San Marcos City Council discuss homelessness in city limits

Sierra Martin | Managing Editor

SAN MARCOS – The San Marcos City Council recently met to discuss not allowing homeless to camp out or panhandle in San Marcos city limits and how to help the San Marcos Police Department enforce the rule.

Although the language of the agenda item was expressed as “not allowing the homeless to camp out or panhandle in San Marcos City Limits” and “what our police need to help with the effort of enforcement” the discussion was centered towards not criminalizing the homeless but instead finding a long-term solution.

Council Member Shane Scott, who supported the agenda item, said that the number of homeless people in San Marcos have increased dramatically over the past ten years. He thinks the city council should try to take a more proactive approach than just creating a committee and find property and grant funds to dedicate to the homeless.

Abigail Mylum spoke against the homeless ban and said that the solution to solving homelessness in San Marcos does not start with criminalizing the homeless population but creating resources in the community.

“Instead of criminalizing people for existing for struggling, please offer them transitional housing programs,” said Mylum. “Invest in a homeless shelter, in a crisis center, in areas where people can safely detox because that is what works. And if you don’t do these steps and instead criminalized their existence, I have to wonder why you were voted into office because it sure as hell is not to protect us.”

Currently there is one homeless shelter in San Marcos, the Southside Community Center, that only has six beds. 

Adrianna Montoya, a student leader for Texas Rising at Texas State University also spoke out against the homeless ban, saying that it was both morally and fiscally irresponsible for city council to consider.

“I’d like to highlight the fact that in the 2019/2020 fiscal year, $3.8 million was spent on sending Hays County inmates to other county jails because of a high inmate population,” said Montoya. “So already, currently the Sheriff’s Office has requested a $2 million line item for outsourcing inmates during the upcoming fiscal year.”

Council Member Alyssa Garza thought that the wording of the agenda item was confusing to people and “traumatizing” to the homeless community.

“I think what we can take away from tonight is that our community wants to lean towards proactive, empathetic and effective measures, rather than policing, and rather than just ignoring the issue,” Garza said.

Council Member Melissa Derrick, who is the chair of the city council’s Homeless Committee, said that she doesn’t support the agenda item, and thinks it will create a cyclical issue of criminalizing and fining people who are not able to afford citations.

“We do have active people working in our community right now to place families, single mothers and children into hotels, the hotel voucher program, and I think that’s the way I prefer we handle the situation,” said Derrick. “Not by misplacing them, not by criminalizing them or putting them in jail.”

According to Director of Public Safety Chase Staff, there will be a City Council Work Session on October 4 to discuss possible solutions to homelessness in San Marcos and how to allocate $400,000 of American Rescue Plan funding.