Latest / Austin Signal / Dashcam audio from Austin ICE shooting, Agriculture commissioner race, Agreement to save Muny

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Dashcam audio from Austin ICE shooting, Agriculture commissioner race, Agreement to save Muny · Austin Signal

• 0:08
  Wilbur Garces Perez, the man shot in
• 0:10
  September by an ICE agent in North
• 0:12
  Austin, appeared in a federal
• 0:13
  courthouse this month on charges of
• 0:15
  assaulting and resisting a federal
• 0:17
  officer.
• 0:18
  KUT News has obtained exclusive
• 0:20
  audio from that hearing, we're going
• 0:21
  to share that with you today, and
• 0:23
  Texans will be electing a new Ag
• 0:25
  Commissioner for the first time in a
• 0:26
  decade. The responsibilities of the
• 0:28
  job go beyond supporting farmers and
• 0:30
  ranchers in Texas, but the
• 0:32
  candidates up for the job are
• 0:33
  squabbling over whether their
• 0:34
  opponent is even qualified for
• 0:36
  that role. More about those stories
• 0:38
  coming up on today's show.
• 0:39
  The Austin Signal is a production
• 0:41
  of KUT News, hosted by
• 0:43
  Jerry Kehanel.
• 0:44
  Plus, there's been a
• 0:45
  half-century-long campaign to save
• 0:47
  Lyons Municipal Golf Course in West
• 0:49
  Austin.
• 0:50
  UT and the City of Austin have come
• 0:52
  to an agreement on ownership of the
• 0:53
  land. We're going to tell you about
• 0:55
  the details and what happens next.
• 0:57
  That's today on Austin Signal.
• 1:02
  Thank you.
• 1:09
  Howdy out there, this is
• 1:11
  Austin Signal.
• 1:12
  I'm your host, Jerry Kikano, it is
• 1:14
  Tuesday, October 20th.
• 1:15
  Thank you for tuning in and spending
• 1:17
  part of the day here with us.
• 1:19
  It has been one month exactly since
• 1:21
  Wilbur Garces Perez was shot by an
• 1:23
  ICE agent in North Austin.
• 1:25
  Garces Peres was willed into a
• 1:27
  federal courthouse at the start of
• 1:28
  October on charges of assaulting and
• 1:30
  resisting a federal officer.
• 1:32
  We told you all about that hearing
• 1:33
  earlier this month here on Austin
• 1:35
  Signal, But in a new KUT
• 1:37
  exclusive, we have obtained the
• 1:39
  audio from that hearing.
• 1:41
  KUT's Moe's Bouchelle has been
• 1:42
  covering this story and was in the
• 1:44
  courtroom that day.
• 1:45
  He spoke with Morning Edition host
• 1:47
  Ben Philpott about the recording.
• 1:49
  The general public does not usually
• 1:51
  get to hear what happens in a
• 1:53
  federal criminal courtroom.
• 1:54
  That's because reporters are usually
• 1:56
  banned from taping.
• 1:57
  But KUT has obtained just such
• 1:59
  a recording.
• 2:01
  It's from the September 30th hearing
• 2:02
  for Wilbur Garces Perez.
• 2:04
  He's the Venezuelan DoorDash driver
• 2:06
  who was shot by Immigration and
• 2:07
  Customs Enforcement in Austin last
• 2:09
  month. The incident led to weeks
• 2:11
  of protests.
• 2:13
  The recording not only provides
• 2:14
  a rare public view into the
• 2:16
  hearing, it also includes audio from
• 2:18
  the ICE traffic stop and car chase
• 2:20
  that preceded Garces Perez's
• 2:22
  shooting.
• 2:23
  We're making that audio available to
• 2:25
  the public right here for the first
• 2:26
  time.
• 2:27
  Are you going to stop me for a few
• 2:29
  seconds, bro?
• 2:32
  And joining me now to talk about
• 2:34
  what we can learn from recordings,
• 2:35
  like what you just heard is KUT's
• 2:37
  Mo's Bouchelle.
• 2:38
  He's been following the story since
• 2:40
  the shooting happened.
• 2:41
  Hey, Mo's. Hey, Ben.
• 2:42
  So Moes, you were in the courtroom
• 2:44
  on that day of the hearing, but
• 2:45
  journalists were not allowed to
• 2:47
  record.
• 2:47
  No, no, we weren't.
• 2:49
  Usually there is a court reporter
• 2:51
  who takes the official transcript
• 2:52
  of what happens in court, but
• 2:54
  no one else is allowed to take audio
• 2:56
  or video. But in this case there
• 2:57
  was no court reporter, so the judge
• 2:59
  had the hearing taped and
• 3:01
  KUT requested that audio.
