HOMELESS CAMPING ORDINANCE UPDATE
For Immediate Release
February 1, 2021
Save Austin Now Demands Audit of City Spending on Homeless
$160M+ Allocated from FY18-20 Produced Little New Housing
AUSTIN, TX — Save Austin Now, a nonpartisan educational nonprofit made up of organizations and concerned citizens, is demanding a thorough and independent audit of the city’s spending on homeless programs, especially the housing facilities it has purchased since July 1, 2019 when the camping ordinance took effect. This should include all information on commissions related to property purchases and sales.
Save Austin Now announced on Tuesday, January 19 that they collected more than 30,000 signed petitions and submitted more than 27,000 petitions to the City Clerk to put reinstatement of the camping ban on the May 2021 ballot. At least 24,500 of the submitted petitions were personally validated by Save Austin Now volunteers. The City Clerk’s office has begun its validation process, which could provide a certification announcement as early as this week. If validated, the ordinance will be on the May 1, 2021 ballot.
Austin Mayor Steve Adler finally admitted on Thursday January 21, two days after the petitions were submitted, that the camping ban was a failure.
“After 569 days of denial, Mayor Adler was mugged by reality and publicly admitted that the camping ban is ‘not working’,” said Save Austin Now co-founder Matt Mackowiak. “Taxpayers deserve to know how $160 million were spent over fiscal years 2018-2020 and what we have to show for it. Because it appears the money has been widely spent on waste, with precious little new homeless housing being made available despite massive investment. The Mayor and the City Council doubled their budget on homelessness from $30 million in 2018 to $60 million in 2019, increasing it to $73 million in 2020. A thorough and independent audit will reveal how every dollar was spent and should include comprehensive details about what benefit those dollars provided to our homeless community. As the city proposes massive new public encampments and more motels and hotels for purchase, every Austinite should join our call for this timely audit.”
A recent Austin American-Statesman story found that the city risked losing up to $31 million for the 2020 fiscal year due to not spending it before September 30, 2020.
“One of the sad realities in Austin is that a very small percentage of our homeless budget actually helps the homeless,” Save Austin Now co-founder Cleo Petricek. “We must do better. You cannot change your behavior until you first analyze it. We simply cannot trust the City of Austin to audit itself on a subject this important. Before huge new investments are made, the Mayor and the Council should review the audit findings and explain to the taxpayers what has worked, what hasn’t worked, and what they propose now.”
The ordinance reinstates the ban on homeless camping citywide, restores the sit/lie ordinance to downtown and extends it to the UT campus and surrounding area, and bans panhandling at night citywide from 7pm-7am.
To learn more, please visit http://www.SaveAustinNow.com.
# # #
HOW YOU CAN HELP RIGHT NOW:
1) Like us on Facebook -- https://www.facebook.com/SaveAustinNow
2) Follow us on Twitter -- https://twitter.com/SaveAustinNow
3) Sign up to volunteer -- We will need volunteers going forward. To volunteer, please fill this out -- https://form.jotform.com/200565023717146.
WE MUST REPLENISH OUR FUNDS
We spent every dollar we had to get on the ballot.
We now need to continue educating citizens about these standard of living issues and expand our data and lists of Austin voters who support our efforts.
Once we qualify for the ballot, we will create a PAC and run the campaign through it through May 1. That will require timely disclosure of donors and expenditures, and we will continue follow all applicable campaign finance laws.
You have generously supported us so far. But we have so much more work to do to prevail.
Please consider donating now.
If you wish to contribute to our efforts, there are two ways to give:
> You can securely donate here -- https://secure.anedot.com/greg-brockhouse-campaign/launch.
> You can make a check to "Save Austin Now" and mail it to 807 Brazos St., Ste. 408, Austin, TX 78701.
Together, we will Save Austin Now!
Thank you!
-Matt Mackowiak
Co-founder, Save Austin Now
> Questions? Email matt@saveaustinnow.com
> Learn more: http://www.SaveAustinNow.com