Jump to content
A Merry Christmas from Surly Horns to You. ×

Austin Homeless Free for All Ordinance

rage-a-holic

By rage-a-holic
in Cloak Room

 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 5.1k
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Top Posters In This Topic

Popular Days

Popular Posts

TKthunder2
TKthunder2

Do what San Antonio did.  Spend a couple million on a facility in Far East Austin that is equipped to receive the homeless and parter with local charities, church, community colleges and hospitals to

crash_davis
crash_davis

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/austins-homeless-residents-fear-whats-next-once-camping-ban-takes-effect/ Abigail Wilson is among those who just found out about the Prop B ban. She said sh

Red Five
Red Five

I realize hindsight is 20/20, but perhaps building a gigantic homeless shelter in the middle of downtown Austin wasn't the greatest idea ever. 

Posted Images

Texas_Rocks

Texas_Rocks 347

Posted
Posted

Has there been a definitive reason for this petition? I haven’t been paying attention and heard a rumor that it really wasn’t about the homeless situation. Something about a future soccer stadium or some such. Again, have not paid a lot of attention to this development in general.

Personal Stance: I don’t care why as long as there’s chance that reckless and greedy Adler & Co are tossed out.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Wally Pryor

Wally Pryor 5413

Posted
Posted (edited)
12 hours ago, freyguy said:

They can say what they want.  I'm voting out every incumbent I can...

I endorse this. But there won't be any change.   

The cute and benign weirdness thing is in the rearview mirror.  Today, it's all about lunacy.  And it's lunacy that embraced by those downtown.  As we're seeing, nothing innocuous about it.   

But at the end of the day, it's Austin.   Just get used to it.   

Edited by Wally Pryor
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Anastasis

Anastasis 23718

Posted
Posted

We made the homepage of the WSJ. Just the kind of publicity Austin needs.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/homeless-becomes-more-visible-in-austin-sparking-political-clash-11571914802?mod=hp_lead_pos5

Behind the tag

 

im-119926?width=1260&size=1.5

 

Homeless Become More Visible in Austin, Sparking Political Clash

City leaders wrestle with issue amid criticism from residents, state officials after easing public camping policies

 
 
im-119926?width=620&size=1.5
A homeless encampment under Highway 183 in Austin. Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened to clear improvised shelters near state-owned infrastructure. PHOTO: ILANA PANICH-LINSMAN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
By 
Elizabeth Findell
Oct. 24, 2019 7:00 am ET
 

AUSTIN, Texas—In 10 years of off-and-on homelessness, Rebecca Wallace has lived in the shadows of Texas’ capital city. Once, while living behind a shopping mall, she said a beating by a group of men put her in intensive care for weeks.

Now, Ms. Wallace sleeps on an inflatable mattress under a freeway in the city’s busy tourist district, along with a growing number of other homeless people. She moved to that area after Austin in July became the first major Texas city to allow public camping, in practice allowing people to reside legally on sidewalks and rights of way for the first time.

“There’s safety in numbers,” Ms. Wallace said. “We’re just trying to stay alive out here the best we can.”

Tipping PointA political fight over homelessness isembroiling Austin, where the unshelteredhomeless population has increased by a thirdin the last five years.Unsheltered homeless per 100,000 people,select citiesSource: Department of Housing and UrbanDevelopmentNote: Figures are from 2018. Communities may havedifferent ways of conducting counts and homelessindividuals in some areas may be difficult to find andcount accurately.
4933722838168San FranciscoLos AngelesSeattleAustin, TexasSan Antonio

The rising visibility of homelessness here is sparking a backlash. Some residents, police and business leaders have complained that people living on sidewalks are leaving trash, frightening other residents walking at night and creating a health hazard.

Some conservative state politicians say Austin is heading down the path of West Coast cities like San Francisco with large, highly visible homeless populations and are threatening to take action. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott’s office has said that if the city doesn’t show improvement by Nov. 1, the Texas Department of Transportation will begin clearing encampments under the bridges of state-owned roadways.

Austin Mayor Steve Adler, a Democrat, said he didn’t expect so many people to begin camping in public and is open to adjusting the policy, but won’t return to pushing homeless people out of sight.

Mr. Adler, who has met with his counterparts in cities such as Los Angeles, Seattle, and Portland to gather advice on homelessness, said the city will distinguish itself by focusing on the issue before it worsens. “We were on the path to become Seattle or those other places until we said, ‘No, let’s deal with this,’” he said.

