- Coming up on "Austin InSight," what happened with Austin's tax rate election, and what that means for you.

Plus SNAP benefits in crisis, how the Central Texas Food Bank is responding.

"Austin InSight" starts now.

- [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally and James Gavin, and also from Daniel L. Skret.

(upbeat music) - Hi there, and thanks for joining us.

I'm Laura Laughead.

It was an election without candidates, but with important choices for voters in a state versus city tug of war over taxes.

On the ballot in Austin, the controversial Proposition Q, that would raise the tax rate by 20% compared to last year.

Reportedly the steepest property tax rate hike in 20 years.

That and state constitutional amendments that would reduce taxes.

Austin voters overwhelmingly rejected Proposition Q, reversing a trend in recent years toward favoring tax hikes.

63.3% of voters said no to the tax increase, with less than 37% voting yes.

More than 227,000 votes were cast.

About a fourth of registered voters turned out.

We spoke with "Austin American-Statesman" reporter Austin Sanders, who's been following city budget deliberations and Proposition Q. Austin, thank you so much for being with us.

- It's great to be here.

Thanks for having me.

- I know it's been a long night for you.

First, Austin, based on your reporting on the campaign for and against the TRE, do you think this strong no vote comes as a surprise to city leaders?

- I think so, I think it has been viewed as a stunning rebuke, you know, there was hope.

I think they thought it would be close and there was hope that there was, you know, hope for the for side to prevail.

But the lopsided margin, voters came out more than 30% against the proposition, I think was a surprise more than the loss itself.

- And it was a relatively low vote, low turnout election.

Do you see though any important voting patterns or trends in the Proposition Q results?

- Right, right, that is true, that compared to your typical election, it was a lower turnout, but this was kind of a unique election in that it was in an off year, there was no members of Congress, no president on the ballot.

And really the highest ticket item was this ballot proposition.

And for an election like that, the turnout was actually quite high.

Typically these, it was about 25% according to results from the county clerk.

But these type of elections usually are much lower than that.

So I think that is kind of the first trend that we have seen.

And we'll be looking more closely at who voted for the measure, which parts of the city voted for or against the measure, and what that says about the city's priorities and what council should be looking at doing going forward.

- It was very, very interesting to see these numbers, like you said.

And we've seen though today the mayor's comment about regaining voters' trust given this unprecedented decision.

How do you think the mayor's office and the city leaders will go about doing that, and what's next then for creating a new budget?

- Right, that was the sentiment that we heard both from voters at the polls on election day and from the elected officials who we were talking to after results poured in, a clear signal that portions of the city have lost faith in the city's ability to provide services to use money, tax money efficiently.

And you know, per the mayor's statement you referenced, he says the way that the city council can begin to regain that trust is through this budget revision process that they will have to undertake in the next few weeks.

It'll happen relatively quickly.

Basically this proposition would have created $110 million that the city could have used for homeless services, parks maintenance, some public safety costs, but they won't have that money.

And so they'll have to decide which of those proposed programs should be cut, should other areas be cut.

And I think per the mayor's statement and conversations with other council members, one way that they can achieve trust in that process is to be very transparent with the public about how they're making decisions, in part, that means conducting what some may refer to as like an efficiency study to determine, to assess, you know, how effectively and efficiently the city is operating.

And then to use those results to pare down operations perhaps, or deliver services more effectively and efficiently.

- What do you think though is the cause of this loss of trust?

- We heard a lot of focus from voters on the city logo debacle.

For one, you know, the city spent more than a million dollars designing a new brand, which included a new logo for the city.

And that rolled out in the months leading up to this election, that left a really bitter taste for a lot of voters.

There was a lot of frustration about the city, you know, being in a budget deficit, trying to raise taxes, yet spending money on this logo.

Also, Statesman reporting revealed questionable spending of council discretionary funds on business class travel and high-end meals and other things that clearly resonated with voters.

These are items that voters told us at the polls they didn't want their public officials spending money on.