• 3:03
  And then that recording also
• 3:04
  included the audio of what happened
• 3:06
  before the shooting.
• 3:07
  Yeah, so body camera footage
• 3:09
  from one of the ICE agents was
• 3:11
  shown at the hearing.
• 3:13
  Now that footage, that video is
• 3:15
  officially sealed.
• 3:15
  The public is not supposed to see
• 3:17
  it. But since we got the recording
• 3:19
  of the hearing, it included
• 3:21
  that. It included the audio of the
• 3:23
  sealed body camera video.
• 3:25
  So the video is still sealed, but
• 3:27
  the audio is part of the record.
• 3:29
  So now we have the audio.
• 3:30
  OK, so we are obviously going to get
• 3:32
  into that. But let's start with the
• 3:33
  hearing itself.
• 3:34
  Take us back to the courthouse that
• 3:36
  morning.
• 3:37
  All rise.
• 3:39
  So this was at the federal
• 3:40
  courthouse downtown.
• 3:41
  It was a hearing for criminal
• 3:42
  charges against Garces
• 3:45
  Perez. If you remember, after
• 3:47
  Garces Peres was shot,
• 3:49
  the Department of Homeland Security
• 3:50
  got all this criticism, intense
• 3:52
  criticism, not just for the
• 3:53
  shooting, but for his treatment.
• 3:55
  He wasn't allowed to stay in the
• 3:56
  hospital.
• 3:57
  They did not remove the bullet from
• 3:58
  his body for a long time.
• 4:01
  So while ICE was under this
• 4:02
  scrutiny, DHS
• 4:05
  and ICE pushed back.
• 4:06
  And they said, well actually, this
• 4:08
  guy committed a crime.
• 4:09
  He fled from ICE agents in
• 4:11
  his car, and they say he
• 4:13
  sideswiped one of
• 4:15
  the agents who was standing by his
• 4:17
  car while he drove away, and that's
• 4:19
  actually a serious federal crime.
• 4:21
  Assaulting, resisting, and impeding
• 4:24
  a federal officer.
• 4:25
  So this is the judge, U.S.
• 4:27
  Magistrate Judge Dustin Howell.
• 4:29
  His job at this hearing was
• 4:32
  basically to decide two things.
• 4:33
  So what are those two things?
• 4:34
  One was whether the government
• 4:36
  had a case, right, whether the
• 4:38
  charges that they filed in
• 4:40
  their criminal complaint could move
• 4:41
  forward.
• 4:42
  And two, if the
• 4:44
  charge moves forward, will Garces
• 4:46
  Pérez remain in detention?
• 4:48
  So arguing for the government, you
• 4:50
  have the prosecutor, Brittany
• 4:51
  Verdeja. Brittany Verda for the
• 4:53
  United States, Your Honor.
• 4:54
  And then there was Garces Perez's
• 4:56
  court-appointed defense attorney,
• 4:57
  Shane McMahon. Good afternoon, Your
• 4:59
  honor. Shane McMahon, I'm here with
• 5:00
  Mr. Garces Peres.
• 5:01
  We're ready to proceed. Thank you. Good night.
• 5:01
  So to decide whether the government
• 5:03
  has a case, then that's
• 5:05
  the hearing, right? You gotta look
• 5:06
  at the evidence.
• 5:06
  Right, and so that includes
• 5:08
  testimony.
• 5:09
  The United States calls Agent
• 5:11
  Rick.
• 5:12
  So this was the only person to
• 5:14
  testify at the hearing.
• 5:16
  Special Agent Rick Bassan.
• 5:18
  Now, he was not at the ICE
• 5:20
  traffic stop that day.
• 5:21
  He was not there, but he is an
• 5:23
  investigator who looked into it
• 5:25
  afterwards.
• 5:26
  So it was Bassan who determined
• 5:28
  that Garces Perez hit
• 5:30
  this other agent with his car mirror
• 5:32
  so the criminal complaint was
• 5:34
  actually written by this
• 5:36
  investigator, Bassan
• 5:37
  which you're about to give in the
• 5:38
  case now before the court will be
• 5:40
  the truth, the whole truth and
• 5:41
  nothing but the truth.
• 5:43
  So that's really interesting that
• 5:44
  there were two agents in the field
• 5:46
  at this stop and chase,
• 5:47
  but neither one of them testified.
• 5:50
  No, no, they did not testify on the
• 5:51
  hearing. In fact, Bassan did
• 5:53
  not even interview one of
• 5:55
  them. The one agent who
• 5:57
  says that Garces Perez sideswiped
• 5:59
  him, that is the same agent who
• 6:01
  later shot Garces Peres.
• 6:03
  Bassan didn't talk to that guy.
