Councilmember Jimmy Flanagan is working to clear the air surrounding councils work on the city’s sit and lie and panhandling ordinances.
He writes in a post, they are clarifying the rules to help the Austin Police Department combat actions that threaten public safety and health. The Red River Cultural District’s executive director Cody Cowan said they could get behind that kind of change if what shows up in council resembles what Flanigan is describing in his post “Working to End Homelessness.”
Cowan said was initially caught off guard when the reports about the proposed changes started popping up, however after reading through council statements about the issue, his fears are starting to subside. “I’m feeling more optimistic than I was two weeks ago. When I was frantically trying to reach councilmembers and city staff just to understand, what does this all mean.”
Cowan said council could make it easier for him and others on Red River to support the change if in conjunction they also include quantity of life policies and have funding paths for more homeless shelters.
Council is set to take up the contravercial Homeless ordinances, this Thursday. Cowan hopes more people will comes at this issue with a cool and level head and that the city will get a code that’ll protect the homeless and other Austinites from aggressive and criminal behavior.
You can read Councilmember Jimmy Flanigan’s post clicking here.
(Photo:Shutterstock/Philip Arno)
