Get out and VOTE this November!

Austin city council voted yesterday to give $350k to a sickle cell nonprofit that gives info and guidance to those with the disease. I'm sure they mean well, and it sounds good, but this is one of the worst performing nonprofits the city works with, it has compliance concerns, multiple contractual infractions, and the city has paid for unallowed costs in the past, inflated metrics, plus it has been on and off of corrective actions. Instead of cancelling and giving money to the nonprofit of some other disease, city council re-ups them. Only Ryan Alter voted no.

On Sept. 18, Gov. Abbott, Speaker Burrows, and Lt. Gov. Patrick demanded accountability for district attorneys who drop the ball on violent crime. The governor’s release singles out Travis County DA José Garza…citing dismissed murder charges and repeat offender bond cases. Abbott wants a statewide prosecutor who can step in when local DAs won’t. Burrows’ House Governmental Oversight Select Committee hears testimony Wednesday, Sept. 30. Soft on crime politics doesn’t stop at the county line. WilCo families feel Austin’s choices on the road, at work, and when crime spills over. I’m Theodore Schramm, running for Texas House District 136 — I’ll back state tools that keep violent offenders behind bars. #TX136 #WilliamsonCounty #PublicSafety #AustinTx

🔥 It’s SO on! Even if the college Dems can’t take the heat. Share this with Longhorn students, staff, and faculty you know and spread the word.

Greg Casar’s ICE Shooting Story vs. Wilber’s OWN Words 👀 📌 SOURCES: • Texas Tribune — Sept. 21: Wilber Garces Perez’s account of the shooting and hospital treatment⁠ • Texas Tribune — Sept. 22: Hospital discharge, second hospital visit & medical-care timeline⁠ • KUT 90.5 — Sept. 22: Second hospital visit & morphine-drip reporting⁠ • CNN — Sept. 22: Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch interview discussing the six-hour hospital visit and morphine drip⁠ • Texas Tribune — Sept. 23: Rep. Greg Casar’s statements after visiting Garces Perez⁠

A new consultant report was presented to council yesterday around how to get more money for parks 3 options 1) a small $1-4 fee on your electric bill 2) a NGO( local gov corp) 3) a parks district that can levy taxes Weirdly the report didn't mention the Austin Parks Foundation , which I think is kind of the fundraising place for parks philantropy in town. I guess it could turn into option 2?

Congressman Greg Casar is running for re-election on the November ballot. He is opposed by Republican Lauren B. Peña (@pena4ATX).

Austin used to fix the worst flooding first to avoid deadly situations. Now it apparently depends who's drowning. A Watershed Protection official told a city committee this week that the department's old motto, "worst problems first," now "depends on how you define 'worst,' and how you define 'problem,' and how you define 'first.'" The 2001 plan ranked neighborhoods by how badly they flood. That, she said, was grounded in "technical risk." The city doesn't want engineers to just measure water anymore. The new plan brings in "lived experience" and "social risk."

AUSTIN MAN charged with murdering a man over a diamond watch just walked out of jail after a judge cut his bond. The victim posted photos of cash and a diamond Cartier watch online. Police say six people spent two weeks planning to take them. In Nov 2024, they blasted into his apartment, assaulted a woman, pointed a gun at a child, and shot the victim dead. Judaren Forbes, 22, is indicted for murder. He posted bond last week. Another judge then set bond at $1 on his open gun cases. When the victim was killed, Forbes was already out on bond in four cases. Highlights: 2022: Arrested carrying a gun. January 2023: Video shows him running into the street at a house party and firing an AR at a passing car. Prosecutors knocked the felony down to a misdemeanor. 60 days in jail. March 2023: Arrested for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. DA Jose Garza's office declined to file it. Christmas Eve 2023: Arrested with another Glock. Out the next day. September 2024: He fled a trooper from a street takeover, crashed into another driver, hurled his Glock off an I-35 overpass, and jumped after it. Hours later he swore to police his car had been stolen. Ten weeks later, a man was killed. Five of the six home invasion suspects were already out on violent cases. The murder victim’s mother said they "should have never been free on bond." Now Forbes is back on the street.

Austin Democrats are planning their next fake-news takeover. My opp is on his way to visit the Austin ICE deportee. What do you want to bet he didn’t get prior authorization so he could go all over the news and say they refused him? Bookmark my words.

Double check your voter status…

If you renewed your license or changed your address online through DPS, check your voter status at VoteTexas.gov now. Don’t wait until early voting. People who did it the right way shouldn’t get bounced because of a state tech failure. If something still looks off at the polls, ask for a provisional ballot. That’s what it’s for. County election workers didn’t cause this. The state did. I’m Theodore Schramm, running for Texas House District 136. State agencies owe voters the basics. #TX136 #WilliamsonCounty #texasDPS #texasvoters

Honestly, @RepCasar is working on taxpayer funds for a Venezuelan Immigrant. Austin & San Antonio, TX is in need and he is not working for us. Vote him out of office Vote @pena4ATX She has always worked for Austin Residents and will work for Texans. Send Greg Packing November 3rd

Greg Casar is working hard to inflate this into a much larger story. I simply want to keep making one point: Wilber Perez is not one of his constituents. The two men murdered in Austin this morning were. There has been no comparable outrage for those two people.

Congressman Casar and other local leaders have been slandering the doctors at Seton like crazy over this... A doctor in Austin is not going to deny someone medical care they need because an ICE agent asks them to, it would violate everything doctors are about, come on!

Get Casar out of politics now!

A white homeless man in Austin could wait longer for a bed than a black one with the same needs, because the city's waitlist system uses race to score which people deserve a bed faster.

In Austin, nonprofits get funding even when they admit total failure. For example, Austin paid a nonprofit to improve the mental health of 362 people. It said it helped 73, yet the city paid the full contract anyway. When the city auditor checked just 25 nonprofit contracts, 19 had missed at least one of their own performance targets. Back in 2019, the city auditor found these contracts skip the normal competitive bidding process, and Austin's anti-lobbying rules don't apply to them for some reason. That means nonprofits seeking city money can lobby council members and city staff directly while their contracts are being decided. This is a practice that is totally banned for companies bidding on ordinary city contracts. Why do nonprofits get special privileges that promote corruption? The auditor told the city to fix all of this. Seven years later, neither fix has happened, the contracts keep getting extended, and the new target date for any potential fix is October 2027. Tomorrow, council votes on another $19 million for these nonprofits.

Get out and VOTE this November!