Niece of L.A. Man Who Was Attacked By Teens Responds In This Blog

The niece of one of the homeless men attacked by two teens responds to this blog. Here is her post:

FAMILY SEEKING MORE INFORMATION ABOUT ERNEST ADAMS (aka "Ernie Mike").

I came across this weblog after conducting an internet search regarding my uncle, Ernest Michael Adams who was savagely beaten by two teens in Los Angeles. My grandmother was recently contacted by USC Medical Center, where my uncle is lying in critical condition and has been placed on a ventilator. However, the hospital has been reluctant to provide more information and we honestly do not know whether he is dead or alive.

My uncle Ernie has been estranged from the family for many years and we are desperately trying to find out more information concerning his condition and what action we will have to take to make sure that the two young men being held in connection with my uncle's beating remain behind bars. I am currently a law student in New Jersey, and I intend to seek whatever support is available to me to insure that justice is served in this case and also to petition the City of Los Angeles to take greater steps in providing adequate housing and other social services for the homeless.

This news is extremely tragic, not only for our family, but apparently for many people throughout the Los Angeles community. Our hope is that this news, which has reached national headlines, will increase the public's awareness about the many problems that the homeless are confronted with. It is also my sincere desire that the producers of the DVD that apparently inspired this attack will no longer be able to take advantage of or capitalize off of the exploitation of the disenfranchised.

If you or anyone you know has information concerning my uncle, please contact me at smadara22@yahoo.com.

Thank you,
Amina Adams-Zackery

An Interesting Approach To Housing The Homeless

Here’s an interesting article on how an artist has designed a temporary shelter for the homeless. Since February 1998, these shelters have been given to the homeless in Cambridge, Boston, New York, and Baltimore.

Here’s an excerpt from the article:

"Artist Michael Rakowitz feels strongly about the issue of homelessness. So strongly that when he focussed his creative attentions on the subject he began manifesting practical outcomes, specifically the ParaSITE. The parasite is a small, collapsible, double-membrane shelter that uses the escaping warm air from a building’s HVAC system to inflate and warm the temporary home. Rakowitz has now been nominated for a prestigious Index Award for the paraSITE and his work is far from finished."

To read more, click here.

LAHSA Commission Empowers Administrative Oversight Team To Assume Direct Management and Contract Oversight

At a special meeting this afternoon, the Commission of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority voted to give the administrative oversight team appointed by the L.A. County Chief Administrative Officer and the City of L.A. Mayor’s Office direct management and contract oversight.

Here is the motion that was distributed at the meeting, and approved by the commission. Some of the wording was changed during the commission discussion so part of the actual bullet points below may not be exact wording:

MOTION

The LA City Controller and the LA County Auditor-Controller issued their final report in early August, which detailed LAHSA’s serious financial and contracting problems. Co-mingling of federal dollars was cited, and a significant amount of unpaid invoices were identified along with other fiscal management deficiencies. Since that time, this Commission took action to respond to the grave concerns raised. At the advice of our Executive Director, an outside accounting firm was hired to provide assistance, and a fiscal oversight committee was established to receive progress reports on a weekly basis. An administrative team composed of LA County and LA City staff was also deployed to monitor progress and provide assistance.

Our problems were disclosed in detail to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. After a third meeting with HUD, their representatives asked for a plan of action and imposed a deadline of September 30, 2005, to resolve all critical issues identified.

It is clear to me that this Commission needs to take further action to put LAHSA on a track that will inspire confidence from HUD, the LA County Board of Supervisors, the LA City Mayor and the LA City Council.

I THEREFORE MOVE that the LAHSA Commission invite and empower the administrative oversight team appointed by the LA County Chief Administrative Officer and the City of Los Angeles Mayor’s office to:

* Assume direct management and contract oversight over the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, through at least December 31, 2005, or until all fiscal and contract management issues are resolved to the satisfaction of the LAHSA Commission with the consultation of the LA County Board of Supervisors, the LA City Mayor and the LA City Council.

* Instruct the Executive Director to report to the County/City administrative oversight team, and

* Request that the County/City team provide bi-monthly progress reports to this Commission as to progress made.

I FURTHER MOVE that the LAHSA Commission:

* Send a letter within seven business days to HUD, the LA County Board of Supervisors, the LA City Mayor and the LA City Council, outlining this action taken by our Commission, and clearly stating our unequivocal goal of doing whatever is necessary to restore the integrity of LAHSA.

