2019's Big Stories Shaping Austin's Path Into a New Decade

Our Top 10 News stories of 2019 included some unexpected shockers and some long-anticipated milestones, but they all have one thing in common: They're not over. These game-changing moments have, rather, set the stage for new, not-always-easy conversations as our city leaves its (20)teens for its (20)20s – about our schools, our police and justice systems, our land use and the environment, the needs of the unhoused and poor, our city's fiscal sustainability, and much more. Here's our look back at a year filled with news that mattered. – Mike Clark-Madison

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Feb. 7: The Water Isn't Fine – Zebra Mussels and Blue-Green Algae

"What's that smell?" was the question on everyone's lips in February when clusters – yes, clusters – of dead zebra mussels were discovered clinging to the pipes of the Ullrich Water Treatment Plant, thereby lending a funky, fetid odor and taste to the tap water of Central and South Austin. The smell eventually faded away, and by March, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department announced that no new lakes had been infested with the invasive species, though 15 of the 60+ lakes monitored were already infested, another six more had been marked "positive" (i.e., the invasive species had been detected more than once), and eight were "suspect," with the mussel or its larvae identified only once.

But just when we thought those pesky mussels – which seem to spread like, well, an invasive species – had done their worst damage to Austin waterways, a toxic blue-green algae bloomed along Red Bud Isle, Auditorium Shores, and in Barton Creek between Barton Springs Pool and Lady Bird Lake. Sure enough, scientists have shown that these blooms follow when zebra mussels eat up all the other, friendlier algae. Like a Creepshow monster, the bloom hit at the height of July's heat wave and largely targeted our beloved four-legged friends, killing at least five dogs before the popular swimming holes were shut down. In November, once temperatures finally dropped – the only sure way to rid water of harmful algae – the city reopened Red Bud Isle after Nov. 12 water samples showed no sign of toxins and the blue-green algae was no longer visible. But dog owners may never again take their pets for a swim, upon the city's warning that "another harmful algal bloom may occur at any time in any part" of Lady Bird Lake. Luckily, this type of toxic algae is most apt to bloom when the weather is hot and dry for long periods of time, which rarely ever happens here, right? – Sarah Marloff

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March 4: D.A.'s Office Caught Lying on Tape

The Travis County District Attorney's Office found itself the subject of many a news story this year due to continuous allegations that the office and the women who run it – specifically, D.A. Margaret Moore and First Assistant D.A. Mindy Montford – mistreat, neglect, and retraumatize survivors of sexual assault. Though the survivors' lawsuit filed last year – eight survivors accusing local law enforcement of failing to provide equal protection for women survivors and ultimately violating their constitutional rights – first named the concern that had been bubbling up in the advocate community for over a year, it was a March 2019 court filing that really raised concern.

Emily Borchardt, a plaintiff in the survivors' lawsuit who says she was kidnapped and raped by several men, accused Montford of "possible defamation" following a now-­public phone call between Montford and her former sister-in-law, Dawn McCrack­en, a family friend of the Bor­chardts. Montford – who had access to the police file stating Borchardt never consented to having sexual intercourse with her kidnappers and, in fact, tried to run away – told McCracken "no fewer than 11 times" that Borchardt's case was denied because she told APD her rapes were "actually consensual." At the time, Moore defended Montford's actions – both her seemingly blatant lies and that she shared confidential information with a third party. This fall, Borchardt filed a separate lawsuit against Moore and Montford accusing the two women of lying about her case in an effort to undermine and dissuade her from pursuing the survivors' lawsuit. She's since filed a restraining order against the pair in an effort to prevent them from making "or encouraging others to make" statements that assert or suggest she consented to being raped.

Moore's reelection campaign kicked off in the midst of these allegations, which quickly became ammunition for her challengers, José Garza and Erin Martinson. Less than a month after Moore was appointed to a statewide task force to address the needs of rape survivors, the D.A. stepped down from that task force in July amid outcry from local survivors and advocates. In November, the Austin Firefighters Association launched the "No (D.A.) Moore" campaign, sharing stories from several women who say they or their families have been abused by the D.A.'s Office. Several weeks later, another woman who says her case was denied prosecution by the TC D.A. shared a Change.org petition calling for Moore's removal from office. – S.M.

