AUSTIN ADVOCATE

Austin Housing Summit Provided Information, Inspiration
By Kirk Becker

The Austin Housing Summit was an informational/inspirational program with a planned agenda of speakers, sponsored by governmental bodies, non-profit organizations, foundations, and supportive corporations. The participants and interested observers met on Saturday morning, May 21, from 9-noon at St. Edward's University.

Introductory Remarks
The first speaker was Rev. Joseph C. Parker, who has degrees and experience in both law and religion.

Rev. Parker alluded to the American Dream of home ownership and declared the current housing situation a nightmare to his pastorate. He provided the definition of a nightmare as either a dream arousing feelings of intense fear, horror, and distress or an event or experience that is intensely distressing. One of his goals is to wake this city up from its housing nightmare so that we can go back to living more joyfully.

Rev. Parker also noted that rising food prices, rising gas prices, and rising prices in general were considered undesirable; but that rising housing prices were unique in that they are viewed favorably.

Rev. Parker concluded his remarks by quoting the poem “The Impossible Dream” from the play Man of La Mancha.

Commentary
There's a tendency for the voters to vote themselves largess from the public till until the government goes bankrupt. Certainly we suffer from some manifestations of that danger with pork barrel spending, governmental projects and even programs that are “unnecessary” to some extent or another.

But there's another, more insidious, aspect of the “public largess” thing where government rules and regulations can affect income and asset values. Local zoning ordinances are the most obvious of these, where people insist on zoning for larger, not smaller, houses adjacent to their own houses in order to boost property values throughout the neighborhood, including their own specific property.

Arguments that increasing density will have benefits in reducing utility costs, facilitating mass transit to reduce parking costs and maybe even traffic congestion, and generally promote the overall public welfare sufficient to offset any decline in individual property values are a tough sell, especially when utility costs aren't tax deductible and income from sale of a homestead is tax-free, the best kind of income that there is!

In addition to housing costs, I can think of one other thing where rising prices are generally considered beneficial – the stock market. I wonder if “privatizing” social security, adding billions of tax free dollars owned by millions of voters to the stock market, will have a similar effect on the national economy. At what point will corporate employees gladly accept the overseas “outsourcing” of their jobs because it will improve corporate profits and boost the values of the retirement funds? (Clue: The answer may well depend upon the age of the individual workers.) Furthermore, like the real estate market, profits from rising stock “values” are accorded favorable tax treatment.

Austin's Housing Challenge
The next speaker was Michael Oden, a professor in U.T.'s School of Architecture, who studies “sustainable communities” (as well as unsustainable communities such as ours). He pointed out that a police officer's salary was barely sufficient to purchase a very small house ($120,000) where a teacher's salary wasn't, and that a teacher's salary was barely sufficient to afford a 2-bedroom apartment ($750/month) whereas most service sector jobs aren't even sufficient to afford even that. The figures used by Professor Oden assume a standard of 30% of income for housing.

Professor Oden also delved into the phenomenon of gentrification, where property values and property taxes have more than doubled in Central East Austin, but wages have remained steady. Finally, he extrapolated current trends to show that things are going to get worse rather than better.

Commentary
I don't think that Professor Oden addressed the issue of “coupling”, where two people join together to share the costs of housing. At higher incomes, such coupling can reduce housing costs to 15% of income or provide a much larger homestead. At lower incomes, the necessity for people to couple to pay for a mortgage or last through a lease can prolong unhappy relationships because neither one can afford to move out, and because neither one can afford to stay without financial assistance from the other. Further, unemployment or health problems from either accident or sickness to either partner tends to force both persons into bankruptcy.

When kids and child support are involved, the parent with custody can live pretty well, especially if he or she couples with a third party, but the second person without custody paying the child support is essentially forced into either homelessness or moving away from the City.

The Basics of Providing Housing
Diana McIver, who develops non-profit sponsored affordable housing, described the process and economics of developing affordable housing. First, she described some of the factors that contribute to housing costs, including the costs of land, materials, permits & fees, regulations that restrict density or mandate minimum building standards, and time involved in negotiating with the neighbors, meeting their requirements, and actually securing the necessary permits.

Next she discussed some of the well-meaning advice she's received over the years, including using cheaper materials (the housing quickly becomes decrepit, falls apart, and ends up looking like it was constructed with cheap materials), building out in suburbia (which may be cheaper, but putting in roads and utilities adds dramatically to the cost of a development, plus transportation costs for the inhabitants increase, negating much of the affordability of the development), or just build smaller houses (they can only get so small).

