James Ford is overcome with emotion Monday, June 14, 2021 as he sits on the sidewalk while city employees and outreach organizations remove his belongings from a homeless encampment near City Hall.
Ricardo B Brazziell American Statesman
Austin spent about $830,000 clearing hundreds of homeless encampments across the city as part of a three-week initiative aimed at moving people into shelter ahead of winter, according to information presented to the City Council on Wednesday.
During the cleanup, which ran from Oct. 21 to Nov. 8, city staff and nonprofit workers cleared an estimated 669 sites and made contact with around 1,212 people. Of the people contacted, 181 went to shelters, 87 were connected with services and 109 later returned to encampments, according to city staff.
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The city said the clearing of tents Monday was necessary because of Austin Transportation Department construction, which includes modifying a curb line and rebuilding a curb ramp in the area.
Ricardo B Brazziell American Statesman
Homeless Strategy Officer David Gray told council members the cleanup was designed to emphasize outreach and voluntary connections to services rather than just en
forcement of city ordinance.
“We sought to make sure that we were leading with the ethos and the values that are important to us as a city,” Gray said. “It was critical that we weren’t just going in telling people to grab what they can and we were going to come and clear out the encampment. We wanted to make sure that everybody had an opportunity – in fact, several opportunities – to get connected to shelter and services.”
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Read More: Nonprofit reports Austin, Travis County double homeless housing capacity
Austin police officers and other city officials clear out homeless encampments around City Hall on Monday, June 14, 2021. The City of Austin camping ban Proposition B was put back in place by voters in May 2021.
Ricardo B Brazziell American Statesman
Still, city workers issued 71 citations during the cleanup, largely for public camping or possession of drug paraphernalia, and made 22 arrests, most tied to outstanding warrants.
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Patricia Barrera with the Housing Strategy Office told council that some people at the sites declined city assistance and walked away. Common reasons included difficulty accessing shelter with pets and the lack of couple’s housing due to gender-segregated facilities, she said. It remains unclear where those individuals went.
City crews removed nearly 674 tons of debris — about 1.35 million pounds — from encampments during the operation. The cleanup, which involved staff from police, parks and recreation, watershed protection, EMS, public works, and nonprofit partners, will now shift back to routine encampment response and maintenance,Gray told council.
The operation unfolded alongside a separate state effort that Gov. Greg Abbott ordered without informing the city. Officials say they were blinded when Abbott announced Oct. 21 that state troopers and soldiers had cleared 48 camps and arrested 24 individuals across Austin as part of an ongoing operation.
Morgan “Smokey” Quarts cries out as she’s forced to move her belongings from a homeless encampment around City Hall on Monday morning, June 14, 2021. The City of Austin camping ban Proposition B was put back in place by voters in May.
Ricardo B Brazziell American Statesman
Gray told the council the lack of coordination posed a challenge.
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“Despite some repeat efforts, we just weren’t ever really able to sync up,” he said, calling for stronger cooperation with the state to reduce displacement.
Advocates with VOCAL-TX sharply criticized the city sweep, saying such operations routinely push unhoused people into more dangerous conditions without offering long-term solutions.
“Sweeps—and even the threat of sweeps—do nothing to solve homelessness. They merely push people into more dangerous hiding spots like creek beds where risk of injury or death is high,” said Eli Cortez, a community organizer with the group. He added that the sweep was an “indefensible” use of scarce city resources following voter rejection last month of Proposition Q, a measure that would’ve funded some homeless services by raising the city property tax rate by more than 20%.
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In an interview with the Statesman, Gray also lamented Prop Q’s defeat but noted that voters still expect the city to enforce the city’s ban on public camping, which Austin voters opted to restore in 2021.
“We have to do enforcement and we have to do it with fewer access to services,” he said. “Now that we’ve ended the surge, we are evaluating the effectiveness of that strategy and figuring out how we continue to lead with compassion as we enforce the voter-approved mandate.”
A more detailed assessment of the sweep, including recommendations for future operations, is expected to be delivered to the council later this month.
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