House The Homeless, Inc. P.O. Box 2312 Austin, Texas 78768-2312 (512) 796-4366     Recent Update on the "No Camping Ordinance" May 2000 The following comprises my comments to the Austin City Council following Judge Coronado's finding that a portion of our "NO CAMPING" Ordinance is UNCONSTITUTIONAL: Greetings: My name is Richard Troxell. I am President of House the Homeless, Inc. Our organization is comprised of volunteers of homeless and formerly homeless citizens and those that would end homelessness in our life time.   On Tuesday, May 16, 2000, Travis County Magistrate, the Honorable Jim Coronado, in the 299th Judicial District Court of Travis County, issued a FINAL RULING in the "No Camping/Homeless Ordinance" trial. The judge ruled that the portion of the ordinance that turned the poorest of our citizens into "criminal sleepers" was unconstitutional. The judge wrote, "The Petitioners have shown on behalf of their 'CLASS OF HOMELESS' that the portion which relates to sleeping in public, or making preparations to sleep, including the laying down of bedding in a public place is a violation of due process. And, it is so vague as to promote discriminatory enforcement as it fails to provide any standard for an officer to discern whether one is camping in public, (or) taking an innocent nap in a public place."   AUSTIN's NO CAMPING ORDINANCE ....and the effect that it has on the indigent homeless population of Austin   This article on the "No Camping Ordinance" was written by Richard Troxell and appeared in the Austin American Statesman June 28th, 1997. We must stop abusing our homeless citizens with the "No Camping" Homeless Ordinance now. However, we must continue to create the means to help them achieve self-sufficiency. House The Homeless has been pressing for a Homeless Day/Night Resource Center since 1989. In response in 1993, the City Council set aside various buildings at the Bergstrom for a homeless health care/job training program. The City/County hired a consultant who was paid tens of thousands of dollars to say that among the buildings, the base hospital that had taken care of thousands of veterans, "wasn't good enough" for the homeless population. Out of frustration the Austin business community then pressed for the "No Camping" Ordinance. The Austin City Council responded by passing a law that turned the homeless into "criminal sleepers". People are arrested, made to waste "time" in jail and returned to the streets only to be rearrested with no jobs and no housing. The benefit to this jail mill? In the first year alone, close to $200,000 has been spent on processing "criminal sleepers". Additionally, the pressure and the costs to the court system have also been enormous as these victims continue to seek jury trials. Futhermore, the ban has cost Austin well over 2000 misspent police hours. Some people argue that if we build a comprehensive campus of services Austin will become a magnet for the homeless elsewhere. This has not happened in the other cities that have taken this approach such as Orlando, Florida. And pragmatic approaches such as establishing a waiting list starting with our own local citizens will ensure that this doesn't occur. Others argue that the "No Camping" Ordinance is justified that Austin's homeless population is on the streets because they want to be there. Surveys, studies and interviews have shown this to be false. It's been documented that thousands of homeless persons are denied help each year due to a lack of services. Until we offer all the services necessary to help these people achieve self-sufficiency without any gaps in the Continuum of Care we will not know for sure who among them will and who will not accept our offer of help. We therefore should not go on punishing all of them with the "No Camping" Ordinance. House The Homeless has shown that the average visibly homeless person has lived in Austin for over 7.5 years/ pays state sales tax/ and has contributed measurably to the Austin economy. They are mostly workers who came here during our boom, suffered during our bust and continue to provide their labor at cut throat wages. The "No Camping" Ordinance is punitive in nature and is being selectively enforced. Students sleeping outside while waiting to get concert tickets without worry of being arrested. Recreationers at Barton Springs and travelers in our airport and bus stations also sleep without worry of being arrested. This is obviously a crime of economic status. Finally, the Resource Center, requiring up to 3.5 acres and now receiving city wide support, must and will be built. Other cities that have built theirs in the fringe of their downtown areas where people easily congregate. In Austin, it must be built in the most appropriate part of the City without undue pressure on site selection but with full community involvement. It needs to be built so opportunities not previously available can occur. On the other hand, the "No Camping" Ordinance has in the words of the police officer in charge of seeing to its enforcement, "only driven people deeper into the woods", and should be repealed. It has been identified as unconstitutional and just a bad law. It needs to be repealed now regardless of the additional yet separate need to build