| Dear Neighbors,
This has been a week filled with many difficult issues. It is easy to forget that Covid-19 is still a threat to our community.
According to the latest Austin Public Health data, Austin is seeing a substantial increase in new COVID-19 cases, and new records were set on Monday and Tuesday.
On Thursday, Austin-Travis County Interim Health Authority Dr. Mark Escott held a press conference with Mayor Adler and Travis County Judge Eckhardt to discuss the new data. Prior to this week, Austin was seeing daily average increases of 40-60 new cases. This week, the daily average is around 140 new positive cases. |
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| | A new record for hospitalizations also was set this week. The data suggests these new numbers are NOT due to the increase in testing availability. This is indicated not only by the elevated hospitalizations, but also by our testing positive rate. Per our public health officials, if the increase of new cases was due to expanded testing capabilities, the positivity rate would have stayed the same or even decreased. Instead, Austin’s rate of positivity has doubled over the last few weeks. Three weeks ago, Austin Public Health was reporting positivity rates of 4-5 percent. This week, APH reported a rate of 9.3 percent.
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| | | The good news: right now, our hospitals do have the capacity to handle the current rise in cases. However, we must take action now and renew our commitment to slowing the spread of the virus to make sure our numbers do not overwhelm our hospitals and resources.
We have the ability to change the trajectory of this pandemic. Please continue to follow all safety precautions, including wearing a mask, social distancing, and proper hygiene, as you also continue to work towards making our city a fairer and safer place. Please remember the spread of Covid-19 hits our vulnerable and disadvantaged communities hardest. We all have a role to keep our community healthy for all residents.
In my newsletter below, you will find a Council Recap outlining some of the critical work Council did this week. This includes the four public safety related items I wrote to you about in my last newsletter.
Please reach out to my office if you have questions or feedback you’d like to share on these items. We have received over 30,000 emails in the last two weeks on public safety and police matters, and we are working to respond to our constituents as quickly as we can. We ask for your patience. If we have missed a time sensitive email from you, please feel free to email us again at District10@austintexas.gov.
Regards,
Alison Alter
Council Member, District 10
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| | Table of Contents - Council Recap
- Project Connect
- Redistricting Notice
- HUD Funding for Homelessness
- Register to Vote for the July Election! Deadline June 15th
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| | | Council Recap
I co-sponsored all four public safety related items on yesterday’s council agenda, and all four items passed unanimously. We heard from hundreds of Austinites on these items, and I am thankful for their time and testimony. Although it can be emotional and difficult, I learn something new or gain a new perspective every time we have hearings, and I deeply appreciate Austin’s commitment to public participation and engagement.
Our goal is to better ensure the delivery of services that the City so far has struggled to administer. Our police are asked to do an ever growing list of critical tasks. Restructuring our public safety does not mean we are spending less on public safety. It means we are reimagining how those services are delivered and shifting responsibilities to the professionals who are best suited to carry them out. I want to be clear – none of these items reduce the number of officers we have in Austin today, and none of them eliminate the Austin Police Department budget.
These resolutions are going to set us on a path to rebuild Austin’s public safety and public health systems. This work is going to help make our city safer and set our community up for success.
Item 50 establishes a goal of zero racial disparity in APD traffic stops, arrests, citations, use of force incidents, and death by 2023. It builds on work already done by the Office of Police Oversight and the Equity Office and provides direction for new recommendations on improvements and new reporting to help track that progress. To increase transparency for the community, the resolution also directs the Office of Police Oversight to create, publish and maintain a list of all officers with a non-confidential or publicly available history of misconduct, discriminatory or racist comments or behavior, or making false statements.
Item 93 renames the Council Judicial Committee to the Public Safety Committee and extends its purview from review of the municipal court and the Downtown Austin Community Court to also include review of policing issues, criminal justice, emergency medical services, fire services, emergency management, code compliance, and other related matters. Please join me and tune in for the public safety committee’s meeting on Thursday, June 18, at 1 PM, proceedings will be available on ATXN.
