Austin City Council is expected to answer several lingering questions Thursday: Will the city take the next step in a proposed Austin Convention Center expansion effort? Will a South Austin neighborhood annexation be called off? And are budget changes coming to the city's code department?
As of Monday, there are 68 items on the agenda, including 52 items up for unanimous consent. Council will hold a virtual work session at 9 a.m. Tuesday before its scheduled meeting at 10 a.m. Thursday, both of which can be followed live online.
The legacy of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg will also be recognized as part of a resolution expected to be approved unanimously by council members. City Council members discussed plans to honor Ginsberg on the city message board. A copy of the resolution can be found here.
Ginsberg, an associate justice since 1993 until her death Sept. 18, became an inspirational figure and an icon for her gender equity efforts. Her death sparked an ongoing Supreme Court confirmation battle at the U.S. Senate, with hearings starting this week to confirm candidate Amy Coney Barrett.
Here is a rundown of other notable items on Thursday's agenda. Let us know below what issues you plan to follow.
#3: Convention Center expansion update
This agenda item would allocate $6.3 million for city officials to negotiate land sales with property owners at downtown blocks #16 and #32 adjacent to Austin Convention Center. The proposed expansion project would add event space west of the existing facility where Fogo de Chão, MAX's Wine Dive, Vince Young Steakhouse and several other businesses are located.
#13-#18: Shady Hollow MUD fire protection/canceled annexation
Several agenda items attempt to authorize the latest agreement between the city and Shady Hollow Municipal Utility District (MUD) in South Austin. The MUD would no longer be annexed by Austin, under the proposal, in exchange for ownership of the existing fire station and water/wastewater system as well as compensation for fire services.
For more details about the proposal, the city recently released a memo outlining the actions being considered Thursday.
#19-#20: $7M in proposed land conservation purchases in Hays County
Two agenda items authorize the city to negotiate and execute $7.01 million in combined land sales on 560 acres of land across two Hays County properties to create conservation easements. The Nature Conservancy of Texas would manage the real estate transaction based on its conservation expertise, based on council agenda items up for approval Thursday.
Both properties are located in the Barton Springs Recharge Zone. The city would purchase the land using money from the voter-approved 2018 open space bond.
"The acquisition will prevent non-point source pollution from potential development entering the acquirer and impacting downstream aquatic resources," city documents read. See maps of the proposed conservation easements here and here.
#22-#23: Vision plans for Walter E. Long Park and John Treviño Jr. Metropolitan Park
Proposed vision plans for two major Austin green spaces will be introduced to council members Thursday.
When it was developed in the 1960s, early plans for Walter E. Long Metropolitan Park in East Austin called for a golf course. But a revised vision plan based on recent residential feedback is expected to be presented to council members Thursday.
Additionally, council members will consider a vision plan for John Treviño Jr. Metropolitan Park, an undeveloped 330-acre park just south of Walter E. Long Park in East Austin. The park is a former ranch purchased by the city in 2003.
#50: Propose budgetary changes to code department by Nov. 20
Several council members co-sponsored a resolution asking city staff to consider budget and fee changes to the Austin Code Department in an attempt to "reimagine public safety."
The draft resolution calls on a proposal to return to council by Nov. 20 with budget plans that can be enacted by March 2021 based on public safety recommendations set out in recent city audits.
Those changes essentially attempt to decrease service calls taken by Austin Police Department and move those duties to code enforcers.
#66: 508 Kemp Street rezoning
The final readings are expected on a Montopolis neighborhood zoning case that requests a change at 508 Kemp St. from family residence zoning to townhouse/condominium residence zoning.
This case is interesting because city staff recommended not to approve the rezoning request, but the Planning Commission did so in June. The neighborhood responded with a valid petition opposing the rezoning requests, with nearly a third of adjacent property owners' support.
Furthermore, the Montopolis Neighborhood Planning Contact Team voted to oppose the rezoning request. This contact team's recommendation typically carries weight with City Council members when considering rezoning cases within designated neighborhood planning areas.