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May 27: 86th Texas Legislature Adjourns, Austin Avoids Bashing but Faces Painful Fiscal Future

From a Texas-wide perspective, the 86th Lege will be remembered for the one-and-done speakership of Dennis Bonnen, the first positive moves on school funding in a decade, and the relative lack of culture-war drama – averted by a much bluer Texas House with 12 new Dems, including four Central Texans. For the city of Austin, that translated into the failure of targeted strikes against our progressive heresies, such as guaranteed paid sick leave (still, sadly, blocked by the courts), fair-chance hiring, and LGBTQ nondiscrimination. But the relief at having survived this session's Austin-bashing antics (they happen every session, of course) was swamped by angst over the state GOP leadership's maniacal efforts to "reform" property taxation with a 3.5% cap on cities' and counties' annual ability to increase tax revenues. Lots of loose talk about the benighted and stressed Texas taxpayer couldn't obscure the fact that the long-sought "revenue cap" will do nothing to lower tax bills but will throw a huge wrench into city and county budgets that will be hard-pressed to keep up with inflation, let alone Texas' nonstop population growth, most of it in urban areas. In case you thought that screwing cities and counties (which are, of course, the major engines of Democratic political power in the state) was a bug rather than a feature, Bonnen got caught on tape – in the scandal that would end his legislative career – saying exactly that, with a side of petty bullshit specifically for Mayor Steve Adler, who sounded the alarm all year about the $40 million-plus hole being blown into Austin's future spending plans by revenue caps. "There's an extreme voice that seems to have taken over the many in the Republican Party," Adler told the Chronicle as the Legislature adjourned sine die. "The state's demographics are changing. It could be they're just trying to hold on to power as long as they can." – M.C.M.

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June 20: Austin Repeals Ordinances Criminalizing Camping, Sitting, or Lying in Public

When City Council voted to decriminalize homelessness in June, it took a big risk: prioritizing the safety of the city's most vulnerable over the comfort of some of its most privileged. The ensuing backlash was predictable, and for the rest of the summer, some in the public lashed out at Mayor Steve Adler and his Council. At town hall meetings, during public comment periods, and – especially – on social media, the city's elected leaders were harangued for taking action that increased the visibility of homelessness, if not the actual number of people in that situation, before articulating what, exactly, they would do next.

Through the summer and into the fall, while city budget writers found funding for a historic level of investment in homelessness services and city staff worked to suggest next steps in the broader strategy, Council flailed and squabbled as it considered how and if it should again amend the camping and no-sit/no-lie ordinances. Ultimately, Council settled on a partial reinstatement of the camping ban that still allowed people living on the streets to sleep in public so long as they were not a threat to themselves or to others, and a housing-first strategy of purchasing and renovating motels into bridge housing for people to live in as they work their way out of homelessness.

All the while, Gov. Greg Abbott watched from atop his throne in the Governor's Mansion, first taking Twitter potshots at the mayor before wading into the policy debate, doing his best to be the kind of strongman ruler that's become popular with Trump-era conservatives. After issuing escalating threats against the city with no real offer of help, Abbott took actions of his own. First, he ordered sweeps of the camps under state highways, and then he opened a campsite that has gradually grown its resources offered to people staying there, but that experts say isn't likely to help anyone permanently exit homelessness.

All of the political turmoil muddied the fact that Council's decision in June – and the activists and social workers who encouraged them before and after – brought real change to the daily lives of those who live on our streets. For the first time in decades, they were allowed to share public space with housed neighbors with a much decreased threat of citation or arrest. They were allowed to come out of the margins of society and into the safety of visibility; they were given the attention and respect of a public that has failed them but, hopefully, is ready to bring an end to long-term homelessness. – Austin Sanders

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Aug. 29: State Approves Travis County Proposal for a Public Defender's Office

There were moments when it seemed the entire project would collapse in a collision of good intentions. (That was the fate reserved for an earlier proposal to merge the District Attorney's Office with that of the County Attorney.) But after considerable back-and-forth among the Commis­sioners Court, prosecutors, advocacy groups, and the local defense bar, sufficient consensus was generated to draft a proposal, get buy-in from the judges, tweak the overall numbers, and send it along to the Texas Indigent Defense Com­mis­sion ... for approval. Presuming the project gets staffed early next year, Austin will no longer be the largest city in the country without an agency whose primary purpose is to provide legal counsel for indigent defendants. Currently, low-income people accused of crimes rely on court-assigned defense counsel, provided primarily by the Capital Area Private Defend­ers Service. Those lawyers were skeptical of the county proposal, not least because the majority of defendants would still be represented by CAPDS attorneys – who therefore fought for greater resources in the plan if the county was to expect support from the defense bar. A final complication was the 86th Legislature's decision to install its 3.5% revenue cap on annual property taxes received by local jurisdictions. That prospect spooked budget-conscious commissioners, but after the judges weighed in to support the proposal (including more funding for CAPDS), the court voted 4-1 (Gerald Daugh­erty dissenting) to forward the request to the TIDC for ratification. It means a four-year infusion of state matching funds to better provide constitutionally mandated legal counsel, as well as a training agency to raise local standards of indigent defense. If it works, it should make things a little easier – and fairer – for poor people caught up in the justice system. – Michael King

