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- BG Reads 9.16.2024
BG Reads 9.16.2024
🗞️ Bingham Group Reads - September 16, 2024
Bingham Group Reads
Presented by:
www.binghamgp.com
September 16, 2024
Today's BG Reads include:
🟪 Postponements spark talk of examining Council work sessions (Austin Monitor)
🟪 Elon Musk’s secret effort to oust a Soros-backed prosecutor (Wall Street Journal)
🟪 Proposed changes to Austin subdivision rules for infill lots delayed for more input (Austin Business Journal)
🟪 Waymo, Uber launching driverless rideshare services in Austin next year (KXAN)
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]
🟪 The Austin Council has seven (6) regular meetings left in 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
📺 City Council Candidate Forum: District 7 - Video (9.5.2024)
✅ All candidate forums will are scheduled from 6:30pm to 8pm.
✅ All forums will be streamed live and archived on ATXN.
[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]
Postponements spark talk of examining Council work sessions (Austin Monitor)
The lack of City Council work session meetings in recent weeks appears to have played a large role in the postponement of a trio of programs pushed by the Economic Development Department that had been up for a vote at last week’s full Council meeting.
The three programs in question were: a place-based economic incentive initiative aimed at small businesses; a broader expansion of the city’s application of the state’s economic incentives; and a long-planned framework to standardize the creation, funding and operation of cultural districts around the city. All three programs were given full presentations by EDD staff on Thursday and allowed time for Council discussion prior to three separate postponements led by Council Member Zo Qadri that were approved without objection.
Qadri, who asked no questions on any of the items, made similar comments when suggesting postponements that centered on the need for Council to have more time ahead of full Council meetings to consider and discuss measures that could involve complicated requirements and rules on substantial amounts of money… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Elon Musk’s secret effort to oust a Soros-backed prosecutor (Wall Street Journal)
Elon Musk secretly channeled hundreds of thousands of dollars into a local race in Travis County, Texas, in an unsuccessful effort to unseat a prosecutor who had won the office with the backing of the investor and Democratic donor George Soros.
A group primarily funded by the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive, which called itself Saving Austin, sent out fliers and texts and spent more than $650,000 on television ads attacking District Attorney José Garza in the Democratic primary race earlier this year, according to people familiar with Musk’s involvement, as well as Federal Communications Commission filings and corporate documents.
Musk, who is worth more than $200 billion and is the owner of a major social-media network, has used his influence and money to help Donald Trump return to the White House. His support for Trump marks a political shift that could have major ramifications in the presidential race. His covert effort in the local prosecutor’s race in Texas shows that his engagement in politics is broader than previously known... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Proposed changes to Austin subdivision rules for infill lots delayed for more input (Austin Business Journal)
A potential change to city rules that could make it easier to build smaller houses has been delayed.
The Austin City Council voted at its Sept. 12 meeting to delay implementing the changes to the city's subdivision process for infill lots, which housing experts contend needs to be overhauled to allow for smaller and more affordable home construction. Council members now are slated to vote on the changes at their Nov. 7 meeting.
The nearly two-month delay is aimed at providing more time for input from interested parties, according to city documents.
Austin’s current subdivision process is lengthy and expensive, with some housing advocates contending it can cost over $100,000 and take several months or even years to subdivide residential property. The proposed changes to the process are aimed at boosting the number of homes built in the city as part of its HOME initiative, which stands for the Home Options for Middle-income Empowerment… (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Waymo, Uber launching driverless rideshare services in Austin next year (KXAN)
Austinites will soon be able to hitch a ride on a fully driverless ride-hailing vehicle, as autonomous vehicle company Waymo is expanding its collaboration with Uber.
Waymo announced Friday it will dispatch a fleet of its fully autonomous, electric Jaguar I-PACE vehicles to be used in Uber’s Austin and Atlanta rideshare services in early 2025. From there, Waymo officials said they plan on growing the fleet “to hundreds of vehicles over time.”
Through the partnership, Uber will oversee fleet management services such as vehicle cleanings and repairs, while Waymo will continue its oversight on the testing and operational ends of the technology… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[TEXAS NEWS]
San Antonio leads U.S. cities in population growth, adding 22,000 residents (San Antonio Express News)
San Antonio’s population increased more than any other large U.S. city last year, gaining 22,000 residents even as other cities saw their populations plateau – or shrink – as families hightailed to the suburbs, according to data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Thursday.
Three other Texas cities – Fort Worth, New Braunfels and Atascocita – ranked among the top 10 cities nationwide with the greatest population gains from 2022 to 2023, though San Antonio netted at least 7,000 more residents than any of them. The U.S. Census Bureau’s American Community Survey one-year estimates consists of data collected over the course of a single year in geographic areas with at least 65,000 people. The data takes into account everything from the area’s growth to its economic characteristics and housing stock.
