Item 6: Draft Recommendation — original pdf

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BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION Downtown Commission Recommendation Number: ___________________: Homelessness, Behavioral Health & Public Order WHEREAS the unhoused population in Downtown Austin is estimated to account for up to 13% of Austin’s unhoused population, and when you add the area north of Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd. to 38th Street central Austin the unhoused population there accounts for approximately 38% of the unhoused population in the City; and WHEREAS the Downtown Commission is charged with stewarding the Downtown Austin Plan (DAP) which makes addressing homelessness, behavioral health, and public order a major priority; and WHEREAS a goal of the in-progress Central City District Plan (which is intended as an update and expansion of the DAP) is to advance coordinated strategies to address homelessness, behavioral health, and public order; and WHEREAS the many organizations are working to address homelessness in Downtown; and WHEREAS in the past, according to Carrie Rogers, Austin’s Legislative Director, and as reported in The Texas Tribune: “organizations serving the population were often operating in silos with little coordination, making it harder to connect people experiencing mental health crises with the care they needed”; and WHEREAS No Wrong Doors, made up of 17 partner organizations, is beginning to facilitate the needed coordination amongst partner organizations; and WHEREAS one of those organizations, the Downtown Austin Alliance (the “DAA”) has as one of its top interconnected priorities, reducing unsheltered homelessness in downtown, improving public safety, and increasing access to behavioral health resources; and WHEREAS the DAA has recently had its Board of Directors approve a statement: Homelessness, Behavioral Health & Public Order (the “DAA Statement”); and WHEREAS the DTC, after carefully reviewing the DAA Statement, is in full agreement with its stated Positions on downtown homelessness; and NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Downtown Commission fully supports the DAA Statement, adopts the DAA Statement’s Positions as restated below, and recommends and urges the Austin City Council to take all actions necessary to implement the recommendations stated below: Position Statement 1: The Downtown Commission supports sustained investment in emergency shelter capacity, permanent supportive housing, and diversion programs that move people from downtown streets into stable housing and care. Position Statement 2: The Downtown Commission supports expanding funding for psychiatric crisis care beds, stepdown beds, and long-term care. Position Statement 3: The Downtown Commission supports expanding involuntary commitment authority to psychiatrists, physicians and their delegates. Position Statement 4: The Downtown Commission requests the Austin Police Department increase and maintain Downtown Area Command (DTAC) staffing to a minimum of 90% of approved level. Position Statement 5: The Downtown Commission requests stronger enforcement of City of Austin’s panhandling ordinance (9-4-13) and sit/lie ordinance (9-4-14). Finally, the DTC would like to thank the DAA for developing and issuing this Statement, and the DTC recognizes the important work that the DAA organization and the No Wrong Doors partnership, and many others are doing in addressing these important issues that are critical to the health, vibrancy, and safety of downtown. Date of Approval: __________________, 2026 Record of the vote: For: Against: Absent: