratic bottlenecks could help fix the problem. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
_________________________
We are proud to represent and have represented a wide range of clients in the Austin Metro and Texas Capitol at the intersection of government and business.
Learn more about Bingham Group’s experience here, and review client testimonials here.
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