Good Thursday afternoon -
In almost every direction that you look, local government is making our city less safe and more expensive.
Save Austin Now works to educate citizens about the decisions City Hall makes so they can weigh in with credible information as council makes increasingly poor decisions.
Our mission is to hold City Hall accountable. Before Save Austin Now, no one was doing this. We will keep doing it.
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Here are a few recent updates:
COMING SOON TO AUSTIN FAMILIES: TAX AND FEE INCREASES
Austin City Manager Spencer Cronk has released his proposed budget for the 2022-2023 fiscal year, and consistent with Council's stated views and past decisions, it will continue making Austin more expensive for residents.
Included in the proposed budget:
> MAXIMUM property tax rate increase (3.2%) for commercial properties
> MAXIMUM property tax rate increase for residential properties (hurting owners and renters)
> A 22% increase in Austin Resource Recovery bills
> A 18% increase in Austin energy bills
> Massive tax increases for combined utility fees, application fees for food trucks, temporary food permits for farmers markets, permit fee increases for taxicab drivers, fee increases for Austin Transportation fees (zoning, subdivision, site plan)
> An increase of UP TO 793% in minor veterinary treatment services
City Hall is directly making it more expensive to live in Austin, at a time when rising property values alone should be delivering a sufficient growth dividend for city government to be able to deliver adequate city services.
Are you worried about affordability?
TAKE ACTION: Email the City Council now and tell them to reject property tax rate and other tax and fee increases -- https://www.austintexas.gov/email/all-council-members.
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AAS: CITY'S HOMELESS HOTEL STRATEGY FAILING
A recent Austin American-Statesman headline finally admits what many of us have seen for more than a year.
Austin struggling with plan to turn hotels into homeless shelters
Key points from the story:
Austin's strategy to buy hotels and turn them into housing for people experiencing homelessness has hit a snag: The city no longer can afford it.
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"Folks who were calling us a year ago now aren't returning our phone calls," Michael Gates, the city's interim real estate officer, told the Austin City Council last month.
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For now, the city owns four hotels dedicated to homelessness response — far off from Mayor Steve Adler's goal in 2019 to acquire a hotel property in all 10 City Council districts. The last time the council was presented with an opportunity to buy a hotel was 18 months ago, in January 2021.
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Given the limited activity, the American-Statesman questioned city leaders about whether the hotel conversion strategy is dead. Three council members and a city spokesperson insisted it is not. A potential acquisition was discussed last week during a closed-door meeting, the details of which were not made public.
"Staff is now considering some additional approaches that might help with the financing," Council Member Ann Kitchen said.
Anything imminent?
"I can't answer that," she said.
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So, let's summarize.
Taxpayer funds were used to purchase motels and hotels, including the Candlewood Suites in north Austin with significant local opposition (and now a pending lawsuit from Williamson County and the hotel's owners). The city is WAY BEHIND schedule for purchasing more motels and hotels, and they are failing to put the existing four facilities to full and proper use.
All this is happening amidst a $515 million plan to house 3,000 homeless people over three years (at a cost of $76,000 per homeless person per year).
We cannot afford this. City leaders are failing our homeless community and ignoring the needs of taxpayers and families. Something has to change.
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FAILED CALIFORNIA NONPROFIT TO OPERATE FAILING ARCH DOWNTOWN
Ask any law enforcement officer what the most dangerous block in Austin is and they will tell you it is the one block surrounding the 100 bed ARCH homeless shelter on 7th street downtown.
Up until now it has been operated by local nonprofit Front Steps for nearly 20 years, but just a few weeks ago city leaders suddenly sought to change operators.
Giving local nonprofits less than 24 hours to indicate their interest, a troubled California nonprofit called Urban Alchemy won the no-bid contract, despite an atrocious track record and only being in business for four years.
From the Statesman story:
Last month, the Pacific Sun newspaper, citing more than 10 current and past residents at a homeless camp in Sausalito near San Francisco, reported allegations that Urban Alchemy employees did drugs on the job and sexually exploited homeless women. An Urban Alchemy spokesperson told the newspaper that the organization investigated those allegations and found them to be unfounded.
