Louis Trevino stands at the corner of E. 10th Street and Congress Avenue, squirting green cleanser onto a rag and wiping down the top of a city garbage can as he greets passersby.
“Good morning,” he says to a young woman holding a coffee cup. She smiles and nods.
“Hi, have a good day,” he says to a pair of walkers. They pass him wordlessly.
More than 40 million out-of-towners visit downtown each year. Another 131,000 people work there, while 15,000 call it home. Moving through that daily churn are 80 Downtown Austin Alliance ambassadors in their trademark red shirts or yellow safety team vests.
Anyone who’s been downtown in the past decade has probably seen them, maybe interacted with them, but there’s a fair chance that — aside from clocking them as a friendly presence — the average downtown denizen may not be familiar with their role in the city’s ecosystem.
For 10 years, Trevino, 52, has worked as an ambassador, chatting with people and pushing his ever-present garbage cart across the sidewalks. He’s more than a one-man cleaning crew. Really, his job is to solve problems.
Here’s how the Downtown Austin Alliance ambassador program works.
What Is the DAA ambassador program?
The ambassador program, created in 2016, is a service paid for by taxes generated through the Downtown Public Improvement District.
About 80 ambassadors walk or bike throughout the district, focused on three areas: cleaning, hospitality and safety.
The ambassadors pick up trash, powerwash sidewalks, remove graffiti, clean up stains and remove posters from walls and lampposts. The safety team, whose members wear yellow and black uniforms, focuses on keeping the streets clear of problems. They patrol on bikes and foot, escort people to their cars when requested, report disturbances and talk with unhoused people who may need help.
Trevino says his job is about helping people.
Lost? Here are directions. Need an escort to your car? Sure thing.
Trevino knows which garbage cans won’t stay shut, where trash tends to collect and that spot under the bench where dead leaves pile up. He points people toward restaurants and shops. He tells them when their map lands them on the wrong street.
He sees his regulars around town, the people who live nearby. And of course he remembers their pets. His favorite? Elvis, the basset hound.
“He ain’t nothin’ but a hound dog,” Trevino quipped.
Up and downs of downtown
While downtown attracts tourism, jobs and entertainment, it can also attract trouble: loud drunks, people struggling with mental health problems and unhoused people lying on sidewalks.
Ambassadors don’t arrest people or write tickets. But most of the time they don’t even need to call 911, said Brandon Fahy, director of public space experience with the downtown alliance. Ambassadors receive de-escalation training. They build relationships with people. If they need someone to stop blocking the sidewalk, he said, the ambassadors will ask them to move to a bench.
They comply 90% of the time, Fahy said.
Lidia Pérez, who owns La Peña Gallery on Congress Avenue, said the ambassadors are good at working with unhoused people near her organization.
“They talk to them and get them up and moving,” she said. “That helps them to get food and whatever they need.”
The ambassadors are especially visible during events like South by Southwest, traversing downtown with maps, fielding questions and trying to help people find their way around. That’s when they switch into hospitality, not cleaning, mode.
Where do I get coffee? Can you help me find my parking garage?
“The hospitality ambassadors are there to provide that friendly smile, that safe presence,” Fahy said.
By the numbers
The Downtown Austin Alliance tracks every service its staffers provide. Each time ambassadors perform a service, whether picking up trash or escorting someone to their vehicle, they log it on their mobile device so it can be added to the Downtown Austin Alliance’s information-rich dashboard.
For example, this past February, the ambassadors:
- Powerwashed 1,337,497-square-feet of sidewalk
- Removed 10,450 pounds of trash
- Engaged in 2,316 hospitality contacts
Trevino says he enjoys talking to people about his city. And he loves watching his city in action. Once, he saw a woman fall off her scooter. But instead of hurtling hard into the pavement, she tucked herself into a safe fall, hit the ground and popped right back up.
Gymnastics, she told him.
“I guess it’s like they say,” he said, “Keep Austin weird.”