• 6:05
  That sounds a little odd.
• 6:07
  Yeah, and you know, the defense
• 6:08
  raised that question, right?
• 6:10
  So did he give a reason as to why he
• 6:11
  didn't talk to the agent that pulled
• 6:13
  the trigger?
• 6:14
  Bazan said that there is a
• 6:16
  different investigation going on
• 6:18
  into that shooting.
• 6:20
  The other incident is investigated
• 6:21
  by Superteam.
• 6:23
  And so he kind of implied that that
• 6:24
  was the reason, but I don't think he
• 6:26
  ever said it outright, like what the
• 6:27
  reason was that he didn't talk to
• 6:29
  this guy.
• 6:29
  So what did Besant say?
• 6:31
  His testimony was interesting.
• 6:32
  First off, he just described the
• 6:34
  daily job of these ICE
• 6:36
  agents. He said their day-to-day
• 6:38
  thing is driving around Austin
• 6:40
  and running people's license plates
• 6:42
  to see if they have an immigration
• 6:43
  warrant.
• 6:44
  They're out there everywhere,
• 6:46
  you know,
• 6:48
  running like this.
• 6:49
  He says they got a hit on the
• 6:51
  plate of a blue Toyota Corolla,
• 6:53
  belonged to Garces Perez.
• 6:55
  He had gone into a restaurant, but
• 6:57
  they decided not to arrest him
• 6:58
  there. He said that the agents
• 7:00
  determined it was safer to pull him
• 7:01
  over after he got back in his car.
• 7:03
  Because there's people, more people
• 7:05
  at the business.
• 7:06
  So the usual kind of idea of how ICE
• 7:08
  operates in Austin is that they work
• 7:10
  with state troopers or other police
• 7:11
  to pull people over kind of on
• 7:13
  pretextual traffic stops.
• 7:15
  And then they run the license plates
• 7:17
  and ICE is
• 7:19
  called or ICE is there if there's an
• 7:20
  immigration question.
• 7:21
  But what he's describing here is
• 7:22
  different. He's saying that they
• 7:24
  just pulled Garces Perez
• 7:25
  over for the immigration violation.
• 7:28
  There was no like alleged traffic
• 7:29
  crime involved, nothing like that.
• 7:31
  I'm also In this case,
• 7:33
  it was just ICE.
• 7:34
  There was no DPS at this initial
• 7:36
  traffic stop.
• 7:37
  And then at that traffic stop,
• 7:38
  that's where the body cam tape
• 7:40
  starts.
• 7:40
  Yeah, and so what
• 7:42
  we can do now is play the audio
• 7:44
  from that video, and I can
• 7:46
  tell you what I remember seeing from
• 7:48
  when we watched the video in core.
• 7:49
  Can you roll the window down, bro?
• 7:50
  In the first part of the video, a
• 7:52
  black SUV has pulled
• 7:54
  in front of Garces Perez's
• 7:55
  car to make him stop, and
• 7:57
  there's an agent at his
• 7:59
  driver's side window, and towards
• 8:01
  the rear of the car, facing that
• 8:03
  agent, is this other agent, initials
• 8:05
  DF. He is wearing
• 8:07
  the body cam, so you can see
• 8:09
  the interaction.
• 8:10
  That his partner is having with
• 8:11
  Garces Perez.
• 8:16
  So the agent by the window and
• 8:18
  Garces Perez go back and forth in
• 8:20
  Spanish.
• 8:21
  The agent's telling him that they're
• 8:22
  immigration and he's got to get out
• 8:23
  of the car.
• 8:24
  Garces is saying that he wants to
• 8:26
  park somewhere else.
• 8:27
  He wants to make a phone call so
• 8:28
  someone knows where his car is.
• 8:31
  And then he just pulls away.
• 8:39
  And this is where that assault
• 8:41
  charge comes in.
• 8:41
  Yeah, this is where the government
• 8:42
  says that the ICE agent was
• 8:44
  swiped with a mirror.
• 8:46
  So what does the video show about
• 8:47
  that? You know, for me, having been
• 8:49
  in the courtroom, it just wasn't
• 8:51
  clear. The agent wearing the
• 8:53
  camera kind of turns away
• 8:54
  right when Garces Perez starts
• 8:56
  driving. So the view kind
• 8:58
  of immediately cuts off.
• 9:00
  In hearing itself, there
• 9:02
  was a lot of back and forth over
• 9:03
  this, over what this tape actually
• 9:05
  showed. The prosecution did actually
• 9:07
  submit one still image from
• 9:08
  the video.
• 9:09
  Uh... But then in cross-examination
• 9:12
  the government's own witness by son
• 9:14
  kind of conceded that that image
• 9:16
  was inconclusive it might not
• 9:17
  actually shown contact
• 9:19
  So what happens after he drives
• 9:20
  away?
