What the fuck is wrong with you, Austin?

[PvilleStang 2923]

I think the conservative aversion to Mental Health: it becomes a very slippery slope if we start admitting people into mental health institutions who we deem to be mentally unstable.  At what point do people abuse the system and claim their wives or girlfriends or neighbors are acting crazy and getting them incarcerated in a mental hospital.

 

I fully agree, our state-funded mental institutions are spread extremely thin, and we need more private mental health facilities.  But the stigma behind mental health and the real lack of funding really keeps the status quo where it's at.  Until someone takes it up as a priority at the txlege or at the Whitehouse, we're stuck sending a bulk of our homeless to ASH or TSH for lobotomies.

[Bozo_Casanova 26613]

Adding- for whatever reason the police aren’t doing much to enforce the camping ban, and I suppose chasing them back to the woods is what most people really want anyway. That might make a difference by making crime a little less convenient, but like the other stuff it’s a question of priorities/money/manpower. 

[jimmyjazz 46351]

Whatever happened to a shift of ~ 1/3 APD patrol officers to more capable mental health professionals?

[Bozo_Casanova 26613]

Just now, PvilleStang said:

I think the conservative aversion to Mental Health: it becomes a very slippery slope if we start admitting people into mental health institutions who we deem to be mentally unstable.  At what point do people abuse the system and claim their wives or girlfriends or neighbors are acting crazy and getting them incarcerated in a mental hospital.

 

lol perfect example. It’s the same thing with mass shootings. We have a huge mental health crisis and it creates mayhem and violence, but we can’t actually do anything about it because “conservative” men keep tagging themselves in revenge fantasies about pissed off neighbors and scorned women.

[Orange&White 5539]

11 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

@Orange&White when I say there are no good options, it’s because there are no good options. There are also no other options for “right now.” 
The system we have is working as designed within the real life limits of budget and manpower, at the bottom rung of a declining civilization and a diseased culture. 
I voted against Garza. I am actively working towards his defeat in November. But the Garza aren’t doing anything differently than their predecessors on this particular issue and people who say otherwise aren’t telling the truth. 
when you say “this one guy is crazy and should be locked up” I agree. Who should lock him up and whether they will take/have space for him is a different question. The prisons don’t want him, the jail doesn’t want to manage him,  prosecution will never be a priority, and there’s no money to be made getting him square. So it’s intake, stabilize, release, repeat, again and again. 
The only thing we can do that has any immediate direct impact is support ML&F, because they are they only ones breaking that cycle.

I wasn't aware that the prisons got a vote or an option on who the courts sentence to prison? Are you saying that the prisons have a right or ability to deny a prisoner that has been convicted to prison time?

[Guest]

Fuck graffiti. Just absolute blight.

[hornian 5230]

Just now, FirstTimeCaller said:

Fuck graffiti. Just absolute blight.

BUSCAR disagrees. 

 

[Bozo_Casanova 26613]

2 minutes ago, Orange&White said:

I wasn't aware that the prisons got a vote or an option on who the courts sentence to prison? Are you saying that the prisons have a right or ability to deny a prisoner that has been convicted to prison time?

No, but the justice system is (broadly speaking) aware of and somewhat sensitive to the capacity and capability of the prison system to manage. And for what it’s worth, it’s already the biggest provider of mental healthcare in the state, which puts a strain on our ability to incarcerate, rehabilitate, and punish the prison population that isn’t crazy.

[jimmyjazz 46351]

4 minutes ago, hornian said:

BUSCAR disagrees. 

Did you ever figure out who defaced your fence?

[PvilleStang 2923]

1 minute ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

lol perfect example. It’s the same thing with mass shootings. We have a huge mental health crisis and it creates mayhem and violence, but we can’t actually do anything about it because “conservative” men keep tagging themselves in revenge fantasies about pissed off neighbors and scorned women.

Riddle me this: what are the implications of having been admitted into a mental health institution?  You're going to get red flagged on a lot of future applications for anything from gun ownership to security clearances to TSA Pre, etc.  There's a negative connotation, just like there is with DWIs, Class A-B misdemeanors, etc.  Someone found to be mentally unstable and tagged as such will have a barrier to overcome in their future.

