Austin prop B

I just ran across this, so it's too late for me to do anything about it. Later today, Austin will have a special election to vote on a thing called "Prop B." It's been about 2 years since the Austin city council rolled back rules about the homeless. Those rolled-back rules criminalized things like camping, panhandling, sitting or lying down on public sidewalks, and sleeping outdoors.

“The only way you go to jail is if you cannot pay the citation,” said Matt Mackowiak, co-founder of the Save Austin Now Pac, the proposition’s chief advocacy group. “If you are going to camp, the police are going to come up to you and they’re going to say, ‘Camping has now been banned in our city. You have to move.’”

I want to use language which Mal has somehow learned is inoffensive. If you can afford to pay that citation, you probably aren't homeless. Odds are, if you're camping out underneath a bridge, you probably didn't have a lot of alternatives.

Mackowiak described Prop B as a last-ditch effort to save Austin from becoming a failed city, and he said he wants to be part of the solution for unhomed residents after his campaign wins.

I'm not sure what the term "a failed city" means. Is this one where poor people have an opportunity to scrape by? Is it one that would be bursting at the seams, if it weren't for all the poor people who are managing to scrape by in tents under overpasses? Maybe he means "a place that used to be the coolest on the planet, but turned completely lame because it's only for rich people." That would fit with Austin's reality. But doesnt fit with his claim that he wants to be part of the solution. I think I'm going to just say that he's a liar who could not care less about the people who are living on the streets. "Unhomed residents" are people. They need your help. More than that, they need your recognition. Simple acknowledgment. The basic recognition that you are another valuable human being who is worthy of love. That isn't hard to do. Allowing people to pitch tents under bridges is even easier. They aren't camping there because it's a great place to live.