BG Reads // April 1, 2025

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A.J. Bingham
April 01, 2025

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✅ Today's BG Reads include:

☀️ Austin isn’t fully prepared for extreme heat, city report says (KXAN)

🏛️ Liberty Hill ISD superintendent chosen to be next Williamson County judge (KUT)

🏙️ Austin advances plan for tourism district that could generate $30M (Austin Business Journal)

🌡️ Housing in Austin will soon be required to have air conditioning for residents (Community Impact)

 👮 ‘This is what our citizens want,’ Senate vote near for bill requiring sheriffs to partner with ICE (KXAN)

🌏 South Korea, China, Japan agree to promote regional trade as Trump tariffs loom (CNBC)

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🔎 Public Safety Committee Highlights

👮 Austin Police (APD):

  • Over 300 officer vacancies remain, but new cadet classes aim to close the gap to just 40 by 2027.

  • Violent crime fell 8.3%, with a 94% homicide clearance rate in 2024.

  • Reopening Sixth Street to cars 🚗 has reduced arrests, use-of-force incidents, and officer injuries.

  • Backfill shifts (detectives covering patrol) still occur but may end by year’s end.

🚒 Austin Fire Department (AFD):

  • Rising call volume 📈 includes growing co-response with EMS on medical emergencies.

  • Plans are underway to reassess fire station coverage in underserved areas.

  • Wildfire evacuation strategy and hazard planning are top priorities in 2025.

🚑 Austin-Travis County EMS:

  • Focused on equity in cardiac arrest outcomes, with new data tools mapping disparities by ZIP code.

  • Expanding mental health response units to reduce police involvement in psychiatric emergencies 🧠.

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ Austin isn’t fully prepared for extreme heat, city report says (KXAN)

Heat is responsible for more deaths than any other form of extreme weather, but the city of Austin isn’t fully prepared to combat it.

The information was revealed after a new report was published by the city of Austin’s Office of the City Auditor. “We found that the city has multiple plans and strategies related to dealing with extreme heat. So we’re on we’re on a good track,” said Deputy City Auditor Jason Hadavi.

“We could do a little bit better with building some measurable goals, allocating funding to support those goals, and coordination across departments throughout the city,” he said.

Hadavi said that one of the major issues with the plans is the lack of a central leadership force. Currently, many of the programs are overseen by the Office of Climate Action and Resilience… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ New Williamson County judge aims for collaborative approach to 'grow the right way' (Austin Business Journal)

New Williamson County Judge Steven Snell knows all about growth from his time in Liberty Hill.

Snell, who previously served as superintendent of the Liberty Hill Independent School District, saw the district's enrollment climb more than 125% during his 6.5-year tenure. He was able to maintain solid academic marks while helping to win approval for $1 billion in construction projects through bond elections to accommodate the growth, doing so by meeting with demographers, community stakeholders and even other districts.

"I feel that I've left Liberty Hill in a good place for future growth," Snell said. "But it always goes down to relationships and the fact that we can look back and know we did the best we could to lead Liberty Hill through the fast growth and get ready for the next chapter."

It's a collaborative approach that Snell aims to bring to his new role leading booming Williamson County just north of Austin. Earlier this month, Snell was appointed to take over for Bill Gravell, who left for a job with the U.S. Small Business Administration after earning a reputation for personally courting the likes of Apple Inc., Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. and other companies to set up shop in the county.

Williamson County has seen its population balloon from 422,679 in 2010 to 697,191 in 2023, and projections are that it will hit 1.2 million by 2040. The county has roughly 1,900 employees and a $635 million budget… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ The owners of an East Austin property are fighting the city over a historic zoning designation. (KVUE)

In a lawsuit filed on Friday, the owners of a 100-year-old building at East 12th and Comal streets say the city ignored their wishes when approving the historic designation last year.

The property has been vacant, but those who supported preserving it said it had historical benefits. The building was once a barbershop, a saloon and more. Records indicate the building may have been sitting along East 12th and Comal streets since 1889.

The owners filed for a demolition permit last year after structural engineers deemed it a hazard.

In their lawsuit, owners say it's been rundown for years, and the city had a chance to give it a historic designation for almost eight years but didn't. Now, they say it'll cost them up to $5.7 million to restore and preserve it.

In their lawsuit, the owners wrote, "'Historic designation,' especially without sufficient justification, is not intended to be a detour for the city to strip a property owner of their property value under the guise of preservation without just compensation."

Last year, Dallas developer Eureka Holdings applied to demolish the building, which led to the Austin Historic Landmark Commission signing off on a recommendation to make it a landmark… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Housing in Austin will soon be required to have air conditioning for residents (Community Impact)

A likely new local requirement will require all Austin residents to have access to air conditioning in their homes or apartments.

Today, there's no statewide standard for housing in Texas to offer residential cooling service. Some cities have adopted their own air conditioning rules, but Austin doesn't yet have any in place. Amid the record heat the city experienced in summer 2023, officials asked to lay out new rules ensuring all Austinites can keep their homes cooled to comfortable and safe levels.

An air conditioning mandate will officially be created with the city's adoption of new property maintenance code in April, following a March 27 public hearing and after moving through public review last year.

The local update will be added to Austin's version of International Property Maintenance Code, used to establish minimum guidelines for the maintenance of existing buildings to protect public health, safety and welfare, according to the city.

