AUSTIN, TX – Austin, Texas, residents voted to pass a measure Saturday that will penalize those who camp downtown and in public areas not designated by the city’s parks and recreation department, a move that would greatly impact the local homeless population.
The measure, Proposition B, serves as a reinstatement of Austin’s public camping ban. Summary results from the Travis County Clerk show 85,830 (57%) people voted in favor of the measure, while 64,409 (42%) voted against the measure.
In addition to the camping ban, the proposition would make it a criminal offense to ask for money in certain areas and times “or for solicitation in a public area that is deemed aggressive in manner.”
The ballot language was amended on March 2 after the Texas Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 vote to remove a repeated word.
The measure was brought to the ballot on a second attempt by a self-claimed bipartisan political action committee called Save Austin Now, which gathered enough signatures to make the measure an official proposition.
The group posted a video to Twitter on April 16 that claims the city has become less safe due to fires spreading from camps, calling on voters to help restore “sidewalks” and “roadways” that have become areas for unsanctioned camping grounds.
“We are going to take this city back,” Matt Mackowiak, the co-founder of “Save Austin Now,” said. “This is not about right-wing or left-wing. This is about standard of living. This is about making Austin a place where you can live, work, and raise a family in.”
SAN aimed to reverse the council’s move by getting the proposition on the ballot. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said earlier this month he may take actions into his own hands if the city did not reinstate the ban on homeless camping.
The Texas Senate Local Government Committee convened in April to consider Bill 987, which would establish a statewide ban on public camping and impose a Class C misdemeanor on violators.
Democratic Austin Mayor Steve Adler, a critic of Proposition B, said both the measure and the proposed bill “offers no help and no solution” to the homeless population.
“We can and must do better to get people out of tents, not merely to move their tents out of sight. SB987 is not the answer,” Adler said.
Opposition to Proposition B also includes nonprofit groups such as Ending Community Homelessness Coalition, Homes Not Handcuffs, and the ice cream company Ben & Jerry’s.
ECHO posted to Twitter on April 7 urging Austin voters to mark “vote NO” on the measure, saying, “Homelessness is not a crime.”
The ban will not go into effect until the day the election results are canvassed, which is slated for May 11.
