On this week’s National Podcast of Texas, the mayor weighs in on sparring with Governor Abbott. Plus, his takes on mayors Bloomberg and Buttigieg.
Homelessness
As part of his campaign against Austin’s homelessness rules, Greg Abbott tweeted an old video of a non-homeless man having a mental health episode. His attorney says the governor is “retraumatizing” the man and his family.
Austin’s legalization of camping and sidewalk sleeping has stirred a backlash that obscures the progress some Texas cities have made in steering the homeless off the streets.
Austin-bashing is as old as the hills, but things have gotten a little out of hand.
Activist and author Joan M. Cheever has been taking her food truck out to feed hungry people for a decade, and now she faces a hefty fine.
A lot of outcry on the Internet, including a Change.org petition, suggests that ticketing people for giving money to those in need might not be a PR victory.
Apparently a trip to Goodwill to buy a summer blazer is all it takes to get treated like a human being.
Is there anything she can't do?
The controversial marketing and charity campaign caught the attention of the Daily Show host, who said it used “vulnerable members of society as objects.”
Front Steps' Mitchell Gibbs says that the controversial SXSW marketing and charity campaign raised homelessness awareness.
Panhandling, digging through dumpsters for food, roaming the streets near the University of Texas campus: This is the life of Austin’s “gutter punks,” homeless kids with little money and even less hope.
