A Federal Case

Homelessness for Stupid People

The foibles of the most pampered homeless population in the Bay Area...

What a night Monday was...

The Carnegie People showed up in force and managed to make the Livermore City Council meeting a tedious affair as we we sat in this crowded room and listened to grown men whine about problems at Carnegie Park... why were they there? No idea. Livermore City Government hasn't got a damned thing to do with Carnegie! Thank you guys for a glorious waste of time... I felt truly sorry for those City Workers who staggered out (two hours later than usual) of the City Council Chambers and came into work this morning bleary eyed from exhaustion...

There were important issues to discuss, as there always are... I've found the council meetings to be rife with drama since I started going late last year... who knew?

Anyway, the Urban Camping Ordinance Passed...

I heard some people saying it was pushed through with lightning speed... No... it wasn't. I told you people about it last October! I spoke to many of you about it face to face!

But... there will be a Homeless Summit... maybe this year... we don't have a date, because now we're going to get one or two difficult to coordinate federal agencies involved...

My question is: why?

Why are we bothering the Feds..? unless there's a lot of money on the table, and there probably is...

I maintain this is a local issue. I hear people talking about all these homeless people arriving in Livermore to take advantage of services, etc... one or two, sure... but the implication is that there are hundreds, the number of homeless has gone from ten to fifty thousand in four years and other towns are dumping their homeless on us...

Huey!

I have a little news for everyone: the problems you're seeing in Livermore caused by the homeless are being caused by the same number in the same proportion as it was four years ago. The number of Homeless is also pretty static. I say 300, my guess, and it has been about that for as long as I've been homeless.

There was a study done two and a half years ago which included a portion on the Homeless... but the way it was run it was as if they didn't want anyone to participate... the estimate of homeless at the time was about fifty... yeah, 50... 25 people showed up at the last meeting on short notice because somebody (me) bothered to tell them. Yes, it's online here, and it's not worth reading if you want anything approaching reality, but knock yourself out if you're interested...

To the city council I say this: forget the feds. Councilman Woerner wants data, great, the Feds aren't going to give you any and you're already working on getting that yourselves. If you want the Feds involved, plan a meeting sometime in 2015 after you've engaged the locals... getting the Feds involved is going to make things more complex and take your attention away from those who you need to be talking to...

Everything we need to take deal with the Homeless issue is right here.

People asked for creative solutions?

I spoke with Terry McCune last night. McCune spoke on the garbage the homeless leave on the Arroyo Mocho and how his neighbours clean it up. I told him about the idea I had been trying to get through to Trinity Church for months... They take meals out to the Homeless and I had suggested that they pick a park and do clean-up with the Homeless before serving food... Terry seemed to like that idea...

But nobody else does. Or if they do, they have a funny way of showing it...

Maybe it'll get play if some U.S. Government Official suggests it... then those Glorified Welfare Recipients might be good for something...

Solution: SNUGGIES!

Homelessness for Stupid People

The foibles of the most pampered homeless population in the Bay Area...

Oh... we all brainstormed this morning and someone came up with an impressive suggestion: SNUGGIES! Snuggies are not mentioned in the new ordinance and, so far as I know, are not considered camping paraphenalia... right? Everybody ditch your blankets, sleeping bags and tarps and we all get Snuggies!

I wonder if they come in camouflage?

Mickey made a great speech at Vineyard just before breakfast telling everyone two things: one, the Creeks are off limits! And two, don't make a mess! And she expects the homeless to do a little better job self-policing. I'd so like to see that become a reality... my only problem with this is that more than a few of these folks simply are not adults, they're children in adult bodies and discipline isn't familiar to them...

Yes, the ordinance is still very much at the forefront of conversation, and, I'm proud to tell you, the person most to blame for the existence of this ordinance, according to the scuttle butt, is none other than yours truly!

Maybe...

I dunno, I'm getting this second and third hand from a lot of people who relay what others are supposedly saying... “That MF started that MF-ing blog and now we have this MF-ing law...”

Okay, it's all my fault... I'm the one who got high of the notion of having a popular blog, I'll admit. It's been one whole heck of a lot of fun, especially the death threats, both overt and subtle. I can't tell you what a rush it is to get one... I highly recommend it! It helped me understand Adrenaline junkies...

Someone posted a note asking why I thought there were more homeless than there were in response to my last posting...