And it is not unreasonable to believe that people will abuse this for their personal or financial gain.  It's all politics around these parts, anyways.

[Bozo_Casanova 26613]

Just now, PvilleStang said:

Riddle me this: what are the implications of having been admitted into a mental health institution?  You're going to get red flagged on a lot of future applications for anything from gun ownership to security clearances to TSA Pre, etc.  There's a negative connotation, just like there is with DWIs, Class A-B misdemeanors, etc.  Someone found to be mentally unstable and tagged as such will have a barrier to overcome in their future.

It’s true.And I was being somewhat tongue in cheek- under the old system there was a ton of abuse. Like anything that deprives someone of their liberty it requires well designed independent oversight and high standards. 

8 minutes ago, hornian said:

BUSCAR disagrees. 

 

 I stan Toeflop

[PvilleStang 2923]

1 minute ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

It’s true.And I was being somewhat tongue in cheek- under the old system there was a ton of abuse. Like anything that deprives someone of their liberty it requires well designed independent oversight and high standards. 

Austin is truly the pinnacle of cities when it comes to oversite and standards.  Just look at Project Connect!  And Austin Energy and their brush management, and Austin Water, and our homeless strategy department...

[hornian 5230]

3 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

 I stan Toeflop

I actually genuinely like Drib.  He does the random bird art around town. And his name is bird spelled backwards. 

 

 

[Deej 77003]

11 hours ago, crash_davis said:

The troll is completed in Pease Park. How long until some deranged, repeat offender, homeless dude burns it down? I give it a year.

How much did that cost? Still don't have the money of pay lifeguards at park pools, though, right?

[Bozo_Casanova 26613]

4 minutes ago, PvilleStang said:

Austin is truly the pinnacle of cities when it comes to oversite and standards.  Just look at Project Connect!  And Austin Energy and their brush management, and Austin Water, and our homeless strategy department...

Thankfully local government would have no role to play in something like this, but can we honestly expect the state of Texas to do better? See also schools, child protective services, foster care, prisons, etc.

[PvilleStang 2923]

1 minute ago, Deej said:

How much did that cost? Still don't have the money of pay lifeguards at park pools, though, right?

It was practically free.  It was all recycled wood and volunteer artists.  How dare you look a gift grift in the mouth!

[Bozo_Casanova 26613]

3 minutes ago, Deej said:

How much did that cost? Still don't have the money of pay lifeguards at park pools, though, right?

Yes. The statue is the problem. If not for the statue they would have lifeguards.
This is KLBJ-AM Brain right here.

[Deej 77003]

Just now, Bozo_Casanova said:

Yes. The statue is the problem. If not for the statue they would have lifeguards.
This is KLBJ-AM Brain right here.

It's just one more useless thing this city spends money on. It adds up, but judging from your postings, you are part of the grift. 

[Orange&White 5539]

6 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

No, but the justice system is (broadly speaking) aware of and somewhat sensitive to the capacity and capability of the prison system to manage. And for what it’s worth, it’s already the biggest provider of mental healthcare in the state, which puts a strain on our ability to incarcerate, rehabilitate, and punish the prison population that isn’t crazy.

So the guy that is crazy can be locked in prison. That is exactly my point.

I understand all of those other things you mentioned about ability to incarcerate and that the prisons are the biggest provider of mental health, etc . I know that because those facts have been brought up in this thread, and every other like it, ad nauseum. Again, no one thinks this is ideal or best practice or what the long term solution is.

But as bad as those things are, they should still not be a deterrent to locking up someone that attacked a person with a machete for no reason.

[Bozo_Casanova 26613]

4 minutes ago, Deej said:

It's just one more useless thing this city spends money on. It adds up, but judging from your postings, you are part of the grift. 

J’accuse!!!

The other feature of KLBJAM brain is an absolute refusal to use Google.

Pease Park conservancy paid for the statue. Try to keep up.

[Bozo_Casanova 26613]

5 minutes ago, Orange&White said:

But as bad as those things are, they should still not be a deterrent to locking up someone that attacked a person with a machete for no reaso

I agree with you, but they are in fact, deterrent in every city in this state, and in the country really. It’s always case by case basis.
Machete guy should be locked up. Full stop. But- and not to sound cynical, if it’s not machete guy, it will be hammer guy later.