The first reading passed council 7-2, with Council Members Alison Alter and Kathie Tovo voting against, and Council Members Leslie Pool and Ann Kitchen abstained. The council agreed unanimously to a neighborhood request to postpone the case at its Oct. 1 meeting.
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Homeless residents gather an at a camp under an overpass in South Austin. (Jordan Vonderhaar)
Editor's note: These submissions are the unedited views of their authors. Claims made have not been fact-checked to give the proponent and opponent a chance to speak their minds freely.
Pro: Voting yes on Prop B sends a message to council that voters' voices and real solutions are paramount
In June 2019, the Austin City Council rescinded regulations on camping in public spaces. They did so without any serious public discussion and in fact appeared to actively avoid serious scrutiny. The resulting chaos is clear for all to see. Parks and playgrounds impacted by illicit behavior, lewd activities in public, trash strewn in waterways and public spaces, and most critically, assaults on the public and on other homeless individuals.
It is obvious that the homeless are not helped by this misadventure. Vulnerable women and youth in these camps are abused, mentally ill individuals are not served and there is no incentive for substance abusers to seek help.
Proponents of this mess have put forward no credible plan for any short term housing that restores safety—instead they talk about abstract housing concepts that even they acknowledge will take years to develop. This is the mark of narrowly focused activism, not what citizens should expect from elected leaders who promise to serve their communities. At every turn, the proponents of this chaos have demonstrated that they are not capable of fully considering the needs of diverse communities and proposing workable solutions. Instead they simply double down on trying to tell Austin that anything other than their chaos is heartless and inhumane. This is intellectually lazy, and Austin should demand better.
The chaos created by the City Council has resulted in a public outcry culminating in the citizens demanding to be heard by direct ballot. This demand is across the political and economic spectrum. As a co-founder of the Save Austin Now PAC and a lifelong Democrat, I have seen the diversity of people raising their voices in concern for our city.
It's time we turn this situation around and vote yes on Prop B. It sends a clear message to the council that the citizens of Austin must be heard as we work toward real solutions. There are successful models to learn from and some in our own state. But it all starts with voting yes on Prop B starting April 19.
Con: Prop B blames homeless individuals rather than providing solutions to societal problems
Austin's homeless population needs help, but Prop B doesn't do anything to solve our city's problems. It simply tells people who are experiencing homelessness that they cannot exist, visibly, in public space. I, too, am worried about the encampments. They are evidence that our strategies to help people return to housing aren't sufficient. But telling people "You can't stay here" without giving them alternatives isn't a solution.
The reason so many people are experiencing homelessness is that it takes a long time to get into housing, even when you do everything right. Shelters are at capacity, we lack deeply affordable housing, landlords can refuse housing vouchers, and housing programs are full.
As a case study, I want to tell you about "Bill," whom I met two years ago. Bill was a veteran, father, former truck driver and person of faith. He was also homeless and unsheltered. Bill had recently suffered a series of strokes and was desperate for both disability income and housing.
Bill and I worked together every single week for 17 months. He eventually was awarded disability and moved into his own apartment.
Bill's situation is typical of hundreds of people who are stymied by our complicated processes and lack of housing. Prop B would not add resources for people like Bill. Read the ballot language. Because Prop B bans "camping," people would have to move around constantly to avoid being cited. All that moving around takes time and energy. People like Bill would have a harder time keeping their appointments with case managers. Unpaid fines from citations build a criminal record—and landlords can choose not to rent to someone with a record. So punishing people for not having housing makes it even harder to get housing. Prop B hurts, not helps.
In this election, Austinites have a choice to criminalize people like Bill or to work toward solutions. Prop B places the blame on individuals rather than recognizing homelessness as a failure of society.
Prop B is an inhumane and wrong response. Oppose Prop B, and let's focus on solutions. Learn more here.- Austin Mayor Steve Adler says camping ban 'is not working' - austonia ›
- Calls, counts and camps: Homelessness in Austin by the numbers ... ›
- Austonia's guide to the May 1 local election - austonia ›
