Austin City Council to hear resolution to make Rainey Street safer

Council member Zo Qadri will present his resolution to make Rainey Street safer at this Thursday's meeting. This comes after the recent deaths of Jason John and Jon Honey, whose bodies were discovered in Lady Bird Lake near the bar district.

AUSTIN, Texas - At this week’s Austin City Council meeting, council member Zo Qadri will present his resolution to make Rainey Street safer.

This comes after the deaths of Jason John and Jon Honey. Honey’s body, which was recovered last week, was the second to be found in Lady Bird Lake in less than two months.

No foul play suspected in recent Lady Bird Lake deaths, police say

Austin police are still looking into exactly how Jonathan Honey died. He is the second person whose body was found, under similar circumstances, in the past two months, and one of several cases like this in recent years.

"Our resolution asked the city manager to look into, and then, you know, as you know, mention having more, I guess, troops on the ground in terms of park rangers and where EMS can come in and kind of work with them, I think is really important," said council member Zo Qadri.

Loved ones have been demanding for years for the city to make a more permanent change.

"We want this to be something that changes Austin," said Rinju John, brother of Jason John.

Qadri is working on getting more HALO cameras installed and is working with the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission on a plan to try and prevent people from being over-served at bars.

"Anyone after a long week should be able to go down to, you know, Sixth Street, to Rainey Street and get a drink and catch up with friends," said Qadri. "And that worry of that night ending in tragedy shouldn't be something that that should be a worry."

The Austin City Council will take up the resolution this Thursday.