Ms. McIver compared the cost/unit of two typical multi-family developments, splitting each of them into constructions/financing costs (amounting to $60-80,000/unit) and ongoing costs for management, repairs, utilities, and taxes (amounting to $350- 400/month). She described various subsidies available that if luckily combined, could reduce the first amount of costs to near $0, but that the recurring $350/month still remained.

Finally, she described a couple of 50-70 unit affordable apartment complexes that had been completed and were operating successfully.

Business Perspective
Jeff Trigger, who is involved with both the tourism industry and homeless issues, spoke to the business need of affordable housing. At this point, I ran into an old friend and was distracted form the proceedings.

Commentary
It's positively thrilling that the business community is expanding its interest in housing afford ability beyond its traditional perspective that the worker bees should have affordable housing so that they can pay for their own health insurance/health care.

From the employees perspective, all the financial advantages of home ownership are barriers to getting started. The cost of a house is only ½ the cost of a mortgage, the other half being comprised of interest, so that a doubling in the cost of a house quadruples the cost of a mortgage for 30 years. At higher interest rates, the cost of a house can be only 1/3 the total cost of a mortgage. Furthermore, not only do high housing costs make it difficult to purchase a home, but high rents make it hard to save a down payment to buy a home in the first place.

On the income side, it’s very difficult to compete with foreign workers when their wages are lower than our rents. Certainly some of the difference can be attributed to a higher standard of living – for example, much of the housing inhabited by foreign workers would be considered “substandard” here in America.

Still, currency exchange rates have to be part of the equation too. We need a strong dollar to import natural resources, especially energy; we don't need a strong dollar to pay foreign workers to do work that we can do ourselves. I don't know of a prosperous economy any time in history that imported natural resources and exported work. The Romans sustained their economy for centuries by exporting workers to collect taxes from throughout the existing civilization, but they didn't export the work and keep the army at home without any housing.

Finally, reducing housing costs would enable us to purchase locally made goods instead of foreign made goods and support our fellow workers with higher wages.

Rev. Parker talked about “Reaching the Unreachable Star”, but it does seem like it would be easier to solve the affordable housing crisis if we worked on fixing the economy as well. At the same time, reducing the cost of housing would go a long way toward fixing the economy.

Political Perspective
John-Michael Cortez, a member of the City Planning Commission nominated by Councilmember Raul Alvarez, spoke next to reassure us that the Planning Commission has started to take the shortage and cost of housing into consideration along with traditional considerations such as the environment, traffic congestion, and RESIDENTIAL PROPERTY VALUES. That's my impression as well – that the City's elected officials are ahead of their constituents, and especially the leaders of neighborhood organizations, with respect to the city-wide need to develop more housing, and especially more affordable housing city-wide.

Artists Perspective
Jason Neulander is a successful theater director and producer. He spoke of the value of the “creative class” in attracting tourism and people who can afford unaffordable housing and their benefit to the local economy. While acknowledging that many truly fine artists accept a certain degree of poverty as a fair trade for the opportunity to pursue their crafts, Jason also lamented that the City didn't have any place suitable for people living in poverty to live in. Finally, Jason listed some locations that were using innovative means to attract creative artists.

Social Worker's Perspective
The last speaker was Leona Vargas, a social worker at one of Austin's Elementary Schools, who informed us that 1/6 of the students at her school had already experienced homelessness, and that the kids who experienced homelessness tended to feel angry about it. She informed us that dire projections made by Professor Oden were already occurring for many families in Austin, and that the nightmare complained of by Rev. Parker was already real.

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Street Portraits: Jerry vs. the Street Preacher
By David Weems

I have now been at Sally's for almost a month. One thing I had feared has not taken place. It is not a requirement of staying here that you are or become a Christian. I thought, from imagined stories, that I would be hit over the head with the Bible and be forced to attend Sunday (Christian) services.

As it is, I am a Christian by heritage and belief. But I have many problems with the ways certain so-called Christians display hypocrisy. However, here I have mostly seen in the staff practice, not preaching.

The tenants are another story. Almost every night, some self-ordained street preacher sermonizes long into the morning, even after lights-out. Most of his desired audience is asleep; the rest would like to be, but they cannot because these guys love volume and emphasis in their speech; apparently, they don't really care if anyone is actually listening. They just love to talk and the sound of their own voice gives them self-pleasure.

