Austin City Council Votes to Buy Hotel to House Homeless
Last week, I wrote a piece about Governor Greg Abbott threatening to take state action if the City of Austin did not reinstate a ban on homeless camping.
In the article, I suggested the Governor provide an alternate place for the homeless community in Austin and resources to give the homeless substantive help so they can get back into society if he doesn't want them camped out around the city.
Well, someone in Austin read that article and took action!
Haha, I'm sure they didn't, but the fact that the Austin City Counctil took action and voted on an effort to provide a new shelter and resources for the homeless population in Austin is a great thing.
This week, the Austin City Council voted in favor of buying a hotel and turning it into a housing center for the city's homeless with job help, health care, and mental health services.
They're also considering buying more hotels for the same purpose.
According to CBS Austin, city councilwoman Mackenzie Kelly requested the council delay the next vote until next week to obtain more hotels in Austin because she wants community input.
However, not everyone is happy with the idea.
Northwest Austin community leaders and businesses owners are concerned about what kinds of activity will occur in their neighborhood being that there are schools in the area.
Reports of the homeless sleeping in bushes and throwing beer at people are among the complaints received.
The City Council is expected to vote on the purchase of more hotels in the area on Thursday.
What do you think about the idea of repurposing old lodgings to help the homeless? Do you think city leaders here in the Killeen-Temple area should consider doing something similar?
A report from KVUE from late last year gives you an idea of the battle that's been raging between Governor Abbott and city officials in Austin.