- With hundreds of thousands of visitors in town for ACL and Formula One, Austin has new rules for short-term rentals.

That's next on "Austin InSight."

- [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from: Sally & James Gavin, and also from Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants, bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in central Texas.

(bright lively upbeat music) (bright lively upbeat music continues) - Hi there, and thanks for joining us, I'm Laura Laughead.

Two huge back-to-back events in October, ACL Fest and Formula One, mean hundreds of thousands of visitors to Austin.

For many, the preferred lodging choice is one of Austin's 2,400 licensed short-term rentals like Airbnbs and Vrbos.

We spoke to a few people on the way to ACL about why they chose those over hotels.

- A lot cheaper, and you don't have to worry about it, and you have like an actual house plus parking.

- Yeah.

- To me, it's way more convenient.

- It's way more convenient.

We've just saved money on like breakfast foods, 'cause we just went grocery shopping.

- It's a lot better.

- It's okay.

- I prefer Airbnbs 'cause of the amenities.

It's just easier to have like a kitchen, a little bit more room, kind of pre-game, get comfortable before you, you know, are in the heat for 12 hours, so... - Yeah, I feel like the price variability on a Airbnb is so much wider.

- Yeah.

- So like you could get something super cheap and have all the amenities, or you can get something super expensive, but a hotel is kind of pretty much the same every time.

- But with these short-term rentals, there are concerns about the neighborhood impact and issues with hotel tax collections.

So the city has adopted new, stricter regulations.

City Council members say it's a difficult issue, and cracking down on unlicensed short-term rentals has been something they've been trying to do for years.

After a City Council vote last month, major platforms like Airbnb and Vrbo will now be required to include their city short-term rental license numbers on each listing and collect hotel occupancy tax.

This regulation also limits how close these rentals can be to each other if they're owned by the same person.

- I just wanna thank staff and the dais.

This has been a thorny and difficult issue, it has been through many different lawsuits and permutations and I feel like we're finally getting to a point where we have a workable, enforceable STR ordinance that will be able to stand up to legal challenge and also generate the hotel occupancy tax that we've been trying to get into the city coffers.

- Joining us now for more on this is Mayor Pro Tem and District 2 Council Member, Vanessa Fuentes.

Vanessa, thank you so much for being with us.

- Thank you for having me.

- So let's first talk the new rules.

In short, can you explain what they are, and what's the goal here?

- Yes.

You know, well, the reality is is that we had several thousands of short-term rentals operating in our city that were unlicensed and unregulated.

So, for the first time, we've been able to update our rules to ensure that we have better accountability.

And that's what we heard from Austinites, is that folks want to ensure that housing is preserved for Austinites, and that we are also holding, you know, bad actors accountable.

So, with some of the rules that we added, one key piece of it allows us to work with platforms like Airbnb and V-R-B-O, Vrbo, on ensuring that if their STRs are noncompliant, if they're becoming a nuisance, that they will work with the city in delisting them, so that we ensure that any unlicensed, unregulated short-term rentals are not operating in our city.

- And you bring up the rentals that have become kind of out of hand.

I know several community members have spoken before Council, specifically saying some short-term members, or short-term rentals, rather, in their neighborhood have become these so-called "party houses" that disrupt their peace.

So can you elaborate on how this new policy impacts the way the city will crack down on party houses?

- Yes.

Well, that is a big problem that we have in Austin and across many big cities across our country.

So, for us, by working with the platforms and ensuring that we had local rules in place, one of the examples that we now require for short-term rentals is that they have to have a local contact established, so that if a city's code officer needs to get a hold of someone at that property, they can quickly call someone that is local and have that accountability and have that conversation.

And, again, working with the platforms, we're able to delist any of them that are operating unregulated, or not being responsive to the city.

So those were key pieces for us.

- And in an amendment that did not pass at Council, you supported tighter restrictions on the number of short-term rentals to be allowed.

Why?

- Well, you know, I believe that our housing should be for the people of Austin, and we are in an affordability and housing crisis in our city, and we have to make sure that we are preserving as much of our housing stock as possible.

You know, the last thing we want is to have these out-of-state investors come in and buy up entire blocks and create short-term rentals, and I mean that has just wreaked havoc for our neighborhoods.

And, you know, this type of housing shouldn't come at the expense of our neighborhoods and at the expense of Austinites.

So we really wanted to strike a balance, you know, "How do we ensure... We know people wanna operate short-term rentals, but how do we ensure that they're done in a way that is in good faith with our neighborhoods?"

Another thing I wanna mention is that now that they are regulated and licensed, we are now collecting hotel tax dollars.

These are tourist fees that come into the city and they support arts, culture, and historic preservation.

And the city was losing out on thousands of dollars every single day because we didn't have an agreement in place.

So now we're capturing new revenue for our city.

