HHH: Hunger, Homelessness and Housing

*****6/26/2014: I've tried explaining this to the SLO PD but to no avail:

The Problem: People experiencing homelessness often receive citations for public nuisance offenses and then fail to appear in court. Homeless defendants fail to appear in traditional courts, not because of a disregard for the court system, but due to their status and condition. For many homeless people, their day is consumed with a search for food, clothing and shelter. Most homeless persons are not in a position to fight the procedural or substantive issues a case presents.

People experiencing homelessness are aware that the court requires a decent appearance. Not wanting to make a bad first impression, a homeless person with poor hygiene or without a place to store belongings may choose not to appear in court at all. Many homeless people are reluctant to attend court given the uncertainty of court proceedings and the threat of custody. Unresolved legal issues can ultimately preclude homeless people from accessing desperately needed services such as employment, housing, public assistance and treatment programs. 

I "borrowed" the above italicized quote from the annual San Diego "Taking the Court to Stand Down" which you can read more about by clicking here.

Below: For these dry boring blog posts, I always take the chance to add some color to them. A recent Kayak Adventure at Port San Luis with some of my favorite girls. click to enlarge.

*****6/20/2014: CAPSLO Update.  Just got a notice from CAPSLO who operates the Maxine Lewis Memorial (Homeless) Shelter (MLMS) here in SLO, as well as operates the logistics for the Homeless Shelter Overflow. I will summarize their June 2014 notice (note that these are my words in summary):

Over the last few years, some funding for the MLMS has dried up, which CAPSLO attributes to the shift in funding from "Emergency Sheltering" to a "Housing First" model. Therefore, MLMS and the Prado Day Center (both run by CAPSLO) is shifting to adopting a sobriety-based service model that promotes jobs and permanent housing for the clients.

These changes are occurring because (1) limited funds must serve those who seek jobs and permanent housing (again, my words), and (2) those seeking alcohol and drug abuse should get in line behind those who are sober.

Note that I agree with this "shift", given limited funding. Note that on these pages in the past I have supported the "Housing First" model for the medically disabled, but did not take a stand on the same approach for the homeless. Note, of course, that there is significant overlap between the 2 (homeless and mentally disabled).

Mini-update on 7/11/2014: After the first week of serving at the homeless shelter overflow, I have observed the results of this policy: a young couple and their 3 year old daughter got booted from the overflow for 30 days because one of the adults allegedly "failed" their breathalizer test. I do not know the exact alcohol testing policy being used (frequency, randomness, alcohol level for test failure, etc.), but will attempt to find out.

Related to this is the issue of "Case Management" (CM) at CAPSLO. Though I believe that Case Management is indeed necessary for getting the homeless back to work and in housing, I have long maintained that there should still be a lower level of Case Management for those who are less hospitable to the authorities or have just "given up hope".

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Tim's Ten

"Tim's Ten" is a quick summary of my take on the issues of the day. When I hit 10 separate topics, I will close this blog page and start another one. Here goes!

Blog pages are boring without photos. Here's the obligatory photo. From our trip in May to Havasupai Reservation in Arizona. No, that's not me, but I did make this jump (so did Mark). Click to enlarge.

EIGHT 7/7/2014: 

Yes, Social Security IS an Entitlement!

Social Security is a tax on those who are working, to pay retirement payments to those who paid into previously. However, how much you end up taking out before you die has little to do with how much you put in.

For instance, my parents (aged in their 80's), with a middle class income for 30+ years, have received Social Security payments WAY in excess of what they have taken out. In fact, the amount they collect in 1 year equals approximately what they put in in ALL their years of contributing! On the other hand, the amount that my wife and I have paid into the system is MUCH MORE than we will ever collect, unless we live much longer than expected.

Does this mean I am against the New Deal and Social Security. It simply means that people are wrong when they say that people EARNED their Social Security payments; what they should say is that they PAID INTO the system, and are now collecting out of it. It is a "pay as you go" system, and by the time we collect, I predict that my wife and I will be "means-tested" out of Social Security and collect little or nothing from it, because our federal government is bankrupting our country through endless deficit spending.

Note also that Social Security is a massively progressive system, where those who put little in but qualify to receive it will get MASSIVELY more than they ever put into it, whereas those who have contributed well into 6 figures into it, will get dramatically less in proportion.

SEVEN 6/26/2014: 

Veteran Actor Eli Wallach Dies on 6/25/2014 at Age 98!

Eli was a great actor in so many different roles, but my favorite was always alongside Clint Eastwood in "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly". May he RIP. Read more about his amazing acting career as one of the best character actors EVER by clicking here.

SIX 6/19/2014: 

Want Some Good News? Two Subspecies of Island Fox Should Go Off the Endangered Species List!

Do you often complain (like me) that there is no good news in the news to read? Well, read THIS: Two subspecies of fox that live on 6 of the 8 Channel Islands off of Southern California have sufficiently recovered. A scientific group reported that they have recovered so quickly that they should be taken off the endangered species list. Educate yourself about the Island Fox by clicking on the Channel Island National Park Island Fox web page. Beautiful image of the Island Fox below (click to enlarge):

CALIFORNIA: Archaeological and Historical Weekend Workshops. Many dates and locations during May - Sept., 2014

Your are invited to attend!

*****6/25/2014 UPDATE!

I received my confirmation via email today from Beth and Chris that I am enrolled in their upcoming advanced workshop in Artifact Identification and Description. 

Dear Tim,

Thank you for contacting us about the CASSP (California Archaeological Site Stewardship Program) workshop on September 20-21. We are pleased to confirm your registration.

We will begin at 9:00 on both days, and we'll end at 4:30 on Saturday and at 2:30 on Sunday. Lunch (sandwiches and salads) will be provided on both days, and we'll take a group photo before we leave on Sunday. The San Luis Obispo County Archaeological Society (SLOCAS) lab is located near Cuesta College and El Chorro Regional Park, on Cabrillo Hwy (Hwy 1). We would like to plan a pot-luck supper on Saturday at El Chorro Park. We'll send more information about the pot-luck and detailed directions to the lab in another e-mail.

Please contact us if you have any questions. Thank you for supporting site stewardship. We look forward to seeing you in September.

Sincerely,

Beth and Chris Padon

CASSP coordinators

(562) 427-3474

*****6/12/2014 UPDATE! ADVANCED WORKSHOP SATURDAY 9/20 - SUNDAY 9/21/2014 IN SLO: The last CASSP workshop of this fiscal year will be an advanced training on artifact identification and description, held on Sat. Sept. 20 - Sunday Sept. 21, 2014 at the San Luis Obispo County Archaeological Society (SLOCAS). The host agency is the BLM Bakersfield Field Office. I have signed up to attend this advanced workshop - hope you can join me.

CASSP advanced workshops are hands-on, learning-by-doing activities. At this workshop, participants will help catalog items from the SLOCAS collections, some of which came from the Carrizo Plain before parts of that area became BLM lands. SLOCAS Board chairman Luther Bertrando, SLOCAS curator Christina Macdonald, BLM archeologist Tamara Whitley, and CASSP coordinators Beth and Chris Padon will provide this training.

There is no fee for this workshop. Lunch will be provided on both Saturday and Sunday. The workshop is limited to 25, and advanced registration is required (contact Beth or Chris at bpadon@discoveryworks.com or 562-427-3474). When you register, please let us know if you are interested in camping at the nearby El Chorro Regional Park of San Luis Obispo County.

PREVIOUSLY SCHEDULED REGULAR WORKSHOPS: Before the advanced workshop in September, four regular CASSP workshops will be held:

- June 21-22 at Tahoma (Lake Tahoe), for the Sierra District of California State Parks.

- June 28-29 at Placerville for the Eldorado National Forest.

- July 19-20 at Goleta for the Los Padres National Forest.

- August 23-24 at Hollister for the BLM Hollister Field Office.

Please visit the CASSP web site (www.cassp.org) for more information about these regular volunteer training workshops.

NATION: Private Unions Good - Public Unions Bad

*****UPDATE: 6/27/2014

This story has been highly publicized in the national media, and for good reason. It is a landmark ruling, but one that will take many years to have any impact, IF IT EVER DOES. My money is on teacher tenure in California NEVER changing in a material way.  California politicians and the California Teachers Unions are in bed together and that will never change. Why complete for your job, when you can have it guaranteed for life? Hard to argue with that logic FROM THE TEACHER'S PERSPECTIVE. How about from the student's perspective, when they are stuck with a bad teacher who has tenure?

A few more points on this topic:

Education reformers are hoping that the Teacher's Union and the California Politicians get together, take matters into their own hands, and reform this terrible system. I hate to tell you, folks, but its just NOT gonna happen. Union teachers see this as "just another attack on teachers" and are hell-bent on preserving the status quo. 

Heck, if I could preserve my job in the private sector by performing well for a mere 18 months, then receiving automatic pay increases forever, I might just think the same way. After 2 years of acceptable performance, I could never be fired for the rest of my career - say, another 30 or 40 years - that would we awesome! What a deal! I can see why they're hanging onto to tenure like a pit bull. The teacher's union see this as merely a slippery slope to privatizing public education - a smokescreen if I ever heard one. 

