The Texas governor and Austin’s mayor are headed for a standoff over city ordinances governing camping and sleeping in public.
Governor Greg Abbott today threatened to intervene in the city of Austin using “broad and sweeping authority” given to state agencies under his direction. In a letter to Mayor Steve Adler, Abbott said he would give the mayor just under a month to achieve “consequential improvement in the Austin homelessness crisis and the danger it poses to the health and safety of the public.”
“If meaningful reforms are not implemented by then, I will direct every applicable state agency to act to fulfill my responsibility to protect the health and safety of Texans in your jurisdiction,” he said.
Abbott’s intervention comes three months after the City Council voted to decriminalize camping in public areas like sidewalks and scaled back an ordinance restricting aggressive begging.
Some of Austin’s homeless have since erected tents on sidewalks and underpasses. Austin’s city code now only prohibits camping in a public area if it “materially endangers the health or safety of another person or themselves” or “renders impassable” a sidewalk or other public area.
These changes provoked a backlash among some members of the public, prompting City Council to reconsider the changes at two meetings in September. However, council members were divided over how far to go in rolling back their June resolution.
The result was a deadlock that left in place the earlier reforms.
Abbott wrote today, “Austin has had several opportunities to solve the problems, to no avail. Texans cannot be expected to wait further to ensure their health and safety needs are met.”
Abbott cited complaints public defecation, the accumulation of needles in public places, the effect of homeless encampments on local businesses, and the danger of having homeless encampments adjacent to roadways.
Abbott threatened to send more state troopers into Austin to enforce state laws and noted that the state health authorities have broad powers relating to communicable diseases and sanitation.
He also suggested that he could send Department of Transportation workers into the city to “remove property that may block roadways or endanger public safety.”
Austin’s mayor responded to Abbott’s letter at a press conference later on Wednesday. “There are some people that read this letter as a threat. I want you to know I understand the seriousness of this letter but I choose to read this letter as an offer of assistance,” said Adler.
He added, “The governor wants to see action by November 1st? My hope is that the governor starts seeing action by next week.”
Read the governor’s full letter here.
