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Austinites sound off on social media after mayor asks others to 'stay home' while in Cabo

In a Facebook video posted on Nov. 9, Austin Mayor Steve Adler asked residents to "stay home" as the local caseload increased.
Austinites were vocal after news broke that their mayor, Steve Adler, failed to follow his own pandemic advice.
Adler hosted an outdoor wedding and reception with 20 guests for his daughter downtown in early November, Austin American-Statesman reporter Tony Plohetski reported on Wednesday. The next morning, Adler and seven other attendees traveled by private jet to Cabo San Lucas, where they vacationed at a family timeshare, according to the newspaper.
Publicly, the mayor was asking Austinites to stay home as the COVID-19 caseloads in Austin and around the state climbed upward. "You need to stay home if you can," he said during a pre-recorded video message posted to his Facebook page on Nov. 9. "This is not the time to relax."
The next week, local health officials recommended a return to Stage 4, according to Austin Public Health's risk-based guidelines.
Adler has since expressed regret in a statement. But it did little to stop the flood of comments online.
Criticism came in from his opponents.
@MayorAdler I'd like to report a gathering of more than 10, which breaks the COVID rules outlined in the attached c… https://t.co/oD956eg6w5— Brad Swail (@Brad Swail) 1606941690.0
NOT A JOKE: Austin Mayor Tells Residents to ‘Stay Home’ While Vacationing in Mexico After Wedding https://t.co/0hA1TfFHXv— Sean Hannity (@Sean Hannity) 1606945600.0
Many of his supporters were also unhappy.
I say this as someone who is very happy with a few of the stances he has taken: Mayor Adler should resign. He of c… https://t.co/sX8pU9uZAJ— Austin Transit Blog (@Austin Transit Blog) 1606946021.0
Unfortunately, it appears this applies to Mayor Adler as well. By violating his own COVID advice, he's likely hurt… https://t.co/ptZf5PcaoX— Pay People To Stay Home #PPTSH (@Pay People To Stay Home #PPTSH) 1606942890.0
Yeah I’ve given @MayorAdler the benefit of the doubt and fought off the “Recall Adler” crowd, but straight up, this… https://t.co/F6F2pKPWke— C (@C) 1606938784.0
Some expressed frustration about the sacrifices many have made—including forgoing vacations and family events—because of the pandemic.
More than 200 people had commented on a news story about the incident on Reddit's Everything Austin channel.(Reddit)
Some called for Adler to resign.
Adler needs to resign.— Maybe: Dago (@Maybe: Dago) 1606940403.0
The incident has drawn comparisons to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who attended a birthday party at the Michelin starred French Laundry restaurant in the Napa Valley last month; the incident was covered by national outlets.
Other local officials have come under fire for similar reasons.
Williamson County Judge Bill Gravel pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor last month for violating his own stay-at-home order earlier this year. And the Travis County GOP hosted a fundraiser in August that was attended by U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and U.S. Reps Dan Crenshaw and Chip Roy, among others, and prompted an investigation by local officials.
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Popular
(Paxton Smith/Instagram)
Paxton Smith’s 2021 valedictory speech at Lake Highlands High School in Dallas wasn’t the same speech she had previously shared with school administrators. She dropped the approved speech and made a case for women’s reproductive rights after lawmakers passed the Texas "Heartbeat Bill.”
Her advocacy made news on NPR, YouTubeTV and in The Guardian. Just over a year later, the “war on (women’s) rights” she forewarned has come to a head as the U.S. Supreme Court voted Friday morning to overturn Roe v. Wade, ending constitutional protection for abortion access.
“It is up to the people to show up and show the courts and the politicians that we won’t sit back and let this happen,” Smith told Austonia Friday morning. “We will show up, we will fight back. Before, we were scared of them, now they should be scared of us.”
Now a University of Texas sophomore and abortion rights activist, 19-year-old Smith said she wanted to give the same speech in the “the most public way possible” to reach “as many people as possible who don't agree that I deserve this right.”
However, she says the response was “actually overwhelmingly positive” and supportive of her cause. According to a recent UT poll, 78% of Texas voters support abortion access in most cases.
The speech opened up further opportunities for activism: she advocated for reproductive rights at the International Forum on Human Rights in Geneva, interviewed with Variety magazine and spoke to tens of thousands at Austin’s Bans Off Our Bodies protest at the Texas Capitol in May.
Smith also serves on the board of directors for the Women’s Reproductive Rights Assistance Project, a national nonprofit organization that helps fund abortions or medication abortion—like Plan C pills—in all 50 states. Most recently, Smith has been attending protests in Washington, D.C. leading up to the ruling.
“This is land of the free. This is where you get to choose how you live your life,” Smith said. “Overturning Roe v. Wade violates everything that we have come to believe about what it means to live in this country. I think a lot of people aren't willing to accept that this is a human right that is most likely just going to be gone for over half of the country within the next couple of weeks.”
Bracing for the next steps, Smith gave some tips for supporters:
- Find a protest to attend.
- “I would say invite somebody to go to those protests with you, invite a couple of friends, invite people into the movement,” Smith said.
- Talk about the issue on social media—use the platform you have.
- “Have these kinds of conversations where people can just talk about their fears and then find ways to go and advocate for yourself,” Smith said.
- Volunteer at a nonprofit near you.
“I feel like a lot of the reason things have gotten as bad as they have within the abortion rights world is that people are not making a scene, not protesting, not putting the effort into ensuring that the government doesn't take away this right,” Smith said. “I want to emphasize that if you're not doing anything, don't expect the best scenario, expect the worst because that's the direction that we're going in.”
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(Council Member Chito Vela/Twitter)
The U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark ruling that guaranteed a constitutional right to an abortion, Friday morning. Moments later, Austin City Council set a special meeting for next month to pass a resolution aimed at decriminalizing abortion.
The GRACE Act, which stands for guarding the right to abortion care for everyone, is a twofold plan submitted by council member Jose “Chito” Vela. It recommends that city funds shouldn’t be used to surveil, catalog, report or investigate abortions. It also recommends that police make investigating abortion their lowest priority.
Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, who co-sponsored the resolution along with council members Paige Ellis, Kathie Tovo and Mayor Steve Adler, said the importance of the GRACE Act cannot be overstated.
“By introducing this resolution during a special session, City Council is doubling down on fighting back for reproductive health,” Fuentes said. “Items like the GRACE Act will promote essential healthcare while enabling individuals to exercise their bodily freedom.”
The act takes an approach similar to when former council member Greg Casar moved to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana. Ultimately, state law doesn't allow city officials to order police chiefs to adopt specific enforcement policies so the resolution would be a request to Police Chief Joe Chacon. In May, Politico reported that Vela is having "ongoing conversations" with Chacon about the proposal.
Austonia contacted Attorney General Ken Paxton for comment on the GRACE Act but did not hear back by time of publication. On Friday, Paxton celebrated the overturning of Roe and announced an annual office holiday on June 24 in recognition of the high court's decision.
In a press release, Vela said the Texas state government has a history of overturning municipal protections of human rights. Thirty days after the Supreme Court’s ruling, Texas will ban all abortions, with exceptions only to save the life of a pregnant patient or prevent “substantial impairment of major bodily function.”
Still, Vela expressed hope for the GRACE Act’s longevity. Council’s special meeting on it is set for the week of July 18.
“We know this resolution is legally sound, and Austin is not alone in this fight,” Vela said. “We are working with several other cities who are equally horrified by the prospect of an abortion ban and want to do everything they can to protect their residents.”
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