Quality of life requires feeling safe. I want to create a safe city based on respectful, diligent, and streamlined collaboration with Austin Police and Fire, EMS, first responders, code enforcement, Homeless Strategy Office, mental health providers, animal services, residents, and business owners. 

 

I have consistently heard from public safety officials, homeless service providers, business owners, and residents that homeless encampments and repeat offenders are top public safety concerns. 

For homeless encampments, I support the continued clean-up of camps with the expectation that the clean-ups are done with respect for people and their belongings and with diligence to connect the individuals and their loved ones with housing, social, and medical services. I support the creation of authorized sites with support (e.g., tents,  microhomes,, restrooms, food access, transportation services, mobile clinics) on city or county properties to provide a safe landing area until shelter space or permanent supportive housing can be found. I also support a pilot of incentivizing homeowners, businesses, and non-profits choosing to add a microhome to their land to temporarily home homeless individuals without mental health issues. For temporary needs, I’m open to a version of San Antonio’s “Haven for Hope” opening in Austin. 

I do not support the opening of the homeless navigation center on IH-35 in south District 9. I have and will continue to advocate for stopping that project, by either selling or leasing the property or using the property for other city uses, and by creating and implementing a more comprehensive “end homelessness” program.  

 

The city’s current homeless plan needs a rewrite and more data: we need to identify the different populations/reasons/sources for homelessness and tailor the solutions to each.

For repeat offenders, I’ve been monitoring data on repeat offenders and it is very concerning: because of the lack of prosecution or involuntary psychiatric stays, many offenders escalate their behavior from troubling trespassing, indecent exposure, public drug use, and property crimes to assaults (of all types).  This is not OK and should not be tolerated. 

Unfortunately, it is not within the legal purview of the Austin City Council or City of Austin to dictate how Travis County manages repeat offenders. However, as a City Council candidate and future City Council member, I can raise awareness of the “revolving door” of repeat offenders and the need to increase psychiatric facilities to enhance the ability of the County to commit repeat offenders to involuntary psychiatric care when deemed appropriate.  

 

From my review of the histories of some of the repeat offenders, the success of involuntary psychiatric stays would be the most compassionate outcome for the offender and the public. In addition, I want to see the “No Wrong Doors” program initiated by Mayor Watson succeed in ending the jail and homelessness cycle for top offenders; this is in its infancy and I will diligently monitor the effectiveness of the program.

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I will actively support our first responder organizations – Austin Police, Austin Fire, and our EMS personnel. They put their lives on the line for us and we must support them to ensure a safe city. For policing, I’ve worked alongside wonderful police colleagues as an Austin ISD high school science teacher and as a city civil engineer.  I support Austin’s police as our protectors but also hold them accountable for fulfilling their duty to protect the public. Council approved the Austin Police Department (APD) contract in October 2024 with the intention of increasing police staffing through guaranteed pay increases.  Under-staffing is resulting in decreased services, such as speed enforcement, response to 911 calls, and investigations, and businesses and neighborhoods are choosing to pay for private security and off-duty police officers as a result. I want APD to be fully staffed, trusted, and respected. I support effective public safety strategies, including community policing, investigation tools that cannot be abused, and evaluating & testing non-lethal technology and enhanced de-escalation training & techniques to reduce and ideally eliminate officer-involved shootings. With support comes accountability. I will continue to demand continued transparency and public review of complaints against police officers.

Design matters for safety. I will continue to insist on the design of safer built environments (e.g., Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED)) and safer roads to significantly reduce crashes, injuries, and deaths (e.g., Safe Systems Approach, Vision Zero) so Austin Police and Fire and EMS can provide for other public safety needs. Designing the city’s transportation system to reduce speeds, such as with roundabouts, speed monitoring signs, traffic calming measures, and low speed vehicle (LSV) infrastructure, will help lessen the burden on Austin Police to enforce speeds.