Austin holds town hall to hear from residents about homeless concerns

The city recently held a town hall that brought out dozens of concerned citizens.

AUSTIN, Texas - Austin City Council member Vanessa Fuentes held her very first town hall meeting last weekend, and it was nothing short of popular.

"The town hall we hosted in South Austin certainly drew quite the crowd," she said.

Her constituents were full of concerns about campsites, and questions about where we are in the Prop B enforcement process.

"When the city released a list of potential locations throughout the city that are being considered for sanctioned encampment sites, it caused quite the stir. Many showed up with questions about those potential sanctioned encampment sites," said Fuentes.

Homeless 'camping ban protest encampment' targeted for cleanup

Austin Police arrest individuals after they interfered with a homeless cleanup operation because of a construction project occurring in that area.

On May 1, Austin voters approved Proposition B, reinstating the city-wide camping ban and the city manager was directed to come up with sanctioned campsites. Some of the feedback wasn't great.

"Virtually all the feedback we got about that particular was that the sites were not appropriate," said councilmember Kathie Tovo, district 9.

Tovo said the concerns were there because some of the sites were just not suitable. "A lot of those parks were actively used public spaces, so those are not going to be ideal," she said.

Now the Austin Police Department is in phase two of their enforcement...meaning they can now issue written warnings. This comes after a month of educating people on the new ordinance.

Residents group names ABIA Hilton as better site for city homeless

In pitching the Hilton at ABIA, its argued the site could help more people. It has more rooms. It has a larger commercial kitchen, is closer to public transportation and support services; like a nearby substance-abuse program.

"We were joined by Officer Davis who is the architect of the phased implementation of the reinstatement and he was able to talk through the reason why it has to have that built-in education period," said Fuentes.

On July 11, the city officially moves into phase three for enforcement. "The real challenge is that there is not a very good list of places for people to go," said Tovo.

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