So I think a lot of the frustration was with those kinds of issues coupled with, it's already expensive to live in Austin, it's already one of the most unaffordable cities in America.

And raising taxes would kind of increase that burden.

And I think that was another issue that resonated with voters.

- And should we draw any broader political learnings from this?

Austin is famously very progressive.

Do you think this signals a shift, or is it too soon, do you think, to draw a conclusion like that from this?

- I think it's too early to say.

It is notable that as you pointed out, Austin has a pretty progressive voting history, pretty liberal, including on these kinds of tax and spend measures, you know, housing bonds and infrastructure bonds for roads and transportation projects.

Historically, Austin voters have been more than willing to support those kinds of measures.

So in many ways, this is an unprecedented defeat for this kind of measure.

But whether or not that signals a broader shift against those kinds of priorities and policies, I think it's too early to tell.

- Well this has definitely been a surprisingly newsworthy election.

Austin Sanders with "The Austin American-Statesman," thank you so much for breaking it down and sharing your insights with us.

- Thanks so much for having me.

I appreciate it, Laura.

- Also on the ballot were 17 constitutional amendments, including reduced property taxes for some.

Here are the results of the major propositions.

On Proposition 4, a large majority, more than 70%, said yes to allocating $20 billion over the next 20 years to water infrastructure projects.

Proposition 14 creates a new dementia prevention and research institute with $3 billion in state funding.

68% of voters said yes to this new initiative.

But ultimately, all 17 of the amendments passed, including several aimed at reducing property taxes, Proposition 13, which increases the homestead exemption from $100,00 to $140,000 for school district taxes, was approved with a whopping 80% yes vote.

That's out of nearly 3 million votes cast.

You can get more election results at votetexas.gov.

Meanwhile, three and a half million Texans face uncertainty about getting enough food to eat.

The federal SNAP program, formerly known as food stamps, is caught in the crossfire of a political fight in Washington as the federal government remains shut down.

This while a leading nonprofit, Feeding America, says Texas leads the nation in hunger.

Federal courts have ordered the government to use contingency funds to keep SNAP benefits flowing, even as food banks gear up for a potential spike in need.

In Travis, Williamson, Hays, Caldwell, and Bastrop Counties, more than 152,000 people receive SNAP benefits.

About half of them are children, with more than 24,000 aged five years old or younger.

Nearly 52,000 are ages five to 17.

Also more than 14,000 are 65 or older.

Joining us now is Sari Vatske, CEO of the Central Texas Food Bank.

Sari, thank you so much for being with us.

- Thank you for having us today.

- So first, Sari, your organization already is working to help federal employees impacted by the government shutdown, but now the need could expand a lot more if SNAP benefits eventually are suspended.

How are you able to handle that?

- Well, at a time when we were already seeing food insecurity at an all time high for the past 10 years, serving over 610,000 food insecure individuals in 21 counties, on top of a government shutdown now, which has resulted in about 76,000 federal employees, and now potentially we're seeing 270,000 people without SNAP benefits.

It's definitely taking a toll on the food bank, but more importantly, those we serve.

- And can you elaborate more on who exactly you serve?

Can you explain who in our community experiences food insecurity?

There may be some misconceptions out there.

- Yeah, you know, the face of hunger might surprise you.

In fact, half of those that are on SNAP benefits are children.

They are older adults, they are families, they are single, you know, one family, one parent households.

And so really it could be, you know, a neighbor, it could be a grandparent, it could be a child in school that your kid has lunch with.

And so the reality is is that food insecurity is on the rise and it has just increased over the years.

- And now eligibility for SNAP benefits and your policy for who can access the food bank are not the same.

For example, undocumented immigrants are not eligible for SNAP.

Can you help clarify that?

- Sure, there's a lot of misconceptions about who uses SNAP and how it's distributed.

One thing that I really wanna point out that people don't realize is that SNAP has a multiplier effect.

So for every dollar that is issued in SNAP benefits, it generates $1.54 for economic revenue.

It keeps trucks on the road, farmers growing, and it keeps people able to go to the grocery store and support retailers as well.

