The Record, Stockton, Calif., Michael Fitzgerald column
By Michael Fitzgerald, The Record, Stockton, Calif. | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
I'm not being snide. Silva posted the meeting only on
The mayor showed leadership in at least acknowledging
The last count of homeless I could find numbered the homeless countywide at 760 "sheltered," 518 in transitional housing and 263 unsheltered, aka on the streets.
An estimated 75 to 80 percent of them cluster in
And for some bureaucratic reason, the tally excludes recipients of General Assistance (GA), though some of them are homeless, too. The real count is much higher.
On a personal note, I recently discovered that a homeless person is using a shed in my back yard for a day shelter. And stealing stuff such as my lawn mower. Some people relax in their backyards. I go out armed with a flashlight and a club.
Little things like this get you engaged in a civic issue.
Addressing homelessness is basic government health and safety, a matter of human compassion and civic pride.
Yet it's not on the agenda. The main reason is not bankruptcy, either. Yes,
But homeless programs are largely funded through the county of
Like most government, it puts families first, though. "The biggest challenge is our GA population of single adults," said
The county pays
Moreover, "It's something that I think is a challenge, when you have to work almost on an individual basis ensuring that they remain in a stable living situation," Celli said.
Translation: Many guys are so high-maintenance they require constant support not to get kicked out of their homes. The county provides some.
But there's still a constant churn of evictions.
In addition to a room, "You need teams of mental health, substance abuse and treatment, folks who can help navigate the
"Neither the city nor the county and probably not the community agencies have the resources to have one building or more where they can house people and provide necessary support services," Mendelson said.
Ad hoc though it was, the mayor's task force addressed these problems. It issued a substantial white paper outlining a sort of
Oversimplified, it is: Bring everyone together, agree on a plan, find the money.
"Interesting that many studies show that cities that just take the time to deal with homelessness housing issues save money in the long run from lost business opportunities," Silva said in a text message.
As Measure A tax money kicks in, and, "When we get more personnel, we'll have better planning in place to deal with aggressive panhandlers and the shopping cart issue."
What's needed now is leadership. It's an election year. People running for city or county office should have proposals to address this problem. Demand it from them.
If the mayor can steward his task force forward to remedies, he can notch his first major policy achievement. This will mean working with government, not trying to work around it.
Homelessness in
The solution is about more than getting street people out of your face.
"As a taxpayer and a citizen, I want a place that looks decent, that feels relatively safe, all those things," said Mendelson. "But addressing quality of life is not addressing homelessness. Day laborers or drunks or whoever that are urinating on the sidewalks and passing out, that should be cleaned up. But that's not going to solve the homeless problem."
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