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✅ Today's BG Reads include:

🟪 Austin seeks strategy to mitigate potential displacement of East Austin residents (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Megan Fortson appointed to lead Austin Infrastructure Academy (Austin Business Journal)

🟪 Austin leaders consider new resident utility fee to fund lagging parks maintenance, investments (Community Impact)

🟪 Texas’ risk of power blackouts reduced as 100-degree days near, officials say (Dallas Morning News)

🟪 Texas is getting older, but its child population is growing (Texas Tribune)

🟪 BlackRock leans into Texas economic miracle with new index ETF (Dallas Morning News)

[CITY OF AUSTIN]

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

💰 2026 City of Austin Bond - Public Input

🏛️ City of Austin Seeks Proposals for Colony Park Displacement Mitigation Strategy RFP

ℹ️ 2025 Essential Resources for Navigating the City of Austin

[AUSTIN METRO NEWS]

✅ Austin seeks strategy to mitigate potential displacement of East Austin residents (Austin Business Journal)

Austin is looking to create a displacement mitigation strategy for residents of Colony Park as the city undertakes a public-private project to develop 200-plus acres it owns in the area. 

A request for proposals, or RFP, has been issued for a vendor to develop the strategy and implementation plan for existing Colony Park residents to remain in the community.  

The city is partnering with Catellus Development Corp. — which also oversaw the Mueller redevelopment — to build up to 3,000 residential units, about 230,000 square feet of office space, 130,000 square feet of retail space and 42 acres of parks, trail and open space on the 208-acre tract in Northeast Austin. The web page for the RFP indicates the solicitation process began June 16 and will run until July 15. Interested parties can submit questions until June 26. 

In the RFP, the city said the displacement mitigation strategy is needed because the planned development is likely to cause adjacent neighborhoods to face displacement pressure stemming from rising housing costs and property values. It pointed to the redevelopment of the old Robert Mueller Municipal Airport into the mixed-use Mueller neighborhood as an example of a city-led project that caused a ripple effect in surrounding neighborhoods and displacement pressure…  🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Megan Fortson appointed to lead Austin Infrastructure Academy (Austin Business Journal)

Workforce Solutions Capital Area has picked a leader to oversee a major push to bolster the region's workforce.

Megan Fortson, who is now senior director of the Austin Infrastructure Academy, will help build out the infrastructure and construction workforce needed in the region to complete $25 billion in projects.

The Austin Infrastructure Academy — a collaboration between Workforce Solutions Capital Area, the city of Austin, Austin Community College and other local governments — officially launched in March. It's tasked with helping fill the need for 10,000 new jobs annually in the infrastructure field that are being created through major projects like the expansion of Austin-Bergstrom International Airport, the expansion of I-35, the redevelopment of the Austin Convention Center and the buildout of the Austin Transit Partnership’s light rail project. 

“I am honored to lead the Austin Infrastructure Academy in collaboration with our partners to help the community connect to in-demand careers that support the projects that are transforming our city,” Fortson said in a statement. “Austin is growing, and we will help ensure our people grow with it. These major infrastructure projects are creating financial stability and opportunity that pays dividends over and over for families and our community.”… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Austin leaders consider new resident utility fee to fund lagging parks maintenance, investments (Community Impact)

Austinites may soon be charged a new utility fee to support parks maintenance, as local leaders look for more funding to keep pace with the needs of the city's thousands of acres of public open spaces.

Underinvestment in Austin's hundreds of community parks has been a topic of concern among residents and elected officials for years, as the Parks and Recreation Department has contended with surging parks service needs for the city's growing population.

The parks department currently operates on a $180 million budget that that goes toward maintaining and improving Austin's parks, pools, playgrounds, trails, sports facilities, golf courses and other public features. The city also aims to ensure all Austinites live within walking distance of green space and continue parkland expansion efforts citywide—a process that's now more limited under new state law. Austin's traditional parkland dedication process, where new development must provide either land or payment to the city to grow its green space, has notably fallen off since that change.