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Sept. 5: AISD Releases "School Changes" Scenarios, Including Plans to Close 12 Campuses

The Austin Independent School District began exploring the possibility of school closures in early 2019, and it took its board of trustees most of the year to get to a point where a thin majority could agree on a limited number of campuses to close. In the wake of years of fiscal challenges (reduced somewhat once the new school finance plan passed the Lege) and steadily declining enrollment, debate among the board and the community centered on how to rightsize the district while striving toward equity. The district committed to prioritizing "our most important asset – our students and their success" and to "interrupt practices that negatively impact struggling students," particularly in lower-income communities of color.

When AISD released the first draft of what it called the School Changes plan, much of the district's active community – students, educators, parents, and advocates – felt leaders had badly missed that mark. Community members pushed the district to reconsider, pointing out that most of the campus closures and consolidations would impact those living east of I-35. The district responded by embarking on a robust effort to gather feedback, meeting in school gyms and cafeterias throughout Austin to hear emotional testimony from angry and bewildered parents, faculty, and students about how school closures would be harmful to their communities and a betrayal of previous promises by AISD to reinvest in its challenged schools.

Community pressure continued to build, but the trustees remained firm: We have to close schools, and we're going to do it this time, after years of putting it off. The pressure did have some effect, as the initial list of 12 closures was reduced to four – three on the Eastside – in a second draft of the School Changes plan.

Largely, the community remained unsatisfied. Looking to Stephanie Hawley, who AISD hired in June as its first-ever equity officer, they pleaded for a pause on closures altogether. That didn't happen, and on Nov. 18, the board of trustees voted to close Metz, Brooke, Pease, and Sims elementary schools, despite startling and blunt testimony from Hawley that the closures represented "a map of 21st century racism."

After the vote, reporting revealed that Hawley had produced a report detailing how and why the yearlong process leading to the closures perpetuated structural inequities and devalued the perspectives of the people most affected – the legacy, she wrote, of a "white supremacy culture" in Austin and at AISD. But the report was not made public, or even shared with the trustees, until weeks after trustees voted to close the schools. (District staff said the report was undergoing edits and could not be released before the vote.) Now, AISD moves forward into 2020 trying to repair broken trust with communities who feel vindicated by Hawley's report, while deciding the fate of the eight remaining campuses slated for closure. – A.S.

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Oct. 7: APD Chief Brian Manley First Learns of Racism Allegations Against Asst. Chief Justin Newsom

Manley told APD officers in November that when he first received an anonymous tip about Newsom's "racist statements," he referred it immediately to the city's Office of Police Oversight. But he didn't open an internal investigation or put Newsom on administrative leave, which proved to be unfortunate at best; by the end of October, when a formal complaint spelling out New­som's behavior rocked APD and City Hall, the assistant chief had abruptly retired without punishment, leaving him free to receive $137,000 in deferred compensation.

The resulting shock waves will reverberate well into the new year. Manley's job is in jeopardy, pending the findings of an independent investigation ordered by City Manager Spencer Cronk into who knew what when, which is also the focus of a formal grievance by the Austin Police Associ­a­tion. Two other internal city probes are looking at APD recruiting, training, and hiring practices, while two other assistant chiefs are also the subject of complaints alleging bigotry and homophobia. A lawsuit has also been filed by a black APD detective, alleging persistent bias against African Ameri­cans within the department.

And a different, broader third-party investigation has been ordered by the City Council, championed by Natasha Harper-Madison, its only black member; this inquiry, informed by the work of Austin justice advocates, will also look at the department's training and retention as part of a deep dive into dysfunctional cop culture, starting at the police academy. That means increasing APD's head count – an important goal for both the department and the union, and largely achieved in the 2020 city budget – is now on hold. Rebuilding trust among APD brass, officers, City Hall, and the community is a work in progress. – M.C.M.

