Is The “Meanest City” List A Form of Blackmail?

There is an interesting opinion piece in yesterday’s Santa Monica Daily Press on the “Meanest City” list that was announced last month.

The National Coalition For The Homeless (NCH) and the National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty publish an annual list that accuses cities across the country of being “mean” to their homeless. Santa Monica was listed as the ninth meanest city in America, and Los Angeles was named the 18th meanest.

The piece states that the NCH Director told officials from Sarasota, Florida that if they didn’t drop a proposed anti-camping ordinance, that the city would be listed as the Number 1 “meanest” city in America. I guess the city officials were not intimidated, because they made the top billing.

So is it appropriate for these national homeless advocacy organizations to use this list as a way of “forcing” cities to stop passing anti-camping ordinances?

Again, I believe that this listing is only relevant if it also includes the positive actions cities are doing for the homeless. If a city is investing millions of dollars to house and serve their homeless population, but also have ordinances that prevent people from sleeping on the streets, they should not be considered a “mean” city. If anything, they should be considered “responsible.”

Cities that do nothing—no services, no investment, and no ordinances—are the irresponsible municipalities. Not the cities that are desperately trying to find solutions to homelessness.