2019's Big Stories Shaping Austin's Path Into a New Decade

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June 20: Austin Repeals Ordinances Criminalizing Camping, Sitting, or Lying in Public

A Downtown encampment near the Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (Photo by John Anderson)

When City Council voted to decriminalize homelessness in June, it took a big risk: prioritizing the safety of the city's most vulnerable over the comfort of some of its most privileged. The ensuing backlash was predictable, and for the rest of the summer, some in the public lashed out at Mayor Steve Adler and his Council. At town hall meetings, during public comment periods, and – especially – on social media, the city's elected leaders were harangued for taking action that increased the visibility of homelessness, if not the actual number of people in that situation, before articulating what, exactly, they would do next.

Through the summer and into the fall, while city budget writers found funding for a historic level of investment in homelessness services and city staff worked to suggest next steps in the broader strategy, Council flailed and squabbled as it considered how and if it should again amend the camping and no-sit/no-lie ordinances. Ultimately, Council settled on a partial reinstatement of the camping ban that still allowed people living on the streets to sleep in public so long as they were not a threat to themselves or to others, and a housing-first strategy of purchasing and renovating motels into bridge housing for people to live in as they work their way out of homelessness.

All the while, Gov. Greg Abbott watched from atop his throne in the Governor's Mansion, first taking Twitter potshots at the mayor before wading into the policy debate, doing his best to be the kind of strongman ruler that's become popular with Trump-era conservatives. After issuing escalating threats against the city with no real offer of help, Abbott took actions of his own. First, he ordered sweeps of the camps under state highways, and then he opened a campsite that has gradually grown its resources offered to people staying there, but that experts say isn't likely to help anyone permanently exit homelessness.

All of the political turmoil muddied the fact that Council's decision in June – and the activists and social workers who encouraged them before and after – brought real change to the daily lives of those who live on our streets. For the first time in decades, they were allowed to share public space with housed neighbors with a much decreased threat of citation or arrest. They were allowed to come out of the margins of society and into the safety of visibility; they were given the attention and respect of a public that has failed them but, hopefully, is ready to bring an end to long-term homelessness. – Austin Sanders