Does Prop. B Need a Plan B?
By Burke Bunyard
burkebunyard@fastmail.fm
AUSTIN, Texas- Life in the Texas capital tends to be an experience that is uniquely challenging, yet, rewarding. Austin has made many advances as a city, but one undying phrase has truly encapsulated the culture of the people who call it home; “Keep Austin Weird.”
This phrase, coined in 2002, by Austin Community College librarian Red Wassenich, eludes to the city’s quirky character that was so prevalent throughout the 1970’s and 80s. Today, that quirkiness may be a little harder to find. Yet, no purer example of the Austin spirit can be found anywhere, except in the hearts of the thousands of homeless Austinites across Travis County. Among Austin’s homeless population are some of the original contributors to the quirky atmosphere that envelopes the city. Therefore, they are as much a part of Austin’s culture as the phrase they helped coin, and this influential aspect of Austin culture is being affected by recent change in policy.
Cluttered items surround an empty encampment, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, between U.S. Highway 183 and Research Blvd. in Austin, Texas.
Proposition B, approved by voters on May 1, 2021, makes it a Class C misdemeanor to camp in public areas not designated for camping, solicit anything of value at specific hours and locations and to sit or lie down on public spaces in downtown Austin or around the University of Texas campus. Violation of this city ordinance may result in a fine of no more than $500. Although, violators of these ordinances will not face jail time if they are unable to pay their fine; and alternative options, such as, community service and conditional dismissal programs, may be utilized at the discretion of Austin Municipal Court judges.
Proposition B’s camping ordinance was introduced in four phases of enforcement. The first phase, from May 11 to June 12, focused on educating the community about the new ordinances through engagement and verbal warnings from the Austin Police Department. Phase two, from June 13 to July 10, saw the APD issuing written warnings with the possibility of a citation for repeated violations. Phase three, from July 11 to Aug. 7, guaranteed that a citation would be issued to those who had already received a written warning, and arrests would only be made if an individual refused to vacate a structure that was deemed dangerous for the public.
Cluttered items surround an empty encampment, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, between U.S. Highway 183 and Research Blvd. in Austin, Texas.
Bicycle parts litter the ground of an empty encampment, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, under U.S. Highway 183, in Austin, Texas.
An empty encampment, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, under U.S. Highway 183, in Austin, Texas.
The City of Austin entered its final phase of Proposition B’s camping enforcement on Aug. 8, 2021. From then on, individuals who have received a citation and refuse to vacate the area will be arrested, regardless of whether or not the area had been designated as dangerous. Yet, for those who choose to vacate the area in question, their options are severely limited.
Terry Bland, a retiree currently experiencing homelessness in Austin, Texas, has had to move his campsite several times. Bland has a unique perspective on his living situation, and he views his retirement more along the lines of a long vacation, even though he is living on the streets. Bland expressed frustration and bewilderment when describing his trip from the streets of San Diego to Austin.
Terry Bland organizes his food and supplies at his camp in Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metro Park, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, in Austin, Texas.
“I think the City of Austin is hurting my situation,” said Bland. “I got on the bus and saw on the news that they had this Proposition B, or whatever it was, where they banned camping and I thought, ‘Do what now? I’m literally on the bus headed here to go camping.”
Terry Bland prepares to make coffee at his camp in Roy G. Guerrero Colorado River Metro Park, Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, in Austin, Texas.
COVID-19 has forced homeless shelters throughout Travis County to limit their maximum bed capacity, and this means that there is no immediate option to avoid receiving a citation. This is the situation that many homeless individuals are being forced to navigate, and as APD officers are directing ordinance violators to resources that are currently unavailable, some Austin residents are questioning the effectiveness of Proposition B.
Camille Wheeler, a photojournalist and former editor at the Austin American Statesman, has been documenting the lives of Austin’s homeless population since 2014. She does not claim to be an expert on the topic of homelessness in the city, but her passion for Austin’s poor and unhoused community is evident in both her work and her words.
“I think that the ferociousness of how Prop. B was put into place has been harmful,” Wheeler said. “I just think that there was so much hate from Save Austin Now and other people that it didn’t allow for a nuanced, thoughtful way of maybe phasing this out over a year or a year-and-a-half, you know. Because, there are too many people and there’s nowhere to put everybody right now.”
Austin’s lack of temporary housing is a problem that is recognized by supporters and opposers of Proposition B, and this factor greatly contributes to the controversy around reinstating these city ordinances. Many Austin residents feel that Proposition B is a step in the right direction. However, some feel that it was passed at an irresponsible time, due to the restrictions brought about by COVID. Yet, some Austin residents, like Joell McNew, board president of the SafeHorns organization at the University of Texas at Austin, feel that safety is a right that cannot be compromised.
SafeHorns is a non-profit organization made up of University of Texas parents, alumni and faculty that are committed to maintaining a safe environment for students and staff on and around campus. This group’s positive message emerged from a tragic event that still weighs heavily upon the minds of the Longhorn community.
“When he, (McNew’s son), came back to class at 5 p.m. on April 4, 2016, they were informed that his classmate, Haruka Weiser, had been brutally raped and murdered by a homeless person; and they were recovering her beaten, brutalized, naked body from behind the alumni center,” McNew said. “We had been talking about crime and concerns for the past year and this was a pivotal moment of, ‘are we going to sit on social media and cry for these parents that we failed, in a city that we all love, at a university that we all love, or are we actually going to do something?”
It was this pivotal moment that drove the course for McNew and SafeHorns to advocate for Proposition B, since the reinstating of these ordinances would have a direct effect on the University of Texas campus. Yet, many supporters of these ordinances, including McNew, primarily feel that Proposition B’s passing is a direct challenge to combat the unproductive actions of city officials.