the Resource Center. We say, "Repeal the No Camping" Homeless Ordinance now and continue to build the Resource Center offering shelter, job training and health care for all of our citizens. Since this article was written in 1997 the "No Camping Ordinance" has yet to be repealed. Also, since then there have been an additional wasted 1700 police hours for a total of 3700 hours.... and those homeless individuals who have been ticketed/arrested, to the best of our knowledge, have yet to be granted a jury trial. This in itself is unconstitutional because these individuals are being denied due process under the Fourth and Fifth Amendments of the Bill of Rights. The municipal judges that hear these cases are appointed by the Austin City Council. In December 2003 a jury of six women took 12 minutes to find Joel Rhodes "not guilty" of camping in Republic Park.  Mr. Rhodes had been issued a ticket for camping when a police officer had erroneously cited him in violation of the ordinance for storing his belongings.  The jurors when polled stated that they found the ordinance to be so poorly written as to be untenable.  This is the same basic finding as of Magistrate Jim Coronado as reflected in his ruling in the year 2000 when he struck "sleeping and the laying down of items for the purpose of sleeping" as actions that could not be criminalized.  He found the ordinance to be so poorly worded as to lend itself to abuse by anyone enforcing the ordinance.  So please contact the Austin City Mayor and any Council Member to let them know that you feel that the "No Camping Ordinance" is unconstitutional and should be repealed. THE CITY OF AUSTIN'S "NO CAMPING ORDINANCE"   . 10-1-13 CAMPING IN PUBLIC AREAS 1. A. Except in designated areas, it shall be unlawful for any person to camp in a public area. B. As used herein, the term public area shall mean an outdoor area to which the public has access and includes, but is not limited to, streets, highways, parks, parking lots, alleyways, pedestrian ways, and the common areas of schools, hospitals, apartment houses, office buildings, transport facilities and shops. C. For the purpose of this section, the term CAMP means to use the public area for living accomodation purposes such as, but not limited to, the following: 1. Sleeping, or making preparations to sleep, including the lying down of bedding for the purpose of sleeping; 2. Storing personal belongings; 3. Making any fire; 4. Using any tents or shelter or other structure or vehicle for sleeping; 5. Carrying on any cooking activities; or 6. Doing any digging or earth breaking. 2. The activities listed in division (C) of this section shall constitute camping when it reasonably appears, in light of all circumstances, that the participants, in conducting these activities, are in fact using the area for living accommodation purposes regardless of the intent of the participants or the nature of any other activities in which they may be engaging. It shall be an affirmative defense to prosecution that a person is the person who owns the property or has secured the permission of the property owner to camp in a public area. PROPOSED CITY OF AUSTIN PROCEDURE REGARDING THE "NO CAMPING" ORDINANCE   1. Establishes Standardized Police Protocol for dealing with homeless citizens: 2. Requires Police sensitivity training on homeless issues (Academy and In-Service) 3. Requires police officers, upon observing, but prior to approaching a person suspected of violating the "No Camping" Ordinance, to call the Salvation Army or other emergency shelter facility and determine that there is a specific bed available for that particular individual. Inability to identify a specific available bed will result in no interaction involving COA Police Officers and Austin's citizenry with regard to the "No Camping" Ordinance. 4. Establishes that a person can only be warned to stop "life sustaining" activities such as found in the "No Camping" Ordinance if there are emergency shelter beds available. 5. Requires the COA Police Department to maintain a separate log of all inquires (time and place) made to establish bed availability. 6. Requires COA Police Department to escort or direct the individual to the facility upon locating an available bed. 7. Requires that in the event that existing warrants or other circumstances result in an arrest of an individual; all personal belongings will be protected, preserved and returned to the individual upon release. A single point of contact and a COA police officer will be made responsible for all protected property items. The arrested individual will be given a comprehensive inventoried list of belongings taken and held and will be provided in writing the contact name, phone number, and procedure for the return of said belongings. Claim forms for damaged or missing items will also be provided at the time the inventory list is provided. 8. Requires that documents appear in both English and Spanish. 9. Establishes a 3 person advisory oversight committee consisting of a city official, an ACLU attorney and a Representative from the Austin Area Homeless Coalition to ensure appropriate implementation of these agreed upon procedures. Revised: 9/21/99 Contact Richard Troxell--President House The Homeless,Inc.