- And some of these have already started going into effect as of October 1st, correct?

- That's right.

We started capturing the local hotel tax dollars back in April, but the majority of the rules took effect on October 1st.

- And, you know, you brought up something and I wanna elaborate here.

Looking at the bigger picture, what concerns overall do you have about the trend of short-term rentals and housing availability in general, even with these regulations?

And you mentioned, you know, out-of-state people coming and buying up a lot of private equity firms, or owning a large number of them.

- Yes, that's why these new rules were so important, and a key piece of Austin addressing affordability in our city.

The next step for us was to ensure that by establishing rules, so ensuring that STRs are at least a thousand feet away from each other in single-family areas, and then putting a cap on how many STRs one can own within a multi-family property.

Those were elements that we put in place to really limit the amount of STRs available in our city to ensure that we really are again preserving housing for Austinites.

- Well, Council Member Fuentes, thank you so much for helping us understand this new policy.

- Thank you for having me.

(bright mellow upbeat music) (bright mellow upbeat music continues) (bright mellow upbeat music continues) - Meanwhile, across the city, parents, teachers, and others are not happy about a school consolidation plan that Austin ISD recently announced, which calls for closing 13 schools.

- [Protestors] Save our schools!

Save our schools!

Save our schools!

Save our schools!

Save our schools!

- With rallies like this one outside the school board meeting last week, parents are speaking out.

The new plan also redraws boundary lines for almost every school in the district.

Superintendent Matias Segura says, "Consolidation is necessary because of a budget shortfall plus declining enrollment with about 25,000 empty seats in Austin's schools."

School Board President, Lynn Boswell, says, underfunding from the state is also a contributing factor.

- We're doing this work at a moment when public schools are under attack in a state that has among the lowest per student funding in the nation, where funding has not kept pace with inflation, and at a time when we are losing federal funding as well.

The sadness, anger, and fear that people are feeling right now is real, and it is the flip side of the love that people have for our public schools.

And I'm so sorry, and I'm so sad that we're at this moment.

- The school board is scheduled to take a final vote on the school consolidation plan on November 20th.

We'll have more coverage of the story in coming weeks.

Switching gears now to local art and National Hispanic Heritage Month, which concludes this week.

When you think about the arts in Austin, you probably think of music first, right, maybe murals next.

But, today, we're highlighting a unique kind of artistic expression from a rising star in the Austin art scene.

Local artist, Courtney Enriquez, draws inspiration from the traditional Mexican board game, Loteria.

Courtney was recently named Emerging Artist in the city's Emma S. Barrientos Mexican American Cultural Center Awards of Excellence.

We spoke with Courtney about how her heritage and creativity intersect.

Courtney joins us now.

Courtney, thank you so much for being with us.

- Yeah, it's great to be here.

- Well, first, we wanna say congratulations on the honor of Emerging Artists, but you've been creating for a number of years.

Can you explain to us your style of art and what initially drew you to it?

- Well, I'm a self-taught artist and have had local artists that have mentored me.

And being drawn to art, I've done it from a very early age, I was that little girl that carried around coloring books in my little bag with crayons and markers and pencils.

So I've always loved to draw or sketch or paint or whatever my mood was.

So I actually came to the realization that I was talented was I went to Austin High and I had a high school teacher, and she asked me to enter into a competition where I won a Gold Key Award, a Scholastic Gold Key Award for the State of Texas.

- Wow.

- And so, I think that was the, like, defining moment where you go like, "Oh, I really do have some talent here.

I should maybe pursue this."

And so, I had a mother that always encouraged me to paint or to pursue my art, and so, that's how I ended up doing art, and continue to do art.

- Well, I love that you had that support from an early age, and that is so important.

Can you speak to the connection between your cultural heritage and your family and your artwork?

- Well, being a Mexican-American woman, born and raised in Austin, we have a mixed, I guess, city of people.

And my mom and my grandparents are always very proud of their culture and their heritage.

We always did the Cinco de Mayos, the dia seis de Septiembres, the festivities we participated in.

My mom would always take me to the mercados, we would see the different diverse art that was being created, and I think that's where I get my inspiration from.

- Well, it's clearly so important to you, and I wanna talk more about the Loteria imagery that you create, and we wanna show our viewers some examples, of course.

Everyone loves these iconic characters and objects, but you have given them a new twist.

What's that about?

- So, I love Loteria 'cause it's a hundred year old game that's been passed down from generation to generation, and it brings toddlers to elders to the table at the same time.

And we don't see that a lot now.

And so, when our families or friends get together, it's time to play a good game of chance, it's a game of chance, and people don't understand what it is.

It's, what I would say, "a Mexican bingo," and you have 54 illustrated cards that you say, okay, you have a picture of a rose, it's la rosa, and so, that's the image of the card.

