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August 21, 2025

✅ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 FAA denies request to increase safety restrictions in skies above Austin's airport (KUT)

🟪 Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar's united front begins to fray amid redistricting fight (Austin American-Statesman)

🟪 7 board members approved for the Central Texas Spaceport Development Corp. (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Texas House approves redrawn maps sought by Trump ahead of 2026 elections (Associated Press)

🟪 UT System names John Zerwas as chancellor, Jim Davis as UT-Austin president (Texas Tribune)

🟪 San Antonio mayor hijacks pro-Project Marvel press conference, argues with Spurs Jesus (San Antonio Current)

READ ON!

[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]

✅ FAA denies request to increase safety restrictions in skies above Austin's airport (KUT)

The Federal Aviation Administration is rejecting a request to upgrade Austin's airspace to the same level surrounding the nation's busiest airports.

Class B airspace — one notch above Austin's Class C airspace — is highly regulated to reduce the risk of midair collisions. Pilots must follow stricter rules, and air traffic controllers have greater authority.

A reclassification to Class B would also have triggered an automatic 15% pay hike for air traffic controllers in the short-staffed control tower at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

The tower is operating with fewer than half the 60 controllers recommended in a staffing target set by the FAA and the controllers' union, forcing a bigger workload and mandatory overtime.

"The FAA denied Class B status for Austin in June," said Congressman Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin, who's been pushing the agency since 2023 to upgrade ABIA's classification. "They've been unresponsive to inquiries about that."

The FAA has also been tight-lipped with KUT News. An agency spokesperson has said only that the Class B request is still under review… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar's united front begins to fray amid redistricting fight (Austin American-Statesman)

Ever since Republicans released their new congressional redistricting plan that pits Lloyd Doggett against Greg Casar, the two Austin Democrats have said they're focused on a common enemy: defeating President Donald Trump's push for five more GOP seats in next year's midterms.

“This isn't about my seat. This isn't about Congressman Doggett’s seat," Casar said at a rally outside the Governor's Mansion early this month where he and Doggett marched side by side with about 100 demonstrators. "This isn't about any member of Congress. This is about the people of the United States being able to have their voices heard in order to form a more perfect union.”

But just days later, that vow of solidarity began to splinter. Doggett, in an email to supporters, suggested that even though the Democrats' fight to kill redistricting was ongoing, perhaps it was time to prepare for a Republican victory. To that effect, Doggett said, he was best suited to run in the new, safely-Democratic Austin district and Casar should shift his sights to a neighboring seat that will favor Republicans and does not include the state's capital city. Casar, who represents District 35, has said he has no plans to run for a seat that will no longer include at least part of Austin. In an email to his supporters, Casar's aide Stephanie Trinh bristled at Doggett's suggestion.

"Without discussing it with Greg or his team, Congressman Doggett sent an email to supporters saying that if the maps pass Greg should leave Austin to run in a south-Texas district that Trump won by nearly 10 points," Trinh said in the email. "Other than the fact that Republicans arbitrarily assigned this seat the same number as Greg’s current one, there’s no reason it would make sense for Greg to run in that district – fewer than 10% of Greg’s constituents would be in it."…  🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Planning Commission recommends industrial rezoning in Govalle (Austin Monitor)

Planning Commissioners have voted unanimously to recommend a rezoning for an industrial site in East Austin’s Govalle neighborhood that could lead to another tall housing development on the Colorado.

The site, located at 20 Strandtman Cove near Airport Boulevard, is currently zoned LI, or light industrial, and houses a warehouse for foundation materials. The request was to change that to Planned Development Area (PDA) zoning that would make it possible to build residential structures up to 120 feet in height.

Alice Glasco, a consultant working on behalf of the owner, said during the hearing that they intend to redevelop it into a 945-unit housing complex. Staff had supported their request with the addition of an expanded conditional overlay prohibiting a wide range of commercial uses, which Glasco said the developer was amenable to.

Representatives of the contact team for the neighborhood plan, a kind of overall planning document that covers many Austin locales, spoke mostly in opposition to the plan during the hearing… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ 7 board members approved for the Central Texas Spaceport Development Corp. (Austin Business Journal)

Williamson County and Cedar Park have approved the seven members of the board that will oversee the Central Texas Spaceport Development Corp.

The appointments mark another milestone as the county and city — home to prominent rocket company Firefly Aerospace Inc. — aim to make the region a hub for space-related economic development.

The Cedar Park City Council on Aug. 14 appointed its three members: Jana Spruce, a consultant who previously served as vice president of Firefly; Han Kim, a local lead at Hanyang Eng USA Inc., which moved its U.S. headquarters to Cedar Park; and Mark Burgett, vice president of Enovis Corp., which is expanding to Cedar Park.

Williamson County Commissioners on Aug. 19 approved four board members who had been previously named: Texas State University's Julie Lessiter, who leads the Round Rock campus; Williamson County Economic Development Partnership Executive Director Dave Porter; Cedar Park business owner Ed Trevis; and Lori Magruder, an aerospace engineering professor at the University of Texas… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ Experts predict multifamily market recovery as deals close (Austin Business Journal)

Austin’s multifamily market is still experiencing elevated vacancy levels, but some experts are calling it a good time to purchase properties, provided buyers can find one.