 

There is a hammer guy. There’s a 2X4 guy, like chainsaw Jim Duggan. There’s a pervert (not homeless, but seriously deranged) who gets his jollies making eye contact with people and then pulling his pants down and pooping on the ground, mainly moms and kids at bus stops. The police know these people, but won’t do anything about it until someone is seriously hurt/raped etc. 

[PvilleStang 2923]

9 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

J’accuse!!!

The other feature of KLBJAM brain is an absolute refusal to use Google.

Pease Park conservancy paid for the statue. Try to keep up.

Is that like car brain?  Asking for all the urbanists.

[jimmyjazz 46351]

 

10 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

J’accuse!!!

The other feature of KLBJAM brain is an absolute refusal to use Google.

Pease Park conservancy paid for the statue. Try to keep up.

The sculpture cost around $300,000 to install and was funded by private donors, according to Allison Johnson, director of community engagement for the Pease Park Conservancy. Most of the funds came from the Tejemos Foundation. H-E-B and the William Knox Holt Foundation also donated money for the project.

 

KUT article -- Pease Park Troll

[utee94 15877]

12 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

J’accuse!!!

The other feature of KLBJAM brain is an absolute refusal to use Google.

Pease Park conservancy paid for the statue. Try to keep up.

Yeah the city gets involved in plenty of stupid projects and plenty of grifty projects, but this one was privately funded all along.  I saw the articles when they first announced it and thought the trolls were pretty cool-- I think Austin is as good of a place as any to have one.

I do seriously wonder, though, how long it'll be before some asshole tags it or destroys it.  That'll suck.

Edited March 20 by utee94

[Guest]

I hate how this city spends money as much as the next guy (remember the $10,000 artist in residency with the water department or some shit?), but public buildings and works are generally good. I don't like the price tag of the library, but I like having the library. I feel like investing in the public is woefully bad in this state. Even if CofA had to pay for the troll, I think that would be a good thing.

Project Connect, however, is a GD boondoggle.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, jimmyjazz said:

 

The sculpture cost around $300,000 to install and was funded by private donors, according to Allison Johnson, director of community engagement for the Pease Park Conservancy. Most of the funds came from the Tejemos Foundation. H-E-B and the William Knox Holt Foundation also donated money for the project.

 

KUT article -- Pease Park Troll

Damn. Seriously, why so fucking much? That's as much as it would cost to build a complete home and this is reclaimed wood and the land was free.

[crash_davis 23121]

I think the Troll is cool. Now the what-the-fuck-whalebones-thing sprouting from under I35 over 6th St is bullshit, but the Troll is tangible and will attract a shitton of people to see it and experience it. The one in Breck is a very popular tourist spot.

Art is important to communities. There's a ton of shit to bitch about Austin, a $300k statue mostly privately funded is probably the last thing to worry about.

[Wally Pryor 5266]

That troll is a cool work of art and just in time for the hippies to worship next month in Pease. 

But, yeah, its days are numbered. When not going after body parts the bums enjoy taking out windows, front doors, etc. Imagine what they'll do to that pile of kindling. I'm guessing the over on Malin surviving is 10 months. Smart play is the under. Hope that's wrong. 

[royiv 9402]

1 hour ago, Deej said:

It's just one more useless thing this city spends money on. It adds up, but judging from your postings, you are part of the grift. 

Some people don’t see cultural amenities  as useless. They see them as something that adds to the fabric of a community. People complain about Austin no longer being cool or weird and then bitch about the cultural things that make a city unique.

[jimmyjazz 46351]

I don't see how a fairly universally approved art installation that didn't use taxpayer money is a problem.  I mean, of all the things to complain about . . .

[Deej 77003]

2 minutes ago, royiv said:

Some people don’t see cultural amenities  as useless. They see them as something that adds to the fabric of a community. People complain about Austin no longer being cool or weird and then bitch about the cultural things that make a city unique.

open neighborhood pools during the blast furnace summers would be more important.

[MAUFRAIS 6669]

Pease Park has private security now. Troll guard can be added to their duties, in between keeping adults from pooping in the splash pad and making sure the bathrooms don’t revert to their historically romantic status.

[PvilleStang 2923]

21 minutes ago, Wally Pryor said:

That troll is a cool work of art and just in time for the hippies to worship next month in Pease. 

