AUSTIN (Talk1370.com) -- Roughly a week after city staff identified two potential locations for temporary sanctioned encampments for individuals experiencing homelessness, two Austin City Council members are calling on their colleagues to hit pause on the process.
Mayor Pro-Tem and District 1 council member Natasha Harper-Madison and District 8 council member Paige Ellis released a joint statement Tuesday afternoon asking the council to table the discussion.
"We are not convinced that these sites would be a cost-effective solution, but rather a band-aid tactic when we need to be supporting the long-term strategy to get folks off the street permanently," the statement reads. "It is our responsibility to look at the situation holistically and objectively, and to spend our city’s limited resources on solutions we know can work."
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The two sites that have been identified include a former airport car lot located on Manor Road between Pershing Drive and Greenwood Avenue in East Austin, and another along Convict Hill Road between Mopac and Brodie Lane in southwest Austin.
During Tuesday's council work session, Homeless Strategy Officer Dianna Gray and Parks and Recreation Department Director Kimberley McNeeley briefed council members about the two properties.
Harper-Madison and Ellis say the path forward should focus on "real and urgent solutions" focused on long-term results. "This year through the American Rescue Plan and our upcoming city budget, we are making historic investments to combat homelessness -- let’s put those dollars to good use by spending them wisely on getting folks the services they need and into permanent housing," the statement continues. "We both have a long track record of advocating for abundant affordable housing, and for practical and humane pathways to housing for those living without it. Let’s table the idea of encampments and stay the course on executing already-identified and proven solutions.”
If the city moves forward with the plan for the encampment sites, the annual cost to run the two sites could reach a total of $3 million.
Council members are expected to discuss the issue again during Thursday's meeting.