One of the things that we do see is that when we talk about half the children that are on SNAP, in fact the children that do receive SNAP benefits are born here in the US.

- Of course, hunger is a year-round problem, but one that comes to mind as we approach the holidays.

What else should people know about how food banks help fill in gaps for low income families in every season?

- You're right.

Hunger is absolutely a 365 day issue.

And so we not only support a network of 250 nonprofit partner organizations throughout the 21 counties we serve, but we also have direct distributions and our own programs as well.

And so this year for the holiday season, why we see an uptick in people relying on our services is because it's really the time of year when families gather around a holiday table, catch up, they're able to talk and connect.

And so without food, that holiday really has a different meaning than it does with nourishing meals and conversation around the table.

- And Sari, what's the best way for people at home to help?

- Anyone can get involved.

The best way right now are monetary donations.

For every dollar donated, we can provide three meals.

Of course, we're always in need of volunteers, so anyone wanting to help can visit centraltexasfoodbank.org.

- It's a great way to give back this holiday season.

- It is, and it's so critical and important this time of year and always.

- Well Sari, no doubt a challenging moment for your team.

Thank you for helping us better understand your work.

- Thank you.

(upbeat music) - Austin is home to a thriving film industry, which played a starring role at this year's Austin Film Festival.

Several locally made films had their world premieres, along with some high profile premieres featuring talent connected to Texas.

All of these filmmakers though, excited for our state's new film incentives.

Take a look.

We're here at the 32nd Austin Film Festival talking to the stars of films like "Love Letters to Austin," a biopic of a historic female boxer, and a whodunit that's making waves around the world.

(upbeat music) - [Speaker] You must be the lady I've been hearing so much about.

- Yes sir.

- [Laura] And that lady is none other than trailblazing boxer Christy Martin.

The new movie "Christy" at this year's Austin Film Festival is based on her life story, with Sydney Sweeney playing the sports icon.

- [Speaker] You the world champion right now.

- I'm from a town of about 700 people, Southern West Virginia, coal miner's daughter.

And yeah, I had a pretty remarkable boxing career.

But to see it now become a movie, I don't even know if that I have words for it yet.

- [Laura] The movie follows Martin's meteoric rise in the ring while battling personal demons outside the ring, including drug addiction, her sexuality, and a fight for survival against her abusive ex-husband.

- Her story is incredible.

It's difficult to imagine that someone can endure that and survive it.

- [Laura] Martin, who lived in Austin for several years, said reliving some of her hardest moments through the film was healing.

- And I just want people to come away with the thought of, look, if she could overcome these these obstacles in her life, so can I.

- [Laura] And her dog Champ even made a cameo.

What you got to say, Champ?

- Thank you.

(dramatic music) - [Laura] Another major premier at AFF was the latest whodunit from writer director Rian Johnson.

"Wake up Dead man: A Knives Out Mystery."

- [Narrator] But what happened that night, they found a much, much larger scheme.

- It hopefully gets people laughing and hopefully it gets people screaming at some point.

- [Laura] World renowned southern detective Benoit Blanc is back with a new case involving a charismatic priest.

- To understand this case, you need to look at the myth that's being constructed.

- [Laura] But we had a special follow up question for Johnson.

Would you ever do another whodunit, but maybe this time with a Texas detective?

- Oh wow.

Are you pitching yourself?

Are you saying yeah?

- Maybe, you know.

- Put me in, let's do it.

- [Laura] One of the film's many stars is Thomas Haden Church, who lives near Kerrville, close to the site of last summer's terrible floods.

- This is a historical town and it was just wiped out.

It's just wiped out.

- [Laura] As a Texan, Church says he's lobbied for more films to be made in Texas.

A hope now a reality thanks to the state's new $1.5 billion film incentive package that went into effect in September.

- Now if they're actually gonna start competing like California is doing, it's outstanding.

- [Laura] Would you ever see yourself making a movie here?

- Oh, I would be thrilled to.