“Inhumanity Has Found A Home on Skid Row”

The above is L.A. Times columnist, Steve Lopez’s, title for his “Points West” column today. His piece is the closest viewpoint to mine, regarding the recent homeless beatings. >Click here to read article.

Lopez quotes Chief Bratton, “These dehumanizing crimes will not be tolerated.”

And then Lopez states the following, “What is tolerated, however, isn’t much prettier.” He is referring to Skid Row, a row of blocks in downtown Los Angeles where the worst homeless conditions in the country exist.

“Downtown Los Angeles’ skid row is a spectacle that practically defies description,” states Lopez. Skid row’s Firestation No. 9 averages more than 60 runs per day to deal with human emergencies.

“Police and paramedics can barely keep up with the nightly violence and medical emergencies, and the fire station is not just the busiest in Los Angeles but last year was the busiest in the entire nation.”

LAPD Captain Andrew Smith of the Central Bureau says that murders, assaults, drugs, and major health crises overwhelm them. “You’ll see someone who’s got an infection with worms or maggots growing out of it,” Smith is quoted.

Lopez thinks Proposition 63, California’s 1% tax on million-dollar incomes that will be used for additional mental health services could be the answer.

Whatever the funding source, we (our community) need to stop tolerating such conditions on our street.

To quote Lopez’s last sentence:

“That (homeless on skid row) might not be as dehumanizing as attacks with baseball bats, but it’s close."

L.A. Homeless Beatings Reported Around The Country

The country is looking at Los Angeles to see how we respond to the recent beatings of two homeless men in downtown Los Angeles. As the homeless capitol of America, Los Angeles is ground zero for the country’s homelessness.

Do we simply respond with press conferences condemning the attacks? Or do we begin to develop active plans to eliminate the causes of homelessness—lack of housing, shelter, living wage jobs, etc.?

Here are over thirty media outlets around the country (and one in England) that covered the L.A. homeless beatings:

Tuscaloosa News, Alabama
Duluth News Tribune, Minnesota
Seattle Post Intelligencer
San Jose Mercury News
Monterey County Herald
Kansas City Star, Missouri
Columbus Ledger-Enquirer, Georgia
Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, Indiana
Grand Forks Herald, North Dakota
Tallahassee.com, Florida
San Francisco Chronicle
Pioneer Press, Minnesota
Contra Costa Times
Fort Worth Star Telegram, Texas
Myrtle Beach Sun News, South Carolina
Charlotte Observer, North Carolina
Macon Telegraph, Georgia
Bradenton Herald
Biloxi Sun Herald
AZ Central.com
Kentucky.com
Tallahassee Democrati, Florida
Centre Daily Times, Pennsylvania
San Luis Obispo Tribune
Philly.com, Philadelphia
Fort Wayne News Sentinel, Indiana
New York Newsday, NY
OregonLive.com
Guardian Unlimited, UK (England)
Wave, Kentucky
Times Picayune, Louisiana
News & Observer, North Carolina
Washington Post
Drudgereport.com

Homeless Attacks In L.A. Lead To Community Reflection

Amanda Covarrubias, from the Los Angeles Times, writes a piece on one of the two homeless men who was beaten while sleeping on the streets. Here's the article.

Ernest Adams always sat at the 3rd Street Tunnel greeting people going to work. Downtown Center Business Improvement District had an outreach worker try to get him into transitional housing. But Adams was content sitting and sleeping on the streets.

Even an Associate Justice of the U.S. Court of Appeal knew Adams. Justice Robert Mallano has seen Adams sitting there for the last five years, “He would talk to people and smile. He was always polite and smiling.”

Adams remains in critical condition, as of Wednesday at the County USC Medical Center.

Still, there is no ground swell of support to deal with the root cause of Adams' victimization—homelessness. We should not tolerate or allow our citizens to have to sleep on our streets.

Public Feeding Programs In Santa Monica Could Be Charged A Fee

If you are homeless in Santa Monica, every day of the week (except Monday) you can find a free meal at either Reed Park, Palisades Park, or on the City Hall lawn. Groups from around the city, and from other parts of the County set up public feeding venues for Santa Monica’s homeless.

Unfortunately, it costs the city of Santa Monica about $40,000 per year to provide park rangers to patrol and clean up costs after the feeding programs pack up and leave. City Council Member Bob Holbrook says, “Why should residents pay for that?”

