ATX PULSE 11/18/25 (free) (sponsored by Money.com): ATX Council Faces Showdown on Public Safety Spending // 50th Homicide Committed in ATX This Year // Man on Scooter Hit by Car, Dies // COTA Building $14M Members-Only Club // Sean Miller Signs Top 5 UT MBB Recruiting Class

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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2025

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WEATHER

Today: H: 84° / L: 70°.

» Flood watch ahead of slow-moving storm, per KXAN. Rai expected Wed night through Fri AM.

Wednesday: H: 84° / L: 71°.

Thursday: H: 79° / L: 66°.

TOP NEWS

“Austin City Council faces showdown over public safety cuts,” Austin American-Statesman’s Chaya Tong and Austin Sanders — “As the Austin City Council begins deliberating over a new austerity budget proposal Tuesday, public safety spending has become a major flashpoint.

While the three public safety unions are pushing council to infuse millions of dollars into the fire department and emergency medical services, a coalition of nearly two dozen progressive organizations is advocating for a more equitable approach so that homeless services, parks and other programs don’t have to suffer cuts amid a nagging budget shortfall. The coalition also is calling for a reduction in police spending, which it described as “one of the few viable ways” to achieve its goal.

The wrangling began in earnest last week after City Manager T.C. Broadnax released a revised budget proposal that reduced the Austin Fire Department and Austin-Travis County EMS budgets by a combined $14 million-plus. Leaders of the Austin Firefighters Association and Austin EMS Association, along with the Austin Police Association, were quick to blast the cuts and warn they would put Austin residents at risk by slowing response times and weakening the ability of their agencies to respond to severe fires and medical emergencies.

“What the manager proposed doesn’t adequately fund the resources we need,” EMS Association President James Monks said in an interview. 

Broadnax’s budget proposal came days after the Nov. 4 election where voters overwhelmingly rejected Proposition Q, a measure that would have generated nearly $110 million by increasing the city property tax rate by more than 20%. The $6.3 billion budget City Council approved in August accounted for that money, so the council must now approve a new spending plan. 

A city staff presentation posted online ahead of Tuesday’s budget work session says Broadnax’s proposal calls for net cuts of nearly $55 million to the Prop Q budget, along with the elimination of a $40.5 million planned transfer to reserves and a $14.1 million withdrawal from that savings account. The presentation also includes updated estimates that show the city’s deficit could grow to $37.4 million by 2029, assuming a modest annual tax rate increase of 3.5% and no further budget cuts.

Under the Prop Q budget approved in August, EMS was set to receive $6.3 million to hire more staff and purchase new ambulances and other equipment while the Fire Department had been set to receive $8.3 million to cover overtime costs.

Both sums are nixed in Broadnax’s proposal – though EMS’ overall budget is still set to increase when compared to the budget for the fiscal year that just ended. (That spending plan gave the agency $143 million; Broadnax’s proposal gives it $148.2 million.)

“Council told us they would take care of us, and here we are asking them to do just that,” Monks said.

Firefighters Association President Bob Nicks said that without the extra funding, the department could be forced to staff some firetrucks with only three firefighters instead of four — a national best practice that Austin codified in 2018 through city ordinance. 

“Four-person staffing isn’t just a best practice,” Nicks told the Statesman. “It’s the best way to keep Austin safe from dangerous fires.”

City spokesperson Erik Johnson said Broadnax’s recommendations don’t necessarily mean the Fire Department will abandon four-person staffing, noting that details will be worked out by the City Council. 

Going into Tuesday’s work session, a significant share of the 11-member body has expressed support for restoring some of the EMS reductions. Attitudes are more mixed about Fire Department funding with some members describing overtime pay as a costlier way to deliver services.

Four council members — Mike Siegel, Paige Ellis, José Velásquez and Mayor Pro Tem Vanessa Fuentes — posted a proposal to the City Council message board Friday that would restore about $4.4 million to the EMS budget by transferring $1.8 million from the city’s reserve fund and making smaller cuts to nine other departments.

“Ensuring that our community has access to paramedics during emergencies is an essential service our City provides,” Fuentes wrote on behalf of the four members.

Several other members told the American-Statesman in interviews they are also inclined to restore at least some of the EMS funding because the extra money would help make the agency more efficient and responsive. 

But they also expressed concerns about the domino effect that higher public safety spending would have on other areas of the budget. 

Council Member Krista Laine, whose northwest Austin district voted overwhelmingly against Prop Q, said she’s worried about public safety spending growing at rates “significantly faster than the revenue the city can bring in.”

“That is not what the voters told us to continue doing,” Laine said, referring to the outcome of the Prop Q election. “We have to deliver services more effectively and efficiently, with slower growth.”

Broadnax’s proposal doesn’t call for any cuts to the Austin Police Department though the Austin Police Association, the union that represents officers, has also taken a stand against public safety cuts.

(AAS)

"UT Eclipses 5,000 GPUs To Increase Dominance in Open-Source AI, Strengthen Nation’s Computing Power" UT News's Adrienne Lee – Amid the private sector’s race to lead artificial intelligence innovation, The University of Texas at Austin has strengthened its lead in academic computing power and dominance in computing power for public, open-source AI. UT has acquired high-performance Dell PowerEdge servers and NVIDIA AI infrastructure powered by more than 4,000 NVIDIA Blackwell architecture graphic processing units (GPUs), the most powerful GPUs in production to date.

The new infrastructure is a game-changer for the University, expanding its research and development capabilities in agentic and generative AI while opening the door to more society-changing discoveries that support America’s technological dominance. The NVIDIA GB200 systems and NVIDIA Vera CPU servers will be installed as part of Horizon, the largest academic supercomputer in the nation, which goes online next year at UT’s Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC). The National Science Foundation (NSF) is funding Horizon through its Leadership Class Computing Facility program to revolutionize U.S. computational research.

(UT News)

“‘What’s actually happening’: UT Austin students feel left in the dark, university remains silent on Trump compact deal" via KXAN – In just a few days, there’s a major Trump administration deadline. It’s one that the University of Texas at Austin has remained silent on.

The school is among nine universities to be offered a deal that would give preferential federal funding in exchange for signing a compact that would change and double down on major changes to campus culture, hiring and admission processes, foreign student enrollment and more.

Demands for protection of ethnic and gender studies

Students are concerned how this deal, and other political influences might impact courses. There’s a worry that gender and ethnic study classes might be consolidated.

“All we are looking for is transparency,” UT Junior and African Diaspora and Economics major Mikey Rush said. “We have an obligation to be at the table when decisions are made that affect us all. This silence has been intentional.”

(KXAN Austin)

THE BLOTTER

"Austin Police investigating city’s 50th homicide of 2025" KXAN’s Cora Neas — Austin Police is investigating the Nov. 15 death of a 28-year-old as a homicide, according to a Tuesday morning press release.

APD said that officers responded to the 10600 block of North Lamar Blvd. around 8:52 p.m. Saturday after receiving 911 calls reporting a deceased person. Officers found the victim, who had “visible trauma to his body.”

The department identified the victim as Carlin Elrod. According to APD, its investigation “revealed that Mr. Elrod was shot by an unknown suspect who fled the area.”

Elrod’s death is Austin’s 50th homicide of 2025. At this time last year, Austin had already had 63 homicides.

The press release asks for anyone with information about the homicide to call APD at 512-974-8477. Tips can also be sent anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program or by calling 512-472-8477. It also says a reward of up to $1,000 “may be available for any information that leads to an arrest.”

(KXAN)

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