I would probably gain 20 pounds by the end of the shoot, but it would be worth it - [Laura] Beyond the blockbusters, those incentives will help local filmmakers like Brian Poyser, who also teaches at Texas State.

- [Speaker] Everybody breathing, everybody relaxed.

- [Laura] He directed the comedy drama "Leads" that was shot in Austin and on the Texas State campus with the help of more than 50 students, alumni, and faculty.

- We shot during my winter break where there's nobody on campus.

So we could use it for free and to be wherever we wanted.

- [Laura] The movie is about an acting professor whose comfortable life is upended by the return of her charming, but unpredictable younger brother.

Austin actor Heather Kafka plays the professor.

- There's a real creative spirit here and always has been.

- [Laura] That's a feeling shared by Nick and Josh Holden, AKA, the Holden Brothers, at the premiere of their new comedy "Sell Out" that was also shot in Austin.

- What if my next book is not good or witty and has no commentary and just kind of repeats itself?

- [Laura] "Sell Out" follows Benny, a neurotic novelist and single dad whose life starts to unravel.

- Really I'm just having trouble writing.

- Unless it's obstructing your colon, I don't know that I can help.

You should have called me for a beer if you wanted to hang.

- Austin's my home and I've been here for over 20 years.

My daughter was born here, my son was born here, my wife's from here, it feels like home.

You know, I think the character really realizes how much he loves Austin by the end.

- [Laura] The movie stars a slew of Texas talent, including PBS host Stephanie Hunt and others.

- I love that they really utilize the Austin talent rather than flying people in from everywhere.

I think it also comes naturally because the community here in Austin of filmmakers is very tight knit.

- [Laura] And they all hope that just like everything else in Texas, the film scene here just gets bigger.

- There are times when the growth is hard because you're like "Oh, I can't get into Barton Springs as easily anymore."

You know, like little things like that.

But at the same time it's like, wow, look at all the opportunity.

Well we have the talent here, we have the actors, the writers, directors, so let's bring it, let's do it, let's make movies.

- And we cannot wait to see all the shows and movies that are gonna be made here in Texas.

And I was not kidding about that Texas detective movie.

I would watch that.

Next, we're taking a trip through time, make that a couple thousand years.

A documentary streaming on PBS that premiered at the Austin Film Festival last year tells the story of how one of the most important archeological sites in the Western Hemisphere has been unearthed.

And it's right here in Central Texas, about an hour north of Austin.

The documentary called "The Stones Are Speaking" follows the story of archeologist Mike Collins as he saved the Gault Archeological Site from being looted and eventually destroyed.

Discoveries at this site revealed that people have been living in Central Texas as far back as 20,000 years ago, rewriting everything we thought we knew about how people first came to the Americas.

(gentle music) - The challenge of archeology is to take the scraps that people left behind and try to reconstruct what their life ways were like, what the environments they occupied were like.

If you get enough of those little bits and pieces and you integrate the perspectives from multiple sciences, how did these inform us of what life might've been like 15,000 years ago?

That's what makes archeology just absolutely fascinating.

- We previously spoke with Texas journalist Olive Talley, the director, producer, and writer of this documentary.

Olive, so great to be with you.

- Thanks.

I'm so happy to be here.

- So Olive, a big thing about the story is most Texans have never heard of this.

I know this was my first time hearing about it, and 20,000 years ago, it's really hard to wrap your mind around.

So in layman's terms, can you help us understand what exactly is the Gault Archeological Site and why is it so important in our history?

- The Gault site helped rewrite history.

For a very long period of time, scientists thought they knew and had a really good idea of when people came into the Americas.

This site helped dial back the timeline and the understanding of when people arrived, where they arrived, where they lived, and how they lived here.

So it's one of the most significant archeological sites in the Western Hemisphere that gave us enormous understanding about people of the past.

- And I know it ruffled some feathers, this discovery when it was revealed.

What inspired you to tell the story when you did?

- I was inspired after learning about the site on a National Geographic Linblad expedition to, of all places, Antarctica.

And I had never heard of this place.