Item 95 fully implements the 8 Can’t Wait/Campaign Zero recommendations by changing Austin Police Department policy with respect to use of force. It includes a ban on tear gas, which aligns with the standards set by the Geneva Convention, and bans chokeholds. It also restricts the use of bean bag rounds, rubber bullets, tasers and other “less lethal” weapons to limited circumstances, and prohibits the use of impact munitions on crowds or on those exercising their First Amendment rights. Item 95 also requires appropriate enforcement of Austin Police Department General Orders requiring officers to intervene to stop improper or excessive uses of force by their fellow officers. The resolution includes language to restrict no-knock warrants and facial recognition technology use and reduces APD’s use and purchase of military equipment. This resolution reaffirms the direction passed in December’s APD resolution by restating that APD cadet classes are to be postponed until the training requirements set forth in the December resolution are met.
Item 96 is the APD budget item most of the community has been talking about. I would like to clarify that this resolution does not take any action on the City’s budget and does not call for fewer officers than we have today. It also does not reduce pay to our officers, who are doing difficult and critical jobs.
This resolution directs the city manager to bring back a baseline budget proposal in July that includes ideas for restructuring public safety funds. This includes exploring options to reallocate positions and roles currently assigned to the Austin Police Department that could be managed by other departments, such as Code Enforcement, the Austin Transportation Department, Austin Public Health, Austin Fire Department, and the Parks and Recreation Department. I encourage you to read my amendments to this item, which included additional funding to the Office of Police Oversight and the Equity Office and funding for implementation of the forthcoming reforms and recommendations for APD. I highlighted these and other amendments in my last newsletter, and they can be found in red here.
In addition to my direction, the budget proposal will also:
- Increase funding for mental health;
- Fund the distribution of Naloxone and training in its use to ensure that officers save lives when confronted with drug overdose situations;
- Fund two audits related to officer misconduct and disciplinary records;
- Fund a process to rewrite the Austin Police Department’s General Orders;
- Ensure the City is not spending much-needed funds on empty long-vacant positions by eliminating the sworn positions that the Austin Police Department cannot reasonably fill in FY2020-2021 and reallocating those unused funds to alternative public safety and public health strategies, including training and standards for trauma-informed responses, substance abuse, mental health responses, victims services counselors, human trafficking prevention, and other preventative actions and alternatives.
Council will be making decisions on the budget at the end of July and in early August. Please stay tuned for more information on how to engage with us, as we will have several opportunities to share your feedback. For now, please feel free to take the City’s official budget survey. You also may email any budget questions to Nina.Guidice@austintexas.gov.
City Council approved Item 45, an ordinance to establish a maximum speed limit of 25 miles per hour on neighborhood streets, a maximum speed limit of 25 miles per hour on downtown streets, and a maximum speed limit of 30, 35, or 40 miles per hour on urban core arterial streets. Based on a year-long comprehensive engineering study of speed limits on City roadways, the City Traffic Engineer determined that roadway speeds should be reduced to achieve safe and prudent speeds on a wide range of roadways in Austin.
The approved speed limit strategy is outlined in three parts:
- Neighborhood Streets – streets which are approximately 36 feet or less in width and have primarily front-facing residential land uses will be posted at 25 mph. Some neighborhood streets wider than 36 feet will also have reduced posted speed limits.
- Urban Core Arterials – most arterial streets within the city urban core bounded by US 183, SH 71, and Loop 1, will be posted at 35 mph or less, with a few exceptions.
- Downtown Streets – most streets within the area bounded by N. Lamar Blvd., Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, I-35, and Lady Bird Lake will be posted at 25 mph. Guadalupe St., Lavaca St., MLK Jr. Blvd., 15th St., Cesar Chavez St., and Lamar Blvd. will be posted at 30 mph.
The first speed limit changes will be phased in over the next few months with ample time for public awareness efforts to take place. An updated interactive map showing a preliminary view of the speed limit changes is now available for the public.
COVID-19 Relief Funds for Small Businesses, Childcare, and Nonprofits (Item 102 and Item 103)
Council took additional action to bring urgent and needed financial relief to childcare centers, small local businesses and non-profit organizations, building on work I championed in April.