My answer was, I don't think there are more, at least not locally. I believe there are about 300 in town and that it has remained pretty static for several years. What I am seeing is a trickling in of young people, early 20s, who are homeless. Now, I don't tend to connect with the younger crowd very much. They and I don't have much to say to each other beyond “Hi” and “Bye...”

But today was a bit different. Two young women, I'll call them A and S, were telling me their personal stories this morning, or part of it, and they were both very candid about some very personal, private stuff that I should never repeat, and hopefully will slip my mind in short order. One is someone who's been around a little while and the other is more “new” to all this. What impressed me about both of them, and I hope I can relay this properly, is that both of them seem to recognize their own faults and are attempting to work around or with them... both could use some positive influence (they're sooo young!) and both of them are, it seems to me, overcoming the character flaws of their own parents.

A third young woman I know, I'll call her C, who is also very young, has given me a bit of a surprise. C isn't homeless, but had one of the most unstable times growing up I could imagine... yet she turned into this positive, industrious, well loved young woman who has a real future ahead of her complete with marriage, home and family... All that looks very much like a done deal, thought it will take a lot of work on C's part... but C has the character to meet that challenge having overcome so much more than what she's facing. A and S both seem to have similar characters and, in my opinion, could get to where C is.

To say that I worry about A and S would be an overstatement. I don't. I believe they'll do just fine in the end... but either could slide either way, as if they're sitting on a fulcrum which will determine the rest of their lives at this very moment. It could teeter for years for either or both of them without resolution... it would be pleasing to me to see someone take an interest in them, someone not from Social Services or some other tax funded group, give them a chance and be involved in their lives... and for them to accept such involvement...

I'll be seeing more cases like A and S, I'm sure... they're very different young women, save that they both are energetic and friendly... S more friendly because A is more experienced... S will probably get less so over time.

A also knows something about me... “If you write about me, I'll hurt you!” she told me this morning...

Don't be surprised if I'm typing with only my pinkies next week...

Surreal Reality

Vice Mayor Bob Woerner wants facts and figures on Livermore's Homeless. He expressed this in Monday's City Council Meeting in which item 4.04, the ordinance that would make being homeless in Livermore a crime, was introduced. I don't say that lightly, but the fact stand. The council supports this ordinance 4-1, will vote on it on February 10^th and it will take effect on March 12... on that Wednesday in March, I, and all the rest of Livermore's Homeless, become criminals.

I cannot hold the City Council to blame entirely for this. The state of Homelessness in Livermore is a mixed bag of big problems mixed in with people just trying to get by. The big problems make a mess. The people trying to get by suffer... I tried, people, I truly did try to get the word out on how to manage: A Guide to Proper Conduct and Being Conspicuous were both meant to help people NOT be a problem. Very few paid any attention... oh well...

Sometime in February, Mayor Marchand has said, there will be a summit on Homelessness in Livermore he says he is personally going to moderate. At the end of the City Council meeting on Monday, I managed to catch Vice Mayor Woerner and told him Mickey Kundert would be the best place to start for the information he wants. Mickey is, of all the volunteers, likely the one who understands the issues better than most and certainly knows more of their names and faces than any other. I hope one or the other picks up the phone and makes a call before that summit...

Monday's City Council meeting itself was not as packed as I expected it to be. I fully expected it to be standing room only. It certainly attracted a lot of media attention. I'm not sure if this is good or bad, but nothing I've heard from the media or any of the comments aired seem to address the very real issues facing the Livermore City Government.

Largely, and Mayor Marchand made this clear, the issue is the squalor in the Arroyos, especially the Mocho. He characterized the ordinance as a public health issue.

The three people who spoke in favour of this ordinance all described negative experiences in the Mocho with homeless people. I found them credible, valid, and perfectly consistent with my own experiences. Terry McCune (I apologize if I didn't spell your name correctly) spoke of how he and his neighbours who live along the Mocho are constantly policing garbage, and they're getting discouraged. That pleased Mayor Marchand, by the way, who is constantly speaking of how Livermorons should be responsible with trash... oh... he never said “Livermorons” that I'm aware of, by the way... my word, not his.

I have to kick myself because it should have occurred to me long ago that the Creeks should be off limits, and I should have written about that at least once. But here it is now:

The Creeks are Off Limits! Too little, too late from me... sorry...

Of the eleven speakers eight were opposed to the ordinance... I cringed as I heard people talk about the need for “more social services” which tend to be counterproductive and aren't coming anyway. Several Volunteers spoke, including the afore mentioned Mickey Kundert. I think Mickey said it very well when she asserted that Public Officials “Do Not Understand the Homeless.” Hopefully Vice Mayor Woerner will give her a call...