Most of them always recite the4 harshest of Biblical passages, citing sin, blame, retribution, guilt, and God's wrath. I really don't think this is what people who have fallen on hard times need to hear. The "preachers" would doubtless disagree.

One new arrival named Valentino has unfortunately fallen in thrall with one of these preachers. He's sincere and intelligent, obviously troubled, and has a lot of questions. I am disgusted with the answers he's being given. The chapters and verses I hear being cited all seem to reinforce the idea that he is a vile, base sinner, unworthy of God's love. His problems are all his fault because he has failed to please the Lord.

One night a man Named Jerry counsels him. Jerry is a quiet, gentle man in his late fifties suffering from diabetes. He's a former bus driver and lay minister. Domestic and financial problems have driven him to Sally's, and his health no longer permits him to work at his job. Jerry sits at his bunk every night reading the Bible--front to back--underlining passages with a yellow highlighter. Jerry counseled this youngster with verses from lesser-quoted books of the Bible...ones I never heard discussed in Sunday School. These were words of compassion, mercy, forgiveness and hope. No eternal damnation, no hellfire and brimstone. I could see Valentino light up and smile for perhaps the first time since he got here.

In fact, Valentino had one of the shortest stays here. I like to think Jerry had something to do with that. He is my idea of what a real Christian is: a quiet one, not a loudmouth. Jerry helps rather than condemns people.

I'm very impressed with jerry and know he will recover from this.

So, God Bless you, Jerry.

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The Doubtfire Brothers
By Why Change Cain

I grew up on a dead-end street out in the suburbs of a small town just South of Dallas. My older brother and I were sometimes at odds with some of the other kids on our block. We played a few harmless pranks, as youngsters sometimes do.

After I grew up and did my time in the service, my parents decided to sell the old homestead and move to a lake lot to retire. The last couple of days my parents lived on Marsalis Road my older brother and I came home to help our parents get ready to leave the place for good.

I had kept an old canister-type smoke grenade as a souvenir from my days in the Air Force. We used them to mark targets for the fighter pilots out in the field. I was about to pack the smoke grenade in the trunk of my car when I turned to my brother and mentioned how I should probably dispose of it instead of taking chances of it going off while in storage.

He said, “Yeah, and I think we should set it off first.” I said, Yeah, why don’t we give our old neighborhood one last goodbye and leave them in a cloud of smoke.” He agreed and I proceeded to duct tape the smoke grenade to the bumper of my 67 Impala. In order to do so I had to leave the trunk lid up.

I backed the car out into the street, got out and pulled the pin. We both jumped in the car and I slowly lumbered down the street letting the smoke billow and swirl through the houses where all those kids we grew up with used to live. There was even a group of kids playing football in the small field where we used to play. I slowed down to make sure they got smoked pretty well. We were having a great time laughing and jeering at the old neighborhood while we filled it with white smoke.

Just as we reached the last street where I was going to turn around and come back, my brother hollered out, “The car’s on fire, the car’s on fire!” I turned around to see and, low and behold, flames were shooting up from the duct tape and the smoke grenade only inches from the inlet to the gas tank.

I stopped the car and we both ran around to the back. The smoke grenade had run out of smoke but it was now on fire from the melting duct tape. I tried to kick the grenade off the bumper. When I did it landed in the trunk of the car and proceeded to catch the trunk liner on fire. My brother grabbed a shovel that was lying in the trunk and swept it out safely into the street. I stomped the fire out in the trunk and things looked like they were safely in control.

Just then we heard someone yelling from the porch of a near by house, “Are you alright? Do y’all need some help out there?” We looked up to see a whole bunch of onlookers had come out of their houses. I hollered back, “No thanks. We’ve got it under control now. We’re just fine.”

The lady hollered back, “O.K. but just to let you know we’ve already called the fire department.” My brother and I looked at each other in disbelief. We jumped into the car and raced off with trunk lid still open and smoldering. We had to hide on the other side of town for a while till things blew over.

Well we certainly learned our lesson. I guess it’s not a good idea to play pranks with government issued target-marking devices.

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Mosquito Safety
By Val Romness

It’s the time of year to protect yourself from the dreaded bites of the tiny nasty mosquito.

What with the danger of the possible transfer of certain diseases, it’s good to know the facts. It takes 5 days after a rain to hatch a baby mosquito. The diseases carried are West Nile virus, malaria, encephalitis and dengue. Any standing water can breed the dreaded “hexapoda”. Take the time to walk around your place and check for standing water. Dump it out. Empty old tires, the trays under your plants, turn dishes upside down, anything that holds standing water. This is also a good time to get rid of any trash.

