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Amid the possibilities that Austin voters could reinstate the city's camping ban and the implementation of a statewide ban, Austin Mayor Steve Adler said the current plan is failing.
Austin City Council repealed the camping ban in 2019, after advocates said it criminalized homelessness. Adler told the Austin American-Statesman on Thursday that the approach "is not working," but added that going back to the previous ban also didn't address the city's homelessness issues.
<p>Save Austin Now, a local campaign led by Travis County GOP Chairman Matt Mackowiak, submitted more than 24,000 signatures to the city clerk's office on Tuesday in support of a petition to reinstate the camping ban. If validated, it will be included on the May 1 ballot, where Austin voted will determine the ban's fate.</p>
<p>The group previously attempted to get the same petition included on the Nov. 3 ballot, but the city clerk ruled their submissions were invalid due to duplicate signatures and other problems. </p>
<p>Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has been a vocal critic of the City Council's decision to overturn the camping ban, said he will soon announce a statewide plan to address homeslessness, including a ban on public camping, during a press conference on Thursday. </p>
<p>Abbott called Austin "the front door for the state of Texas" and said such a ban is important for the city's appeal to visitors. </p>
<p>Austin City Council overturned the city's ban on public sitting, panhandling, lying and camping in August 2019. Although a majority of council members and many advocates supported the decision, it prompted intense pushback. Local business owners, the Austin Police Association and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott criticized the decision,which they said risked public health and safety.</p>
<p>Council members revisited the issue in late 2019 and voted to limit where camping is allowed, banning it from sidewalks, near houses and homeless shelters, and outside of businesses during operating hours.</p>
<p>But the policy has maintained its lightning rod status.</p>
<p>Windsor Park resident and former Libertarian candidate for the Texas House Kevin Ludlow posted a video showing the homeless encampment behind his home <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-homeless-problem-camp" target="_self">last August</a>, where it was viewed tens of thousands of times. Although the city sent a crew to clean it up, Ludlow said it as only <a href="https://austonia.com/windsor-park-homeless-camp-returns" target="_self">a short-term fix</a>.</p><p>More recently, former Council Member Jimmy Flannigan, who supported overturning the camping ban, lost in a runoff to now-Council Member Mackenzie Kelly, who <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-city-council-runoff-results" target="_self">opposed the decision</a>. </p>
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(Office of the Governor)
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's public safety priorities for the current legislative session include making it "fiscally impossible" for municipalities to defund their police departments and a statewide plan to address homelessness that will include a ban on public camping. Both are clear rebukes to recent policy changes enacted by local elected officials.
"We cannot and will not allow Austin to defund the police," Abbott said during a press conference on Thursday. "Texas must set the example for the United States of America, not only to support law enforcement but to fully fund law enforcement agencies."
<p>Austin City Council voted last August to cut the Austin Police Department budget by around 5% in the wake of mass protests against police brutality and racial injustice. Council members also approved putting around 30% of the budget into transition funds while they decide which traditional police duties could be moved out of the department's control. </p><p>Abbott did not elaborate on what such legislation might look like during a press conference on Thursday. But a few bills have already been proposed that might provide insight. </p><p>State Rep. Matt Krause, R-Fort Worth, filed a bill that would prohibit municipalities from passing annual budgets that reduce funding for public safety agencies. And State. Rep. Steve Allison, R-San Antonio, filed a bill that would require a referendum in cases where municipalities passed budgets with more than a 5% cut to public safety spending. </p><p>The Texas Legislative Council, a nonpartisan agency that helps lawmakers draft legislative, has also drawn up a proposal that, if filed and approved by state lawmakers, would <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-police-state-control" target="_self">put APD under state control</a>—while remaining fully funded by the city of Austin. Abbott signaled his support for the draft <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-police-state-control" target="_self">on Twitter</a>, writing that it had arrived "just in time for Christmas." </p><p>The main impact of the APD budget cuts was the cancellation of three planned cadet classes. APD's training academy has come under fire in recent years following allegations of racism, hazing and a paramilitary culture. Multiple reports commissioned by the City Council have recommended that it be put on hold until these issues can be resolved. </p><p>The most recent one—a <a href="https://sites.google.com/view/res66report" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">community review of APD's training videos</a> that was published on Monday—found "dangerous racial and class sterotypes;" limited representation of women, trans and non-binary people; a warrior mentality that pitts police officers against the community members they serve; and "constant refinforcement … that every encounter is potentially life-threatening," which could encourage excessive use of force. </p><p>Abbott said he "fully support(s) training reform" but is staunchly opposed to cuts.