Well, children, the toddlers, can go by the image, and of course the elders know the name, you can use the Spanish or the English, which is great for being bilingual, or wanting to learn Spanish.

So there's a whole mix of things going on at the table there.

And the fact that it brings family together is wonderful, but I'm always thinking of ways to like take it to the next level.

Yes, it's a great game of chance, but it's also great conversation pieces.

I've gotten a lot of people through my art, and, in exhibitions, people will ask me, "Well, why did you paint this certain card?

", or, "Why did you, you know, do it this certain way?," and, "Oh, this image reminds me of my cousin, his name is El Barril," which is a barrel, it's a little, short (chuckles) barrel.

And so, it's funny because it brings peoples memories of... This lady used to play Loteria with us.

Our parents couldn't afford afterschool care, and the old lady in the neighborhood would play Loteria, and have snacks for us on the porch, until our parents could get home.

So things like that I think is what attracts me to it, because it's a great conversation piece where people maybe wouldn't talk about something, and my art does that.

- And it's very nostalgic, and it's very, honestly, comforting to people who have core memories attached to it.

Why was it important for you to create art that honors your heritage and your experiences growing up?

- Well, you know, I say I have a duality, so I'm Mexican and I'm American, and I'm proud of both, to be both, right?

And so, I get to share my art not only in honoring my heritage as being a Mexican-American woman, but also can share it with other cultures.

So it's not just for our culture, it should be shared and experienced by all.

- And when anyone sees your art, what do you hope they experience and they take with them?

- I hope that they experience love, my intention to share, and to create.

If they maybe had something within them that they've always wanted to do that maybe would inspire them to do whatever it be, whether it be poetry, painting, whatever you've always dreamed to be, I hope it would inspire you that you would pursue that.

- That's beautifully said.

I know I'm kind of inspired when you're mentioning like the colored pencils growing up.

I'm like, "Maybe I need to whip out some colored pencils."

We forget these days in the digital world.

- Definitely.

- Well, Courtney, thank you so much, and congratulations on your honor as the Emerging Artist from Austin's Mexican American Cultural Center.

We can't wait to see more of what you do.

- Thank you so much.

(bright lively upbeat music) - Nearly half a million people who identify as Hispanic live in the Austin area, making up about a third of Austin's population, that includes a burgeoning community of Guatemalan immigrants in Rundberg, celebrating their heritage, but with concerns about immigration enforcement.

More now from our community-based reporting project: Decibel.

(vocalist singing in Spanish) (host speaking in Spanish) - [Mynor] So, today, we're celebrating dia seis de Septiembre, which is Guatemala's Independence Day.

(traditional Spanish music) (host cheering) (Geny speaking Spanish) (vocalist singing in Spanish) (festival attendee speaking Spanish) (stick clacking) (spectators cheering) (host speaking Spanish) - We're gonna celebrate the food, the music, the culture, and doing it our own small way.

(groovy orchestral music) (groovy upbeat music) (attendees chattering) My name is Mynor Alvarado.

- Nice man.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

- Good to see you, thank you.

And I'm one of the owners and founders of Marimbas.

(groovy upbeat music) - [Interviewer] You said your mom makes a lot of the food, but do you also help in the kitchen?

- No, my biggest contribution is eating it.

(both laughing) (food sizzling) (groovy upbeat music) (Geny speaking Spanish) (Geny continues speaking Spanish) (diners and attendees chattering) - This is our first year open, so we haven't really seen any trends historically.

But for the celebration today, we do feel like a lot of people will still be scared to be on and about.

(dramatic ominous music) (radio static crackling) (indistinct radio chattering) - [Reporter 1] Local news outlets reported that ICE began targeted operations here in Austin.

- [Reporter 2] Bargas and her partner were then detained by ICE.

- [Reporter 3] About 1100 people were picked up by ICE across the country.

- [Mynor] From what we're told from other people in the restaurant business, it has slowed down a lot of the traffic that we would usually expect.

(festival attendee speaking Spanish) (host speaking Spanish) (festival attendee speaking Spanish) (festival attendee continues speaking Spanish) (intriguing dramatic music) (festival attendee continues speaking Spanish) (festival attendee continues speaking Spanish) (festival attendee continues speaking Spanish) (festival attendee continues speaking Spanish) (spectators cheering) (host speaking Spanish) (spectators cheering) - The cool thing about this area I think is it's a ethnic melting pot.

(traditional triumphant music) You know, I think the most important thing that my family and myself have always wanted to accomplish with the restaurant is obviously sharing our culture and history, but also acknowledging that the sharing of culture and accepting of different ideas is what makes America who it is.

It doesn't have to be one or the other, and that's a great thing we love.

(host speaking Spanish) (all cheering) - Thanks to reporter Blair Waltman-Alexin for that story.

Before we go today, some new snacks are set to hit the shelves of Texans' favorite grocery store, H-E-B.

