Astonishing to me is how many people
out there ignore the wisdom of the ages and seek to solve certain
social issues by throwing massive, and I do mean MASSIVE, amounts of
money (usually in the form of tax dollars) at problems. Now that we
nearly 100 years of this kind of ridiculousness we should be able to
look back and figure out that it never works...
Homelessness as an economic issue was
created by the states and the federal government in the first place.
No local community is going to end it. There are simply too many
economic factors pushing the cost of living up and private sector
wages down. More and more one has to have a government or tax-payer
funded job in order to make ends meat which, consequently, drives the
cost of living higher and private sector wages lower... It's a
vicious cycle that won't be solved any time soon. 'Nuff said on that.
Homelessness as a social problem,
however, is another matter entirely.
The largest single issue we have seen
here in Livermore is the squalor one finds at most homeless
encampments. Legislation has been issued by the city criminalizing
homelessness as a result, but it still goes on. As I write this a
pretty nasty one exists under the First Street Railway Overpass
between Inman and Scott Street (the one near U-Haul). The objective
of the legislation was to rid Livermore of such encampments
especially along the Arroyos... but
if you have a blanket, with intent to use it outside, you are a
criminal under that law no matter where you are...
Two factions exist in Livermore:
Those that want the homeless gone versus the homeless advocacy. Those
that want the homeless gone seem to want the lot of us round up and
shipped out of the town or even the county. Those amongst the
advocacy want more services and a whole lot more money spent by
government on the homeless especially for free housing. Neither will
happen, and neither would have anywhere near the kind of results
people hope for.
Over the course of the existence of
this blog, I've documented a lot of cases where homeless people who,
employed or not, avoid being a problem. These folks are darn near
invisible to the rest of you. I know them because I have existed in
that world. I understand how it is they survive and manage to keep
under the radar. Explaining the why of it would take volumes, but
I did a blog on conduct to address the how.
I also know that when they are
discovered to be homeless, they are lumped in with those abusing
alcohol or methamphetamine and generally making a nuisance and a mess
of themselves. It's not just the general population that does this,
but those in homeless advocacy that do so. Everyone is the same,
there is no distinction, you're homeless you get what you get along
with the abusive thieving Meth-Addicted homeless guy who will beat
you down with a shovel just for looking at him wrong...
Yes, Shower Nazi Doug, I did hear
what happened... I hope you're okay...
It is incumbent upon those involved
to recognize what it is they can and cannot change. The first steps
were taken when the Livermore Homeless Refuge, Open Heart Kitchen and
showers three days a week were implemented.
I have never been opposed to any of
these operations. They are necessary in that they do, quite
literally, save lives.
However, one must also recognize that
these very same operations which are so necessary for the survival of
many also allow those who are causing issues within our midsts to
continue to do so.... Adam... Ray... Lenny... Mr. French... yes, I'm
talking about you...
What I have been trying, and failing
miserably, to communicate is this: there are certain standards of
behaviour that cannot be tolerated by anyone, especially the
advocacy, and one should not receive help without putting some form
of effort in to repay the kindness.
The point is that none of these
operations exist in a vacuum. For better of for worse what you do
affects the community at large. Why is it that the homeless cannot
perform some level of community service in order to receive help?
Why is there such opposition to that idea?
Many of the homeless you will meet
out and about, most of whom you would not recognize as homeless, are
more than receptive to this idea. It could be as simple a thing as
picking up cigarette butts in and around Livermore Parks... (or the
Civic Centre Library, or the Civic Centre in general!)
Homelessness is a symptom of enormous
socio-economic issues as well as personal issues. The larger issues
are unsolvable on the local level. San
Francisco is now housing some five thousand (formerly)
homeless people in various places and, in each one of those
places they bring their squalor and other problems right along with
them. Places that house the (formerly) homeless are not the types of
places one would want to go visit, assuming you could get though the
door with so much accumulated garbage inside... yes it's that bad.
Locally it's' even worse.
Six homeless men were selected to be
housed, reportedly by ABODE and the City''s Department of Human Services,
though that is unconfirmed. One of them was put up at 975 Murrieta
Blvd. (across from the Nob Hill Shopping Centre). I've known this
one for years to have terrible problems with drugs and alcohol. He's
usually not prone to violence but he has the occasional issue with
it. He's been known to defecate outside the Livermore Public
Library... that should be clue enough for many of you...
Well, in the wee hours of March 27,
2014 he started a fire. It gutted his taxpayer funded apartment as
well as several others and left ten more people homeless (not
counting this young man, he makes eleven). The report says that he
attempted to extinguish it, however there seems to be more to that
story. Apparently he fled the scene and returned later saying he had
no idea what had happened even though he had third degree burns on
one hand and his hair was burned off. Putting this man up
unsupervised has proven to be a very temporary and very expensive
solution... not to mention it resulted in ten more homeless people...
the Red Cross put at least some of them up.
So, house six people, subtract one,
and end up with ten homeless... net gain: negative five... The
Housing First initiative has repeatedly failed to accomplish anything
but spend massive amounts of public money.
Nobody locally or regionally is going
to solve homelessness. It's here, it's going to stay with us unless
there is a socio-economic sea-change. It would probably take a civil
war for that to happen. Fortunately nobody alive is likely to see
one of those around here.
Recognize, however, that while we
cannot solve homelessness locally, we can go a very long way toward
reducing the negative effects of homelessness on the community at
large. In the process we can help those who are homeless cope with
their circumstance and improve themselves. Standards of Behaviour and
requiring some level of community service for help given will go a
long way toward these ends.
I'll be at the meeting on April
30 at the Robert Livermore Community Centre.
The meeting is taking place at a very
interesting point. The Livermore Homeless Refuge season ends on
April 30 and it will be closed till November 1. That means that most
if not all of those who use the refuge will be sleeping out of doors
for the next six months. So all those issues that are going to be
dealt with at the mayor's Homeless Summit will be experienced more so
following that meeting than in the six months prior.
I was ambivalent about going till
recently when someone posted a response to one of my old blogs asking
me to attend. I'll report on what is said. I'll note anything
interesting... I doubt any of the ideas above will even be
mentioned... but I will be there...
In the meantime, I am in possession
of a concealed blanket and am not afraid to use it.