Making the mosquito homeless is not a bad thing. The Deet spray is toxic to our bodies, water and air. It’s not the best alternative. Natural herbs such as orange spray, eucalyptus, or citronella can discourage the insects. But taking away the very source of breeding, the water, makes the number of mosquitoes much lower. A teaspoon of water can produce lots of mosquitoes. Try this prevention idea and see!

No spray list: None available. The city told me they are not currently planning to spray for mosquitoes , but will spray outside the city. (To request a site assessment or to report standing water or large volumes of mosquitoes, call The A/TCHHSD Environmental Health and Consumer Protection Unit at (512) 972-5600)

From the Austin City Connection web site:

Mosquito control checklist
Remember the Four Ds:
DRAIN standing water in your yard and neighborhood. Standing water can be found in swimming pools that are not kept clean, ponds, pet watering dishes, birdbaths, potted plants, old tires, empty containers, toys and clogged rain gutters.
DUSK/DAWN are the times of day you should stay indoors when mosquitoes are most active.
DRESS in long-sleeved shirts and wear pants when you are outside. Spray thin clothing with insect repellent.
DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) is an ingredient to look for in your insect repellent (or use an organic alternative such as orange spray, eucalyptus, or citronella).
Call 3-1-1 to report:
* Standing water in ditches, vacant lots or on neighborhood property
* Dead blue jays and crows (no other birds)

So with this info I wish you an itch free summer!

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Yeti Detector
story by Troy England Evitt
illustration by Ashley Holt  

Hap Shefield, owner of the Belch and Tickle, always had a story to tell and a round on the house for anybody who'd listen. Last Friday was no exception. A fine filly from parts unknown had sauntered in to the B & T to drown her sorrows, or at least to splash them from the shallow end. Hap lost no time, offering a freshly-opened Stuperz Lite, a bearish handshake and that classic Hap Shefield smile.

"No charge, ma'am. Name-a Hap", he began. And without waiting for her name (he figured he'd just yell out whatever came to mind in some seamy motel later), he continued, "I'd have to say it was '86. Maw'd just passed and I was having a rough time of it. She was born out of wedlock in a time when proper babies didn't do that sort of thing and so she never existed on paper. Took in warshin', kept her money in a Mason jar most of her life and kept her name out of the papers best she knew how.

"Anyways, I git stuck with the final arrangements, which, of course, meant wrapping her in flour sacks and tossing her to the hogs. Brother Hiram was no help on account of his baritone Yankee accent and we'd tossed Daddy to the hogs in '72.

"I found a few appropriate passages in the Good Book and did my best to read 'em with a straight face over them hogs havin' a field day and spent the afternoon turnin' her house into this place. We called it the Hickory Chicken Barn and Grill 'till the liquor licence came through."

"Tell how ya got the liquor licence when you weren't born in the hospital, Hap."

Good point. Thank ya, Billy."

"Maw wanted me to have a better life so she dropped me off at th' Cath'lic church, waited long enough to figure they'd baptized me and put me in the county records. Then she promptly busted in and stole me back. Same with Hiram and Patty Lynn, just to be on the safe side."

"Anyway, once that liquor licence came through, I ran the other bars out of business with my Free Shot in the Morning and Grits n' Gravy n' Sausage Biscuits for a dollar fifty.

"So can I get ya another bellywasher, ma'am?"

At once, Hap realized his mistake. The redhead began, "Name-a Travis. Where do you want me to set up your new P.A.?"

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A Miracle at A.R.C.H.
By Brenda Curran

Last Saturday, it was hot and everyone outside the A.R.C.H. was laying in the shade. There were homeless people all pieced together on their sleeping bags so thick that you could not hardly walk through them.

I went around the side of the building to the shade and while I was standing there a little grey haired lady came by with a picture and asked me if I had seen her daughter. She held up a picture. I said “yes, I’ve seen her.”

She said she drove here all the way from Louisiana to find her because her daughter had called her on the phone and said she was at the A.R.C.H.

She said “She’s only 17 and she ran away from home a week and a half ago.”

She kept insisting that I look for help her find her daughter. I finally said “Walk around the side of the building and look at the Salvation Army. She might be there.”

She walked away in the direction of the Sally. Within a few minutes she came back and said “I found her!” Her daughter walked along the sidewalk beside her. I hugged her and said I’m so happy you found your Mom.

