Candlewood Suites Hotel bought for $9.5 million
Big pushback from the community and multiple requests from elected officials for delay were not enough to convince the Austin City Council to hold off on spending $9.5 million on the Candlewood Suites Hotel. Councilman Greg Casar doesn’t agree with the criticism over that high price tag, despite only being valued at $2.7 million.
“No matter how much folks talk about the fact that this costs us so much money upfront, getting people into permanent supportive housing saves us tens of thousands of dollars per person,” says Casar.
That hotel will be used to house the homeless. Only Council Member Mackenzie Kelly voted against the purchase. The hotel is in her district. Her request for a delay until August found no support on the council dias.
Williamson County leaders remained very unhappy with Austin over that Candlewood Suites purchase. Throughout the week, they’ve been requesting that delay so the city and county could collaborate. But now the city has moved forward with the plan, County Judge Bill Gravell is expected to fight back.
“I would like to know what any and all legal remedies are available to Williamson County and what resources would be necessary to use to make the right decision,” says Gravell.
Gravell sent the request in writing to Mayor Steve Adler on Tuesday, but reportedly never received a formal response.
Camping bans
The Austin City Council has also approved some limited public camping bans in four areas of the city, but that certainly is not without its contention. Several residents condemned the so-called HEAL initiative. Among them is Caleb Todd, homeless advocate, who says fears of these camps are unfounded.
“I’m 5’5, 120 pounds soaking wet. I worked in these camps for eight months. At one point I had to stop delivering after dark because I was scaring people,” says Todd.
Those opposed to the initiative say this is a step closer to re criminalization. The city says once people in those designated areas are connected to housing and services, camping will not be allowed there once again.
Austin voters will very likely see an item on the May ballot that gives them the choice to reinstate the camping bands citywide. Matt Mackowiak, with the nonprofit Save Austin Now says that now that the city clerk has certified their petition signatures, they do have the green light to begin the election campaign.
“We have to now make sure this passes. We have to reinstate the camping ban. We have to save our city and restore it to a place that’s safe and healthy and clean, and that works both for residents and the homeless community,” says Mackowiak.
He says they do need donations to kick start their campaign because turnout is expected to be pretty light.
New forensic lab
Austin will be getting a new forensics lab not connected to the Austin Police Department. The council this week has approved that plan to use $12 million in reallocated police funding to get the lab up and running. It will require 86 full time positions.
COVID-19 update
Travis County’s number of hospitalized coronavirus patients now firmly settling into the 400s as the total has continued to fall day after day. There are 484 people in the hospital this morning, 144 of whom are in the ICU. Active cases have also taken another big tumble downward to 4,859. 77,164 cases have been found, with 65,626 recoveries.
Denied work-from-home requests
Dozens of teachers in the Pflugerville district resigned this year over having to work from campus. Jasmine Shaw is one of them, she tells CBS Austin she was denied a work-from-home request despite having asthma, which is a high risk factor.
“It’s kind of hard to work in that kind of environment where life happens to people and like no sympathy is being shown,” says Shaw.
She’s among 77 teachers in the district to quit this year. District officials say all employees are required to work on campus unless they’ve been approved to receive an alternate work assignment to the Americans with Disabilities Act.
Pflugerville ESD
Pflugerville Voters won’t be deciding on the formation of a new emergency services district or ESD. Some Travis County Commissioners and the Pflugerville Firefighters Association had been advocating for the new ESD, but the council last night voted against that proposal, saying more times needed to study the options for both fire and EMS services.
McKinsey & Company settlement
Texas reaches a $38 million settlement with one of the consulting firms that helped fuel the opioid epidemic. The $10 billion McKinsey & Company provided sales and marketing advice to opioid producers Purdue Pharma and Johnson & Johnson. The settlement was part of an ongoing effort to hold the manufacturers and marketers accountable for deceptively advertising the highly addictive pain pills.
“Prescription opioids continue to kill over 1,000 Texans every year, and thousands more suffer from health consequences or the addiction or death of a beloved family member,” says Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton spokesman Alejandro Garcia.
The settlement was part of a 47 states $600 million deal.
This news and more on News Radio KLBJ:
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