Spats and threats have become commonplace between conservative Texas leaders and the left-leaning leaders of its cities. Austin, which has long prided itself on its progressive politics, has been the biggest target of GOP state politicians who work there.

 
im-119928?width=620&size=1.5
Austin Mayor Steve Adler, center, has said the city would work to address homelessness before the issue worsens. PHOTO: ILANA PANICH-LINSMAN FOR THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

A point-in-time count last year found 1,014 unsheltered homeless people in Austin and surrounding Travis County, which has a population of about 1.2 million. That number has increased by more than 30% in the past five years. Los Angeles, by contrast has some 37,570 unsheltered homeless in a region of about 10 million people, and San Francisco had 4,353 in a population of 883,305.

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

What programs and policies do you think are most effective for cities to address homelessness? Join the conversation below.

Mr. Abbott has encouraged Austin residents to tweet photos or videos of homeless people behaving badly and has retweeted those posts on his personal account, including photos of people Twitter users claim accosted them.

In a recent tweet of his own, the governor compared Austin unfavorably with Dallas, which has a larger homeless population. “I spent 3 days in downtown Dallas & saw ZERO homeless laying around or camping on sidewalks. No feces & no used needles,” he wrote. “Austin’s problem isn’t the homeless; it’s lack of leadership.”

 

Mr. Abbott’s office said it is still considering how to address homelessness in Texas, including where people would be ordered to go if removed from alongside roadways.

Gary Painter, director of the Homelessness Policy Research Institute at the University of Southern California, said policies banning people from sleeping in public simply move the problem around. He attributed high homelessness on the West Coast to population outstripping housing supply, a growing problem in Austin as the number of residents has risen along with its technology-driven economy, driving up housing prices.

David Kruger, whose family jewelry store has been in Austin for 80 years, said people are sleeping in front of his store for the first time he can remember.

“Whether it has affected my business is hard to quantify, but my gut says yes,” he said. “It’s definitely affected people’s perception of downtown.”

After more than six hours of debate, Austin’s city council last week voted to disallow camping on sidewalks and near business doorways, but still permits people to camp on other public rights of way.

Earlier this year, Austin appointed a homeless strategy officer, Lori Pampilo Harris, who immediately helped roll out plans including one to target people in encampments proactively with services.

But Ms. Pampilo Harris left after only a month and said she would instead help the city as a consultant. She called the decision personal and said she remains optimistic that Austin has the right blend of political will and community engagement to tackle the issue.

“There’s a difference between not wanting to see the homeless and ending homelessness,” she said.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Cajun

Cajun 11780

Posted
Posted
On 10/22/2019 at 8:22 PM, 3adays said:

Recall Adler and 5 Council members PAC created. 

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/new-pac-created-to-recall-mayor-adler-and-5-members-of-city-council/?utm_source=abj&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=abj-partner

Any chance this gains steam? Getting 100K signatures against Adler seems like a cake walk. 

 

Little old ladies on fixed incomes.

God bless 'em!

Doin' the Lord's work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
BrazilHorn

BrazilHorn 6857

Posted
Posted

If you’re holding a whitest name contest “Cord Shiflet” has to be in top 5. 
 

while I dislike the aggressive panhandlers as much as anyone if they indeed kept a bevy of douchebag Yankees out of Austin I may drop handles of rotgut on the streets of DT in gratitude. 

  • Like 2
  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Wally Pryor

Wally Pryor 5413

Posted
Posted
23 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Just wait until people realize that the City of Austin is looking at running Barton Creek right into Barton Springs pool.   May rival the hoopla over their homeless plans.  

There would be public hangings of council members from the balcony of the overpriced library before that happens. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SquishMitten

SquishMitten 10497

Posted
Posted

And the story about those New Yorkers... I'm ok with that. Sorry you didn't get your millions in commission, bro! The "facts" of the story are obviously bullshit for a number of reasons, but the sentiment is fair. We do spend a lot of money luring companies here. If they aren't coming because of the homeless problem, then we're severely misallocating our funds (duh). 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
SquishMitten

SquishMitten 10497

Posted
Posted
On 10/22/2019 at 8:22 PM, 3adays said:

Recall Adler and 5 Council members PAC created. 

https://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/new-pac-created-to-recall-mayor-adler-and-5-members-of-city-council/?utm_source=abj&utm_medium=site&utm_campaign=abj-partner

Any chance this gains steam? Getting 100K signatures against Adler seems like a cake walk. 