So Holbrook is proposing a city ordinance that would charge the group a fee to set up a public feeding program in city parks. Click here to read article.

Advocates for feeding the homeless state that there will be legal action to stop such an ordinance. They say that such laws would be criminalizing homelessness.

Santa Monica city officials are looking for indoor space for the feeding programs, as a compromise.

Clearly, feeding the hungry is a charitable, and even a spiritual act. However, to line them up in public feeding lines is not the best solution.

St. Joseph Center, based in Venice, has a dignified alternative. They have a program called, Bread & Roses Café, where they have a restaurant, run by volunteers who serve the homeless with dignity. The homeless sit at restaurant tables, and the volunteers are the cooks and waiters. Link to their website.

Making sure everyone in our country has access to a balanced meal is a God-given right. How we provide that food is the running debate in our communities.

Down And Out, Shouldn’t Mean Getting Bashed With A Baseball Bat

Many media outlets, including The Los Angeles Times, report today on two teens who were arrested for attempted murder—they watched the DVD “Bumfights”, and decided to do their own “bum bashing” in Los Angeles. So they took a baseball bat and bashed a couple of homeless people sleeping on the sidewalks in downtown Los Angeles. Here's an article from Florida. Here's another article.

Both teens are in custody with a $500,000 bail.

The “Bumfights” DVD, that features homeless people fighting each other, was produced by two men from Las Vegas. The producers were later arrested. Police Chief William Bratton called these producers, “Mental Midgets.”

At a news conference in downtown Los Angeles, after the bashing, Chief Bratton said, “This happened to one of our most helpless communities because they’re not only homeless but often mentally ill. These dehumanizing crimes will not be tolerated.”

Mayor Villaraigosa added, “Why anyone would want to attack anyone who’s sleeping in the street is inconceivable to me.”

After getting over the outrage of these dehumanizing crimes, we (the community) must continue to ask ourselves why are we allowing people to sleep on our streets? The streets are just not safe or healthy for anyone.

We should also be saying, “Having people sleep on our streets will not be tolerated.”

You Can Find Change In Atlanta’s Laws, But No Spare Change

If you’re homeless you will no longer be able to find spare change near their tourist sites. That is because the Atlanta City Council voted 12 to 3, last night, to ban panhandling near the downtown museums and the Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site. The mayor, Shirley Franklin, plans to sign this new ordinance into law. Click Here.

“The ability to ask for alms is a God-given ability,” said one supporter of panhandling.

Those who violate the new ordinance would get a warning, then a referral to a city resource center on the second violation. A month in jail is possible on a third offense.

Atlanta is one of many cities currently debating the issue of panhandling. L.A.’s downtown blog (here's the link to the blog) lists an article that describes how other cities are approaching this urban debate. Here's the article.

Spare Some Change? Or Change Panhandling Laws?

The Associated Press and CNN report today on Atlanta’s contentious debate on banning panhandling in their city. Click here to read article. The homeless and their advocates spent the night at Atlanta’s City Hall in protest. The Atlanta City Council will be voting on a resolution where it would be illegal to beg for money near downtown hotels or tourist sites.

This urban struggle is played out in most major cities, and even smaller towns, throughout America. Should people be allowed to beg for money? Or will people be arrested for asking a simple question, “Spare some change?”

Supporters of panhandling say that society should not criminalize the act of asking for charity. Why can’t people ask for charity, just like large nonprofit charities ask for money? The article quotes a person saying that people can beg for money in our nation’s capitol so why not in Atlanta. The homeless need affordable housing and a living wage, they say. (I also wrote a blog entry on June 24, 2005 that Atlanta homeless advocates also accuse the city of racism by passing such panhandling laws. Here is the blog entry.)

The community that wants panhandling banned say that aggressive panhandling scares away tourists and lowers the quality of life in a neighborhood. Many say that they already support homeless services and affordable housing. People don’t need to beg for money when there are enough public feeding programs and shelters for people on the streets. Some who want panhandling eliminated also say that the money is used for drugs and alcohol.

Politicians, services providers, and law enforcement are always caught in the middle of this societal debate. Is there common ground in this struggle? Can we, our community, provide enough services, food, and shelter so that people on the streets don’t have to beg for money? Can we give them food vouchers (or vouchers to services) instead of cash, so that we know that their physical needs will be taken care of?

I think there are some simple solutions that provide baby steps toward a resolution to this complex problem.