For all the talk and political pandering about the homeless problem no matter what it costs, LA is officially the "meanest city in America," the National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty (NLCHP) and the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH).
After all, nothing in LA politics is quite as cheap as talk. It's political will that's lacking and has been lacking for a long time.
It's in the light-headedness of our collective consciousness to fall for political slogans without actually looking at the facts, thinking for ourselves or having a forum for a public conversation.
We'd rather be amused by the Michael Jackson extravaganza or Britney Spears or the mayor's latest TV anchorwoman companion than to notice what's going on around us.
Troy Anderson in the Daily News did his best to take a look at the "Meanest City" report and traced what happened since January 2006 when the mayor launched his Safer Cities Initiative.
At that time, LA was ranked 18th.
The Safer Cities Initiative was like a pogrom against the homeless to drive them out of downtown in an effort to help inflate real estate values for the heavily subsidized boom in lofts and apartments. .
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"This isn't to say that homelessness and criminalization isn't a problem everywhere, but to be pointed out as the worst among more than 270 cities is a strong indictment of policies that continue to put police over housing as the main response to homelessness," said Becky Dennison, co-director of the Los Angeles Community Action Network, a community organization and advocacy group that works with homeless and low-income people.
Anat Rubin, director of public policy at Lamp Community, a Los Angeles-based organization that provides housing for homeless people with severe mental illnesses, said the report confirms what many people working on Skid Row have been saying since the initiative began.
"We've been saying that the purpose of this policing is to target the poor and homeless and not necessarily crime in this community," Rubin said. "The policing has criminalized both poverty and homelessness and targeted behaviors that are often symptoms of homelessness and mental disabilities."
The mayor needless to say dismissed the report as "short-sighted and misleading," if we are to believe his spokesman Casey Hernandez."It fails to detail the city's housing-first strategy, which reflects national-best practices for housing and services that help homeless individuals stay off the streets. And the assertion that Los Angeles criminalizes homelessness is simply false."
There you go. Advocates for the homeless are wrong. The mayor is infallible. I guess you'll just have to think for yourselves and make up your own mind. You might even talk about it amongst yourselves and decide to do something about what's wrong.
Ron Kaye is the former editor of the Los Angeles Daily News where he spent 23 years helping to make the newspaper the voice of the San Fernando Valley and fighting for a city government that serves the people and not special interests.
Twice in recent years, Los Angeles Magazine listed Kaye among the city’s most influential people, specifically in the area of politics. Kaye has been variously described in the media as the “accidental anarchist,” “the Patrick Henry of the San Fernando Valley” and a “passionate populist.” He is now committed to
carrying on his crusade for a greater Los Angeles as an ordinary citizen. Previously, Ron worked at the Los Angeles Herald Examiner,
Associated Press, Cleveland Plain Dealer and The Australian as well as papers
in Fairbanks, Alaska and Yakima, Wash. He also wrote for Newsweek magazine, The Guardian in London and the National Enquirer.
The Mayor is to blame for this because when he first got into office didn't he say he was going to work hard and put forth the $100 million trust for housing in Skid Row. Problem is there are so many drug dealers especially HEROIN in skid row its scary. Many criminals just coming out of the prison around the corner go there to buy drugs. Why do you think movie stars like Brad Renfro got busted downtown. To say that the police are mean to homeless is a huge exaggeration. AS a consumer who shops downtown a lot near Skid Row at the toy district I will say I've never seen it so clean, no pan handling, not as dirty except for illegal vendors then its been in years.
Before this the cops were blamed for not keeping downtown and skid row safe for visitors and tourists. A common complaint to visitors to Little Tokyo for example, or visiting the MOCA contemporary. Allegedly one reason visitors from Japan wouldn't go there even when staying at the New Otani, one reason it's being abandoned by the Japanese and taken over by local Koreans. The Japanese have retreated to an indoor mall. All the vendors and shops downtown are happy the cops are keeping their streets safe from homeless so customers can approach their stores.
Frankly the problem of where to house the homeless is inherited from past administrations when there was lots of money but nothing was done. Meanwhile the Supervisors announced some scheme to pay almost $10 million to build housing for the 50 worst cases, which is crazy. But lack of dealing with the housing problem can't be blamed on LAPD.
