Here in Austin, Texas, the reductio ad absurdum of the city government’s policies toward the homeless is that you (and all your friends) can take over any public space for your own use. The city council and mayor have declared de facto privatization. I want a school. They are not being used now and I can make good use of one. Once in, I will be hard to extricate because schools are defensible fortresses. (See, for example, The Girl Who Owned a City.) Perhaps you would like a park or a sports arena. Just find one that is not being used and make yourself a home.
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| Menchaca and Ben White Jan 2020 and June 2020 |
Austin Statesman
City Council rescinds measures that critics say criminalize homelessness
By Elizabeth Findell
Posted Jun 21, 2019 at 3:36 AM
Updated Jun 21, 2019 at 6:14 PM
The Austin City Council early Friday rescinded city prohibitions on sitting or sleeping in public and panhandling — measures social advocates said wrongly criminalized homelessness — after hours of emotional testimony from passionate residents on both sides of the issue.
The decisions, made after 2 a.m. during a meeting that started at 10 a.m., capped a long day of intense discussion surrounding several homelessness-related votes at City Hall.
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| Ben White opposite Target Then |
Summary of Changes to the Ordinances
On October 17, 2019, the City Council made several revisions to the city ordinance that prohibits camping in public areas. Other ordinances, including those prohibiting obstruction on sidewalks in the downtown area and aggressive confrontation, remain unchanged. The ordinance changes went into effect on October 28, 2019.
https://www.austintexas.gov/department/council-direction-and-policy
The Texas Tribune
Greg Abbott says TxDOT could remove homeless camps from Austin's highway underpasses
BY DAVIS RICH OCT. 18, 2019
The governor has vowed to use state resources to clear Austin's homeless residents from public spaces since city officials began changing local ordinances dictating where people can and can't camp.
Gov. Greg Abbott's office said Friday the Texas Department of Transportation could force homeless Austin residents out from under bridges and overpasses where some of them live or camp if recent changes to city ordinances don't result in less feces and fewer needles by Nov. 1.
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| Ben White opposite Target Now |
KVUE-TV (ABC)
After more downtown stabbings, Abbott says Austin's 'reckless' policies on homelessness 'must end now'
Author: Drew Knight, Luis de Leon
Published: 5:16 PM CST January 24, 2020
Updated: 8:16 AM CST January 25, 2020
AUSTIN, Texas — After a series of Downtown Austin stabbings overnight left three people injured, Gov. Greg Abbott released a pointed statement for the Austin City Council on Friday.
"City of Austin leaders have allowed lawlessness throughout the capital city that is resulting in violence against Austin residents, including those who are homeless," Gov. Abbott said in a statement released to KVUE. "Last night’s tragedy, leaving three injured, is just the most recent instance of this violence. This rise in violence has corresponded with the revocation of the camping ban that the Austin City Council passed in June. Public endangerment and murder can no longer be tolerated because of the actions – and inactions – by City officials. Mayor Adler and the city council should re-instate the camping ban and restore the rule of law in Austin. The City’s gamble on these reckless policies has been a loser and must end now."
Fox-7 TV
Gov. Abbott working to override Austin homeless camping ordinance
By Steven Sarabia
Published February 7 [2020]
Homeless Crisis FOX 7 Austin
While talking about Austin's homeless issues Wednesday, Abbott said on Twitter, "Next step should be to reinstate the ban on camping and work with non-profit organizations to assist with shelters. That's exactly what I will ask the Texas Legislature to do."
https://www.fox7austin.com/news/gov-abbott-working-to-override-austin-homeless-camping-ordinance
Wikipedia provided this definition from the Communist Party of Texas
LUMPENPROLETARIAT - German for "rag proletariat." Generally unemployable people who make no positive contribution to an economy. Sometimes described as the bottom layer of a capitalist society. May include criminal and mentally unstable people. Some activists consider them "most radical" because they are "most exploited," but they are un-organizable and more likely to act as paid agents than to have any progressive role in class struggle. See https://www.cp-texas.org/glossary
Previously on NecessaryFacts
Workers’ Paradise Promised an End to Money
Karl Marx and the Dustbin of History
Furloughs for Freedom: Downsizing Government
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