</p><p>Austin City Council Member Greg Casar, who spearheaded the recent push to cut APD's budget, said the governor was standing in the way of accountability.</p><p>"In the wake of unjustifiable shootings and violence by police, our community has pushed the city to make much needed change," he said in a statement. "Now, Gov. Abbott is supporting proposals to protect departments that do the wrong." </p><p>In addition to police funding, Abbott also announced a forthcoming statewide plan to address homelessness, which he said would include a ban on public camping. </p><p>Austin City Council voted in 2019 to overturn a camping ban, which prompted intense pushback from concerned residents, business owners and state officials, including the governor. Two council members faced conservative challengers in runoff elections last month who ran on reinstating the camping ban. Incumbent Jimmy Flannigan lost his race to Republican Mackenzie Kelly; Alison Alter narrowly defeated her opponent Jennifer Virden. </p><p>Earlier this week, Save Austin Now, a local campaign led by Travis County GOP Chairman Matt Mackowiak, submitted thousands of signatures in support of a petition that, if validated, will allow Austin voters to decide whether to reinstate the campaign ban. It is the group's second attempt to do so after an earlier batch of signatures was ruled invalid before the November election. </p><p>Abbott called Austin "the front door for the state of Texas" and said such a ban is important for the city's appeal to visitors. "When they come into this community, they need to know that they're going to be safe."</p>
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Greg Casar in 2019. (Greg Casar/Facebook)
Greg Casar lobbied City Hall for the first time 10 years ago. Recently out of college and working as the policy director for the Workers Defense Project, a progressive advocacy group, he joined construction workers in a six-hour thirst strike on a hot day in late June. The next month, Austin City Council passed an ordinance requiring rest breaks at construction sites.
Despite this success and other workers' rights gains, Casar said he was disillusioned with the council's response. Former Mayor Lee Leffingwell wouldn't respond to meeting requests. Former council members told him, if he really cared about social justice and workers' rights, he should focus on the Texas Legislature rather than City Hall. "That attitude needed to change," he told Austonia during a recent interview.
<p>After a grassroots campaign fueled by volunteers and pizza, Casar was elected to his first city council term in 2014, serving on <a href="https://austonia.com/austin-strong-mayor" target="_self">the inaugural 10-1 council</a> and as the first-ever direct representative for Northeast Austin's District 4. Since then, he has gone from lobbying council as an outsider to advocating for Austin's working-class residents on the dais, where many consider him the most progressive member of the state's most liberal city council.</p><p>"It's not just about any one elected official," he said. "It's about really trying to shift the culture."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="1366" data-rm-shortcode-id="bafa8a9207e7c494d1c4954ab84db3eb" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUwNjI1Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1Nzg2MjE1OX0.I4bOWam1jSfNAOOozAtGorYx-eKsgkzhgcajcHg0oog/img.jpg?width=980" data-width="2048" id="6440c" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Greg Casar campaigns for the District 4 seat on City Council in 2014. (Greg Casar/Facebook)</small></p><p><strong>Leading the charge</strong><br/></p><p>Casar, 31, was born in Houston to parents who had emigrated from Mexico. He was active in the immigration reform movement in 2006, carrying on that work while a student at the University of Virginia, where he <a href="https://www.c-ville.com/Living_Wagers_hopeful_new_administration_means_fair_wages/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">lobbied the administration</a> to implement a fair wage for all of its employees. He moved to Austin in 2010 to work for WDP. </p><p>Since joining Austin City Council as its youngest elected member, Casar has been the architect of many of its most progressive policies, which have often led to conflict with state officials and, sometimes, his own council colleagues. </p><p>Casar sponsored legislation to mandate paid sick leave, which passed in Austin but was thwarted by the state, and to overturn the city's public camping ban, which led to intense pushback from local business owners, residents, Gov. Greg Abbott and many of the candidates who ran for council last fall. He remains sanguine in the face of these outcomes. </p><p>"It's been really important to see Austin community members demand at Austin City Hall that we serve as an example of what progressive and good governance can look like," he said. "We're constantly hindered by the state … but that makes it all the more important to do the work two or three times harder. They can't preempt everything we do."