 

Any idea how one locates said petition? I'd very much like to place my name on it. Sadly, even if they get enough signatures I assume each member will get reelected anyway.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
hayden_horn

hayden_horn 11403

Posted
Posted (edited)
17 hours ago, Deej said:

Who recommends Voodoo Donuts as an Austin thing to do?

i've never even heard of voodoo donuts or baked bear and i've lived here for more than 20 years.

just googled baked bear: it's a chain that originated in san fucking diego. get out of here with that shit. did you take them to in and out burgers also, you know, to sell them on austin's character. 

poser.

Edited by hayden_horn
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

Posted
Posted

That monologue by Cord was about as convincing as the one where he swore to his wife he isn’t gay.  Nothing wrong with being Gay, but lying about real estate interactions is kinda shitty dude.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
MissingInAction

MissingInAction 25602

Posted
Posted

There were about 6 of the fuckers just milling around in the west bound turn around at cameron and 290. In the middle of the god damn street! I had to slam on my breaks or I would have run right through them.  I honked, they stared at me then slowly shuffled out of the way. Called 911 to report their asses as soon as I got to a place I could stop. The dispatcher asks, "Are they blocking the street right now?" Told her I didnt know because I GTFO as soon as I had space. "We will send a unit to check it out."

 Hope that camp is gone or on fire when I go home today. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
ChickenSandwich

ChickenSandwich 9986

Posted
Posted (edited)
47 minutes ago, SwanderedTalent said:

I never really liked homelessness, but now that I have been credibly told via Facebook that it's keeping multimillionaires, not just run of the mill singular millionaires, from moving here, I am mad!!!!!

Adler and His $3 million dollar W condo weep for their property values.  Just going to have to raise the rates so we can keep up with affordable housing.

As he said in his recent interview "homeless crisis created, now we need to focus on housing, my wheelhouse"

Edited by ChickenSandwich
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Gardner Barnes

Gardner Barnes 1579

Posted
Posted
That monologue by Cord was about as convincing as the one where he swore to his wife he isn’t gay.  Nothing wrong with being Gay, but lying about real estate interactions is kinda shitty dude.  



Ha. Was thinking the EXACT same thing. Wondering if we have heard the same story.

People is this community love that clown
And he is pandering to his market.

I think he is one of the biggest blow hards (pun intended) I’ve ever met.
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Guest Lobo

Guest Lobo

Posted
Posted
33 minutes ago, Gardner Barnes said:

 

 


Ha. Was thinking the EXACT same thing. Wondering if we have heard the same story.

People is this community love that clown
And he is pandering to his market.

I think he is one of the biggest blow hards (pun intended) I’ve ever met.

 

 

Was the story you heard about him the one that goes something like “his choice in pantswear is the least gay thing about him.”??

he’s a nice enough guy the few times I’ve met him.  Does a lot of philanthropy with my wife’s organization.  But that article is bullshit.  The homeless situation won’t be solved by our incompetent and corrupt city council and it won’t be solved by whining multi millionaire realtors botching about dirty people gumming up their deals.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Texas_Rocks

Texas_Rocks 347

Posted
Posted
There would be public hangings of council members from the balcony of the overpriced library before that happens. 


Nah...there’s a lot of money to be made off of ruining Barton Springs too. That’s going to take a lot of equipment and contractor manpower. Adler and Co have already established that they’ll do anything for wealth. There will be plenty of taxpayer dollars for skimming and kickbacks.

Keep in mind that Ohioan Adler is going to get the hell out of Austin proper as soon as he’s out of office. He doesn’t give a flying fuck for Austin outside of the money made from his family’s crookery.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
blacklab

blacklab 12077

Posted
Posted

Baked Bear super-premium, craft ice cream is churned with r-BGH-free cream, pure cane sugar, and all natural stabilizers. With a smooth texture, our unique and creamy flavors can be enjoyed on their own, or paired perfectly between your favorite cookies.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
66BUFF

66BUFF 2608

Posted
Posted
On 10/24/2019 at 7:10 PM, BrazilHorn said:

If you’re holding a whitest name contest “Cord Shiflet” has to be in top 5. 
 

while I dislike the aggressive panhandlers as much as anyone if they indeed kept a bevy of douchebag Yankees out of Austin I may drop handles of rotgut on the streets of DT in gratitude. 

Chalky McDutch

Link to comment
Share on other sites
 Share
Go to topic listing


Football ... Basketball ... Baseball ... Other Sports ... Futbol ... 🤫995🤫 ... Gambling ... Movies & TV ... Music ... Hobbies ... Lulz ... Food & Travel ... Daily Texan ... Business and Markets ... Cloak Room ... Help ... For Sale ... Board Discussion ... Subscribe!... Donate!... Advertise... COOKIE MONSTER!

×
×
  • Create New...