It gave me a warm feeling inside to know that at least one runaway found her way back home.

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Polyglot
By Russell Tate

I was waitingfor the bus in the usual place when an unusual event occured. from above, in a tree shading me, I began hearing a medley of birdsong. Audubon could probably have identified the different types of birds by the singing; but my untutored eares only heard an angelic melody.

What in the world was going on? Were there really ten or so differnt kinds of birds in the tree above me? I looked and looked, peering through the leaves. Then I located the source of the singing. It was the State bird - a Mockingbird.

Mockingbird, Mockingbird, what did you have for breakfast? What medicinal herb did you injest? Whatever it was, it was strong medicine, Medicine Man. Did you eat the worm out of a tequila bottle? You are higher than a kite, Mockingbird. And you are filled with might, Mockingbird. Your song is strong - so strong that it has lifted my sagging spirit up into your heights. Thank you for flying about and collecting these songs of many colors. Thank you for arching them over my head like a rainbow. What a bleesing! Your singing is such a benediction! Your Creator told your brother Ravens to feed the Prphet, Elijah. Tell me, was that food as good as your music in my ears, Medicinebird? You have anointed my head with holy olive oil so that my cup of joy overflows.

Is your estaticsinging the way you celebrate our Country's Birthday, Mockingbird? We have fireworks exploding in the sky tonight; but will I even go watch them after hearing your fiery, passionate music exploding in my ears? After seeing your breast and your break exploding in song, our fireworks may be anticlimactic. You are a hard act to follow, Mockingbird. I don't jnow if Democracy is known to you in the Birdworld; but seeing you fly and hearing you sing convinces me that you are Freedom's Best Friend.

If your voice resounds in heaven the way it sounds on earth, then take my prayer, Mockingbird, upt into the ears of our mutual Creator.

That the tongues of all peoples welcomed into America will no more be a Babel of confussion.

Like you, Dear Mockingbird, may all the tongues streaming into America reissue from every citizen in a stream of unifying, harmonious praise to our mutual Creator and Redeemer, in whose Name we pray. Amen.

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I Was Sailing Along
By Trisha Yeager Menke

I was sailing alnong
On a lake of blue
When without a warning
A storm came through.

My boat was capsized;
I lost all I had
I am lonly and cold
Frightened and sad.

The terror I feel
Threatens my soal
As I feel myself sinking
Into darkness below.

Is there some relief
From the anguish I feel?
Is there any assurance
I will ever heal?

Should I abandon all hope...
or continue to strive?
Should I simply let go...
Or fight to survive?

I see sharks all around.
They grin as they pass
Do they want me for lunch
Or simply harass?

Where will I be
When the sun goes down?
Will I just go to sleep-
What's it feel like to drown?

These are the thoughts
That flood my mind
How I wish this were over
Far, far behind!

Have you ever been caught
In hte midst of a dream...
So stark and so real
You can't even scream?

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The Devil's Laugh
By Trisha Yeager Menke

The shriek in my brain was the devil's laugh
As I sank to the depths below.
But try as I might I could not fight
The force that held me in tow.

All I could do was hold my breath
And wait for the waters to calm.
How could I know that the Lord Himself
Held me safely in His palm?

It wasn't until later that I would know
How deeply He was concerned
As He reached out His hand to rescue me,
Offering the safety for which I yearned.

I grabbed His Hand and held it fast
As I descended into the deep
But His mighty strength pulled me up
From the devil's grasp He set me free!

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Its about time
Tumen Soliz

Whether good or bad,
we all do as we have learned,
war games, killing us.

Parents feel the pain
want it better for children
think they've learned it all.

Brainwashed to believe
in manifest desitiny
our image of God.

Child's empty vessel,
exposed to both good and bad
is prone to blow up.

Youthful rebellion
based on honest reactions
to inncoence lost.

A child sees the lies
that the parents now believe
either grows or dies.

What parents dismiss,
they perpetuate the myth
economic peace.

Grow into good life
or fear death in war culture
we all have the choice.

So we make our choice
can be truthful to spirit
or kill for the wealth.

Respect for elders
is same as respect for life,
wealth above all else.

Fight or flight response
what we're taught is how we act
world is ours by God.

Playing like a game
luxury our driving Force
Earth our playing field.

Love and war alls fair
selfish needs are justified
in a selfish culture.

Truth is still denied,
truth that all can live in Peace
when we learn tho share.

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