Speakers also asserted that 40% of the homeless are mentally ill... that's a bridge I just don't buy! I do see some mental illness out there, but not even close to the numbers “Homeless Advocates” like to say. What I see a whole lot more of is Methamphetamine Abuse, and to a lesser extent, Alcohol Abuse. Both eclipse the Mentally Ill in numbers each by themselves in my experience.

One homeless man spoke, my good friend Nick. Nick is an Air Force Veteran and one of the most single minded men I know. When he starts a task he'll be on it till it's perfect... and he's deathly afraid of this ordinance.

A few of years ago there was this guy, Mark Watters, who was, to put it lightly, a problem. He was enough of a problem that he scared a lot of us. Nick and I witnessed Mark terrorizing young mothers with children at the Library entrance. He vandalized at least one car in the Library parking lot. Nick, our late friend Richard Fincus, and I took it upon ourselves to watch him very, very carefully hopefully catch him in some act that would get him put away. Watters has since left town and hasn't been seen in Livermore for some time. But Nick was probably the most diligent of the three of us. We didn't accomplish anything beyond making Watters nervous, but at least we got the word out that this guy was dangerous and bore watching. Nick and I have been friends ever since. I also told another story about Nick in an earlier posting...

Nick was raised in Livermore. He's been here all his life, graduated from Livermore High... and is homeless... and will become, like myself, a criminal on March 12. It's pretty much a done deal. By the look of things, the council will vote it in 4-1...

Staring that reality in the face is frightening... it's a little surreal...

Carpet Bombing

Homelessness for Stupid People

The foibles of the most pampered homeless population in the Bay Area...

There was a little fear on faces this morning as the announcement came regarding the Urban Camping Ordinance to be submitted to the city council this evening. Urban Camping, according to the ordinance, involves anything down to laying down a “bed roll” on public or private property, with a $100 fine on the first offence, and a $300 fine and/or up to 30 days in jail for the second.

The City Council will receive the Ordinance at tonight's meeting at 3575 Pacific Avenue, the Mobile just beyond “The Barn.”

This affects every single homeless person I know. If passed, we all become criminals...

The issue I am specifically taking against the ordinance is this; that it makes the “use camp paraphernalia” unlawful.

In the ordinance itself, Camp Paraphernalia is defined in this manner:

“Camp paraphernalia” includes, but is not limited to: bedrolls; blankets; tarpaulins; cots; beds; sleeping bags; tents; hammocks; items used for cooking food; or any other equipment used to “camp.” Camp paraphernalia also includes other personal effects when used or stored with camp paraphernalia as described herein.

I first heard this was coming down the pike a couple of months ago, that Police Chief Harris was working on it and would present it as soon as it was ready.

Well, here it is... and Chief, sorry, I had hoped this would be a little more targeted against those who are a problem, instead of what amounts to legal carpet bombing... Use of a blanket is a criminal offence? Really?

This said, the city needs an ordinance to keep some of these problem camp sites from getting established. It has to happen. Speaking with Mayor Marchand a while back he noted that there were certain places that there would be zero tolerance for Urban Camping, such as the Arroyo Mocho. Many of you may remember the disaster that was the camp site just north of In and Out Burger on the Creek at North Livermore and I580. There was another, less conspicuous, but equally disastrous one a little east where a fire broke out and, rumour has it, where meth was being cooked... (Considering who was camping at that site, it would be consistent with their history...)

One of the local land owners described that site to me as a “Squalid Garbage Dump.” Another person I know said “There was no place to stand (without standing in garbage)”.

At the same time, nobody has ever counted the number of homeless who are also employed here in Livermore. And, though there may be such a survey, I've never heard of anyone counting employed homeless on any level, National, State or Local. Those of us who are working get lumped right in with those who... well... cause problems... with this ordinance.

I shouldn't be surprised, actually. Most volunteers who help the homeless lump us all together anyway... we're all the same so far as they're concerned. If you've followed this blog at all, and yeah, I know I've not written a word in a long, long time, you'll know I hold a very different view.

Just so you know, you cannot “Look Homeless” and get a job. You certainly can't “smell homeless.” I always get a kick out of people who tell me “You don't look homeless!” How many homeless people, who are not flying signs or wearing scraggly beards and filthy jeans would you recognize?

