On the eve of Labor Day weekend, Austin Interfaith leaders celebrated the protection of living wages for all jobs subsidized by City of Austin taxpayers and applauded the Austin City Council for adopting a $15 an hour living wage floor requirement as a key feature of its expanded Economic Development Incentive Program.

Says David Guarino of All Saints Episcopal Church, “Austin Interfaith recognizes Mayor Steve Adler, City Manager Spencer Cronk and the members of the City Council for hearing and acting on our concerns.”

“Tonight, the Austin City Council has set a national standard for urban economic incentive programs by recognizing that people deserve the dignity of a living wage from employers who receive economic incentives,” Guarino.

Austin Interfaith has worked years to encourage the city to implement living wage standards for city-subsidized companies.

Support Your Local and Small Businesses, Austin Chronicle

Council Set to Approve Incentive Plan to Help Local, Small Business, CBS Austin [pdf]

Council Considers Which Strings to Attach to Corporate Incentives, Austin Monitor [pdf]

Video of Austin Interfaith Testimony

"....on June 23, five deputies from the Sheriff's office appeared to be stationed at or near the Stoney Point community. People were stopped for speeding and DUI, which is appropriate. But they were also stopped for allegedly failing to use turn indicators, once for allegedly failing to use turn indicators within 500 feet of the intersection; for a broken or burnt out tail light; and for having mud on their license plate. These were very minor traffic infractions. To many, this appeared to be a targeted effort to locate and detain undocumented people. As previously reported, 23 Hispanics were arrested of which 13 were taken and moved into deportation proceedings.

By this action, which appears to have been against immigrants, the Sheriff has not increased people's confidence in law enforcement, which is what we had sought and strived to obtain in our prior dialogue with the Sheriff. This causes us serious concern and raises question of credibility in that dialogue...."

[Photo Credit: Ralph Barrera, Austin American Statesman]

Full Statement Here

'Zero Tolerance' Arrests Put 13 in ICE Custody, 'Had Nothing to Do With Immigration', Texas Sheriff Says, Miami Herald

El Aguacil del Condado Bastrop Rompe el Silencio Sobre el Operativo de Tránsito Donde Fueron Detenidos Varios Inmigrantes Indocumentados, Univision Austin

Bastrop Sheriff: Traffic Stop Had 'Nothing to Do with Immigration', Austin American Statesman

Faith Group Blasts Sheriff for Traffic Crackdown, Deportations, Austin American Statesman [pdf]

Residents Concerned After Traffic Arrests Lead to ICE Detentions, Spectrum News

Del Valle Neighborhood On Edge After Drivers Caught in Traffic Sting Are Turned Over to ICE, KUT 90.5

Líderes Religiosos de Bastrop Cuestionan Detenciones de Inmigrantes en Operativo de Tránsito, Univision

Bastrop Interfaith Leader Speaks Out Against Deportations Stemming from Traffic Operation, KVUE

Bastrop Interfaith Exige Un Fin a la Política de Cero Tolerancia en su Condado, Telemundo

Bastrop County Sheriff Defends Traffic Enforcement Sting, KXAN

Five months before the fall election, 150 Austin Interfaith leaders gathered at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church to launch a Get Out The Vote (GOTV) effort targeting 10,500 Central Texas voters. After approving the AI Agenda of Issues, leaders from congregations, schools, and non-profit organizations pledged, by institution, to sign up 10,500 voters and deliver them to the polls in the fall. Signups will take place both in congregations and institutions, and through blockwalks in surrounding neighborhoods.

Over the previous five months, Austin Interfaith leaders held over 250 small group "house meetings" with 2,500 participants to understand what issues communities are facing and to identify potential leaders from those conversations. What resulted is an agenda that includes workforce development and living wages, affordability and housing, community policing and safety, infrastructure and sustainability, healthcare, education, and immigration reform.

"It was exciting: clergy, teachers, parents, congregation members, healthcare workers, and union members all coming together around a shared vision for our county and with a practical plan to make it happen. This might be the largest and most diverse volunteer group in Austin working on voter turnout this fall," said Elisa Gonzales, a leader from Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church who delivered the focus statement at the Delegates Assembly.

Joining the Austin Interfaith Delegates Assembly yesterday were representatives from the organization's expansion projects in Hays, Bastrop, Williamson, and Western Travis County, who are planning similar efforts in their communities. "We are one Central Texas community spanning many counties. We need to organize around a shared vision for the whole region," said Gary Duck, a Co-Chair of the event from St. Julian of Norwich Episcopal Church in Williamson County.

After hearing from immigrants about their reluctance to report crime, including domestic violence, for fear of being detained, Bastrop Interfaith leaders initiated a conversation with Bastrop County Sheriff Maurice Cook about community safety, including improved communications between the Sheriff’s Department and the community. Leaders will soon meet with Bastrop County’s Crime Prevention Deputy and Victims Services Coordinator in order to advance the conversation.

In previous house meetings, residents of Stony Point had identified trash in their neighborhood as an issue of concern. Leaders worked with Bastrop County Judge Pape, helping leverage a county-funded free clean up day last fall. It proved so popular that resident leaders negotiated a second clean up, held the first weekend of June. Over 40 people hauled pickup loads of trash to the dumpsters, some making several trips! Bastrop Interfaith leaders used the opportunity to talk to people while they waited in line, to better understand their concerns and to include them in upcoming house meetings.

60 Austin Interfaith leaders packed into Austin City Council Chambers for a hearing on CodeNEXT to support speakers Florence Briceno from Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic and Rev. Michael Floyd from All Saints Episcopal who testified for strong neighborhoods and affordability, and against displacement.

 

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On May 10th, Austin Interfaith held an Accountability Roundtable with Texas House District 46 candidates Sheryl Cole and Chito Vela as well as US Congregational District 25 candidates Julie Oliver and Chris Perri at the Congregational Church of Austin. 100 leaders representing 10 Austin Interfaith institutions in East Austin and the University area gained commitments on an agenda of issues, developed from hundreds of small group conversations, which included education, immigration reform, affordability, and funding for public schools and workforce programs like Capital IDEA.

Leaders told stories about their experiences with homelessness, deportation of neighbors, essential financial support for adult job training, and inadequate school funding. All four candidates committed to advancing legislation regarding local control, limiting property taxes for low-income homeowners, restoring cuts to federal student aid, and repealing SB 4.

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Bastrop Interfaith leader Alma Lopez lived in Stony Point in western Bastrop County for thirty years. She grew angry about people doing and selling drugs, abetted by darkness, at a long-neglected Stony Point park. "That is my neighborhood and my friends and family don't want those things happening here," she said.

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The flooding got so bad one year that Stony Point resident Ramiro Alonzo had to carry his grandmother from her home while the water rushed up like a river. His home, and many others, sits in a floodplain on the edge of Bastrop County in an area neighbors say has been long neglected.

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Hundreds of Austin Interfaith leaders convened at Mt. Olive Baptist Church in East Austin to call on candidates for City Council districts 2, 4, 6, 7, and 10 to support an agenda for families.

Austin Interfaith Holds City Council Candidate Forum, Time Warner Cable

"Richard Halpin with Austin Interfaith chimed in, 'Everybody gets a decrease. And in this day and time for our utility to give everyone a decrease is a major step forward.' Affordability advocates applaud the action as a step in the right direction. Halpin says, 'We at Austin Interfaith are pleased that everyone worked so hard to create a decrease for all Austin ratepayers and particularly for those neighbors who are most at risk.'"

Austin Energy Residential Customers to See Reduced Rates, CBS