"Based on the new requirements, PARD can require less than 1/3 of the parkland previously required," a department spokesperson said in an email… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ New Texas State master plan sets blueprint for growth through 2035 (Community Impact)

As Texas State University prepares for a decade of rapid growth, students, faculty and staff can expect major changes to campus.

The overview

In May, Texas State unveiled its 2025-2035 Campus Master Plan—described by President Kelly Damphousse as a “visionary roadmap” to guide campus growth amid historic enrollment highs and shifting student needs—which was approved by the board of regents May 1.

“We’re excited about the growth that is happening at Texas State and all that is happening here and the potential to expand what we’re doing, not just academically inside the classroom, but in our campus spaces as well.” Texas State University President Kelly Damphousse said at the May 1 meeting… 🟪 (READ MORE)

[TEXAS/US NEWS]

✅ Texas’ risk of power blackouts reduced as 100-degree days near, officials say (Dallas Morning News)

Buttressed by capacity increases in solar and large-scale batteries, ERCOT officials predict the lowest chance of power supply emergencies in years. ERCOT’s meteorologist predicts a hot summer this year — possibly among the top 10 hottest on record — with record-breaking demands. North Texas is expected to see its first 100-degree day of the year this weekend. But the state of the power grid is strong and ready for the demand, said Pablo Vegas, CEO of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. “Because of the contributions of the new resources that we’re seeing on the grid, our continued conservative operations and reliable management of the grid, all of that is contributing to those benefits,” Vegas said during a meeting of ERCOT’s board Tuesday.

Last year, the power grid operator predicted that during hours where power use remains high after the sun goes down, the grid would have a 16% chance of entering a power demand emergency. This year, ERCOT predicts a 0.5% chance of having an emergency during the same hours. “That does put us in a better position to get over those evening ramps as we go into late summer,” said Kristi Hobbs, ERCOT’s vice president of system planning and weatherization.

The amount of battery storage and solar power generation on the state’s stand-alone power grid boomed over the past two years. Battery storage increased its capacity fourfold while the amount of solar generation doubled and now rivals wind power. The state saw record shattering levels of renewable generation on the ERCOT grid. In June, that record was broken three times, including on Saturday when solar and wind combined to produce 47 gigawatts of power — enough to meet far more than half of the state’s demand… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Texas is getting older, but its child population is growing (Texas Tribune)

Texas is growing older faster than the rest of the nation, but the number of children in the state has grown while the country’s population of young people has shrunk.

The population of Texans age 65 and older grew faster than any other age group since the start of the decade, U.S. Census Bureau data released Thursday show — including working-age adults and children under the age of 18. The number of elder Texans grew 3.8% from 2023 to 2024, faster than the rest of the nation as a whole.

People are living longer than in past generations. As they age, older Texans will increasingly rely on those of working age, a population that isn’t growing as quickly, for support, said Holly Heard, vice president of data and analytics at Texas 2036. Older Texans face increased pressure from the state’s high housing costs. In a state with the highest levels of people without health insurance, a growing number of Texans will face ailments as they age.

“Texas is less equipped than many other states to take care of our aging population,” Heard said… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ BlackRock leans into Texas economic miracle with new index ETF (Dallas Morning News)

BlackRock on Tuesday unveiled a new exchange-traded fund composed entirely of companies based in Texas ? a nod to the state’s emergence as an economic power in its own right, and a draw for domestic and international investment. Known as the iShares Texas Equity ETF, the fund will be listed as “TEXN” on the Nasdaq ? which recently announced plans of its own to create a second hub in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. BlackRock itself manages nearly $400 billion worth of public companies in Texas. According to the firm, the index ETF will be one of over 60 geographically specific products within its suite, holding over $100 billion in assets under management.

