On July 1 a new city policy took effect: Homeless people would be allowed to sleep or camp in public, with city parks, private property and City Hall exempted. After one month, it is abundantly clear that the results have been catastrophic for our city.

Austinites are compassionate about our homeless population, and this is complicated problem. But enacting a policy that destroys downtown, jeopardizes public safety, risks public health, and harms tourism is not the answer. Why would Austin emulate Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle or Honolulu by allowing homeless people to set up tents in public areas?

On July 17, I created an online petition at SaveAustinNow.com to give Austinites a simple way to express their opposition to this city policy. In two weeks we surpassed 20,000 signatures.

The mayor and the City Council rushed this policy through in June and then took five weeks of vacation, disgracefully leaving our overstretched police department to deal with the fallout. Officials need to address the problem now. In the next two months, students will return to the University of Texas campus, UT home football games will be held and the Austin City Limits Festival will take place over two weekends.

Mayor Steve Adler recently told KTBC Fox 7 that our city’s homeless policies have "not been working the way we want it to." Specifically, he said the old policy of "moving folks experiencing homelessness around the city ... is not helping us."

City officials wanted to end the cycle of criminalizing homeless existence in Austin, which is a laudable goal. But city officials did not consider the ramifications of their policy before enacting it. They must rescind it before things get worse.

This policy is bad for public safety: Homeless people have been both the victims of violent attacks and the perpetrators, contributing to rising crime downtown.

This policy is bad for public health: Camping on sidewalks creates trash and human waste. Where is that supposed to go?

This policy is bad for our economy and tourism: Businesses now must deal with homeless people sleeping in front of and next to their stores, which affects foot traffic. The image of Austin is taking a hit, which will harm tourism.

I believe we can take specific steps to address this challenge:

First, every homeless person who wants to receive public benefits must be screened for mental health and drug and alcohol abuse. Treatment must be provided, and results must be tracked. We must take sick individuals off the streets.

Second, everyone else receiving government aid must be working and on a path to self-sufficiency, with adequate shelter. We spend at least $30 million annually for 2,200 homeless people ($14,000 per person). The city owes taxpayers an explanation for where that money has been going.

Third, there must be zero tolerance for homeless camping that is, in fact, happening at city parks.

Fourth, the ARCH must be relocated from its location on 7th Street downtown. Drug dealers and violent criminals are preying on the homeless outside the ARCH. Violent attacks happening there cannot continue. Even the head of the nonprofit that runs the ARCH said he is open to seeing it moved.

A sustainable solution to this challenge requires social service organizations, business leaders, health care providers and mental health experts.

Our government should rescind the homeless camping policy as soon as possible and develop a long-term plan for homelessness.

Our city is becoming trashy, unsafe and unsightly. We can do better. We must.

Mackowiak is the founder of SaveAustinNow.com, the petition to rescind the Homeless Camping Ordinance.