Santa Monica has also been accused of being unkind to homeless, despite their reputation as the Homeless capitol by the sea. However at their city council meetings they blame their problem on L A, claiming they're all from L A, as is all their traffic etc. which is crazy too. Just ask Bill Rosendahl about how Santa Monica is building job magnets but no new affordable housing, creating all the traffic.
It's a regional issue.
Okay, I am very naive about the solutions to the homeless problem. What follows are just my thoughts without the benefit of research.
The City seems to be more concerned about sweeping the homeless under the rug (or into projects)for the sake of concealing, not for the sake of solving (next thing you know, they'll want to conceal anyone with a physical or mental handicap). Housing seems to be a first step and not a solution.
In the event that housing is not readily available, the shelters need to have showers. Do they, I'm ashamed to say I haven't been to one. I read that showers can boost their confidence level; it also helps for job training and placement.
I realize there are some who cannot, or will not, work. For those that can work, they need jobs that are not walking distances from their projects. The vocational training and counseling (does this exist?) needs to be accompanied by transportation to where the better work is. Better to teach them to fish than give it away indefinitely. Some might need it forever, others need a leg up to get started (or start again).
Also, this may sound silly, I wish they would plant food source trees and shrubs. Perhaps that option doesn't exist because of the clean up and potentiality of rodent problems. So, maybe there can be areas where the locals can tend to a garden and grow some food. Is there available space and water? Community gardens can help boost the pride in their community and provide fresh produce. I've noticed some of the produce in their stores look pretty wilted and are quite expensive.
Last, I have found some of the homeless people to be some of the nicest people. When lost, they'd give me directions. When scared, they'd stand by my side to protect me while waiting for a friend or a tow truck to come. In other towns that I've lived in, the homeless were part of the community. They had nicknames and the shop owners (and customers) knew them. They were welcome "patrons" who we didn't mind feeding and talking to. Back then, they were vets or people released from mental institutions. We knew they had problems and we felt fortunate that we could brighten their day.
Anyway, good, bad, can't be done or it already exists, those are my thoughts.
"This is a world-class city, and we provide fire and police protection, period," Villaraigosa said during his first public appearance since returning from his weeklong trip. "The idea that we would charge the family for a funeral is nonsensical."
Where was Los Angeles Police Special Weapons Team when the Los Angeles resident at the home on 55th and Hoover needed them?
Police trying to unravel case of car chase that led to discovery of a body
By PE News on July 7, 2009
Detectives today were questioning several people in a murder-kidnapping case that included a chase from South Gate to South Los Angeles and an hours-long standoff.
Someone reported a kidnapping shortly before 1 a.m. in the 10200 block of Kauffman Avenue in South Gate shortly before 1 a.m., a sheriff's spokesman said.
Responding officers chased a van LA area freeways and streets, said Los Angeles police Sgt. Greg Owens of the Southeast Station.
A person who got out of the van was detained, and another person ran into a home and refused to come out, police said. A homicide victim was found in the van, said sheriff's Lt. Adam Ellison of the Century Station.
Deputies with a sheriff's Special Weapons Team surrounded the home, and the standoff lasted until about 8 a.m., when deputies took several people into custody for questioning, sheriff's Sgt. Diane Hecht said.
With the LAPD focused on security for the Michael Jackson memorial at Staples Center, the barricade was handled by the sheriff's department.
Detectives were working to determine if anyone in custody was involved with the death of the person whose body was found in the van, Hecht said.
—City News Service
http://blogs.pe.com/news/digest/2009/07/police-trying-to-unravel-case-1.html
The way to fix the homeless problem is not through the government. The best way is to increase economic opportunity. If people are still homeless after economic opportunity increases then we really shouldn't worry about them.
So what's the best way to ensure that homeless people who do not want to be homeless can get a job? Lower the tax burden on individuals and businesses. Also, we need to housing prices to fall. This means we have to get rid of affordable housing requirements and minimum parking requirements and oppressive zoning laws (all deterrents to development). Once we have lower housing prices because of the development, we should end social spending programs so that we can lower taxes and get people moving back into this state instead of fleeing to Arizona.
As for our environment, we're at a competitive disadvantage compared to other cities because we live in a basin. To have air as clean as other cities, we need much more oppressive pollution standards. Is this loss of economic opportunity really worth slightly cleaner air? Besides, the more productive we become, pollution will naturally fall on its own.
We need to look to the libertarian solution. Decades of statists running the show is bringing this city (and state) to economic ruin.