AG Paxton Again In Legal War With Austin Over Local Mask Mandate

[#TexasPolitics365]

Accusing Austin and Travis County officials of violating Gov. Greg Abbott's pandemic-related orders, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton threatened Wednesday to sue unless a local mask mandate for businesses was rescinded, the Austin American-Statesman reports.

The legal drama is likely to be playing out today in Texas courts.

Abbott's most recent executive order, which ended a statewide mask mandate and prohibited limits on business operations, "has the force and effect of state law and supersedes local rules and regulations," Paxton said in a letter to Austin Mayor Steve Adler and Travis County Judge Andy Brown.

The governor's order urges all people in the state to continue to follow best practices oh, and allows businesses to individually require masks within their stores.
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#Texas Supreme Court Ends Austin's Curfew

[#TexasPolitics365] 

The Texas Supreme Court acted Friday to block the Austin and Travis County orders that required dine-in beverage and food service to stop from 10:30 p.m. to 6 a.m. from New Year's Eve through the 3rd of January.

Attorney General Ken Paxton sought an emergency stay from the Supreme Court of Texas, urging the court to halt enforcement of the orders, signed by Austin Mayor Steve Adler. A Travis County judge went along with the orders, making a mandatory in the county as well.

An obviously relieved Paxton tweeted about the victory Friday night.

"Breaking: WE WON! Texas Supreme Court stops Mayor Adler’s illegal order shutting down restaurants and bars. #AustinTx #COVID19 #victory"

Austin City councilor-elect Mackenzie Kelly join former city councillor Ellen Troxclair at the iron cactus for a press conference about the restrictions. Kelly reacted to the Court's ruling on Twitter:

"Proud to have stood w/these leaders yesterday in support of businesses. @aaron_reitz @EllenTroxclair - thank you for the work that you did."

Troxclair also reacted to ruling:

"Data clearly shows restaurants are NOT responsible for the spread of #Covid & they shouldn’t be political scapegoats. A huge sigh of relief the hospitality industry!"

KVUE TV reported Travis County Judge Andy Brown's statement about the Texas Supreme Court's decision.

“I am disappointed by the Texas Supreme Court decision as it limits our ability to slow the spread of COVID-19 in our community."

The TV station also reported widespread disobedience of the curfew on New Year's Eve. On Sixth Street, station photographers reported that there were long lines to get into the bars downtown. and some bartenders were seeing not wearing masks.

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Judge Sides With Austin Over Four-Day 10:30 PM Curfew, Abbott Defiant

[#TexasPolitics365] 

A Travis County district judge has sided with the City of Austin to keep the New Year holiday restrictions on dine-in services at Austin-Travis County bars and restaurants. 

The Attorney General's Office says they will appeal the ruling.

KHOU reported that District Judge Amy Clark Meachum denied the requests for temporary restraining order and temporary injunction filed by the State of Texas, saying "the State has not demonstrated a probable right to the relief sought nor imminent and irreparable harm."

Gov. Abbott remained defiant, tweeting New Year's Eve:

To Texas restaurants. A formal statement. “The Governor’s statewide executive order allows food establishments to be open for in-person dining on New Years Eve as authorized by the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.  They should remain open. Happy New Year!” Cheers!"

Anecdotally, the order itself seemed to be met with mass disobedience in Austin. An Uber driver posted a message to Facebook New Year's Day, noting that he was driving until 2:30 in the morning New Year's Eve. 

"Drove Uber til 2:30 AM. Austin was hopping last night! Nothing seemed to be closed after 10:30. Lots of ppl are livid with Adler (aka, Cabo San Doofus😂)....even the libs."

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Gov. Abbott Tells Austin's Mayor His New Year's Curfew Is Illegal

[#TexasPolitics365] 

Gov. Greg Abbott has a message for Austin mayor Steve Adler: your New Year's Eve curfew is not allowed.

Adler ordered all businesses in Austin to close over the New Year's holiday tomorrow night, from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. January 3rd. The order closes bars and restaurants during one of their busiest holidays of the year.

