Coronavirus clash

Texas officials rip Austin's ‘unlawful’ pandemic policies in angry letter

The attorney general's office is not pleased.

Photo by reklamlar/Getty Images

The Texas Attorney General’s Office has fired a shot at the City of Austin and Travis County over what it claims is an unconstitutional overreach in issuing stay-at-home orders that are more strict than Governor Greg Abbott’s policies.

In a May 12 release, Attorney General Ken Paxton says social distancing orders from Austin and Travis County — along with those from San Antonio, Bexar County, and Dallas County — “have grossly exceeded state law to impose their own will on private citizens and businesses.”

The New York Times notes that when Abbott “ended his stay-at-home order and set the stage for the state’s partial reopening this month, he angered many local officials by contending that his reopening policies supersede any conflicting orders issued by cities or counties.”

Referring to Austin’s directive about contact tracing at restaurants, Deputy Attorney General Ryan Vassar wrote May 12 that the “Orwellian order raises privacy concerns” and likely is eclipsed by the less restrictive governor’s order. The city’s order encourages restaurants to log names, contact information, and other data about dine-in customers.

“Although the order only seems to recommend for these restaurants to track their employees and customers, it forces restaurants into submission by threatening to release the names of restaurants who do not comply,” Vassar’s letter says.

The Attorney General’s Office sent similarly worded letters to government officials in San Antonio, Bexar County, and Dallas County. All of the letters criticize what Vassar called “unconstitutional and unlawful restrictions.”

Vassar’s letter to Austin and Travis County leaders also takes aim at how their orders clamp down on nonessential travel, public gatherings, in-person religious services, and wearing face masks.

Vassar also argues that their orders’ attempts to restrict “essential” in-person religious services “unlawfully trample religious freedom.”

Pertaining to masks, Vassar maintained that the city and county can’t impose civil or criminal penalties for failing to wear a mask in public. The Austin and Travis County orders mandate that anyone over age 6 to wear some type of mask outside their homes. The state’s order encourages, but does not require, wearing masks in public.

“Although your orders ‘require’ individuals to wear masks when they leave their home, they are free to choose whether to wear one or not,” Vassar wrote.

During a virtual news conference last week, Mayor Steve Adler said that in an effort to comply with the governor’s orders, the city wouldn’t slap mask violators with civil or criminal penalties. Adler added, however, that he wouldn’t rescind the mask mandate.

Vassar urged all of the letter recipients to “fix” their stay-at-home orders, alleging they’re unlawful and insisting they could prompt legal challenges. The orders lack clarity about the difference between a mandate and a recommendation, Vassar said.

“Your orders and your public statements are confusing and misleading,” Vassar wrote. “A recommendation, by definition, is not a requirement. Yet your orders seem to confuse the two.”

On May 8, Adler extended the city’s stay-at-home order through May 30 and Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt extended the county’s order through June 15. Eckhardt resigned May 12 to run for the Texas Senate seat being vacated by Kirk Watson, an Austin Democrat.

A City of Austin spokesperson says the city intended to adopt an order that complies with the governor’s various pandemic orders “while continuing to encourage our citizens to stay home and work safe. We are confident that we accomplished just that.”

At a May 12 news conference, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff accused Paxton’s office of carrying out a political stunt.

“The fact is, our orders have been in compliance with the governor from day one,” Nirenberg said. “It doesn’t stop the AG from seeking a cheap political headline.”

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Red Light

San Antonio leads Texas on ending horse-drawn carriage rides by 2030

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Horses will no longer pull carriages on the streets of downtown San Antonio.

San Antonio has pulled off something that the rest of Texas has yet to do, but it didn't come without some contentious conversations. City Council has unanimously voted (with one abstention) to phase out the use of horse-drawn carriages over the next five years. That means by January 1, 2030, there will be none on the streets at all; instead, there will be electric carriages.

These plans have been in the making since 2022 — if not always at the same level of intensity — when District 2 Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez and District 3 Councilmember Phyllis Viagran wrote up some concerns about the horses' wellbeing. A special session at the end of October 2024 hinted to San Antonians that the end for this practice was neigh — sorry, nigh — and the final vote was made on December 12. In addition to accepting the plan, it extended its timeframe by two years.

The initial proposal included worries about the horses' exposure to traffic and pollution, as well how their presence might exacerbate those issues for the environment at large by slowing traffic. It also raised concerns about the effects of standing or walking on hard surfaces for too long, or spending time in extreme weather.

At the December 12 meeting, San Antonians gave impassioned speeches about animal welfare — both to call attention to the need for better conditions and to defend the reputations and jobs of current horse drivers — but it wasn't the first time the council heard from the public about the issue.

In a prior city survey, 50,476 respondents weighed in. Of those respondents, 51.98 percent said they liked the idea to "Transition horse-drawn carriages to electric carriages and pedicabs and ban horse drawn carriages completely." There were alternative solutions listed, but respondents were less drawn to them.

A cultural divide emerged in the data and continued in the December meeting: some people avoided the carriages because they worried about the treatment of the horses, while others enjoyed them because of their historical echoes and living legacy. Many speakers in favor of the plan used this to form their argument, raising questions about history versus progress.

More tangible objections to the plan hinged on the businesses — specifically five companies — and jobs that would be lost, which was the main factor behind extending the adjustment period.

Discussions about the particulars of the electric vehicles are still to come, as confirmed in the discussion near the end of the meeting. Councilmember Jalen McKee-Rodriguez addressed concerns about what would happen to the horses, mentioning the Brady Hunter Foundation as a future partner in finding them rescue homes.

Some council members also brought up rhetorical questions about animal exploitation by groups like Sea World, the San Antonio Stock Show & Rodeo, military and police forces, and even various groups in the Fiesta parade, although these did not come with a formal motion to pick the issues up.

This decision could have a ripple effect on other Texas cities. Dallas has recently considered a similar ban, but it appears to have stalled; Austin's attempts at a ban have been unsuccessful, but according to the Austin-American Statesman, only one operator is permitted to bring horses downtown. She declines to do so because the long hours are unfair to her and the horses. Houston does have horse-drawn carriages, and there seems to be little conversation about banning them.

Cities like Chicago and Salt Lake City have led the charge in the United States with some of the most prominent successful bans. Other cities around the world with bans include Brussels and Guadalajara, which both switched to electric models. Bans that have been around for years, like Guadalajara's and Prague's, still aren't out of the woods — people are still pushing back on the decision, so it sounds like San Antonio still has much work cut out for it.

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