The chain recently announced the winners of the Annual Quest for Texas Best Competition looking for the best Texas-made products.

Austin business, Tozi Superfoods, won first place in the contest and will soon have their products in H-E-B along with $25,000.

Tozi Superfoods offers healthier tortillas and tortilla chips made from indigenous superfoods like blue corn and amaranth, as well as healthier aguas frescas.

We spoke with Co-Founder Rocio Leon about the rising Mexican-American family business.

Rocio, thank you so much for being with us, and congratulations.

- Thank you, Laura, I'm so happy to be here today.

- Well, everyone knows H-E-B is like the gold standard for Texan snacks, and everyone is of course obsessed with their tortillas.

I see like videos of people like smuggling them onto airplanes.

What does this honor mean for you and your company?

- I mean, it's huge to have H-E-B, and like you said, you know, they are known for their tortillas and their tortilla chips.

So to have them say that they like ours as well, especially, you know, made a little bit different with cleaner ingredients has been such an honor.

- And I love the color here.

We're gonna talk more about this in a second, but I wish y'all could smell it, just even from here, it's making me hungry.

But, first, can you give us a little backstory on your company.

You founded Tozi Superfoods with your mom, who I'm told has the recipes, and your sister who is actually a doctor.

So what inspired you and your family to start this?

- Yeah, so the catalyst for starting Tozi was really two years ago when my grandfather passed away.

So he passed down our sixth generation ranch in Jalisco, Mexico to us.

So when he passed, we found ourselves, you know, on the ranch.

And for me, this was a true like life moment to reflect on what I wanted to do moving forward.

So I decided to quit my job and start something that not only honored my family's heritage and my grandfather's heritage, but also could introduce these amazing superfoods that we grew up loving and eating for generations to the rest of the world.

So that's how Tozi was born.

- I love that.

And how far you guys have come in just two years, this is really impressive.

And can you explain, like, we can feel less guilty about eating these, right?

How exactly are these healthier?

- Yes.

So these are made with non-GMO nixtamalized blue corn that we source from Mexico, and also amaranth, which is an indigenous superfood that in Mexico we call "the food of the gods."

NASA's actually researching it right now- - Wow.

- Because it's a complete plant-based protein and it's also really high in fiber.

So we're combining these two, and this is an ancient recipe, the Aztecs were combining corn with amaranth in their tortillas thousands of years ago.

So we're just reviving that through our products.

And then our chips, we use really high quality avocado oil and then sea salt, and that's it.

So just really clean ingredients that you can feel good about.

- Okay, and I'm feeling good about eating these right now.

May I go ahead?

- Yes, please do.

- Okay, these are so beautiful.

I'm gonna put that there.

Oh.

(tortilla crunching) That tastes so good.

Oh my God.

I have to like derail this interview to like eat this whole bowl.

(Rocio laughing) This is really good.

- Thank you.

- And so, like, when can we expect to see this at H-E-B stores, and, until then, where can we find these?

- Yeah, so we are hoping and targeting by the end of the year to have both our chips and our tortillas in H-E-B stores across Texas.

But, for now, all central markets carry our chips, local stores in Austin, like Local Pastures, Radius, Wheatsville, they carry both of our products.

And then if you ever wanna eat them out at a restaurant, The Well restaurants, they use both our tortillas and our chips in their tacos and their chips and dips.

- Wow.

Okay, so I'm glad for now, we might have to wait a little bit for the H-E-B, but for now we can get these.

And what's next for y'all?

What's kind of your hope and dream out of all of this?

- Yeah, so we are just really excited to make our products more accessible to more Texans, we're really passionate about helping people eat better, live better lives, and, you know, eat healthier, cleaner food.

So not only do we wanna continue, you know, selling our products in stores, but we are also really excited to continue to get more involved in the community.

Currently, we give back as much as we can as a small brand, so by donating products to our local food access nonprofits, like Tankproof on the East side, I'm meeting with the Ascension Health Group, they run a program called Food is Medicine where they donate groceries to new moms, there's a lot of research on how beneficial that can be, not only for the new mom, but the baby.

So I'm just really excited to be able to do more good through our brand.

- Well, Rocio, so many great things you're doing, and I know more to come.

Congratulations on this honor.

- Thank you.

- And I'm personally looking forward to having these in my pantry.

- Thank you so much.

(bright lively upbeat music) - I could honestly eat those chips all day every day.

And that's our show, thanks so much for watching.

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.

(bright lively upbeat music) (bright lively upbeat music continues) (bright lively upbeat music continues) (bright lively upbeat music continues) - [Announcer] Support for "Austin InSight" comes from: Sally & James Gavin, and also from Suerte, Este, and Bar Toti restaurants, bringing Austin together around culinary excellence to celebrate creativity, conservation, and culture in central Texas.

(bright instrumental music)