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Nov. 5: Austin Voters Reject Effort to Block Convention Center Expansion

Although we can be certain that the arguments over whether to again expand the Neal Kocurek Memorial Austin Convention Center have only just begun – Austin politics are nothing if not cyclical – November's outcome provides a demarcation between the lengthy introductory phase and the brass-tacks planning phase. The Convention Center proposal – which emerged a couple of years ago as the central piece of Mayor Steve Adler's "Downtown Puzzle" and in May received unanimous City Council assent for further exploration – still has plenty of obstacles to overcome before it becomes a reality. In theory, the dramatic "revisioning" and expansion of the center will invite larger events; enable a more mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly version of southeast Downtown; and liberate hotel tax and public improvement district funding to address a laundry list of public needs, from homelessness to sustaining the city's cultural arts. Adler proclaimed his 2018 reelection as a mandate for Austin to pursue "big things," and this project could be the center-piece that delivers on that ambition. The November rejection of the Proposition B citizen initiative (55% to 45%) – which would have blocked the expansion (or at least moved the argument into the courts) – capped a bitter campaign that saw a court battle over the ballot language and each side accusing the other of dishonesty (even Trump-ism). Now, city staff is charged with returning to Council with an actual plan (and funding details) that can be realized on a budget and timeline satisfactory to Council and the public. That vexing process might even become a Top 10 story for 2020. – M.K.

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Nov. 15: Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Stays the Execution of Rodney Reed

Convicted in 1998 of the rape and murder of Stacey Stites in Bastrop two years earlier, Reed has been on Texas' death row for 20 years, consistently proclaiming his innocence. Multiple legal challenges to Reed's conviction over the years, along with reporting by news outlets including the Chronicle (beginning in 2001), have called into question the prosecution's case, which rests entirely on the presence of Reed's sperm in Stites' body as determined by a DNA test. Reed claims he and Stites were having an (interracial) affair behind the back of her (racist and violent) boyfriend, former police Officer Jimmy Fennell, who Reed's family, defenders at the Innocence Project, and supporters throughout the world believe is the real killer; Fennell would later serve 10 years in prison for the rape and kidnapping of another woman when he was a cop in Georgetown. Reed's previous execution date in 2015 was stayed by the state's highest criminal court, but subsequent hearings into the substantial evidence of his innocence still left many questions unanswered, most observers unsatisfied, and Reed still on death row. But as his new execution date approached this year, the snowballing outrage over the case finally broke into national and international consciousness, with everyone from Dr. Phil to Pope Francis to Kim Kardashian-West to Ted Cruz calling for a halt to allow for a real, honest exploration of Reed's claims, including a number of new witnesses and calls to test the forensic evidence, including the belt used to strangle Stites. The first steps toward what may be long-delayed justice for Reed – and Stites – should be taken in a Bastrop courtroom in February 2020. – M.C.M.

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Dec. 11: City Council Approves Revised Land Development Code on First Reading

It's been a big year for Austin's exhausting, fraught, but hopefully beneficial rewrite of its Land Develop­ment Code. For the first time, City Council took a vote on the revised code text and zoning map, after the better part of a decade and millions of dollars in consulting fees and staff time. On Dec. 11, Council moved the process toward completion – for real this time – with a divided 7-4 vote; fitting, as there has not really been a moment of consensus throughout the effort.

But let's go back to this spring, when Council recommenced in earnest the LDC rewrite process that had ground to a halt in 2018. In April, your pack of Chronicle News reporters set out to ask the question, "What land use code do we need to build the city we want?" The answers we got sound familiar now: a code that makes it easier to build more housing while preserving housing that's already affordable; one that puts more people near transit to increase usage of those services; and above all, one that is actually complete and usable, because people are moving here at a record clip, and they – along with the natives who might be displaced – need houses.

A few weeks later, City Manager Spencer Cronk put his first stamp on the LDC Revision when Council answered his own questions about what kind of code was needed for the city we want. Those answers were compiled into a document henceforth known as the "May policy guidance" memo, and they gave staff a clear, concrete direction with a definitive 8-3 vote by Council.

Five months later, staff revealed to the public its first draft of the revived rewrite: a land use code filled with new designations (the R4s and the RMs among the most contentious) and a map shaded with deep reds that marked those contentious codes on the edges of Austin's central neighborhoods – too far into the interiors for some, not far enough for others.

Over the next three months, tweaks were made and the same policy disagreements that were ostensibly settled in the May guidance memo continued to dominate land use debate. But now, in mid-December, LDC work is done for 2019. Council will take a second-reading vote in February and a final vote in March; unless, that is, a group of homeowners who recently sued the city have their way (see "City Sued Over Land Use Code Revision" for more). – A.S.