</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img class="rm-shortcode" data-height="1056" data-rm-shortcode-id="f6eb247a7f06513c8dea7b230218f92f" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yNTUxMTU1NC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1NDI4NDc0OX0.jFUz57xwDyljE6X-Zlxw1VDyt3yRenVCWQLvtCs7aBI/img.png?width=980" data-width="1592" id="cc727" type="lazy-image"/>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">(Greg Casar Campaign)</small></p><p>Casar knows how to build consensus. Amid a contentious, years-long effort to rewrite the city's land use code, he introduced the Affordability Unlocked program, which removes barriers to affordable housing throughout the city and received unanimous approval in 2019. He also crafted a plan to cut the Austin Police Department budget and set aside additional funds for further consideration in the wake of mass protests against police violence and racial injustice; council voted unanimously in favor of it last August.<br/></p><p>This was the cornerstone of Casar's argument for why he should serve as mayor pro tem, a largely ceremonial role that could be useful in a future race for mayor—or some other higher office. He announced his interest and the support of four of his colleagues last month. "Based on another contentious election cycle, it is clear that we must continue to advance our shared values—but the only way forward is to bring the whole community forward with us in new and different ways," he wrote on <a href="https://austincouncilforum.org/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1383" target="_blank">the City Council message board</a>. </p><p>The next week, however, Alison Alter announced she was also gunning for the role, arguing that it should be held by a woman given the council's current makeup: eight women and three men. In response, Casar said he would support a woman from the Eastern Crescent. Natasha Harper-Madison, who represents East Austin's District 1, threw her hat in the ring, and Casar seems poised to endorse her. </p><p><strong>Core values</strong> </p><p>From his perch on the left of the council's ideological spectrum, Casar may not seem like a natural consensus builder. But he emphasizes that most Austinites can agree on core values, even as they may disagree on specific legislation.</p><p>Take police reform and homelessness. </p><p>While campaigning last fall, Casar said most of his constituents could agree that the city needs to protect civil rights, reform policing to be less militaristic and keep Austinites safe. So he is focused on policies that meet these three requirements. "If someone's goal is faster 9-1-1 response, our shared strategy should be that our mental health responder program is launched quickly and effectively," he said, which would help supplement police resources and avoid the increasingly common occurrence of officers shooting people with severe mental illness.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<a href="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM3NzE2Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNDg4NzU2Mn0.l8H7_tj9aFGqAH67zQ8YoB-83WvIDuxMm9oCOh9lHVM/img.jpg?width=980" target="_blank"><img alt="huston tillotson protest" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e1d7dee95f9c1474f6c67147aa41dfe4" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="9cce0" type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8yMzM3NzE2Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNDg4NzU2Mn0.l8H7_tj9aFGqAH67zQ8YoB-83WvIDuxMm9oCOh9lHVM/img.jpg?width=980"/></a>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Austinites participate in a Black Lives Matter protest last June. </small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">
(Emma Freer/Austonia)
</small>
</p><p>Although Casar was reelected in a landslide, earning more than two-thirds of the vote in his district, other jurisdictions are less united. Jimmy Flannigan, who also championed police budget cuts and other reforms, lost in a runoff to District 6 Council Member Mackenzie Kelly, who was endorsed by the local police union.<br/></p><p>Still, Casar opposes the notion that recent council debates over policing were divisive. "I had tens of thousands of Austinites contact my office alone," he said. "In some ways, the city was more united than ever in calling for change."</p><p>Alter and Kathie Tovo voted against overturning the homeless camping ban, a move that Kelly also opposed, and many Austinites were dissatisfied with the council's response overall. But Casar believes most people can agree that investing in more permanent supportive housing will help get people off the streets. "We can have a collective goal of getting people housed, whether the concern is more the public aesthetics of the city, which is legitimate," he said. "Or the human crisis of someone living, and potentially dying, on the street." </p><p>With the police cuts approved, there are also dollars to be spent toward this purpose. "2021 has to be the year where we finally make really significant inroads on addressing homelessness," Casar said.