In Texas, a partisan divide on homeless
Austin is hailed by liberals for easing ban on ‘public camping,’ but GOP, businesses decry move
CAUSTIN, Texas hristopher Paul hasn’t felt a police officer tapping at his foot in more than a month — the tap that usually meant he was about to get another citation that he was never going to pay.
Living on the streets for five years after he lost his graphic design job, Paul has been having undisturbed nights since the City Council and mayor eased restrictions on “public camping” this summer, a move that liberal lawmakers billed as a humane and pragmatic reform of the criminal-justice system. But the change has drawn the ire of Republicans and local business owners who decry it as a threat to public safety and the local economy, exposing a partisan clash over how to manage poverty and affordable housing in America’s cities.
Since Austin’s public camping ban was relaxed, “people can sleep much better in the open, and they are a lot safer than somewhere hiding in a back alley,” said Paul, who estimates that he received 20 citations for illegal camping before the rule change went into effect July 1.
But as Paul, 50, sprawled out shirtless on the sidewalk on a 100-degree day, shop owner Craig Staley stood a few feet away on Congress Avenue reconsidering his party affiliation. “I got two emails last month from customers who said, ‘I can’t go to your store anymore because it smells like urine,’ ” said Staley, who operates Royal Blue Grocery. “I am a Democrat at heart; I have been in Austin, Texas, for over 30 years. But I am telling you, I am feeling a lot more red these days when it comes to my business.”
With an estimated 2,200 homeless adults sleeping on sidewalks and in makeshift tent cities, Austin has become the latest flash point in the national debate over whether homeless residents have a constitutional right to sleep on public streets, particularly in cities grappling with overcrowded shelters.
As a legal matter, the issue could reach the U.S. Supreme Court. The city of Boise, Idaho, plans to appeal a ruling from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit, which applies in nine Western states. The ruling determined that criminalizing public sleeping is unconstitutional when there is inadequate shelter space. Meanwhile, Republicans have made the nation’s growing homeless population a political weapon, characterizing it as a failure of liberal policies.
“Look at Los Angeles with the tents and the horrible, horrible conditions,” President
Donald Trump said at a Cincinnati rally this month. “Look at San Francisco; look at some of your other cities.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, when asked about Trump’s recent comments, said that Democratic policies have fueled the economic resurgence of U.S. cities that has caused a short-term increase in homelessness. California has the second-highest rate of homelessness in the nation after New York, according to federal data. “We don’t need [the president’s] megaphone to tell us we have challenges,” said Newsom, adding that California is spending $1.7 billion to address housing affordability.
In Austin, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened to push the GOP-dominated Texas Legislature to pass a law overriding Austin’s public-camping action. The Travis County Republican Party has organized a petition drive calling for the policy to be rescinded, and local party leaders are trying to put it on the ballot next spring.
“They thought it would be compassionate and not a big deal, but it has been an absolute disaster for this city,” said Matt Mackowiak, chairman of the county party. “This is our best example of [liberal] overreach, so we have been very strategic focusing on this issue.”
But Austin officials are refusing to back down, saying it’s not practical to effectively criminalize homelessness.
“When you move these people, they don’t disappear. They just go somewhere else,” said Austin Mayor Steve Adler, a Democrat. “The real answer is not just moving people from there to over there and back again. The real answer is giving them the services they need.”
Previously, the city prohibited “sitting or lying down on public sidewalks or sleeping outdoors” in downtown Austin, where an influx of well-paid workers has driven up the cost of housing. Between 2014 and 2016, Austin police issued 18,000 citations for rule violations, which cost as much as $500 with court fees, though many violators received only community service hours.
But those cited didn’t show up for court 90 percent of the time, a 2017 city auditor’s report found, and nearly three-quarters of the citations led to an arrest warrant.
Concerned that those criminal records made it even harder for homeless people to find jobs and housing, the Austin City Council amended the ordinance to allow loitering if an individual is not posing a threat to the “health or safety of another person or themselves” or “impeding the reasonable use of a public area.” Overnight camping is still prohibited in city parks and at city hall. “We basically said, if someone is poor, and they have nowhere to sleep, and they are not endangering or blocking anyone, how can we say that is wrong?” said Gregorio “Greg” Casar, a council member who pushed to ease the rules.