Occupancy rates were 85% in August, according to ApartmentData.com, resulting from an oversupply of apartments built in recent years. The result has been a steady decline in rental rates, which have fallen 7.5% over the past 12 months to hit an average of $1,405 per month, leading to a reduced value for multifamily properties.

Both Patton Jones, multifamily capital markets vice chairman at Newmark, and Matt Nihan, vice president at Berkadia, closed multifamily deals in Leander and Cedar Park recently and said market conditions make it a good time to be a buyer.

“I think this is the best buying opportunity since the Great Recession,” said Jones. “Values are down dramatically from 2021. It’s just an excellent buying opportunity. Subsequently, there are a ton of buyers coming to Austin, but there are not many sellers, so there’s a real scarcity of quality listings.”

Elevated interest rates — the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage had a 6.58% interest rate the week of Aug. 14 — and the market oversupply are the biggest contributing factors to the value reduction, Jones said… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

[TEXAS/US NEWS]

✅ Texas House approves redrawn maps sought by Trump ahead of 2026 elections (Associated Press)

The Texas House on Wednesday approved redrawn congressional maps that would give Republicans a bigger edge in 2026, muscling through a partisan gerrymander that launched weeks of protests by Democrats and a widening national battle over redistricting.

The approval came at the urging of President Donald Trump, who pushed for the extraordinary mid-decade revision of congressional maps to give his party a better chance at holding onto the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2026 midterm elections. The maps, which would give Republicans five more winnable seats, need to be approved by the GOP-controlled state Senate and signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott before they become official.

But the Texas House vote had presented the best chance for Democrats to derail the redraw.

Democratic legislators delayed the vote by two weeks by fleeing Texas earlier this month in protest, and they were assigned round-the-clock police monitoring upon their return to ensure they attended Wednesday’s session.

The approval of the Texas maps on an 88-52 party-line vote is likely to prompt California’s Democratic-controlled state Legislature this week to approve of a new House map creating five new Democratic-leaning districts. But the California map would require voter approval in November.

Democrats have also vowed to challenge the new Texas map in court and complained that Republicans made the political power move before passing legislation responding to deadly floods that swept the state last month… 🟪 (READ MORE) 

✅ UT System names John Zerwas as chancellor, Jim Davis as UT-Austin president (Texas Tribune)

The University of Texas System Board of Regents voted Wednesday to name former Texas Republican lawmaker John Zerwas the system's next chancellor.

They also named Jim Davis, who has served as interim president of the University of Texas at Austin since February, as the flagship's next permanent president.

The board named both men sole finalists for their respective positions last month.

Rather than do a national search for candidates for UT-Austin president, Board Chair Kevin Eltife appointed members to a committee to evaluate Davis and provide feedback to Eltife. While Eltife appointed faculty, staff and students to the committee, the committee's most prominent members were influential alumni and donors like Bob Rowling, Pam Willeford and Kenny Jastrow.

Rowling, Willeford and Jastrow all graduated from UT-Austin between the late 1960s and early 1970s. Rowling, a billionaire businessman, major GOP donor and former UT regent, chaired the committee. Willeford, a Bush-era U.S. ambassador to Switzerland and Liechtenstein, is a philanthropist. Jastrow, a former Fortune 500 CEO, has led UT's fundraising campaigns… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ San Antonio mayor hijacks pro-Project Marvel press conference, argues with Spurs Jesus (San Antonio Current)

San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones crashed a pro-Project Marvel press conference at City Hall on Wednesday morning, prompting a verbal showdown with Spurs Jesus, a local fan of the NBA team who's achieved minor celebrity status for his colorful costume choice.

AD Organized by the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, the press conference featured local business leaders, including celebrity chef Johnny Hernandez, speaking about why they support the city moving quickly to help fund a new Spurs arena.

After a few minutes, Jones walked to the front of the crowd, announcing that she wasn't invited but felt it necessary to cut in so she can explain why she's called for a pause in negotiations for Project Marvel. The mayor has also called for a new, independent economic impact study on the $4 billion sports-and-entertainment district, which would include the NBA arena… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Tarrant County approves sharp reduction in polling locations amid outcry during public meeting (WFAA)

Things got heated inside the Tarrant County Commissioners Court on Tuesday as the debate over polling place closures drew hours of passionate testimony. 

Nearly 100 people signed up to speak against proposals to reduce both early voting and Election Day sites. Only one person—a polling place judge—voiced support.

“I am not surprised because the only thing y’all are good for is suppressing people’s right to vote,” Stacy Melo said at the podium.

Another speaker, Lydia Bean, added, “I am speaking here today to ask you not to adopt this proposal of polling locations which are disproportionately in Black and Latino neighborhoods.”

After the vote, Bean called the outcome “a partial win for democracy. But over 100 of us had to come out and speak.”

The changes approved by commissioners are significant. Election Day polling places will drop from 349 to 214. The early voting polls will be reduced from 51 to 33. The original proposal called for only 24 early voting locations. That number increased by 8 locations after the heated discussions between the two sides. Republicans agreed to add early voting locations identified as Bob Duncan, Kennedale, TCC Southeast, Vernon Newsom, NE Sub-courthouse, Como, Legacy learning, and TCC Northwest… 🟪 (READ MORE)

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