Item 102 approves a contract with the United Way of Greater Austin to administer the Childcare Fund grant program to disburse $1,000,000 in emergency funds to childcare facilitates in need of relief as a result of COVID-19. This is a critical investment in our local economy and in the lives of Austinites, and I want to express my appreciation to United Way for agreeing to be the agent disbursing these funds. We know that quality child care provides people the freedom to join the workforce and earn the money they need to provide for their families. It’s also important for peace of mind and quality of life. When you have access to quality child care, you can rest assured that your children are in good hands, and your children can focus on the business of learning because they are in a safe place. We also know that successful re-opening efforts depend on childcare access.
Item 103 approves a contract with the Better Business Bureau to be the administrator for the Commercial Loans for Economic Assistance & Recovery (CLEAR) Fund for local small businesses and the Austin Nonprofit & Civic Health Organizations Relief (ANCHOR) fund which will provide loans, grants, and technical assistance to eligible entities. These funds will deliver millions of dollars in urgently needed financial relief to help key parts of our economy weather the economic storm of COVID. The Better Business Bureau will be a vigilant steward of these funds and ensure that the financial assistance goes to organizations that will keep our local economy stable and vibrant.
Stay tuned for future announcements on how childcare centers, small businesses and nonprofits can apply for this financial assistance.
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| | | Project Connect
On Wednesday, Austin City Council held a joint session with the CapMetro Board, where we voted unanimously to affirm City Council’s support of the Project Connect system plan. This is the first vote in a series of steps the City must take before Project Connect comes before the voters in November.
I have lived in cities around the world, and know the benefits of a robust transit system. I know that Austin is a city that stands to benefit from increased mobility and the reduction in greenhouse gases associated with transit. My vote this week was a vote in favor of the comprehensive system plan itself.
Throughout this process, I have asked questions regarding the financing of the Project Connect proposal and its governance structure, and those questions still remain. On Wednesday, we heard initial staff recommendations regarding proposed financing for the Project Connect proposal, which includes a potential transit tax referendum.
When the language of the proposed referendum comes before the City Council in August, my vote will depend on the soundness of the proposed financing plan and the transparency of the option presented to voters. At the end of the day, the decision to move forward with Project Connect belongs to the voters of Austin, and each voter must have a clear understanding of the choices before them.
To learn more about Project Connect, visit capmetro.org/projectconnect. You can view this week’s joint session presentation here. I particularly recommend the overview of the comprehensive system plan that starts at 02:14:00 in the video. |
| | | Redistricting Notice
In 2012 Austin voters approved a Charter amendment to transition from at-large Council seats to 10 city council members and a mayor. The mayor is elected by residents citywide and each council member is elected by residents of a geographic district within the city, hence 10-1. The charter amendment set up a process for an independent commission to draw the boundaries of our geographic districts. The Charter amendment also instituted a process for residents to redraw the boundaries of the council districts every ten years to ensure each of the districts continue to equitably and equally distribute Austin’s population. The boundaries of the council districts greatly impact Austin’s government and will shape how residents are represented for the next decade.
Austin residents will redraw the council district boundaries in 2021 in anticipation of the subsequent city council election. You have an opportunity to participate in that work and to serve on that independent commission. Visit redistrictatx.org to learn more about eligibility of service and how to apply or to simply get more information on how the redistricting process will work. See City Auditor Corrie Stokes' press conference here.
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| | | HUD Funding for Homelessness
In welcome good news, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced Austin will receive an additional allocation of $10,859,249 in Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) CARES Act funding to support homeless Austinites and individuals at risk of becoming homeless because of hardships such as job loss, wage reduction, or illness due to COVID-19.
The additional HUD award specifically allows the City to use these funds to:
- Operate emergency shelters by providing food, rent, security, maintenance, repair, fuel, equipment, insurance, utilities, furnishings, and supplies necessary for their operation.
- Provide Hotel/Motel Vouchers for homeless families and individuals.
- Provide essential services to people experiencing homelessness including childcare, education services, employment assistance, outpatient health services, legal services, mental health services, substance abuse treatment services, and transportation.
- Provide financial support to individuals to prevent them from becoming homeless and to rapidly rehouse homeless individuals.
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| | | Are you registered to vote? You must register by June 15th to vote in the upcoming July election! Visit votetexas.gov to check your registration status, download an application, or find information on things like address changes.
Early voting begins June 29th!
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