A news release published on the city's official website explained:

"Venues serving food and drink may still operate between 10:30 p.m. and 6 a.m. using drive-thru, curbside pick-up, take-out, or delivery service. This change applies to any venue serving food or drink from an onsite kitchen, food truck, or catering service. Between 6 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., venues are permitted to continue dine-in operations."

County Health officials in Travis County also went along with the curfew order.

In the official City resolution, issued Tuesday, Adler cited the governor's previous order (GA-32) allowing reopenings if counties exceeded certain hospital admission standards.

His resolution ordering the closures, issued Tuesday, notes, "Travis County has experienced 48,951 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 542 deaths as a result ofthe disease." 

But Gov. Abbott was not having any of it. He took to Twitter almost immediately, tweeting late Tuesday night:

"This shutdown order by Austin isn't allowed. Period. My executive order stops cities like Austin from arbitrarily shutting down businesses. The city has a responsibility to enforce existing orders, not make new ones."

KVUE TV reported that the Texas Attorney General's Office also weighed in on Twitter, noting that the city's orders, "violate @GovAbbott’s Exec Order GA-32. They must rescind or modify their local orders immediately."

At risk are potentially hundreds of jobs in tens of thousands of dollars in earnings over the New Year's holiday, which brings to a close a year in which hundreds of thousands of lost their jobs in the restaurant and bar industries throughout the state.

Is unclear whether habit or the Attorney general's office would seek an injunction Wednesday to override the order, or whether businesses in Austin and Travis County would simply ignore it, risking fines.

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State Sen. Dawn Buckingham Calls On Austin Mayor Adler To Resign

[#TexasPolitics365] 

State Senator Dawn Buckingham (R - Austin) today called on Austin Mayor Steve Adler to resign. Adler was caught making a video from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico in which he urged citizens of Austin to "stay home." The video has received international attention.

In a Facebook post, printed below in full, Buckingham, who was re-elected last month, excoriates the Democrat mayor, saying, "If you're going to preach to your constituents that their families aren't worth seeing while jetting off with your own inner circle to Mexico, your priority is clearly no longer the people of Austin."

"It's time for Mayor Adler to resign. 

"Mayor Adler has spent months pushing daily videos and tweets out to Austin residents telling them to stay home. As small businesses in his own city collapse, and homeless encampments appear on ever more street corners, Mayor Adler hosted an in person wedding and then hopped on a private jet for a Cabo vacation. Worse than this sort of "holier than thou" attitude, Mayor Adler had the gall to record a message telling Austin citizens to stay home around the Thanksgiving holiday from his vacation timeshare in Mexico.

The Mayor should resign. If you're going to preach to your constituents that their families aren't worth seeing while jetting off with your own inner circle to Mexico, your priority is clearly no longer the people of Austin. I urge him to quit the job he clearly no longer respects so he can spend all the time he wants on vacation. Rumor has it Matthew McConaughey could step up to provide the kind of unifying leadership the City of Austin so clearly lacks."

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Austin Mayor Urged Citizens To Stay Home, In Video Shot In Mexico

[#TexasPolitics365] 

Austin Mayor Steve Adler warned residents, "Our numbers are increasing. ... We need to stay home if you can. ... This is not the time to relax," in a video posted Nov. 9 to Facebook. He was vacationing at a timeshare in Cabo San Lucas, on Mexico's Pacific coast, at the time, numerous media outlets reported, 

The Austin American-Statesman reported Thursday that "Cabo" and "Adler" were trending on Twitter after Adler's trip was revealed.

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Austin Mayor Adler, Gov. Abbott, Spar Over Taxpayer-Funded Lobbying

[#TexasPolitics365] 

Preparing for a contentious legislative session when state lawmakers return to the Texas Capitol in January, Austin city leaders are defending the use of taxpayer-funded lobbyists to achieve and defend agenda goals while Republican leaders fight to end the practice.

“Everybody should have the ability, as effectively as they can, to advocate for their positions and make sure the legislators know what’s true and what’s not true,” Austin Mayor Steve Adler told KXAN. 

Unsurprisingly, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott disagrees. Writing on Twitter, "Austin - don’t even try to defend taxpayer-funded lobbying.  It is indefensible that you tax residents to get money that you use to hire lobbyists to support legislation to allow you to tax even more. "

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