San Antonio’s overall growth reflects a 1.5% population increase since 2022, eclipsing Houston, Dallas and Austin, which each saw their populations grow by less than 0.5% during that period. Texas State Demographer Lloyd Potter said today’s San Antonio “feels different” than the city did a decade ago. Potter said several factors have led to San Antonio’s growth, from city ladders’ work to foster economic development, to beefing up housing downtown to the growth of the University of Texas at San Antonio’s student body. As more companies set up shop within the city, San Antonio is becoming a magnet for skilled workers, he said. “??Companies are recognizing that San Antonio is a great place to come and either bring their headquarters or bring a significant portion of their business,” Potter said.
“People that generally are moving here tend to be people with higher levels of educational attainment and are working in jobs that are higher-skilled, higher-paid kinds of jobs.” The proportion of San Antonio’s population over the age of 25 with at least a bachelor’s degree increased last year, going from about 29% of the city’s population in 2022 to nearly 31% in 2023... 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
‘I’m a Democrat’: Mayor Ron Nirenberg campaigns for Kamala Harris, embraces party label (San Antonio Express-News)
When Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz landed in Dallas on Monday for a private fundraiser, Mayor Ron Nirenberg was on the tarmac to greet him — the only Texas elected official invited to welcome the Minnesota governor to the state.
Nirenberg posted a selfie of himself, Walz, Texas Democratic Party leaders and others to Instagram, with the caption: “Honored to greet our next Vice President in Dallas today. 57 days until election day — let’s make them count!”
Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign has tapped Nirenberg as a surrogate to stump on behalf of the presidential ticket — a role that takes him to campaign rallies and voters’ homes in swing states and comes with appearances on local and national TV to get the campaign’s message out.
“I think in the weeks to come, it’s just going to ramp up in terms of frequency and intensity,” Nirenberg said. “Essentially, any free time I have, we’re trying to fill it with surrogate activities.” For much of his political career — first as a North Side City Council member and then as mayor, both of which are nonpartisan offices — Nirenberg, 47, has cast himself as an independent. But as his fourth and final term comes to a close next May, the term-limited mayor is fully embracing partisan politics. “I’m a Democrat,” Nirenberg said. “It is very clear that the Democratic Party is the only party of solutions to the challenges that we’re facing in America right now.”
Nirenberg has been a regular visitor to the White House during the Biden administration, whether to attend an official state dinner or, as he did in early June, to stand alongside President Joe Biden as the administration unveiled a new policy (in that case, an executive order to restrict the number of asylum-seekers allowed to cross the border). His role in the Harris campaign has reignited speculation that Nirenberg could be tapped, and is positioning himself, for a key role in her administration, if she wins election Nov. 5… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
[US and World News]
They died with the AC off: Why the government pays for heating but not cooling (Politico)
Millions of Americans are endangered by extreme heat due to federal policies that steer billions of dollars away from the nation’s hottest regions. At least a dozen government agencies oversee programs that ignore or minimize the threat of extreme heat as rising temperatures shatter historical records across the U.S., an investigation by POLITICO’s E&E News found.
Disregard for the health dangers of heat is embedded in federal laws and regulations written decades ago, when home heating costs were soaring, air conditioning was rare and the risks of climate change were not widely understood.
The programs treat extreme heat as a discomfort rather than today’s deadliest weather events by denying millions of people federal aid to cool their homes and barring homeowners from using tax credits and government-backed mortgages to pay for window air conditioners.
The policies belie the Biden administration’s unprecedented flood of grants, regulations and tax incentives aimed at reducing climate pollution and strengthening the nation against the effects of climate change. The administration has promoted heat safety extensively, proposed workplace heat protection mandates and spent hundreds of billions of dollars on green energy, emissions reductions and energy efficiency… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)
Trump was targeted in apparent 'attempted assassination,' the FBI says (NPR)
The FBI said former President Donald Trump was the target of what the agency said “appears to be an attempted assassination” on Sunday afternoon at his golf club in West Palm Beach, Fla.
A suspect, identified by local officials as Ryan Wesley Routh, is in custody.
In a news conference on Sunday, Palm Beach County Sheriff Ric Bradshaw said the Secret Service alerted local authorities about multiple gunshots at the course around 1:30 p.m. ET.
According to Bradshaw, a Secret Service agent who was stationed one hole ahead of Trump spotted an AK-style rifle sticking out of a fence at the golf course. The agent "immediately engaged" with the person holding the rifle. That's when the suspect took off in a black Nissan. A spokesperson for the Secret Service said agents opened fire at the individual… 🟪 (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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