Out of Town...............

I'll be out of town all next week. Won't have access to a computer. As we know, some of us can take a week off, but homelessness continues without us.

(Pic from http://roadapples.ws)

Is Solving Homelessness Less Of A Priority In L.A. Today?

The columns by Steve Lopez of the LA Times a couple of years ago, and the recent infusion of city and county funds to address homelessness at about the same time, made advocates ecstatic. Not since a couple of decades ago, had Los Angeles seriously looked at homelessness.

Fast forward a couple of years to today, and I’m wondering if this window of “community goodwill” opportunity is fading.

Of course, everyone is talking about the debate over Skid Row. But is the heart of the Skid Row issue addressing homelessness in Los Angeles or simply trying to figure out how to make downtown Los Angeles more “loft friendly”? Cleaning up Skid Row is a good thing. But it is more about addressing the embarrassing criminal “free-for-all” in downtown than it is about the sad fact that Skid Row is ground zero for America’s homelessness.

So why do I think that perhaps the public interest on homelessness might be fading? Consider the fact that over 200 of Los Angeles’ public and private civic leaders recently descended on Washington, DC—led by Mayor Villaraigosa—to lobby for additional funds for Los Angeles.

They advocated for funding for transportation, anti-gang programs, education, and other very pertinent issues in Los Angeles. But was homelessness included in this long list of priorities? NO.

This, after the federal Housing and Urban Development department recently reduced Los Angeles’ allocation of homeless and housing funding by $12 million.

Yesterday, the City of Santa Monica hosted a conference on Homeless and Community Courts at the RAND Corporation. The usual speakers on homelessness in Los Angeles were there. The eerie feeling was that the same speakers spoke about the same issues, and the same reasons why homelessness is so prevalent in Los Angeles.

Lack of coordination, lack of funding, lack of affordable housing, no creative programs, lack of leadership… lack, lack, lack… The laundry list of why homelessness has overwhelmed Los Angeles sounds like ducks rattling off in the wind… lack, lack, lack…

When you hear this the first time, you are motivated to do something. When you hear it the second and third time, you are interested. After three years of hearing the same message—lack, lack, lack… no leadership, no funding, no community will—you want to change the subject.

Let’s talk about traffic now… how about those one way streets on Olympic and Pico? Let’s talk about education now… should the Mayor run the school district?

BUT let’s not talk about homelessness… are we ever going to help 90,000 homeless Angelenos get off the streets? Maybe it’s easier to build a $5 billion subway to the ocean or have the Mayor take over an entrenched school board than figure out what to do with 90,000 homeless people.

The glass on the window of opportunity where the community is advocating for real solutions to addressing homelessness has definitely turned from clear to opaque. The question is… will this window stay open, or is it closing?

LAPD's Turn To Respond In LAT Skid Row Debate

Captain Andrew Smith runs the downtown LAPD Central Division, home to Skid Row. He has been operating in "ground zero" of homelessness for years. Here is his strong response in the LA Times op-ed section:

I AM THE CAPTAIN for the LAPD's Central Division, which encompasses downtown and all of skid row. Like the police officers who patrol skid row, I was sorely disappointed by Ramona Ripston's complete distortion — in a column on this page — of our efforts to stem the lawlessness, suffering and human misery that was commonplace on skid row just a few months ago.

I am outraged that Ripston, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, implied that our officers are violating the very Constitution they are sworn to uphold and protect. The officers in skid row, who all volunteer for the assignment, have one of the lowest rates for the use of force in the city. And I am even more appalled by her views because she walked skid row streets with our officers and rode around in a black-and-white last year and was shocked then at the horrific conditions under which our most vulnerable citizens survived.

How quickly she forgot!How quickly she forgot that convicted murderers, rapists, robbers, 3,800 parolees and 300-plus registered sex offenders called the 50 square blocks of skid row home. How quickly she forgot the dealers dangling narcotics in front of those trying to kick drugs. Many other predators were hiding among the street population, preying on the weak, addicted and mentally ill.

Fortunately, the terrible culture of lawlessness that was once the norm on skid row is quickly changing for the better.

He also mentions the SOS (Streets Or Services) program that PATH operates in the LAPD Central Division:

Moreover, missions report that more people are seeking beds and treatment, and our Streets or Services (SOS) program is diverting misdemeanor arrestees away from jail and into treatment and housing programs. The people living on the streets and the people living in the missions, hotels and apartments in the area report that they are feeling safer — because they are safer.


(Pic from www.wnd.com)

Million Dollar Soccer Star Still Homeless In Los Angeles

As of five days ago, it appears that the UK soccer star, David Beckham, who is moving to Los Angeles with his Spice Girls wife, still can’t find a multi-million dollar home in Los Angeles. Although it appeared that they had found a home, Sports Illustrated reports they haven’t.

So the man who is receiving $250 million to move to L.A. is homeless—at least in Los Angeles. But I don’t think we need to worry about them. They will find their million dollar digs.

I’m still advocating for the Beckham’s to really do it BIG in L.A.—I mean “big” in philanthropy. Maybe they could follow the path of the Japanese businessman who gave a homeless family one of his mansions. But rather than help one family, the Beckham’s could do it right—donate a few million dollars toward housing a dozen homeless families in Los Angeles.

That would be a great house-warming gift for Los Angeles…

Is There A Relationship Between Mortgages Defaulting and An Increase In Homeless Living In Cars?

A media outlet in the United Kingdom thinks this relationship is valid here in the United States—specifically, here in Los Angeles.

They state that all of these high-risk mortgages that were given away like lottery tickets were simply a set-up for people unable to pay rising interest rates on adjustable mortgage loans and, consequently, ending up literally without a home.

So in Los Angeles, the next best alternative to living in a home… is to live in your car. For those of us who commute hours and hours on L.A.’s freeways each day into work, we may already feel like we live in our cars.

But for homeless people, living in a car literally means—living in a car. 24/7.

So along with the contentious neighborhood wrangling over increased law enforcement and neighborhoods up in arms when a new homeless housing program wants to move in, the next big community issue regarding homeless is this—whether people who are homeless have the right to live in their cars on our public streets.

The federal homeless “czar”, Philip Mangano, says, “No!”

I think addressing the symptoms of homelessness are just “band-aids.” Shelters, outdoor feeding programs, and… allowing people to sleep in their cars, are simply addressing the symptoms.

Our country, and our communities, need to address the deeper issues of homelessness—affordable housing, low wages, disabilities, and lack of proper discharge planning.


(Pic from www.missoulaunitedway.com)