At a special session on Austin's Land Use Code Revision, Central Texas Interfaith leaders called attention to real-time displacement happening in Northeast Austin and potential revisions in the land use code to prevent the displacement of hundreds of mobile home residents and precariously housed low-income families.  Congregational leaders stood with mobile home park residents facing eviction as they delivered testimony in support of interventions to better protect residents. 

In reference to gentrification and the displacement of low-income and people of color from Austin, CTI leader David Guarino "kicked off what would be a full day of public testimony with what he called the 'profound question.'

'Is the Austin we’re becoming truly the city we want to be?'”

Testimony by him and Francisco Martinez of Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic called on the City of Austin to do better. 

Testimony by David Guarino, All Saints Episcopal [video]

Testimony by Francisco Martinez, Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic [video]

Hundreds of Austinites Show Up at City Hall to Tell City Council How They Feel About Proposed Overhaul of City's Land Use Rules, Community Impact [pdf] 

Hundreds Attend Austin City Hall Meeting to Voice Their Opinions About the Land Development Code, KVUE 

Austin City Council Holds Special Public Hearing on Proposed Changes to Land Development Code, KXAN

Rev. John Elford, senior pastor at University United Methodist, and David Guarino of All Saints Episcopal point out how state action impacts homelessness in Austin.

[Excerpt below]

....Austin is at a critical moment in our fight to end homelessness. Recent attempts to revise the city’s old ordinances, which effectively criminalized everyday activities, brought people experiencing homelessness out of the shadows. It was hard to miss that our neighbors were suffering.

The response of the governor was to order the dismantling of encampments under state highways and provide a vacant lot off U.S. 183 as an alternative campground, far from the city’s social service and transportation hubs. As a result, many of our unhoused neighbors have been forced back to the woods, out of sight.

For years, state leaders have systematically disinvested in Texas’ public sector, exacerbating this problem. They have failed to make adequate provisions for affordable housing, social services, mental health and health care, and workforce development, pushing these costs to local governments. At the same time, these Texas leaders have limited the ability of cities to pick up the tab. They have contributed to the problem of homelessness and branded those who are suffering as criminal and disease-ridden.

The problem stretches further up the income spectrum. In one of our congregations, mobile home residents east of U.S. 183 are being pushed out by an owner who simply wants a higher rate of return. The tenants have been kicked to the curb, their last affordable housing options in Austin gone.

There is broad agreement that the real answer to people living on our streets is not relocating our neighbors, but creating sustainable housing....

[Photo Credit: Jay Janner, Austin American Statesman]

Commentary: This Holiday, Let's Focus on Hope for Homeless, Austin American Statesman [pdf]

After a successful 32-year history of organizing, 320 leaders from Bastrop, Comal, Hays, Travis, McLennan (Waco) and Williamson counties officially renamed and re-founded itself as Central Texas Interfaith (CTI). Leaders from 8 geographic clusters launched local organizing strategies that have extended the reach of Central Texas Interfaith into a 10-county region heading into the 2020 elections.

Leaders told gripping stories about responding to homelessness and mobile home displacement, caring for aging parents, confronting racial discrimination in traffic stops and checkpoints, winning local fights around bridges and park cleanup and the success of the IAF 'Recognizing the Stranger' immigration strategy. Delegates affirmed an agenda of issues informed by these stories and committed to signing up 50,000 voters to support that agenda across all 10 counties.

Delegates also committed to raising $250,000 to support a robust, nonpartisan accountability and Get Out The Vote strategy in 2020.