• 9:23
  So, DF, the agent with the body
• 9:25
  camera, he runs back to
• 9:27
  his SUV and he starts following the
• 9:29
  other agent, the agent in front,
• 9:30
  whose initials are LG.
• 9:32
  He follows that agent who is
• 9:34
  following Garces Pérez.
• 9:37
  We're in the middle of a pursuit
• 9:38
  right now.
• 9:40
  So that's him, that's Agent DF.
• 9:42
  Yeah, you can hear him swearing, you
• 9:44
  hear him kind of laughing, and
• 9:46
  while he's in this chase,
• 9:48
  he pulls out his cell phone.
• 9:49
  So he doesn't have a radio?
• 9:50
  If he did, he did not use it here.
• 9:52
  And I've talked to people in law
• 9:54
  enforcement who say that's
• 9:55
  dangerous.
• 9:55
  Just, you know, take your cell phone
• 9:57
  out during the middle of the chase.
• 9:58
  Well, who's he calling?
• 9:59
  He calls a few people.
• 10:00
  One of them's a guy at the Texas
• 10:01
  Department of Public Safety, DPS.
• 10:03
  He seems to be a friend of his.
• 10:04
  He calls him bro when he picks up
• 10:06
  the phone.
• 10:07
  Hey, what's up, dude?
• 10:07
  Hey, bro, are you working? Because
• 10:08
  we're in the middle a pursuit right
• 10:09
  now.
• 10:11
  I am not.
• 10:12
  He's asking if he can get back up.
• 10:13
  Are you able to get a trooper to us,
• 10:15
  pal?
• 10:18
  Um, can I give you, let me give you
• 10:19
  the direct number to my dispatch
• 10:20
  real quick.
• 10:22
  So his DPS friend tells him that
• 10:24
  he should probably just call
• 10:26
  dispatch.
• 10:26
  Yeah, that seems logical.
• 10:28
  I mean, it's an official chase.
• 10:30
  It's an official thing.
• 10:31
  You need an official channel to get
• 10:32
  back up, right?
• 10:33
  Right, yes, make it official.
• 10:34
  So, so then he does that.
• 10:38
  And then the dispatch asks for
• 10:40
  the plate number of Garces
• 10:41
  Perez's...
• 10:43
  Can you get a plate for me?
• 10:45
  Give me one second, ma'am.
• 10:47
  I got you.
• 10:48
  Give me a second.
• 10:51
  I have...
• 10:52
  So, at this point, the agent,
• 10:54
  ICE agent DF, pulls over
• 10:56
  to find the info.
• 10:58
  Okay, and what's your update?
• 11:00
  Uh, so I lost it, but my partner
• 11:02
  still has it, let me give him
• 11:04
  a call and see where he's at.
• 11:06
  Okay.
• 11:07
  So soon after this, he turns
• 11:09
  off the body cam.
• 11:11
  And then that's it for the chase.
• 11:13
  There's none of the car crash, none
• 11:14
  of shooting.
• 11:15
  No, he was not even there when that
• 11:17
  happened.
• 11:18
  What the investigator,
• 11:20
  Bassan says, is that after
• 11:22
  DF turned off his body camera,
• 11:25
  he did talk to his partner, the
• 11:27
  other agent, by phone.
• 11:29
  And that is when
• 11:31
  Agent DF, the guy who
• 11:33
  had the body camera on, told Bassan
• 11:36
  that in that conversation,
• 11:38
  his partner this guy, LG,
• 11:41
  told him that he had
• 11:43
  struck Garces Perez's car
• 11:45
  He had forced it to spin out and
• 11:47
  then shot Garces Perez
• 11:49
  because he was
• 11:51
  worried, the other agent was worried
• 11:52
  that he was going to get hit by his
• 11:53
  car.
• 11:55
  So that whole part is, is
• 11:57
  just secondhand.
• 11:58
  It's he, he heard from a person who
• 12:00
  said they did it.
• 12:00
  Yeah, yeah, the ICE agent who fired
• 12:02
  the shots had no
• 12:04
  body camera, and D.F.
• 12:07
  Had turned his body camera off
• 12:09
  when this conversation that's
• 12:11
  described happened.
• 12:12
  So there's no record of that.
• 12:14
  It's just his statement that that's
• 12:15
  what the other guy said to
• 12:17
  him after he turned his body camera
• 12:18
  on.
• 12:19
  Well, what did the defense lawyers
• 12:20
  have to say about that?
• 12:21
  Um, well, you know, for one, he
• 12:22
  asked Basan why the
• 12:24
  other agent did not wear a body
• 12:26
  camera.
• 12:30
  You didn't have one?
• 12:32
  I know he didn't.
• 12:33
  My question is, if you
• 12:35
  know, why?
• 12:37
  I cannot.
• 12:40
  Uh, we haven't spoken to him.
• 12:42
  So he also asked why DF,
• 12:44
  the agent with the camera,
• 12:46
  stopped recording, you know, before
• 12:48
  this pretty crucial conversation.
• 12:50
  You would have to ask the FBI for a
• 12:51
  way to get off.
• 12:52
  Well, I haven't talked to DF, but I
• 12:53
  know that you have.
• 12:55
  Did you ask DF why he turned
• 12:57
  it off?
• 13:00
  No.
• 13:01
  So this whole exchange probably
• 13:03
  gives us something of a preview
• 13:05
  into how the defense might
• 13:07
  raise some doubt about
• 13:08
  the government's version of events.
• 13:10
  That's assuming the case goes to
• 13:11
  trial.
• 13:12
  So will it go to trial?
• 13:14
  At the start of our conversation,
• 13:16
  Ben, I said the judge had two things
• 13:17
  to decide.
• 13:18
  Was there sufficient evidence to
• 13:20
  allow the charges to move ahead?
• 13:22
  The judge said yes, there was.
• 13:23
  So yeah, there could be a trial.
• 13:25
  So unless there's some kind of deal
• 13:26
  yet, it's probably gonna go forward.
• 13:28
  Right, yeah, yeah.
• 13:29
  And then the other thing was whether
• 13:30
  Garces Perez should
• 13:32
  remain in custody ahead
• 13:34
  of that trial.
• 13:35
  And the judge said yes to that too,
• 13:38
  because he determined he might be a
• 13:39
  flight risk.
• 13:40
  And what's Garces Perez's condition
• 13:41
  now? During the hearing last month,
• 13:43
  he had the bullet still in his back,
• 13:45
  correct?
• 13:45
  Yeah, he still did.
• 13:46
  One thing that happened after this
• 13:48
  hearing is that he was
• 13:50
  transferred out of DHS
• 13:51
  immigration custody and
• 13:54
  then transferred into federal
• 13:55
  custody on this criminal charge.
• 13:58
  And it's worth noting that after he
• 14:00
  got out of the DHS custody,
• 14:01
  he quickly underwent surgery and
• 14:03
  the bullet was removed.
• 14:05
  That was KUT's Moe's Bouchelle
• 14:07
  speaking with Morning Edition host
• 14:09
  Ben Philpott about exclusive
• 14:11
  KUT audio and coverage of
• 14:12
  the Wilbur Garcespedes case.
• 14:14
  We have more of Moe is reporting at
• 14:17
  KUT.org and
• 14:19
  on the KUT app.
• 14:20
  And we have plenty more Austin
• 14:22
  Signal coming your way, that's
• 14:24
  after this short break.
• 14:30
  This is Austin Signal, welcome
• 14:32
  back.
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• 14:35
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  state's farmers and ranchers, but
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  scales at the grocery store to
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  a brand new person for that
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  role. That's after longtime Ag
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  Commissioner Sid Miller lost in the
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  Republican primary in March.
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  But the candidates vying to replace
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  Miller aren't just debating farm
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  reports they're also questioning if
• 15:08
  their opponent is even eligible
• 15:10
  for the offer.
• 15:11
  Office.
• 15:12
  Inside a small event space
• 15:14
  in Giddings, Texas, in our east
• 15:16
  of Austin, Republican Nate Sheets
• 15:19
  has just finished pitching about two
• 15:21
  dozen people on why he
• 15:22
  should be Texas's next Agriculture
• 15:25
  Commissioner.
• 15:25
  This is actually the beginning of
• 15:27
  day four of a 32-day,
• 15:29
  80-county, 94-stop rural
• 15:31
  bus tour.
• 15:32
  The bus engine is loud,
• 15:34
  so Sheets and I are talking inside,
• 15:36
  just next to a table covered in
• 15:38
  green and yellow Make Agriculture
• 15:40
  Great Again hats.
• 15:42
  Sheets is a beekeeper who built his
• 15:44
  own honey company.
• 15:45
  He's also worked as a Christian
• 15:47
  missionary.
• 15:48
  Sheets says as ag commissioner,
• 15:50
  he'd make it easier for Texans to
• 15:52
  buy from local farmers and ranchers.
• 15:54
  People want to eat local.
• 15:56
  They want to support their local
• 15:57
  producers. They just don't know how
• 15:59
  to find them unless you're going
• 16:00
  down to a farmers market.
• 16:01
  I think there should be a Go Texas
• 16:03
  farmers market at every single
• 16:05
  elementary school across Texas.
