The problem with Smercomish is he narrows in on the hard core homeless, the folks in tents. This is a matter typically of shelter, not simply housing. Which brings me to the problem I have with Kessler and other professorial types, is that the hard core homeless issue is even more nuanced than the low cost/low income housing issue. He blames liberal judges, politicians and police departments. Not moving people off the street, etc.concordtom said:
Wife,
Smercomish did a segmyon this issue.
Not very good, though.
And the Kesler guy from CMK sounds like a ***** with no solutions. Institutionalize people and lock up drug users?
Sure compassionate liberal judges that don't know what they are doing can prevent police sweeps of the streets, but where are going to put all these people your honor? Just look at Orange County (which btw is not really all that liberal). They want to move the homeless next to Anaheim Stadium and the federal Judge said find them housing around the county (the Judge btw was a life long prosecutor, and at best might be called moderate, not liberal). And then the fun begins. So the County tries to house them in hotels for 30 days. Cities, particularly cities with high income residents, say not a chance in our jurisdiction and use CA laws to prevent any even temporary housing in their boundaries. So the County allows a park to be overrun in Anaheim with tents, and has a small nearby shelter for 200 beds for the most functional. Then there is this:
Thousands of pounds of human waste, close to 14,000 hypodermic needles cleaned out from Santa Ana River homeless encampments https://www.ocregister.com/2018/03/08/thousands-of-pounds-of-human-waste-close-to-14000-hypodermic-needles-cleaned-out-from-santa-ana-river-homeless-
Yup, lot of druggies and mentally ill. Then there is the general lawlessness, child prostitution and other criminal side to these encampments and people ensnared by that scene. They are unemployable. Asking a city government to address a mass of these peoples' problems is pointless, the money isn't there. Which then gets you to people sleeping in cars for safety and who mostly have jobs and find places to bath, but no longer can afford housing. Or it gets you to low income people with absurdly long commutes. Or it gets you to the working poor trying to have alternatives to tent cities. This is a very different than what Smercomish is talking about. And then you get to this:
The Governor Is Suing My Hometown https://n.pr/2KOY24D
To the extent California is willing to accommodate endless numbers of people, they will have to house them. This means more density, and yes, to those particularly in nice urban areas, sharing the space and the end of your California dream. (Read the article). This is an issue as to the very heart of where is the State going?