And when National Geographic photographer Ken Garrett told us about it, I was incredulous because Laura, as you know, us journalists think that we know a lot about the state that we're covering.

And I had been a journalist here for many years, and I thought I would've known about a place that was this important, and I didn't.

And so that curiosity drove me to find the answers and to realize most Texans don't have any clue about this beautiful, worthwhile, significant, groundbreaking site that for Austinites is in their backyard here in Central Texas.

- It is so funny, you have to go to the almost end of the world to learn about something in your very own backyard.

And the story was almost tragically lost to history.

Why is it important to preserve sites like this and to preserve the work of people like Mike Collins?

- Because it's our human history.

It is our shared history as humans on planet earth.

Don't you wanna know who your grandmother was?

Don't you?

A lot of people are signing up for ancestry.com.

Now we can't go back and trace our ancestors exactly 20,000 years ago, but it helps in inform who we are, how we got to where we are today.

It's history that is the story of us.

- And it unites all of us from all over the world.

And when people watch this documentary, what do you hope they take with them?

- What I hope they appreciate is, one, the challenges, the devotion, the perseverance that Mike Collins showed and his team of volunteers.

You have thousands of people who joined him on this journey of overcoming one obstacle after another.

I think it shows what people can accomplish when they work together, when they work together for the spirit and the greater good of humanity.

It's about preserving history.

It's about preserving culture.

It's about honoring the past and knowing the past to be able to learn lessons and hopefully not repeat them in the future.

There's a lot of science behind here that I did not fully cover in the documentary about climate change and the things that you learn about water and the changing climates in the United States, but mostly here in Central America.

And I just think it has it all.

And for Texans, we need to know our history.

This is an important incredible place in Texas history, in Western Hemisphere history, and in global history in some regards.

So why wouldn't we want to know this and about this place and go see this place when it's so close, and nobody's ever heard of it.

And that's what I want to change.

- Filmmaker Olive Talley, thank you so much for being with us.

- Oh, thank you for having me.

I appreciate it.

- You can watch "The Stones are Speaking" in the PBS app or the full length version on Amazon, Apple, or YouTube.

Before we go, there are many Day of the Dead events in Austin each year.

One at the University of Texas takes on additional meaning amid concerns about possible department consolidation.

Our "Austin InSight" news intern Elijah Carll has more on the UT Latino Studies Department's annual Ofrenda and Day of the Dead Party.

(upbeat music) (people chattering) - So this is Ofrenda, we normally celebrate November 2nd.

Yes, we celebrate Dia De Los Muertos, which is a very big tradition in Mexico.

We collected like about 165, 160 something pictures, and I printed them out, I saw them out.

It's very nice to see all the pictures and printed them out.

But yeah, I put them all together and organized them and everything.

- You know, I lost my grandparents at a very young age, and for me it kind of brings a sense of peace to my heart knowing that relatives are coming, you know, and visiting us and kind of guiding over us.

And it brings a sense of comfort to people going through difficult times, especially at this point in the semester, for instance, you know, midterms, exams, finals are slowly approaching, you know, kind of having a day where we could celebrate the life of our relatives and our animals that we've lost over the years has been very important to me, and you know, a lot of other people who come out to these events.

- I'm worried that it's gonna close down, that it's gonna just come to an end.

I feel like it shouldn't, I feel like it's important for people to know who we are and to take our classes as well, to take our classes, to take our organizations, to just know about us.

- You know, these departments are huge, you know?

Yeah, some people may not know so much about them, but that's what the events are for.

They're to educate people.

They're to not only bring togetherness, but to help other people explore.

Like what is out there, like our history, and you know, the future of our people.

I just think, you know, by consolidating, you're kind of erasing a big presence on campus within the student population as well.

(gentle music) - That's our show.

Thanks so much for watching.

You can catch up on full episodes of "Austin InSight" in the PBS app, or watch our stories on the Austin PBS YouTube channel.

We'll see you next time.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from Sally and James Gavin, and also from Daniel L. Skret.

(bright music)