But, yeah, its days are numbered. When not going after body parts the bums enjoy taking out windows, front doors, etc. Imagine what they'll do to that pile of kindling. I'm guessing the over on Malin surviving is 10 months. Smart play is the under. Hope that's wrong. 

Aggy's next bonfire location for the Texas game in 2025.  

[jimmyjazz 46351]

7 minutes ago, Deej said:

open neighborhood pools during the blast furnace summers would be more important.

I believe every pool in Austin was open last summer.

EDIT:  yes

All Austin public pools were open in 2023

Edited March 20 by jimmyjazz

[YGIFS 19453]

Yeah, it was 2021 & 2022 that the pool openings were severely drawn down.  There is still a staffing shortage though (or was in 2023 and likely will be again in 2024) in terms of maintenance and lifeguards.  But I am absolutely signing up for daughters to do swim lessons at Westenfield Pool off Mopac.  I got to swim laps while they were in class and conveniently have to stop every 50 yards to clean my goggles because the lifeguard situation there is a combination of UT ladies and daughters of Tarrytown MILF's home for summer, all with a penchant for suit wedgies.  It's a scene man, it's a scene.  It's like Evil MoPac's version of Baywatch.  

In other news, my former Bond Advisory Commission passed on a report to Council (according to the new Chair and a friend of mine) to review before proposing the substantial issuance for what we'd do for the cap-over parklands on the new IH-35 (which I'm in favor of, FTR).  It was given a 2-3 minute cursory look and then dismissed.  We're going to start encumbered debt service in 2027 on something we won't break ground on until 2035 at the earliest.  We're one more fuckup from another agency downgrade.  

And yes, let's all be honest.  The Troll art project is awesome.  And also, and, in addition to........there's no fucking way homeless people don't start that thing on fire.  

[Brisketexan 105478]

10 hours ago, Larry T. Spider said:

Is the Texas GOP’s aversion to forcing them into mental health facilities purely financial? My family is almost all republicans in the Austin area and they are all for it. Now I don’t get into how we are going to pay for it with them….

There's some "horseshoe theory" at play here.  Originally, the aversion to having a more robust involuntary commitment apparatus came from the left ACLU types: the concern was that too many people were losing their liberty for dubious reasons (this is many decades ago, BTW -- One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest was published in 1962).  For a long time, the opposition to robust involuntary commitment was a flag carried by the left.  Not anymore.  See Bozo's comment about how the right has now decided it's the debil because it's a back door to TAKING AWAY OUR GUNS!!!!

Layer on the current GOP/conservative visceral hatred of ANYTHING that even sniffs of "helping other people...for free!", and you have a real problem.  A mental healthcare apparatus that houses and treats people on MY DIME???  No fucking way. Now, if you build that same apparatus, for the same price (or even more), and it doesn't waste any dollars HELPING FREELOADERS, but instead spends all those dollars PUNISHING BAD PEOPLE, then I'm all for it!

The thing is - and I promise, I'm NOT trying to go Cloakroom here, but we can't discuss the impediments to fixing this local problem without discussing the politics that are the impediment - I am sure you are RIGHT about your family, and republicans in Texas in general, being conceptually in favor of mental health facilities.  The problem is the cognitive dissonance of that voting bloc: on ISSUES, they often stand for things that are relatively centrist and common-sense.....but when it comes time to vote, they vote for (and thus reward and encourage) only candidates of the most extreme flavor.  AND, they hold two dueling beliefs: we need mental health facilities.....but NOTHING NEVER EVER FOR FREELOADERS!  It's incredibly frustrating to watch us collectively cut off our nose to spite our face, over and over and over.

There are many common-sense solutions.

But there is a dearth of common sense.

Thus.....no solutions.

[Deej 77003]

25 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I believe every pool in Austin was open last summer.

EDIT:  yes

All Austin public pools were open in 2023

Good. Maybe they can work on operating other services full time, then. 

https://www.kxan.com/investigations/are-missed-compost-pickups-on-the-rise-in-austin/

[royiv 9402]

35 minutes ago, Deej said:

Good. Maybe they can work on operating other services full time, then. 

https://www.kxan.com/investigations/are-missed-compost-pickups-on-the-rise-in-austin/

Have you still not picked up on the fact that the troll was paid for with private funds? I guess you could start a fundraiser for compost pick-ups, but in the pantheon of public needs how important are compost pick-ups? If that’s your biggest bitch about COA, you’re living life right.

