AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- The candidates vying for two seats on Austin's City Council faced off in two virtual forums Monday night.
Early voting for the December 15 runoff elections for Austin City Council District 6 and District 10 begins Thursday. The City of Austin, along with the League of Women Voters of the Austin Area, held virtual forums Monday to give voters an opportunity to hear from the candidates.
In District 6, which covers the northwestern portion of Austin including the portion that stretches into Williamson County, incumbent Jimmy Flannigan is facing off against Mackenzie Kelly. The race in District 10, which covers West Austin, features incumbent Alison Alter facing off against challenger Jennifer Virden.
Many of the questions in both forums centered on the pandemic and the city's response, the homelessness challenges facing the city, and the city's efforts to "reimagine" the Austin Police Department.
When asked about more Austinites potentially facing homelessness as the pandemic drags on and related financial support programs come to an end, Flannigan cited his work on the council during the pandemic but said it ultimately needs state and federal support. "Ultimately the primary challenge is how do you pay for it," Flannigan said. "I am excited to see the Biden administration come into the federal process. We'll finally have at least a minimally functional federal government, and I hope that as they have assured that there will be more stimulus and more funding coming from the federal government in order to stand up and continue these successful programs that we have created."
Kelly said she's spoken with a number of constituents who don't feel the city has done a good job of promoting how to access the COVID relief programs that have been made available. "There are a lot of people I've talked to throughout our district who don't even know about these programs," Kelly said.
On the homelessness crisis, Flannigan said the city's plan is in progress, albeit delayed by the pandemic. "Simply, banning camping does not solve homelessness. All it does is move these humans, these neighbors back into the shadows where we saw increased levels of crime against these folks when they’ve committed no other crime, and it’s been epically damaging for women experiencing homelessness," Flannigan said. "It is not something anybody is happy with, certainly not myself."
Kelly has called for reinstating the city's homeless camping ban. "We are not going to re-criminalize homelessness, we need to give them a specific location to go to, where they can have their needs addressed and we can work to lift them out of that situation," Kelly said. On the city's purchases of hotels to help provide housing for individuals experiencing homelessness, "I've not seen any statistics or data from the city showing that purchasing hotels for millions of dollars over what their cost is projected to be will actually help end homelessness," Kelly said. "We need to actually go inside and have more public-private partnerships where we can help lift these individuals out of homelessness."
In the District 10 forum, the candidates were asked what actions they would take to directly address makeshift campsites that have sprung up across the city.
Alter highlighted that she voted against repealing the camping ban in June 2019, fearing it would bring "very predictable consequences." Alter said that without a majority on the council willing to revisit the ban, her efforts have been focused on managing public spaces, improving sanitation resources, and building the strategy to help move those experiencing homelessness to transitional housing. "I agree completely that this is an area that we need to re-think and re-focus on," Alter said.
Virden called for reinstating the camping ban, and a focus on public-private partnerships to help those experiencing homelessness. "Austin, at the moment, is the only city in Texas and in fact the only city in the southern United States that allows public camping," Virden said. "We do not have to re-invent the wheel to care for the homeless. We have existing models of care that are proven to work."
You can watch recordings of the forums online at the ATXN website - District 6 and District 10.