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On Tuesday, at a council work session, some council members said they are worried about what they've learned about Urban Alchemy, and challenged Austin Public Health director Adrienne Sturrup and Dianna Grey, the city's homeless strategy officer, to keep a close watch on the ARCH should the nonprofit take over. But no council member went so far as to say they would vote against the contract.
"There's seldom a really good answer. There's a best answer," Mayor Steve Adler said.
Ending the ARCH contract with Front Steps is a shift in Austin's strategy to attack the homelessness crisis. Since 2008, the city has paid $43 million to Front Steps, most of it for ARCH operations. In total, Front Steps has 11 contracts with the city − including to operate a bridge shelter in South Austin that the city converted from a hotel − and will lose them all. On Thursday, the council will vote on transferring operations at the converted hotel to the Austin Area Urban League, through a $4.2 million contract.
Although Front Steps has long faced criticism for the ARCH, which some people experiencing homelessness say is unsafe and unpleasant, there remain questions about the abrupt end to the nonprofit's relationship with the city.
On Thursday, the American-Statesman emailed Austin Public Health and asked the following:
What happened that prompted the city to move this fast and give the nine nonprofits only one day to express interest in operating the ARCH?
How is Front Steps failing to deliver services?
The Statesman also requested the letter Urban Alchemy submitted in expressing interest.
A spokesperson did not respond by 4 p.m., and earlier sent a statement that spoke to a need at Front Steps for "an intensive strategy and reimagining of the organization."
An Urban Alchemy spokesperson declined to comment on the City Council's concerns before Thursday's vote. The organization has a small presence in Austin, having been selected earlier this year to split a $2 million grant with two nonprofits based in Austin.
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Perhaps ending the current operator's contract with the ARCH is a recognition that it was failing. But we find it IMPOSSIBLE that local nonprofits could not do this work better and more efficiently than a California nonprofit that has never operated here previously and has had a terrible record in California.
What about Salvation Army? Mobile Loaves and Fishes? The Others One Foundation?
What about moving the ARCH out of downtown?
We will monitor this VERY closely.
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HELP US HOLD CITY HALL ACCOUNTABLE HERE
PROP B LAWSUIT
Save Austin Now and four local business owners are suing the City of Austin for their failure to fully enforce Prop B, despite it passing in May 2021 by a 58%-42% vote. The lawsuit is pending and we are waiting on city attorneys to confirm the first procedural hearing for Aug. 17.
If you have specific examples of illegal public camping inside the City of Austin, you can email us photos, video and explanations here. Please provide as full an explanation as possible, including when/where and what happened. Please also include your contact information. If you are interested in becoming a plaintiff to our lawsuit, please email Matt.
Our lawsuit will take some time and while we have excellent, committed lawyers, this battle will require resources. You can donate to our legal effort here. If you wish to send a check to ("Save Austin Now PAC" and mail to 807 Brazos Street Suite 202, Austin, TX 78701).
DONATE TO OUR LEGAL EFFORTS HERE
If there's an encampment in your residential neighborhood or near your office: First, contact your council member. Then, call 311 and report. Then call the Texas Department of Public Safety to report. Do this every few days.
NOVEMBER IS COMING: FILING DEADLINE IS AUG. 22
We need to elect solution-oriented, non-ideological people to City Council: This fall, five City Council seats will be on the ballot. Every incumbent seeking re-election refuses to demand full enforcement of Prop B and continues to support radical policies that harm standard of living for Austin families.
The filing deadline for Mayor and City Council is Aug. 22. There is more information about filing here.
We are reviewing the qualifications, experience and vision of candidates now. If you are interested in exploring running for City Council, please fill out our candidate interest form here.
SUPPORT OUR WORK
You can support our efforts to hold city leaders accountable for their decisions here. If you wish to send a check to ("Save Austin Now PAC" and mail to 807 Brazos Street Suite 202, Austin, TX 78701).
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As we have said before, we have only begun to fight!
Thank you!
-Matt Mackowiak & Cleo Petricek
Co-founders, Save Austin Now PAC
> Questions? Email Matt.
> Learn more: http://www.SaveAustinNowPAC.com
Will you please support our efforts now?
You may donate to our legal effort here: https://secure.anedot.com/save-austin-now-pac/save-austin-now-pac-legal-fund-c4cfa533f8ab98c9da232.