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BiPartisan approved: Austin camping ban back, homeless have to move

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout: Debate & Discussion' started by tinman, May 10, 2021.

  1. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    Don’t want California the city of Austin.

    The city has to figure out how to house them and get the homeless some help
     
  2. ThatBoyNick

    ThatBoyNick Member

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    Uh oh, Katelyn Jenner is packing her bags, should have kept this a secret Tinny
     
  3. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    She can’t leave LA
    While everyone else in California does
     
  4. sealclubber1016

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    No patience for vagrants from me.

    Most homeless have an avenue in this country, they just don't want to take it. The other choice is to round them up and force them into the treatment necessary, and I'm sure that would go over extremely well.
     
  5. Astrodome

    Astrodome Member
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    Good to see bipartisan support in this political climate.
     
    tinman likes this.
  6. cheke64

    cheke64 Member

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    Austin is well taken care of. They are not inundated with Mcdonalds and gas stations at every intersection
     
  7. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    But the later part might help them in the long run, especially the mentally ill and drug addicts.

    the major issue is the health and safety hazard. several fires have occurred because of the homeless making fires and getting the tents caught in it.

    This is what happened in LA when they never addressed this homeless camp and FINALLY moved all the homeless out and cleaned up

    Urine, feces,needles, 35 TONS of it

     
  8. sealclubber1016

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    I would gladly support forced treatment of homeless. I'm of the mindset that once somebody has been given assistance and multiple chances and still proves hazardous and negative leech on society, then they should be removed. But I've noticed my views on issues like this appear draconian to many.

    Drug addicts who aren't serious about getting clean will always revert, and unfortunately the mentally ill generally can't be turned into functional members of society, although I'm all for trying in their case. Save for hiding the problem better, I don't really think there is an actual "solution" to homeless issues. There will always be a bottom layer of society that simply can't or won't function.
     
  9. mtbrays

    mtbrays Contributing Member
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    I voted for Prop B because I did not want the city to entrench the expectation that homeless individuals can camp freely anywhere in Austin before coming up with a plan to actually combat this. So much of the messaging from Adler and certain city council members emphasized that reinstating the ban would be inhumane, but they offered nothing to address the current inhumanity of crowded and dangerous public camping that does not address either root causes and next steps. It reminded me of Bunny Colvin's "Hamsterdam" experiment in The Wire; Colvin thought that he was killing two birds with one stone by decriminalizing the drug trade and confining it to certain sectors. However, he did not plan for the public health issues, degradation of humanity and conservative institutional backlash that accompanied Hamsterdam.

    Yes, the city is buying old hotels to house people but there's only so much a local government can do to help those that are struggling with mental illness and addiction. If the city were to begin attracting more homeless people than we could house then there would never be a way to get ahead of this issue. Plus, the long-term presence of massive homeless camps along Town Lake and throughout downtown - some of the most expensive and attractive real estate in a high-cost city - would have had a negative effect on events like SXSW, ACL, etc. I'm not sure that a compassionate and lax attitude toward homelessness outweighs the broader needs of the city and its events-based economy once COVID recedes.
     
  10. mtbrays

    mtbrays Contributing Member
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    It's part of what makes this problem so uncomfortable. I agree that there are addicts who simply don't want to get better. But, I also believe there are people who got addicted over time and may not be able to find the type of rehab (much less begin to afford it) that actually works. Dopesick is an excellent book about the opioid epidemic that highlights how more conservative states have adopted counter-productive measures like prohibiting public funding for treatment programs that use methadone (as some religious conservatives believe that no funding should go toward substance-based recovery). Additionally the lack of available healthcare for the mentally ill can often drive them into the streets. I don't know whether a true national healthcare system might help treat mental illness in people before it gets past the point of no return, but I'd interested in learning more.
     
  11. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    Great post

    Hook Em
     
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  12. TheRealist137

    TheRealist137 Member

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    If you want to get serious about the homeless problem start by building affordable housing. No excuse for housing costs to be rising so much in some cities. Demand far outweighs supply and you are left with a bunch of people who can't afford any place to live. Mental health, drug addiction is a problem but you cannot treat those issues when that person is on the street. Put them in housing first, then rehabilitate them.
     
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  13. FranchiseBlade

    FranchiseBlade Contributing Member
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    The problem for homeless people is deep and complicated. Maybe a third need substance treatment, others need mental health treatment but if those get the treatment and job training, they still won't be able to enter the workforce successfully.

    Many have been homeless so long they don't get what's expected of them. Based on their experience if work starts at 9Am but they are extra sleepy there is nothing wrong with sleeping in and being well rested and more efficient later. That's only one example. They need basic non-homeless life lessons. There aren't many programs for that out there for that.

    The approach needs to be more comprehensive. It needs to have all of those treatments, clothes, food, housing, etc. All of it has to be available, otherwise the money spent on the half-measures will largely be only short term help. It won't help solve the problem long term.
     
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  14. DonatelloLimestone

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    Drugs, addiciton, and mentall ilness are all notable issues in the homeless population and detrimental and dangerous to any community, there is also a new wave of economic homeless people. Houstin is less affordable then ever, wages have not matcched the inflaiton thus the transfer and ability to access funds and risks has been skewed towards those already with money more than ever, social mobility is not the same as it is. As is getting a part time and being able to pay off college to better yourselves. All these inflations have led to a massive issue taking the american dream further than it was
     
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  15. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    True it’s complicated
    And Austin must learn the lessons from what happened in LA and San Francisco
    They have to do something to force them off the streets

    I said it was bipartisan but it’s really home owners and business owners who voted for this
     
  16. TheFreak

    TheFreak Contributing Member

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    I’m sure residents will welcome even higher taxes to deal with this issue.
     
  17. jo mama

    jo mama Contributing Member

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    i had planned all along to vote for prop B, but changed my mind a day or so before voting simply because the proponents of it did not offer any solution. im totally against what is happening right now with the camps and how far the city let it go, but it would be immoral imo to just ban them without offering any alternatives.

    the city council should have never let it happen in the first place, but i take a colin-powell-on-iraq-invasion view...the pottery barn doctrine...you break it, you buy it. you cant open the floodgates and then arbitrarily shut it down. theres real people who are going to be harmed here.

    i think those camps are disgusting and trashing up our once beautiful city. id be pissed if i owned a business near an encampment. or what about the one along town lake near buford tower. i actually was down there over the weekend and saw for the first time how bad the fire damage was on that thing. i also saw the "protest" around city hall. they set up a ring of tents all around it...but what i noticed is that its dozens and dozens of the exact same brand new magellan tent...so someone with some money obviously went and bought all these tents and brought them down to city hall.

    the camping ordinance encouraged people from other cities to come here and for other cities to send their homeless here. im certain that there are people living in tents who are actual austinites, but theres also lots of people who came here because knew they could camp. and having been in austin for over 25 years i can say that the kinds of homeless that are here now has changed since camping was allowed. more aggressive, mentally deranged and violent people roaming the streets. austin homeless in general used to be pretty docile, but what i see now reminds me more of what i have seen in san francisco, with people who curse you out or spit at you when you dont give them money. lots more people who are clearly psychotic and/or mentally ill and need to be in treatment...not roaming the streets.

    you can only help those who want help and theres lots of them who are good with camping under an overpass. but for those who do want help i think you can make an argument that these encampments are doing more harm than good for the homeless as it disincentivizes people to seek help and it also keeps them away from resources such as mental health counseling and job search.

    i dont know what the solution is, but whats been going on here the last couple years is clearly not working and i think the passage of prop b is going to cause more problems over the next few months.

    i do know that city council f***ed this all up bigly.
     
    #18 jo mama, May 12, 2021
    Last edited: May 12, 2021
  18. tinman

    tinman Contributing Member
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    It use to be use homeless panhandlers on the drag. But you are right , it’s a different type of homeless who want to be homeless.

    whatever decisions are not going to be ‘nice’ but you don’t want lake Austin and the parks turn into what is happening in LA echo park.

    they kicked out the homeless for ‘cleaning’ and found 30 tons of waste like feces and needles.

    there were a big violent riot slash protest where the park and businesses got more damage too for people who want the status quo of tons of homeless in the park.

    A friend told me he won’t take his family to the park anymore.
     
  19. DaDakota

    DaDakota If you want to know, just ask!

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    This was NOT Bi-partisan, this was a GOP led group.

    That being said, no one liked the camp anywhere agenda, nor the lack of leadership in dealing with the problem by the mayor.

    So they put in a temporary, hide them out of sight law......to restore Austin's clean image, and buy some time to deal with the homeless.

    The problem still exists, only the homeless will now be back hidden in the woods around town.

    DD
     
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