• 16:07
  Let moms come down, drop off their
• 16:08
  kids on Wednesday morning, go over
• 16:09
  and go buy her things for the week.
• 16:13
  Outside the engine of his
• 16:15
  big orange campaign bus roars
• 16:17
  as supporters sign the side of
• 16:19
  it with Sharpies.
• 16:21
  I asked cattle raiser Robert
• 16:22
  Cromwell what he thought of
• 16:24
  the GOP candidate.
• 16:26
  I think he's got a very good
• 16:27
  approach.
• 16:28
  Very impressed.
• 16:29
  Very impressed, I think it's going
• 16:31
  to be a lot better than a guy
• 16:33
  running against him.
• 16:34
  That would be this guy.
• 16:36
  Clayton Tucker, running for Texas Ag
• 16:38
  Commissioner, the Secretary
• 16:40
  of the Farmers Union.
• 16:41
  I help run my family's farm.
• 16:43
  The Democrat has also worked for
• 16:45
  progressive political campaigns.
• 16:47
  Tucker has campaigned on slowing
• 16:49
  down data center development in
• 16:51
  Texas.
• 16:52
  One of his proposals to do this is
• 16:54
  through independent studies on the
• 16:55
  water and electric needs of any new
• 16:57
  data center.
• 16:58
  So I will want these
• 17:01
  ag impact studies done on all these
• 17:02
  data centers and anything else
• 17:04
  that looks to be a massive water hog
• 17:06
  so that we have verified
• 17:08
  provable studies
• 17:10
  of how much of our.
• 17:12
  Resources will be used.
• 17:13
  That's inspired volunteers like
• 17:15
  Anthony Rivera-Strain.
• 17:16
  His focus on AI data centers
• 17:18
  and protecting water, especially in
• 17:20
  rural communities is very much
• 17:21
  important. Rivera-strain's not
• 17:23
  completely sold on the resume of
• 17:25
  Republican Nate Sheets either.
• 17:27
  You know, he's not really, he
• 17:29
  doesn't really seem like a farm guy.
• 17:30
  Which is one of the big sticking
• 17:32
  points in this campaign.
• 17:34
  Both the Democrat and the Republican
• 17:36
  are arguing over whether the
• 17:38
  other should even be running.
• 17:40
  Last month, Attorneys for Clayton
• 17:42
  Tucker sent a letter to the head of
• 17:43
  the Texas GOP, claiming
• 17:45
  that Sheets is not eligible
• 17:47
  to be the Texas Agriculture
• 17:49
  Commissioner.
• 17:50
  The position has prerequisites.
• 17:52
  You must have worked on a farm or
• 17:54
  ranch in five of the past 10 years,
• 17:56
  or spent time in a government agency
• 17:59
  on agriculture.
• 18:00
  Tucker says Sheets' beekeeping
• 18:02
  experience does not qualify.
• 18:05
  The AG law in that
• 18:06
  particular code doesn't really
• 18:09
  list beekeeping, and it doesn't list
• 18:11
  food importing or anything
• 18:12
  like that.
• 18:14
  Should it list bee keeping?
• 18:15
  I personally think it probably
• 18:16
  should, but that's not the current
• 18:18
  letter of the law.
• 18:19
  And we do have to follow the law
• 18:21
  I asked Sheets about this at
• 18:23
  his event in Giddings.
• 18:25
  He said there's nothing to it.
• 18:26
  I also have a farm that I've owned
• 18:28
  since 2012 where I started Nature
• 18:30
  Nates. We had bees out there,
• 18:32
  we bottle our honey out there.
• 18:33
  Everything that is mandated
• 18:35
  in the Texas Department of
• 18:37
  Agriculture or in the state
• 18:38
  constitution, I qualify for.
• 18:41
  If anyone has to worry about being
• 18:42
  ineligible for the office, Sheets
• 18:44
  thinks that's Tucker.
• 18:46
  He doesn't own any land.
• 18:48
  His own personal financial statement
• 18:50
  says he's a community organizer.
• 18:52
  And he's rancher because he's
• 18:54
  wearing a cowboy hat.
• 18:56
  That's total.
• 18:58
  The Democrat, Tucker, says
• 19:00
  he's qualified for the position
• 19:02
  because of his work on his family's
• 19:03
  land near Lampasas.
• 19:05
  So between 2016, 2017,
• 19:07
  2018 is where I started really
• 19:09
  taking over the, you know, the
• 19:11
  fence building, the operations,
• 19:13
  the.
• 19:14
  Despite this whole battle,
• 19:16
  they both told me their argument
• 19:18
  won't last past election
• 19:20
  day.
