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Quote of the Day
Our dream for the Austin Monitor was to serve the community with unique and impactful reporting that informed and engaged you and your neighbors. The mission was always bigger than a name. The Austin Current will take the baton and become an essential civic resource that closes information gaps, builds trust through collaboration and provides timely and relevant coverage that matters to Austinites.
— A new era: Austin Monitor to become the Austin Current
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Parks Board wrestles with proposed criteria for ‘legacy’ concessions
From Amy Smith:
How many years should it take for a concession in city parks to gain legacy status? City staff are proposing 30 years, but some Parks and Recreation Board members say that number is too high.
After deliberating whether to recommend lowering the threshold, the board ultimately voted to ask City Council to weigh how women and minority-owned businesses might factor into the legacy designation.
The new designation is part of a package of proposed revisions to the Parks and Recreation Department’s concession guidelines, which have not been updated since 1998.
A new era: Austin Monitor to become the Austin Current
From Joel Gross:
The Austin Current is a bold, new local newsroom built to keep pace with Austin’s explosive growth. Our mission is simple: deliver journalism that is innovative in approach, uncompromising in standards and deeply connected to the needs of our community.
The Current builds on the strong foundation established by the Monitor. With roots that stretch back to the mid-90’s, we have been formally publishing as a nonprofit since 2013, and the Austin Monitor’s in-depth local government reporting has become a staple for the community. That same approach to coverage and unwavering commitment to serving the community will continue through the Austin Current.
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Downtown task force to target homelessness
The new Downtown Homelessness Task Force will have a compressed schedule in order to deliver recommendations by December on how to address a homeless population that city staff characterized as “stuck” between 450 and 550 people without housing. The task force is charged with addressing two persistent challenges: slowing the inflow of people becoming unsheltered downtown and creating more effective pathways into shelter, housing or diversion programs
Following a presentation to City’ Council’s Public Health Committee, Council members raised concerns about whether the strategies will simply disperse people into other parts of the city rather than reduce homelessness overall. Questions focused on shelter and housing capacity, which members noted is already near full. Homeless Strategy Office Director David Gray pointed to possible short-term adjustments, such as rethinking the use of bridge shelters for hospital or jail discharges, while longer-term capital investments add system capacity.
Several members pressed on regional responsibility, citing reports of neighboring jurisdictions directing residents to Austin for services. Gray said the city is beginning to collect data and open conversations with those jurisdictions that could lead to either contributions into Austin’s system, or support for developing their own resources locally.
— Chad Swiatecki
Committee digs programming for unhoused Austinites
City’ Council’s Public Health Committee members have expressed enthusiasm for new early-stage prevention and diversion programs that appear to be producing measurable results in homelessness prevention. These approaches, which include assistance in finding housing and covering some housing costs, are intended to keep people housed or quickly rehouse them before they become long-term users of the shelter system
Homeless Strategy Office Director David Gray highlighted the Wayfinder program, run by Sunrise Homeless Navigation Center, which has already rehoused nearly 1,000 people this year at a relatively low cost, with 94 percent remaining stably housed. Council members noted that the program has become a “victim of its own success,” with funds exhausted early each month due to demand and contemplated what expanded funding could accomplish. (The Sunrise discussion didn’t address the upcoming decision to relocate the center away from its current South Austin location. The city is exploring moving Sunrise to a proposed new location off I‑35 near East Oltorf St. That proposal has caused neighborhood pushback over safety, and debate over how the new site could fit with nearby transportation and shelter networks.)
The Housing Connector program, which recruits landlords and manages a stabilization fund, was also identified as a key contributor by opening thousands of multifamily units to at-risk tenants. Members asked why prevention strategies had not been prioritized earlier by the city. Gray pointed to a pandemic focus on medically vulnerable populations and the influx of federal dollars tied to rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing to address chronic homelessness. With those dollars nearly exhausted, he said, the city is now rebalancing its strategies, with diversion and prevention seen as a more effective use of city dollars.
— Chad Swiatecki
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Elsewhere in the News
KUT has the information about the schools currently set to close in Austin next fall.
The proposal for a new housing navigation center on East Oltorf has some Travis Heights residents up in arms in advance of this Thursday’s City Council vote.
City leaders double down on a plan to return grass carp to Lake Austin after a spike in hydrilla.
The Austin Chronicle has their take on Council’s recent decision on a new animal services policy and whether it will help calm conflict around animal abortions.
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