Preparing for her first big meeting, Austin City Council Member Mackenzie Kelly thumbed through the items she'd be voting on last week and was caught off guard by one of them: the planned purchase of a motel to house people experiencing homelessness.
The property – a Candlewood Suites near U.S. 183 and the Texas 45 toll road – was in Kelly's district. Soon, she was bombarded by calls from residents with homes and businesses near the motel who told her they felt blindsided by the city's plans and weren't happy about it.
The veil of secrecy that set up the motel's proposed purchase is consistent with the strategy under which Austin officials have operated for more than a year to acquire hotels and motels to convert into housing for people living unsheltered. The public never hears about the planned transactions until the city council is ready to act on them.