• 19:21
  Both Tucker and Sheets pledged to
• 19:22
  not take legal action over
• 19:24
  the other's eligibility if they lose
• 19:26
  the race.
• 19:28
  I'm Michael Marks in Austin.
• 19:30
  And in an update to Michael's
• 19:32
  story, the current Texas Agriculture
• 19:33
  Commissioner Sid Miller is telling
• 19:34
  voters not to vote for the
• 19:36
  Republican in the race to replace
• 19:38
  him.
• 19:39
  Miller has held the office for more
• 19:40
  than a decade, but lost to
• 19:42
  challenger Nate Sheets in the
• 19:43
  Republican primary earlier this
• 19:45
  year. In a written editorial,
• 19:47
  Miller said that Sheets was too weak
• 19:49
  on data center development and
• 19:51
  lacked good judgment.
• 19:52
  The Democrat in the race, Clayton
• 19:54
  Tucker, campaigned with Miller on
• 19:56
  this issue. Since Tucker has made
• 19:57
  data center regulations a
• 19:59
  centerpiece of his campaign,
• 20:01
  Sheets says that Miller is angry
• 20:03
  about losing to him in the
• 20:04
  Republican primary.
• 20:05
  And Sid Miller is partnering up with
• 20:07
  Clayton Tucker to make sure that I
• 20:09
  lose and the governor loses because
• 20:11
  he wants to see the people
• 20:13
  that beat him go down.
• 20:15
  Miller wrote that Tucker, the
• 20:17
  Democrat, will help defend rural
• 20:18
  water and property rights from
• 20:20
  quote, unchecked corporate
• 20:22
  expansion, end quote.
• 20:36
  After decades of campaigning and
• 20:38
  save-muni yard signs, it appears
• 20:40
  Lyons Municipal Golfs Course in
• 20:42
  West Austin may finally be,
• 20:44
  well, saved.
• 20:45
  The fate of the historic golf course
• 20:47
  has been uncertain for years, but it
• 20:48
  was announced this month at the City
• 20:49
  of Austin and the University of
• 20:51
  Texas were nearing an agreement on
• 20:52
  ownership of the land.
• 20:54
  But why was the golf course at risk,
• 20:56
  and what does its future look like
• 20:58
  going forward?
• 20:59
  Justin Sayers joins us now to
• 21:00
  explain, he is a senior staff writer
• 21:02
  at Austin Business Journal.
• 21:03
  Justin, thanks for being back on the
• 21:04
  show.
• 21:05
  Yeah, thank you so much for having
• 21:06
  me.
• 21:06
  So for those of us who aren't that
• 21:08
  familiar with the story of Muni, can
• 21:10
  you give us a refresher on the
• 21:11
  history of this golf course?
• 21:13
  Why exactly is it so important
• 21:14
  here in Austin?
• 21:15
  Yeah, so it's really funny.
• 21:17
  Our executive editor Colin has
• 21:19
  been with the ABJ for decades.
• 21:21
  And one of the things that he's told
• 21:22
  every reporter editor during his
• 21:25
  time is how important this
• 21:27
  is for the community and how
• 21:29
  important of a storyline because
• 21:30
  he's been covering it since he was a
• 21:31
  reporter.
• 21:32
  But for 50 years,
• 21:35
  this golf course has been at risk of
• 21:36
  development.
• 21:37
  It's been on short-term leases
• 21:39
  between the city and UT.
• 21:42
  That's prompted an outcry because of
• 21:44
  its importance in the civil rights
• 21:46
  movement.
• 21:46
  It was the first desegregated golf
• 21:48
  course in the south
• 21:50
  and allowed black players
• 21:52
  to play there in the 1950s, which
• 21:54
  was obviously very rare.
• 21:56
  But on top of that, just the
• 21:57
  number of people who have played
• 21:59
  through there and gone through there
• 22:00
  is also very prominent.
• 22:02
  So it has this history that is
• 22:04
  very unique to Austin and the
• 22:05
  country.
• 22:06
  Okay, so let's fast forward to last
• 22:08
  week, the city of Austin and UT
• 22:10
  announced that they are close to an
• 22:11
  agreement to transfer the land to
• 22:13
  the city. What do we know about
• 22:14
  those details?
• 22:15
  Yes, as you've referenced,
• 22:17
  the Save Muni signs have been around
• 22:18
  for so long.
• 22:19
  The reason for that is because of
• 22:21
  this risk of development, UT has
• 22:23
  considered turning this into
• 22:25
  apartments or retails.
• 22:27
  That Lake Austin HEB that's
• 22:29
  there is actually on land that used
• 22:31
  to be part of this, and they
• 22:33
  actually lease it to HEB.