I was looking at the sad, haggard face of a friend of mine this morning. He's wondering what he's going to do if this passes... He'll lose his job. He'll have to leave town, most likely, and where will he go? He's been here his whole life.

I had nothing for him...

The Ordinance can be read as part of the current City Council Agenda on Page 40 of that document.

Taxi John?

Homelessness for Stupid People

The foibles of the most pampered homeless population in the Bay Area...

A friend of mine, I'll call her Miss C, came up to me this morning and told me of something she saw last night which had her flaming angry. She told me the story and I stood there wide eyed not knowing what to say...

“You want me to write about this?” I asked.

“Of course!” Miss C told me. “Why not?”

I had to admit, I was completely enthralled with her little tale, and I would have written of it. But there really is nothing like a first hand account. And so, I had her write about it and this is what she sent me:

I was finally warm, my tummy was full and my eyelids were getting very, very droopy. It was time to go retrieve my "woobie". For those who know me, my "woobie" has become quite the talking point! And, yes, I do get a lot of kidding about it - it's a huge, furry 15LB leopard blanket - just one of those comfort things that reminds me of home.

So, out I went to get the darn thing and in pulled a van.

Hmmm who is this? Well, what do you know, a Persian or Arab gentleman was driving and tried to explain to me that he was a taxi driver and dropping of a woman. It just didn't seem right. No markings on the otherwise normal looking van, no phone numbers, and the kicker was she wasn't being asked to pay a fare. Too boot, she got out barefoot! In this weather - please! You've got to be kidding me!! What a trick - no really!

The joke was on me - this was no normal taxi ride - it was a "John" letting out his "Trick" What the hell?? No way! No smelly ho's, no johns - just no! As many have read previously, there have been a few "issues" at the warming center and we are all on our very, very best behavior. In fact, a couple ladies have taken it upon themselves to provide "security" at center -one of them being me.

One lady takes the early evening hours and I take over at night due to my chronic insomnia! So far it's working well. We've busted a few for smoking out front and another for going in and out in the back to smoke during the quiet hours between 10PM and 6AM! Slamming doors and the arctic breeze that follows is unacceptable.

The best part of this is that the volunteers back us up - no questions asked.

So, when Tricky entered the building I was right behind her and notified staff what was going on. Tricky was promptly told she wasn't staying, but would be shod (she was barefoot) and fed and would need to make other arrangements for somewhere to sleep. Good enough!

I never thought I would need to say this but JUST A SHOUT OUT TO THE JOHNS IN THE TRI-VALLEY - DO NOT DROP YOUR STINKIN' HOS AND TRICKS OFF AT THE LIVERMORE HOMELESS REFUGE! LEAVE THEM WHERE YOU FOUND THEM!! AND IF YOU CAN AFFORD TO DO THEM, THEN PAY THEM A LIL BIT MORE TO GET A ROOM AND A SHOWER!

Between the Cold and an Ugly Place...

Homelessness for Stupid People

The foibles of the most pampered homeless population in the Bay Area...

“It's this close to closing!” Said Mickey this morning. She was standing up in front at Vineyard Christian Fellowship holding her hand up with thumb and forefinger less than a half inch apart.

She was talking about the Warming Centre. It would seem there's been even more drama than I expected with fights, people drinking in and throwing beer cans around and neighbours getting very, very upset. By all accounts, the inmates are running the asylum and the volunteers have little control, and they've just about had enough...

I do hold the volunteers themselves responsible. A homeless community (I use that term loosely, it's really not anything resembling a community) with so many drug and alcohol addicted folk aren't going to respect any boundries unless they're firmly enforced. It's simply not going to happen. Those at the Warming Centre refuse to do that, so they're losing control, and this year, apparently, it's worse than ever.

And who will lose? Those who respected the rules. But that's nothing new... the problem isn't that people don't know what's going on. The problem is the lack of authority keeping these things from happening in the first place.

Those of us who follow the rules have no authority, no power, and not any recourse to solve the situation other than to leave, and a few of us have done just that. Permanently.

But suppose your there. It's forecast to be 28 or so degrees tonight, and it's been bloody cold all day long. You're going to have to endure it, or freeze?

No, you don't have to freeze. Not if you're prepared.

Keeping a kit that will help you survive the bitter cold isn't all that difficult. You do, of course, need a decent sleeping bag. You probably have one, but if you don't, ask for it if you can't buy one.

Mylar space blankets. You wrap yourself in those inside your sleeping bag and will keep your body heat in rather than escaping.

