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Save Austin Now is spearheading a citizen-led petition effort to increase police staffing levels, along with other changes. But 25 local organizations have formed a coalition in opposition. (Christa McWhirter)
Save Austin Now, the local advocacy group that successfully won a reinstatement of the homeless camping ban in the May election, continues to make headlines.
The new petition effort, which is focused on public safety, would mandate at least two police officers per 1,000 residents, along with other changes.
Shortly after co-founder and Travis County GOP Chair Matt Mackowiak announced that SAN had submitted more than 25,000 signed petitions in support of a ballot proposal that would mandate police staffing minimums, 25 local organizations—including labor unions, activist groups and the ACLU of Texas—announced their opposition.
Citizen-led petitions allow registered city voters to pass laws without City Council approval. If 20,000 eligible residents sign the petition and it is validated by the city clerk, council can either adopt the petition into law as written or put it up to voters during the next election, as was the case with reinstating a controversial ban on homeless camping in May.
With an estimated population of 995,484, the city of Austin would require at least 1,991 police officers to meet this proposed minimum staffing level. The Austin Police Department had 1,661 officers as of July 6, which means APD would be required to hire at least 300 new officers, plus more as the population continues to grow, amid budget constraints and a years-long staffing shortage.
Save Austin Now submits enough signatures to get 2nd ballot initiative placed - let's make Austin SAFE in November! https://t.co/zHH6Cqnbqs We will never stop fighting for Austinites and against a radical, out-of-touch City Council! pic.twitter.com/hQ7wGIiXyo
— SaveAustinNow (@SaveAustinNow) July 19, 2021
SAN leadership cited Austin's growing population and rising violent crime rates as motivations for the petition effort. There have been 47 homicides in Austin so far this year, just one shy of the total number that occurred in all of 2020.
But opponents said the petition stands in the way of police reforms, which thousands of Austinites marched in support of last summer. It also equates the increase in the murder count to local police budget cuts when it is a trend seen nationwide, including in cities that have increased their police budgets.
"Austin has begun to make reforms to policing and police budgets, inspired by the protests against the murder of George Floyd," Austin Justice Coalition Executive Director Chas Moore said in a Monday press release. "This ballot item, if successful, will end all of that."
Coalition representatives said the petition would not only force an arbitrary increase in the police force and reverse the strides made by council to reform APD In recent years but also cut into the budgets of other city departments.
"Right now we are struggling to find funds to pay for a dozen more firefighters and a dozen more EMS staff," District 4 Council Member Greg Casar said in the same release. "If we had to hire 500 police officers right now, we would be getting pushed to lay off other employees, to cut library and pool hours, and to shut down essential programs."
The coalition pointed to SAN's Republican supporters as a concern. Although the nonprofit stresses its bipartisan orientation—cofounder Cleo Petricek is a Democratic activist—its petition efforts have mostly attracted endorsements from GOP officials, including U.S. Rep. Chip Roy and Gov. Greg Abbott. (None of the 10 Democratic council members expressed support for Prop B ahead of the May 1 election, when nearly 58% of voters approved it.)
"This Republican-led proposition for more police would continue negative interactions for the city's Black and Hispanic communities, which already face disproportionate stops, searches, arrests and uses of force," Travis County Democratic Party Chair Katie Naranjo said in the same release.
SAN expects to hear from the clerk in the next 10 to 12 days. The election is on Nov. 2.
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(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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