Houston Mayor John Whitmire said the city will roll out a city-sponsored encampment for unhoused people. The initiative will be led by his Office of Public Safety and Homeland Security and the city’s Housing and Community Development Department.
Houston Mayor John Whitmire said his office will soon take action to remove unhoused people from public spaces in the city.
“Very soon, we’re going to have a city-sponsored encampment that will be rolled out, if not this week, next week, by the Housing Department and Homeland Security, where the homeless in public space is just not going to be acceptable,” he said during the city council meeting on Wednesday.
His comments came as city council held a public hearing Wednesday to consider extending the city’s “civility ordinance” to include the Magnolia Park area in the East End. The ordinance prohibits “lying, sitting or deposing personal possessions” on city sidewalks during daylight hours, and it’s already in effect in multiple areas, including Midtown and Museum Park…