"Austin, Texas, is routinely cited as one of the best cities in America to live.
Er, that's not going to last — not if its homeless camping policy continues.
To recap: On June 20 the Austin City Council repealed ordinances prohibiting homeless camping around town.
...The policy went into effect in a political blink on July 1.
That very day, tent cities began popping up all over town.
Those tent cities grew...
But what if "failure" is the point?
Since my last article on this subject, a theory to explain the policy change has swept across Austin...
Back to the theory.
Mayor Steve Adler wants to expand the convention center, and wants to pass bonds (debt) to pay for it. He also wants to spend a bazillion dollars on pet social projects including for the homeless. The convention center is popular with the business set.
The social spending, not so much.
That's usually money thrown down a hole, or into liberal groups and slush funds.
So the theory is he wants to bundle the convention center spending in with the homeless spending, and he's using the horrible homeless camping policy to inflict enough pain on the city to create space for him to attach them so they both get both passed.
The theory has a lot of moving parts.
...He pleaded for a $30 million annual homeless budget, and a permanent "homelessness czar," to work on homelessness.
Such a staggering sum would never have passed had homelessness not become such a raw nerve issue as it has since July 1.
Such a staggering sum would never have passed had homelessness not become such a raw nerve issue as it has since July 1.
It is the issue in Austin right now..."
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