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September 14, 2023

In today's BG Reads:

🏠 Council considering allowing tiny homes, RVs as accessory dwelling units

⚖️ The House has rested its case against Ken Paxton after a chaotic day for the prosecution

➡️ The immigrant population in the U.S. is climbing again, setting a record last year

🆕 Bingham Group content: BG Podcast EP. 215 and more

Read on!

[BINGHAM GROUP]

🎙️ Listen: BG Podcast Ep. 215 -> On this episode we focus another major staffing change in the city's executive ranks. We also touch on Council's discussion around its first potential Ch. 380 agreement with NXP. (Also available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify).

➡️ Check out our red lined City of Austin org chart. The changes reflect the many changes in city leadership since February 2023. You can view those here: BG Blog: Tracking City of Austin Leadership Changes (Updated September 1, 2023)

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

Council considering allowing tiny homes, RVs as accessory dwelling units (Austin Monitor)

City Council seems poised to initiate changes to city zoning regulations that will allow tiny homes and recreational vehicles to be used as accessory dwelling units in single-family neighborhoods.

Council Member Leslie Pool is sponsoring a resolution on today’s Council agenda that notes that back in 2014, staff identified zoning as the largest obstacle to adding RVs as an allowable use in single-family residential districts. In her City Council Message Board post about the resolution, Pool said, “On this week’s agenda, I am excited to bring Item 83, which initiates code changes that would allow tiny homes within single-family zoning districts. Adding a tiny home to your property, if allowed, would be the easiest and most affordable way to provide much-needed housing.

These homes could be used by a family member, caretaker, college student, or just add passive income to help cover the mortgage.”

According to Atha Phillips, senior policy adviser to Pool, Council members wanted to make changes to zoning rules during the CodeNEXT process that would allow tiny homes and RVs to be used as ADUs. None of that went as planned.

Now Pool, along with Council members Chito Vela, Zo Qadri, Natasha Harper-Madison and Mayor Pro Tem Paige Ellis, propose changes that they hope will help provide affordable housing options for Austinites. The item on Thursday’s agenda directs the city manager to propose changes to the Land Development Code and bring the proposed code changes back to the Housing and Planning Committee and to Council by Nov. 30… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

🔎 Check out today’s 139 item Austin Council Agenda 

📺 Watch the Austin Council live at 10AM here.

And in other Austin Metro News:

➡️ Paid parking coming to South Congress Avenue in October (KVUE) -> LINK TO FULL STORY.

➡️ Cap Metro board holds public hearing on proposed FY 2024 budget (Austin Monitor -> LINK TO FULL STORY

[TEXAS NEWS]

The House has rested its case against Ken Paxton after a chaotic day for the prosecution (Texas Tribune)

The House impeachment managers rested their case against Ken Paxton on Wednesday amid a dramatic day that centered around questions of whether the attorney general’s paramour would take the stand and an abandoned effort to force a vote for an early verdict.

Paxton’s lawyers sought to cast doubt on a key prosecution that Nate Paul, the attorney general’s friend and donor at the center of the trial, paid to renovate the Austin home owned by the attorney general and his wife.

And the prosecution bungled its attempt to call the woman Paxton allegedly had an affair with, a crucial witness that could have helped prove the second element of the House’s bribery claim. Another impeachment article alleges Paul employed the woman in return for Paxton abusing the power of his office to help Paul harass and investigate his perceived enemies.

The House impeachment attorneys were racing against the clock Wednesday. At the start of the day, the prosecution had five hours and 17 minutes remaining to present their case, while Paxton’ side had almost double that… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

And in other Texas News:

➡️ Laura Olson, Paxton’s paramour, deemed “unavailable” to testify (Texas Tribune) -> LINK TO FULL STORY

➡️ Houston mayoral race heats up with attack ads by Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (KHOU) -> LINK TO FULL STORY

[NATIONAL/WORLD NEWS]

The immigrant population in the U.S. is climbing again, setting a record last year (NPR)

The immigrant population in the U.S. is growing again.

The number of people born somewhere else climbed by nearly a million last year, reaching a record high of just over 46 million, according to new estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The increase isn't huge for a country the size of the U.S. But it's significant, as growth had slowed sharply in recent years because of Trump administration policies and the pandemic.

The foreign-born share of the U.S. population, which had been roughly flat since 2017, rose to nearly 14% last year.

Experts say the renewed growth coincides with a gradual reboot of legal immigration, like processing visas and vetting refugees, which had all ground to a halt during COVID.

The Biden administration has also opened the country's doors to tens of thousands of people fleeing from Afghanistan and Ukraine. Meanwhile, the administration has struggled to respond to a record-setting influx of migrants from Central and South America arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border… (LINK TO FULL STORY)

OTHER NEWS:

➡️ Popular nasal decongestant doesn’t actually relieve congestion, FDA advisers say (Associated Press) -> LINK TO FULL STORY

_________________________

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