The amendments to that and other technical codes were covered during the March public hearing and will be followed by more consideration in two weeks, Mayor Kirk Watson said… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Austin advances plan for tourism district that could generate $30M (Austin Business Journal)

Austin may get $29.7 million to help boost the city's tourism and visitation industry over the next year. That's how much is expected to be generated by the city's new Tourism Public Improvement District, in which 2% nightly fees will be charged on most hotel rooms.

The City Council on March 27 directed city staff to negotiate and execute a contract with the recently created Austin Tourism Public Improvement District Corporation and Visit Austin to manage the TPID.

Funds generated by the improvement district will be used to better market Austin as a tourism destination and place for business travel, helping to offset some of the negative ramifications stemming from the pending closure of the Austin Convention Center for redevelopment.

The convention center is slated to close in April and be torn down, but a new and bigger convention center won't open in its place until spring 2029. The TPID should generate $29.7 million in the 2024-2025 fiscal year, and more in future years, estimates show… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Developer puts big projects on hold, including downtown tower (Austin Business Journal)

Developer Wilson Capital has put a number of its multifamily urban projects on ice for the time being — such as the future Wilson Tower downtown — citing difficult market conditions.

“It just doesn’t make sense right now to start" urban projects, said Taylor Wilson, the developer's president.

“Something’s got to give," he said. "We need costs to come down, which I don’t think they’re going to. Otherwise we just need rental rates to recover and concessions to burn off, and then hopefully interest rates to drop. If any of that happened to a moderate degree, it would change things, but those deals are just too hard to pencil right now.”

Wilson Tower — at one time forecast to break ground in 2023 — has been stalled since the Avenue Lofts were razed to make way for it to rise along East Fifth Street. Taylor Wilson said plans for the high-rise are still alive but delayed until conditions improve.

For now, he said his company is primarily focused on suburban multifamily and land development. Its urban multifamily developments, which include Wilson Tower, are still in the development pipeline but are on the back burner.

In addition to Wilson Tower, Wilson Capital’s other urban projects include the mid-rise apartment tower Concordia at 38th Street and I-35, as well as a planned 30-story building at 2500 Braker Lane near Q2 Stadium… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[TEXAS NEWS]

✅ ‘This is what our citizens want,’ Senate vote near for bill requiring sheriffs to partner with ICE (KXAN)

Legislation to mandate Texas sheriffs participate in immigration law enforcement is moving closer to a vote at the Texas Capitol. Senate Bill 8 is on the chamber’s intent calendar for Monday. The bill filed by State Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, would require all Texas counties with 100,000 or more people to join Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) 287(g) program. Schwertner described the program as a partnership between local law enforcement and federal ICE in the identification and detainment of criminal aliens. “People overwhelmingly saw the policies of an open border and how it affects communities, and they overwhelmingly warrant stronger enforcement of criminal aliens to make sure they are identified, detained, prosecuted and deported,” Schwertner said.

Senator Schwertner has discussed the ideas in Senate Bill 8 in previous sessions. He said this year, the ideas are getting more traction at the Capitol. The current genesis of the bill is the people overwhelmingly voicing their opinion last November, on November 5, that we need stronger border enforcement and enforcement of our immigration laws,” Schwertner said. Some opponents of the legislation have raised concern that it could create discourage some people from reporting crimes, potentially putting public safety at risk. “As SB 8 is discussed, it is my sincere hope that public safety is carefully considered. When people are afraid, they hide in the shadows.

Victims don’t report crime and witnesses don’t come forward with information. Criminals win as they take advantage of the vulnerable among us,” Travis County Sheriff Sally Hernandez wrote in a statement on SB 8. “The impact of that reaches beyond immigration to our humanity. I want victims of crime to run to law enforcement, not away from us,” Hernandez added…🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

[US and World News]

✅ South Korea, China, Japan agree to promote regional trade as Trump tariffs loom (CNBC)

South Korea, China and Japan held their first economic dialogue in five years on Sunday, seeking to facilitate regional trade as the three Asian export powers brace from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.

The countries’ three trade ministers agreed to “closely cooperate for a comprehensive and high-level” talks on a South Korea-Japan-China free trade agreement deal to promote “regional and global trade”, according to a statement released after the meeting.

“It is necessary to strengthen the implementation of RCEP, in which all three countries have participated, and to create a framework for expanding trade cooperation among the three countries through Korea-China-Japan FTA negotiations,” said South Korean Trade Minister Ahn Duk-geun, referring to the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

The ministers met ahead of Trump’s announcement on Wednesday of more tariffs in what he calls “liberation day”, as he upends Washington’s trading partnerships.

Seoul, Beijing and Tokyo are major U.S. major trading partners, although they have been at loggerheads among themselves over issues including territorial disputes and Japan’s release of wastewater from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear power plant.

They have not made substantial progress on a trilateral free-trade deal since starting talks in 2012… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

✅ Germany decides to leave history in the past and prepare for war (BBC)

In Berlin, Germans' traditional caution about all things military seems to be fading fast.

Eighteen-year-old Charlotte Kreft says her own pacifist views have changed.

"For a really long time, we thought the only way to make up for the atrocities we committed in World War Two was to make sure it never happened again […] and we thought we needed to demilitarise," Charlotte explains.

"But now we are in a situation where we have to fight for our values and democracy and freedom. We need to adapt."

"There are lots of Germans who still feel strange about big investments in our military," Ludwig Stein agrees. "But I think considering the things that have happened in the past few years, there's no other real option."… 🟪 (LINK TO FULL STORY)

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