Council orders review of extreme weather shelter policy

In the wake of Austin’s ice storm and corresponding power outages, the city has decided to reconsider how it runs its extreme weather shelters in order to ensure more of the community, particularly people experiencing homelessness, are able to access them in case of disaster.

City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly sponsored the resolution, which passed at Thursday’s meeting. It directs the city manager to take a second look at the city’s process for extreme weather events and shelter activation criteria and processes, in particular barriers keeping the unhoused and other vulnerable communities away.

“As many of you know, extreme weather shelters are critical components of our community’s response to natural disasters and extreme weather events,” Kelly said. “Shelters provide safe and secure places for individuals and families to take refuge from harsh conditions, including high winds, heavy rain and extreme temperatures. It’s our responsibility to ensure that we do everything we can to keep our community safe.”

The resolution directs the manager to find ways to alleviate those barriers, including earlier activation of the shelters, partnering with community advocates and expanding registration hours and locations, and pausing encampment cleanups until shelters are deactivated.

Amendments from Council Member José Velásquez directed the manager to provide recommendations on how best to accommodate on-site and remote shelter registration, how to implement a waiver of the shelter registration requirement in the case of a disaster declaration from the city or Travis County, and added assessments for people experiencing homelessness.

“We’re offering this amendment because we want to make sure that we’re putting a focus on equity, safety and compassion when we’re having these extreme weather incidents,” Velásquez said. “And that we’re removing the barriers for people to be able to get registered so that folks have an easier time about it.”

A city auditor’s report presented to Council’s Audit and Finance Committee in December found that the city has not kept up with its cold weather shelter planning or consistently followed its own rules about opening shelters. The result, according to the report, was that “many have suffered from freezing and subfreezing temperatures.”

The auditor found that the city had not applied the operational lessons it learned during the Covid-19 pandemic to its extreme weather shelters. The report found the city’s plans don’t say what should happen in the event of power outages or during times of prolonged need. Instead, the city has struggled to train the staff it sends to overnight shelters and those employees may or may not be able to meet residents’ needs.

The resolution asks the city manager to report back by June 15 with proposals. That timeline could potentially be complicated by the uncertainty surrounding City Manager Spencer Cronk’s job. Council members sharply criticized his performance leading up to Thursday’s meeting and held a closed-door session to discuss his future.

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