[PvilleStang 2923]

56 minutes ago, Deej said:

Good. Maybe they can work on operating other services full time, then. 

https://www.kxan.com/investigations/are-missed-compost-pickups-on-the-rise-in-austin/

Has anyone picked up this compostable material yet?

Spoiler

 

[Bozo_Casanova 26613]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

I believe every pool in Austin was open last summer.

EDIT:  yes

All Austin public pools were open in 2023

 But on KLBJ they were closed, so…

[Bozo_Casanova 26613]

1 minute ago, PvilleStang said:

Has anyone picked up this compostable material yet?

  Hide contents

 

That’s good form.  He’s got his hips below his knees. Much better for the bowel. 

[YGIFS 19453]

Well opiates do constipate a person.  So you gotta try everything you can.

Ever notice the trouble Vincent Vega gets into every time he does heroin and has to take a shit?  

[Deej 77003]

19 minutes ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

 But on KLBJ they were closed, so…

Ah, right out of the CR playbook...

"You don't agree with me so I'll make baseless accusations."

How many years before last could the city not "afford" to keep the pools open? 

 

Edited March 20 by Deej

[jimmyjazz 46351]

8 minutes ago, Deej said:

How many years before last could the city not "afford" to keep the pools open? 

It wasn't a question of "affordability", they couldn't attract enough lifeguards.  The budget was already fixed.  Ultimately they increased wages a bit and have not had that problem any longer.

You do realize wages pretty much went up across most service industries coming out of the pandemic, right?

[PvilleStang 2923]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

It wasn't a question of "affordability", they couldn't attract enough lifeguards.  The budget was already fixed.  Ultimately they increased wages a bit and have not had that problem any longer.

You do realize wages pretty much went up across most service industries coming out of the pandemic, right?

So they didn't have the cap in the budget to raise wages high enough to attract life guard applicants?  Essentially they didn't budget for inflation / growth and hamstrung themselves.

[jimmyjazz 46351]

44 minutes ago, PvilleStang said:

So they didn't have the cap in the budget to raise wages high enough to attract life guard applicants?  Essentially they didn't budget for inflation / growth and hamstrung themselves.

Yes?

[Brisketexan 105478]

48 minutes ago, PvilleStang said:

So they didn't have the cap in the budget to raise wages high enough to attract life guard applicants?  Essentially they didn't budget for inflation / growth and hamstrung themselves.

 

4 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

Yes?

I mean....yeah.  Like pretty much every other employer who was grappling with rapidly increasing wages and an inability to hire at the time.  Austin was like pretty much every other entity trying to hire $15 an hour people at that time -- it was screwed.

[chainsaw 9891]

https://www.kxan.com/news/crime/georgetown-pd-woman-abducted-sexually-assaulted-overnight-investigation-underway/

Quote

 The Georgetown Police Department said it was investigating an incident where a woman was abducted and sexually assaulted overnight Tuesday into Wednesday.

According to police, the incident occurred between 12:30 a.m. and 1:30 a.m., and the initial abduction occurred in the 100 block of West Valley near North Main Street. Police said the victim was then taken to an unidentified location and sexually assaulted.

Police said the victim was a 36-year-old woman and Georgetown resident.

“[The victim] stated she was walking to a convenience store when the vehicle stopped, the male driver exited the vehicle, threatened her with a large knife, used zip-ties to bind her wrists, and then forced her into the vehicle,” police said in a release. “She further provided the assailant drove her to a secluded area, sexually assaulted her, and then drove her back to the location he abducted her and left her.”

Police described the suspect as a white man with long red hair, a long red beard and a slender build, and the vehicle was described as a metallic silver hatchback, smaller than an SUV.

Georgetown police encouraged anyone with possible information that could assist in this investigation to contact the department at CID@georgetown.org.

[YGIFS 19453]

A long, red beard?  So a Wildling from beyond the Wall?  Between Texas and Mexico?  

[Armybrat 40942]

Sounds like a juggalo.