</p><p><strong>On deck</strong> </p><p>So what's on Casar's agenda for his third term? </p><p>In addition to police reform and protecting civil rights, he is focused on the pandemic. Last year, the council approved more than <a href="https://app.powerbigov.us/view?r=eyJrIjoiYTkwOGZmYzItODEyNC00ZDA5LWE4YTMtZDFmN2NiNWQxYjU4IiwidCI6IjVjNWUxOWY2LWE2YWItNGI0NS1iMWQwLWJlNDYwOGE5YTY3ZiJ9" target="_blank">$128 million in economic relief</a> to residents, businesses and nonprofits. This included direct cash and rental assistance, including to residents who did not qualify for federal relief due to their immigration status, as well as eviction protections.</p><p>Now the challenges are different. As the one-year anniversary of Austin's first reported COVID-19 case nears, Casar is focused on ensuring there is back rent assistance for residents who may face eviction once the current protections expire and connecting those who are unemployed to jobs, including positions created by taxpayer-funded bond projects and Project Connect. </p><p>He is also working to lobby the state to allocate more vaccine supply to Austin Public Health, rather than to private clinics and pharmacies, a shift the Texas Department of State Health Services has since indicated it supports. "We need to have an equitable and mass vaccine distribution strategy," he said.</p><p>As business leaders and city insiders speculate about Casar's political future, he remains focused on his role as a council member.</p><p>"As the pandemic surged in the city, it became really clear to me that local government was going to be more important than ever," said Casar, who contemplated running for the Texas Senate seat vacated by Kirk Watson. "I didn't know back then that we would soon be in the largest protest movement in American history, with the Black Lives Matter marches over the summer, but I have never felt that this job was more worthwhile than it was in 2020, so I feel I made absolutely the right choice to stay." </p>
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Austin police in contact with FBI to investigate possible officer involvement in Capitol riots
21 January
(Shutterstock)
The Austin Police Department is collaborating with an FBI agent and the Major Cities Chiefs Association to determine if any of its officers were present during the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
<p>The association, which represents police chiefs in the nation's largest cities, wrote a letter to members of Congress and recommended that city agencies evaluate tips and leads to find any officers who participated in the riots at the Capitol. </p><p>The letter also suggested using facial recognition technology to identify insurrectionists, citing the technology as key to "preventing and disrupting terrorist attacks and addressing violent crime." </p><p>The MCCA said that several current and former local law enforcement members were involved in the riots and condemned those who participated, encouraging local agencies to terminate those officers involved. </p><p>Austin Police Chief Brian Manley said he has spoken with the FBI agent associated with the investigation and is willing to provide information, including photos of officers for facial recognition technology, if needed. No APD officers have been suspected of involvement as of yet. On Tuesday, it was reported a <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2021/01/19/tam-pham-houston-police-capitol-riot/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Houston police officer</a> was involved in the riots and has since been charged.</p><p>Local officials have expressed concern regarding police officers' participation in the riots as well. Emails between Manley and Austin City Council Member Alison Alter were made public on Jan. 14, showing a disagreement between the two on investigating APD staff. In the emails, Alter said that more needed to be done to determine police officers' whereabouts on Jan. 6 and that Manley should use the riots to discourage certain behavior. </p><p>Manley was unsupportive of the suggestion and replied that the exercise would take resources away from real tips in the investigation.</p><p>"The amount of resources it would take to conduct an investigation into the hundreds, if not over a thousand officers who were not on duty that day would be overwhelming," Manley said. "(It) would pull investigators and others away from investigating actual complaints of misconduct we have received through our normal course of business."</p><p>While Manley did not want to conduct the investigation within the department, he was still willing to participate and assist in the FBI investigation. In a department-wide statement on Jan. 15, Manley further responded by condemning rioters and compared the insurrection to the 9/11 terrorist attack.</p><p>"For me, the visual of those rioters illegally entering the Capitol, committing acts of violence and vandalism against one of the greatest symbols of democracy, attacking law enforcement officials, and threatening the safety and security of our elected officials rivals the images of the terrorist acts committed on 9/11 that took so many lives and will forever stand as a stain on our society," Manley said.</p><p>The MCCA also compared the riots to terrorism and implored Congress to update the domestic terrorism statute so that acts of domestic terrorism can be more easily prosecuted. </p><p>When addressing the future, the association said that "every MCCA member is concerned about the potential for violence in the upcoming days and beyond."</p><p>To mitigate these concerns, the letter recommended that agencies should conduct training against implicit bias and the use of force; and emphasize deescalation; and racial, religious and cultural sensitivity.</p>
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