Layering clothing. Yeah, you'll sleep in your clothing, so might as well make good use of it. Layers will be a huge help.

Chemical Hand Warmers! If you can get your hands on them, that is. They're not expensive, and they generate heat. They're also easy to carry and to deal with. Simply unwrap them, shake them vigorously, and put them in your socks (or, better, between the two socks you have on each foot).

Another hint is this: HYDRATION!

If you allow yourself to become dehydrated, that means blood is thicker and can't move through your body fast enough to warm up your extremities. That means cold hands and feet. Drink water! Lay off the coffee. Yeah, I admit, I only remembered this last Thursday when my feet were like thick blocks of ice at the end of my legs in the morning... lesson learned!

My own sleeping kit is this: a tarp (reflective on one side), two blankets and a sleeping bag. I do have a couple of Mylar blankets stashed but have yet to need them. The tarp and the blankets are there to keep the ground from stealing all my body heat. The blankets are protected by the tarp, and I'm protected by the blankets. Know this, the cold ground will leach your body heat faster than anything and do it right through your clothing. It's imperative that if you're outside, you either get off the ground, or find a way to protect yourself from it.

I anticipate that my friend from my last blog won't be the last one this season to turn his back on the Warming Centre. If things are as out of control there as everyone is saying, it's got far worse since. Just so you know, if the Warming Centre goes away, and people seem to think it might, it's not the end of the world!

Be safe out there!

A Safe Place..?

Homelessness for Stupid People

The foibles of the most pampered homeless population in the Bay Area...

As I mentioned in my last posting, Adam Parris is in jail. When I wrote it, I said I didn't care why... but I can't resist... it just so happens he went into Mr. Pickles on 4th and South Livermore, grabbed their tip jar, and ran off with it, and was soon caught. Oh... he also got a contempt of court charge on him... and, I believe, it was a probation violation... wasn't that for battery? I last saw him at the Warming Centre a week ago Monday on the third night it was open... a few of us had a good chuckle over his... less than smart behaviour...

Well... I gave it two weeks, but it seems I was optimistic, I guess... The Drama at the Warming Centre has started already. What's interesting is that there isn't more authority there, it seems, there's less...

A few days ago, a friend of mine was threatened with violence and bodily harm in front of several witnesses by this new cat in town named Eric. My friend left, and swears he will not be going back as he informed the volunteers and nothing was done...

So much for a safe environment...

Adam Parris was also there last week. Known thief that he is, picked up one woman's phone and began playing with it as if it were his own... she gave him a verbal smackdown, and it wasn't lost, but Adam Parris wasn't asked to leave...

I've spoken before about tolerance and how it puts the innocent in a bad position or even in danger... nobody seems to have listened to me, and so, the Warming Centre has become more about putting up the bad people and letting the good people sleep in the cold. For those of us who can take that, it's okay. But then there are those who are simply ill prepared to face weather that is, while still in the upper 30s at night, not exactly warm weather.

How is it I keep hearing about these incidents? People tell me about them for this reason: they know I'll take them seriously enough to put it out there. When I put it out there, at least people begin to speak of them openly. Never mind that I'm not exactly popular amongst the homeless because of my willingness to do this. I simply don't care.

But it's not like I haven't put this out there before. Funny how it's the same players, over and over... Adam Parris was a subject of that blog as well...

I don't understand what it is that people don't get about rewarding bad behaviour and punishing good behaviour. That's exactly what's been happening, and I've seen it over, and over, and over again.

The Warming Centre was opened up for the first time this season less than two weeks ago, and the volunteers have already, through toleration of obscenely bad behaviour, alienated two people who have historically been very supportive of it.

Could it be that what we're seeing here is how homeless shelters in larger cities become such dangerous places?

All one has to do is google “homeless+shelter+dangerous” and you'll get a host of links to various articles on the kinds of things that happen in large city shelters.

But the warming centre is tiny! I'd estimate that the average numbers last season, I could be wrong, were less than 30 a night at the Warming Centre. It did, of course, fluctuate quite a bit. But that really isn't that many people to manage, especially when there are those present who are willing to stand up for what is right in the face of those who are abusive.

You'd think it would be a simple thing to identify those who are, in fact, causing the problems in the first place through theft or threats, or whatever, and deal with them directly... but it has not, historically, happened save for in the extreme, or unless someone gets loud enough to call attention to a real problem...

But this leaves us with a very big question... if the Warming Centre is not a safe place... what value does it have?