• 22:35
  So because of that, they've been on
• 22:36
  rolling leases between the city
• 22:38
  that last about five months right
• 22:40
  now?
• 22:41
  So, this offers certainty for
• 22:43
  that.
• 22:44
  What it would do is it would
• 22:45
  transfer ownership to the city
• 22:47
  permanently so they would be in
• 22:49
  charge of that. In return,
• 22:51
  they would rework the rest of the
• 22:53
  acreage.
• 22:54
  That's the land across the street
• 22:56
  that's along the river.
• 22:58
  That would be, you know,
• 23:00
  updated with a development
• 23:02
  agreement for what they could build
• 23:04
  there. We don't know for sure what's
• 23:05
  going to be built there, but again,
• 23:07
  it's been loaded as stuff
• 23:09
  that would support the university,
• 23:11
  whether it's retail,
• 23:13
  whether it's student housing
• 23:14
  apartments, whether it's education
• 23:16
  facilities, that we're all going
• 23:18
  to find out later what that might
• 23:19
  be.
• 23:20
  You alluded a little bit to the
• 23:22
  backstory and the saga of Mewni.
• 23:24
  Why exactly has it taken so long
• 23:25
  for this agreement to finally come
• 23:27
  to fruition?
• 23:28
  Yeah, I think, again,
• 23:31
  they've been going on these
• 23:32
  short-term leases, so
• 23:34
  in 1973, I think they signed
• 23:36
  a 15-year lease and then
• 23:38
  extended it again, and it just
• 23:40
  keeps coming up and up.
• 23:42
  Where they're operating on this
• 23:44
  five-month lease, I thinks because
• 23:46
  of the market and trying to
• 23:47
  determine what they were going to
• 23:49
  use for it, I thing right
• 23:51
  now with T's growth, they
• 23:53
  might be right for development.
• 23:55
  Might be right to finally figure out
• 23:57
  something to do with this land that
• 23:58
  benefits the community but also
• 24:00
  is an economic
• 24:03
  driver and makes the numbers work
• 24:04
  for the university.
• 24:06
  The Save Muni campaign has been
• 24:07
  going on for nearly half a century
• 24:09
  already.
• 24:10
  Is this the final
• 24:12
  chapter of it?
• 24:13
  Where do we go next?
• 24:14
  That's a great question.
• 24:16
  I mean, we talked with the
• 24:18
  conservancy that has been running,
• 24:20
  you know, that has even offered to
• 24:21
  buy it. At one point, they were
• 24:22
  talking with UT about potentially
• 24:24
  buying it. They are overjoyed.
• 24:27
  The city still needs to figure out,
• 24:29
  you, know, the long term
• 24:30
  implementation plan.
• 24:32
  So that's what they're saying is
• 24:34
  going to be coming back to the to
• 24:36
  all the various boards and
• 24:37
  commissions next year about how
• 24:39
  to take care of it long term, who's
• 24:40
  in charge of what, all that.
• 24:41
  So we're still kind of in the
• 24:43
  early innings of this, but The
• 24:45
  fact that even a deal was reached
• 24:47
  is a significant milestone.
• 24:49
  Yeah, you mentioned that the boards
• 24:50
  and commissions next year, what is
• 24:52
  like the next immediate step in
• 24:54
  this process?
• 24:55
  So it is supposed to come through
• 24:57
  to the council in November,
• 24:59
  and again that will be for updating
• 25:01
  the development agreement that was
• 25:03
  last touched in
• 25:05
  several decades ago.
• 25:06
  I can't remember the exact date,
• 25:08
  but you know at one point when I
• 25:09
  talked to Mayor Watson, what he
• 25:11
  said was when that development
• 25:13
  agreement came together,
• 25:15
  like he said he remembers a reporter
• 25:17
  describing it as a city within a
• 25:19
  city. So it shows you, you know,
• 25:21
  how what was planned back then
• 25:23
  and what they need to change and
• 25:24
  update to make sure it's congruous
• 25:26
  with the neighborhood and the golf
• 25:28
  course that's across from it.
• 25:29
  All right, we have been speaking
• 25:30
  with Justin Sayers, senior staff
• 25:32
  writer at Austin Business Journal.
• 25:33
  We'll have a link to his reporting
• 25:34
  in today's show notes.
• 25:36
  Justin, thank you.
• 25:37
  Thank you so much for highlighting
• 25:38
  this story.
• 25:39
  And thank you for spending the day
• 25:40
  here with us on Austin's Signal.
• 25:42
  That is it for us today.
• 25:44
  We have more at kut.org
• 25:46
  slash signal.
• 25:48
  Our team is Caroline Feil, Alexandra
• 25:50
  Hart, Kristen Cabrera, and
• 25:52
  I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.