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August 20, 2025

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Staff to deliver recommendations for city boards and commissions in October (Austin Monitor)

🟪 ‘More than a handful’: Austin ISD superintendent outlines school closure plans (KXAN)

🟪 Austin launches collaborative task force to address downtown homelessness (KVUE)

🟪 Hays County delays decision on Flock license plate readers again (CBS Austin)

🟪 Texas House, Senate panels again advance redrawn congressional map (Texas Tribune)

🟪  Ted Cruz promotes Texas economy, federal reconciliation bill in Round Rock (Community Impact)

🟪 Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick officially announces reelection campaign for 2026 (KVUE)

🟪 Trump expands 'woke' criticism from Smithsonian to other museums (NPR)

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

🏛️ City Manager Executives and Advisors Staff Visual Chart

🏛️ City of Austin Org Chart (as of July 2025)

💰 2026 City of Austin Bond - Public Input

ℹ️ 2025 Essential Resources for Navigating the City of Austin

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ Staff to deliver recommendations for city boards and commissions in October (Austin Monitor)

The city will present preliminary recommendations next month about whether to consolidate or eliminate several of its advisory boards and commissions, marking the first use of a formal evaluation framework adopted earlier this year.

The results will be shared at the Oct. 15 meeting of the Audit and Finance Committee. They are based on a pilot review conducted by city staff over the summer that uses a new seven-step assessment process to evaluate the performance, relevance and potential overlap among existing boards. Any changes endorsed by the committee could come before City Council for final consideration later this fall.

The pilot includes all advisory bodies previously marked “inactive” and four active groups: the Airport Advisory Commission, Technology Commission, Economic Prosperity Commission, and the MBE/WBE Small Business Enterprise Procurement Program Advisory Committee.

According to a recent memo from Chief of Staff Genesis Gavino, staff will assemble a report drawing from self-evaluations, legal reviews and stakeholder surveys to determine whether the reviewed bodies should continue, sunset or be modified. Each report will include a staff recommendation, which will then be considered by the committee before potentially advancing to Council for action.

In a related move, the city has drafted a new section of the City Code clarifying how Council makes appointments to intergovernmental bodies. That ordinance is scheduled for Council consideration on Aug. 28 and is intended to align those appointments with current procedures used for Council committees… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ ‘More than a handful’: Austin ISD superintendent outlines school closure plans (KXAN)

The Austin Independent School District superintendent said the district’s declining enrollment numbers are leaving too many schools under capacity and sees campus closures and consolidations as part of the solution.

While he declined to pinpoint how many campuses could close, Matias Segura said it’ll be “more than a handful,” and added the district is looking to reduce costs by $30 million.

The statement comes days after the district released new data showing the campuses with the highest number of open seats, and declared a goal of having all campuses reach at least 85% enrollment by the 2026-27 school year.

The district is currently reviewing the data and will meet with the community and stakeholders for feedback before finalizing its list of campuses to close in October… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Austin launches collaborative task force to address downtown homelessness (KVUE)

The city of Austin and the Downtown Austin Alliance are taking a different approach when it comes to tackling homelessness in the downtown area. 

A new task force is the works that includes roughly 15 partners: the City of Austin’s Homeless Strategy Office, Austin Police Department, Austin Community Court, Austin Government Relations, Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Downtown Austin Alliance, Integral Care, Travis County, Central Health, Ending Community Homeless Coalition, Trinity Center and the Travis County Attorney’s Office.

"What we're seeing is a stubbornly high rate of unsheltered homelessness in downtown," said Homeless Strategy Officer David Gray.

Gray said the issue is curbing the inflow of people who are being brought into shelters and getting them resources once they get out. The first steps will be identifying people once they are either discharged from a hospital or released from jail, and see where they're going. 

"The nature of what homelessness looks like has shifted in our community, which, again, is another reason why it's prudent for us to bring together all of our partners and reevaluate our unified strategy around ending homelessness," said Gray… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Nuclear power startup raises $100M to fuel growth, double headcount (Austin Business Journal)

Armed with $100 million in fresh investment, Austin-based nuclear power startup Aalo Atomics estimates it's on track to produce energy next summer.

Aalo said Aug. 19 that Chicago-based Valor Equity Partners led its new series B funding round. Other investors included Fine Structure Ventures, Hitachi Ventures, NRG Energy, Vamos Ventures, Tishman Speyer, Kindred Ventures, 50Y, Harpoon Ventures, Crescent Enterprises, Crosscut, Alumni Ventures, MCJ, Gaingels and Nucleation Capital.

The startup, led by co-founders Matt Loszak and Yasir Arafat, has now raised a total of $136 million.

Aalo reports that it plans to double the size of its workforce, from roughly 60 to 120, within a year. Executives predict the new capital gives them all the runway they need to build their first power plant, called Aalo-X.

