AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Save Austin Now said Monday that it has submitted more than 25,600 signed, validated petitions to the Austin City Clerk's office, putting an ordinance that would force the city to increase police staffing one step closer to November's ballot.
The clerk's office must now validate the petition, after which point the Austin City Council can either adopt the proposed ordinance immediately or call an election on November 2 to put it before voters.
"To everyone who has supported this effort by signing our petition, collecting signed petitions, volunteering, donating, and sharing our content, we are deeply grateful," said Save Austin Now co-founders Matt Mackowiak and Cleo Petricek in a statement. "Austin has never been less safe than it is today and the police staffing crisis continues to worsen. In just 107 days, Austin will become the first major city to overturn defund the police through a citizen vote. Our city supports law enforcement, even if City Hall does not. Our message to Steve Adler and Greg Casar is this: November is coming.”
The proposed ordinance would require the City of Austin to staff a minimum of 2 police officers per 1,000 population, double police training hours each year, and institute efforts to boost minority hiring, community policing, and retention bonuses.
In addition to the Save Austin Now PAC, several other community organizations have joined in support of the proposal, including SafeHorns, the Austin Police Association, the Texas Police Association, the Combined Law Enforcement Associations of Texas, the Austin Police Retired Officers Association, and the Texas Municipal Police Association.
Council Member Greg Casar called the petition "right-wing" in a post on Twitter. A number of local groups are also voicing their opposition to the petition effort, including the ACLU of Texas, AFSCME Local 1624, Austin Area Urban League, Austin Community Law Center, Austin Justice Coalition, Black Lives Matter Austin, CAIR Austin, Grassroots Law Project, Ground Game Texas, Indivisible Austin, Indivisible Rosedale Huddle, Just Liberty, MEASURE, Planning Our Communities, Statewide Leadership Council, Survivor Justice Project, Texas Appleseed, Texas Civil Rights Project, Texas Criminal Justice Coalition, Texas Harm Reduction Alliance, Texas Fair Defense Project, Texas Freedom Network, Texas Women’s Coalition, Travis County Democratic Party and the Workers Defense Action Fund.