Musk recently announced he’s moving Tesla’s headquarters from California to Texas and made intriguing remarks in response to a Fox News article.
Tesla chief Elon Musk has warned Austin, Texas, against becoming a “San Francisco copycat,” amid an upcoming city election that seeks to upgrade the city’s police infrastructure in response to an earlier budget cut.
The city council had decided to cut $150m, or a third, of the city’s police budget in August last year. This was the largest cut from any major city in the US.
Journalist Zaid Jilani has posted a tweet that reads, “Austin implemented one of the biggest police budget cuts, Their homicide rate soared over the next year, and today the surge is larger than most of the country. Now, voters will decide whether to boost the ranks of the police.”
“Austin should be its city, not a San Francisco copycat,” Elon has responded.
Fox News reported:
But since the budget cut, Austin has gotten much less safe. According to statistics compiled by the data analysis firm AH Datalytics, the city has seen a nearly 71% increase in homicides over the past year. While homicides have increased nationwide since 2020, Austin’s increase is one of the largest the firm has tracked.
The funding cuts brought with them a series of changes to the Austin Police Department. Cadet classes were canceled, making it more difficult to bring more officers onto the force. Certain specialized units were cut back. Attrition soared. By May 2021, police staffing shortages led to a 30% increase in 911 response times.
Excerpt from The Austin American-Statesman reports:
Speaking to shareholders [on October 7], Tesla CEO Elon Musk mentioned almost casually that the electric automaker — one of the world’s best-known and most valuable companies — has decided to move its corporate headquarters from California to Austin. The stunning move — which came as a surprise to many local and state officials — continues Austin’s ascent as a technology hub and adds to Tesla’s swiftly growing presence in the region, as the company is building a $1.1 billion manufacturing facility in southeastern Travis County.
Musk had previously threatened to move the company’s headquarters from Palo Alto, Calif., to Texas or Nevada in 2020, after disagreements with California lawmakers. Musk did not mention that dispute during Thursday’s meeting.
Musk has previously expressed his feelings after he moved out from California. “I’m excited to announce we’re moving our headquarters to Austin, Texas, We’re going to create an ecological paradise here around the Colorado River.”
“It’s tough for people to afford houses and a lot of people have to come in from far away, We’ve taken it as far as possible but…there’s a limit to how big you can scale it in the Bay Area and here in Austin, our factory’s like five minutes from the airport, 15 minutes from downtown, and we’re going to create an ecological paradise here because we’re right on the Colorado River” the big time CEO added in his statement released.
It’s a nutshell for Califonia while Texas just went from 0 to 60 mph like a Tesla.
Sources: Daily Wire, Fox News, Austin American-Statesman