However, the new fund is expected to provide small and large investors “targeted exposure to a dynamic state economy,” the world’s largest asset manager said in a release. With the Lone Star State rapidly becoming the “headquarters of headquarters,” multiple companies have announced plans to relocate to Texas, or have already done so. The state’s gross domestic product is over $2.7 trillion, making it the world’s eighth-largest economy if it were a standalone country. “I think the economic story is clear,” Jay Jacobs, U.S. Head of Equity ETFs at BlackRock, told The Dallas Morning News. He cited the state’s booming population of over 31 million, companies migrating from other parts of the country and sustained growth.

“Generally speaking, the U.S. remains a very attractive economy with a lot of growth prospects, but getting more granular within the U.S to really isolate some of the most attractive areas like Texas, is something that one, our clients want,” Jacobs said. Overall, more than 50 Fortune 500 companies call Texas home. Of the nearly 200 companies in the ETF, D-FW companies are well-represented, including corporate names like AT&T, Texas Instruments, Comerica, Match Group, American Airlines, CBRE and Southwest, among many others… 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Trump's call for more oil amid Iran conflict falls flat in Texas (San Antonio Express-News)

President Donald Trump's call for more oil production Monday, following the U.S. bombing of nuclear facilities in Iran, isn't getting much traction among Texas oil companies. Todd Staples, president of the Texas Oil & Gas Association, said in interview Tuesday while companies were grateful for Trump's efforts to boost the industry, ultimately crude prices would determine whether they increased drilling. "I believe companies are willing to respond should there be supply chain disruptions to the extent they give long term (price) signals," he said.

"So major shifts can be justified." The Texas oil industry has struggled since last summer amid a decline in crude prices, with the number of drilling rigs operating in West Texas's Permian Basin down 12% from a year ago, according to data from Houston-based oil field company Baker Hughes.

Exacerbating the problem, some oil executives say, are tariffs created by the Trump administration, which have raised the price of steel and other materials. In his post Monday, Trump called on the Department of Energy to "drill, baby, drill," following up with a warning to those who did not comply.

"EVERYONE, KEEP OIL PRICES DOWN. I’M WATCHING! YOU’RE PLAYING RIGHT INTO THE HANDS OF THE ENEMY. DON’T DO IT!" he wrote. But even after the U.S. bombing of Iran and more than a week of attacks by Israel, prices have not risen to the point many oil companies would start expanding drilling operations, analysts says.

While prices Monday were over $72 a barrel, they closed Tuesday at less than $65 a barrel. And forecasts show oil prices declining over the next six months to less than $60 a barrel in 2026, below the level at which many oil operations are profitable. Even if oil executives wanted to drill to appease Trump, they would be restrained by their investors, who want to see high returns, not "unprofitable tribute," said Clayton Seigle, a senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington. "Its not like other countries where politicians can call up the state-owned oil company and say increase supply," he said... 🟪 (READ MORE)

✅ Democrats fret about national fallout after Mamdani stuns in New York City (Associated Press)

The stunning success of Zohran Mamdani, a 33-year-old self-described democratic socialist, in the race for New York City mayor has exposed anew the fiery divisions plaguing the Democratic Party as it struggles to repair its brand nearly half a year into Donald Trump’s presidency.

A fresh round of infighting erupted among Democratic officials, donors and political operatives on Wednesday, a day after Mamdani’s leading opponent, former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, conceded the Democratic primary. Mamdani appears on a glide path to the nomination, though ranked choice vote counting will determine the final outcome next week.

Many progressives cheered the emergence of the young and charismatic Mamdani, whose candidacy caught on with viral campaign videos and a focus on the cost of living. But the party’s more pragmatic wing cast the outcome as a serious setback in their quest to broaden Democrats’ appeal and move past the more controversial policies that alienated would-be voters in recent elections.

Indeed, Wednesday’s debate was about much more than who would lead America’s largest city for the next four years… 🟪 (READ MORE)

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