“People who serve in this space hate anyone who supports Prop. B, because they go back to this conversation of saying, ‘Oh, you’re just criminalizing the poor,’” McNew said. “But, at the same time, I felt thankful that Prop. B had passed, because sadly, it is forcing their hand to take action.”
Results of the actions of voters challenging city officials can clearly be seen today. Camille Wheeler witnessed such results and painted a poignant example of Proposition B’s effectiveness when she described the scene of a mass eviction under Interstate 35 near 6th Street on Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2021.
“Police officers told people, you know, they were going around with their flashlights and waking people up and they said, ‘you have until 8:30 a.m. to figure out what you’re going to take and get out of here,’ and people didn’t have a way to carry their tents; some of their tents were huge,” Wheeler said. “So, I think that really the hardest thing was watching this work crew that had been hired, a contract work crew, grab these tents, rip them up, throw them in the back of this trash compactor truck and some of the people are just standing there like they were frozen, just staring.”
Regardless of personal opinion, it is imperative to remember that each voter has the power to affect someone’s life. William Davis, a former U.S. Marine, is one of those lives currently experiencing homelessness and the effects of Proposition B in Austin, Texas.
Former U.S. marine, William Davis poses with his dog, Buddy, at a busy intersection on East Riverside Dr. Saturday, Oct. 16, 2021, in Austin Texas.
“Instead of giving us a ticket, try to help us out, move us forward, instead of sitting there harassing us and telling us where we’ve got to go and move,” Davis said.
COVID-19 Spikes Fire Department Budget
By Burke Bunyard
SAN MARCOS, Texas – City Council faced the challenge of drawing up the fiscal year 2020/21 budget in the midst of a pandemic, and the Fire Department will receive a budget increase as a result.
It’s no secret that 2020 was an unusual year, and as cities across the nation shut down last Spring, citizens found themselves in a state of total reliance on essential workers and emergency services. San Marcos was no exception. As a result, the Fire Department had to take on a load of additional responsibilities to assist throughout the pandemic.
“We didn’t stop anything we were doing, and we brought on a whole new level of service and a new niche that we never dreamed we’d be called on to fill,” said San Marcos Fire Chief Les Stephens. “It’s worked out really well and gave us an opportunity to learn some new things and deal with the new challenge.”
Apart from any unprecedented challenges, the work load for the Fire Department is usually demanding. Yet, 2020 was especially difficult with everyone being confined to their homes and apartments. According to data compiled by the San Marcos College Housing Project, there were 658 fire-related calls from apartment complexes alone last year. Most notable among these complexes were Allen Wood Homes and Stone Brook Seniors Community, collectively accounting for 15% of the total fire-related calls received.
Data in this visualization was collected by the San Marcos College Housing Project, which compiles public data from the Hays County Appraisal District, as well as the San Marcos Police and Fire Departments. This particular data set compiles every fire-related call from residential complexes within the 78666 area code, and this visualization is filtered to showcase the complexes that received at least 10 calls throughout 2020. It should also be noted that sorority and fraternity houses are excluded from this data set, due to the fact that they are rented through non-traditional arrangements.
This high call volume might sound alarming at first, but the City of San Marcos is continuing to improve the Fire Department with each new adopted budget. Currently, the city has five operating fire stations to serve a population of roughly 60,000 people. However, the San Marcos Fire Department can begin to breathe a sigh of relief with the city completing an $8.2 million construction on the new Fire Station No. 2, and awaiting building permits for the proposed $7.8 million Fire Station No. 6. Currently, the Fire Department is relocating operations from the old Fire Station No.2 on the corner of Academy Street and Holland Street, to the new location at 205 Flint Ridge Drive.
“Before we add a sixth, a seventh or an eighth fire station, we first needed to make sure the stations we had were covering as much of the city, and doing so as optimally as possible,” Chief Stephens said. “So, the new station kind of brings together the right place and all the new technology.
These fire stations are a direct result of the May 2017 bond election. In this election, voters approved a $32 million bond package that would expand the library and public safety facilities. In addition to receiving funding for two new stations, the Fire Department was also approved for the construction of a $2 million fire training field. This field will give firefighters access to training in residential and high-rise live fire scenarios, rope and trench rescue, confined space rescue, vehicle extrication, and integrated response training with police and EMS.
In the 11 years that Les Stephens has served as Fire Chief, the Fire Department has experienced a steady budget increase as it continues to modernize and grow alongside San Marcos itself. In the last five years, the Fire Department budget has been increased by 44%. As per the adopted FY2021 budget, the City of San Marcos has allocated $11.6 million to cover the operating costs of five stations and their 93 full-time personnel. Also, the Fire Department outlined in its strategic initiative that with this new budget, the Department is aiming to reduce its response time by 2% and increase its support staff capacity by 20%.
Unsurprisingly, the increase in the Fire Department’s budget is mirrored by the increase in the City’s overall budget. To put it in perspective, on average, the Fire Department accounts for roughly 4.4% of the City’s overall fund. San Marcos is growing, and its budget has increased by almost 39% in the last five years alone. Each year’s budget is comprised of four primary funds; however, the majority of the overall budget is made up by the General and Enterprise Funds. According to the FY2021 budget, the General Fund, (primarily comprised of property and sales taxes), and the Enterprise Fund, (electricity and utility charges), collectively accounted for over 85% of the City’s $239 million budget.
2021 was a challenging year to prepare for, and this year’s budget increase of 8.2% is a direct response to mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. City Council recognized an increasing demand for core service expansions and carefully accounted for the financial impact that the pandemic has had on citizens and local businesses. San Marcos, along with the rest of the world, has a long way to go until it has fully recovered from this public health crisis. However, the increase in funding, demand and respect for the work of public safety services like the Fire Department is a step in the right direction toward San Marcos’ overall recovery.