"This could be the first advanced nuclear power plant to achieve criticality in the U.S. in decades. Not just a test reactor, but a full plant that will produce electricity," Loszak said in a LinkedIn post. "And there’s one more thing that makes this special: we’re planning to put an experimental data center right next to it. This will be the first time a nuclear plant and data center are built together, and will act as a demonstration of something we’ll see a lot more of at (gigawatt) scale thereafter."… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Hays County delays decision on Flock license plate readers again (CBS Austin)

The Hays County Commissioners Court has once again postponed a decision on whether to terminate its contract with Flock Safety for the use of automated license plate readers (LPRs). The delay has sparked frustration among commissioners and local officials.

Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra said, "We'll table this item and bring it back. Please don't let this go."

The decision to delay comes amid ongoing discussions and concerns about data privacy related to the LPRs.

Commissioner Debbie Gonzales Ingalsbe of Precinct 1 expressed her indecision.

"Today I am not prepared to support the cancellation of Flock, but I'm also not prepared to expand," she said.

Ingalsbe feels that another community meeting where Flock representatives can attend could be beneficial in making a final decision.

"I think we'll gain a lot of information from Flock and the sheriff," she said… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Ted Cruz promotes Texas economy, federal reconciliation bill in Round Rock (Community Impact)

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, appeared at a Round Rock Chamber luncheon Aug. 19 to discuss the federal reconciliation bill signed into law this summer, and its potential economic impacts for Texas.

“Y’all are innovative, you’re creating jobs, you’re creating opportunity, you’re driving the economy of Texas forward. And I’m just proud to be with you," Cruz told attendees after a brief moderated conversation. 

Cruz called the reconciliation package, originally titled the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, an "extraordinary piece of legislation" featuring a suite of conservative victories. He highlighted a continuation of several provisions under the 2017 tax code update, and its inclusion of the "no tax on tips" policy he'd advanced in the Senate, as benefits for families and small businesses.

Now serving as chair for the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science & Transportation, Cruz also said he was focused on supporting workforce gains in the state through the bill… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

[TEXAS/US NEWS]

✅ Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick officially announces reelection campaign for 2026 (KVUE)

Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick officially launched his 2026 reelection campaign on Tuesday, while joined by Republican members of the Senate. 

Patrick is running for a fourth term as the state's lieutenant governor. Patrick already has a Democratic challenger in the race. Rep. Vikki Goodwin (D-Austin) announced her lieutenant governor campaign back in May.

Patrick made the following announcement regarding his campaign: 

"After a very successful regular session and after passing all the 38 bills on the special session twice, I’m ready to hit the ground running for my reelection. With the help of my Texas Senate, we've accomplished so much, but there is more work to be done. This session, we have virtually eliminated school property taxes for the average senior for the rest of their life and cut school property taxes nearly in half for those under 65. I'm committed to continuing to lower property taxes in the sessions ahead. We must continue to build a stronger, safer and more prosperous Texas for generations to come."

Patrick was first elected as lieutenant governor in 2014 and has been in office since…  🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ First domino in national redistricting fight likely to fall with Texas GOP poised for vote on maps (Associated Press)

The first domino in a growing national redistricting battle is likely to fall Wednesday as the Republican-controlled Texas legislature is expected to pass a new congressional map creating five new winnable seats for the GOP.

The vote follows prodding by President Donald Trump, eager to stave off a midterm defeat that would deprive his party of control of the House of Representatives, and weeks of delays after dozens of Texas Democratic state lawmakers fled the state in protest. Some Democrats returned Monday, only to be assigned round-the-clock police escorts to ensure their attendance at Wednesday’s session. Those who refused to be monitored were confined to the House floor, where they protested on a livestream Tuesday night.

Furious national Democrats have vowed payback for the Texas map, with California’s legislature poised to approve new maps adding more Democratic-friendly seats later this week. The map would still need to be approved by that state’s voters in November… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Trump expands 'woke' criticism from Smithsonian to other museums (NPR)

President Trump expanded his criticism of the Smithsonian Institution to include other museums in a long social media post on Tuesday.

"The Museums throughout Washington, but all over the Country are, essentially, the last remaining segment of "WOKE," he wrote.

The post emphasized his ongoing displeasure with the Smithsonian, describing it as "OUT OF CONTROL" and suggesting that museums around the country may face similar scrutiny.

"President Trump will explore all options and avenues to get the Woke out of the Smithsonian and hold them accountable," the White House said in a statement to NPR. "He will start with the Smithsonian and then go from there."

In an Aug. 12 letter to Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch, White House representatives said they plan to conduct an audit of eight Smithsonian museums "to ensure alignment with the President's directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives, and restore confidence in our shared cultural institutions."… 🟪 (READ MORE)

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