How is it possible that lay-offs based on seniority is the system that ensures that the best teachers will keep their jobs? People perform better when pushed to do the best job possible. Otherwise, they risk getting laid off during bad economic times, when the best teachers should be kept on the job. Many complain that during layoffs, the "best and brightest" teachers often lose their jobs and never return to teaching - is that what we want? Well, that is what we've had for decades, and its NEVER going to change.

College professors receive tenure after a difficult, long and trying process; many never gain tenure. Professors have a legitimate claim that tenure is needed to preserve academic freedom, and protection from politically disputed opinions. K-12 teachers face a much shorter and easier tenure process, and should not, in general, be teaching disputed subjects. Thus, there is no "political" reason for K-12 tenure.

Teachers argue that without tenure, they are subject to the whims of the principal and other administrators of the school for their continued employment. In other words, they have to make their boss happy, whether they agree with them or not. To that I quote: "welcome to the real world, Neo". Sure, I'd be great to just do what I want at work and not worry about making my boss happy, or earning a bigger wage. 

*****ORIGINAL ARTICLE 6/11/2014

INTRODUCTION: This is a sad story - not a happy story. As such, I will not commit a beautiful photo to this blog page, because it does not deserve it. To see why it is a sad story that will end badly, continue reading until the end.

Over the years, I have observed that California Teacher Unions represent the interests of the teachers well, and the students - not so much. Teacher claims that their only interest is the "best interests of the students" appear to not be true. Most of the problem, IMHO, is the alignment of the interests of politicians and the teacher's unions, against the interest of the students. Enter Vergara v. State of California.

SOME FACTS IN THIS CASE: The Judge in this case noted facts that "shock the conscience":

FACT: How many public school teachers in the state of California (out of 280,000 equivalent full-time teachers) have been fired in the past 10 years? Answer: just 91! Of the 91 fired, only 19 were fired for poor performance as a teacher. The rest, assumedly, were fired for criminal activity or other non-teaching behavior.

FACT: How many years does it take to receive tenure as a California Public School Teacher? Answer: Less than 2 years (yes, its true). 98% of teachers in the LA Unified School District are granted the lifetime guarantee of employment after only 1 year and 7 months (by March 15 of their 2nd year of teaching). By then, many teachers have not yet received their teaching credential. 

California is one of 5 outlier states where the teacher tenure probationary period is 2 years or less. 41 states have a probationary period of 3 years or more. Four states have no probationary period whatsoever, just like the private enterprise world (this would be my first choice). Union officials claim that 2 years is plenty of time to determine if a teacher is good enough to never be fired in the next 30 or 40 years of job performance. It is just not possible to make this type of projection on job performance. Our students deserve better than this: teachers should perform well EVERY YEAR that they teach, and should be fired if they don't. That's how it is for almost every single job in the private enterprise world.

FACT: Unwieldy dismissal procedures make it nearly impossible to fire teachers no matter what heinous acts they have committed. Only .0002% of California teachers are dismissed for conduct or performance in any given year (yes, that's two ten thousands of one percent). For other California public employees, that number is 1% (5,000 times higher rate) and for private employers, that number is 8% (40,000 times higher). These numbers strongly indicate the reality that there is really no way to fire a bad teacher. 

FACT: LA Unified spent $3,500,000 to fire just 7 teachers between 2000 and 2010 for poor performance. Of those 7, only 4 were permanently fired. Of the 3 retained, 2 received large settlement payments (assumedly for somehow being wronged during the course of this "due process"), and 1 continues to work after being "fired".

FACT: LA Unified has at least 350 grossly ineffective teachers that it has not even considered dismissing, due to the costly and time-consuming process which seldom results in an actual dismissal. Instead, these teachers continue to teach our children. This has got to end; sadly, this court ruling will not end this situation, IMHO (read on to find out why).

FACT: State law mandates that new teacher hires get laid off first. The Judge pointed out that this policy encourages the state to retain poor teachers, and deny students the right to have competent teachers. I agree.

FACT: These tenure policies disproportionately affect poor and minority students; i.e., the worst teachers end up in poor and minority school districts. For all those defending tenure, how can you claim to want quality education for poor and minority students?

FACT: Research has proved that teacher quality is the single biggest in-school determinant for student performance, and also, student income once they graduate. Good teachers results in good students getting good jobs after graduation. No surprise to me - it seems obvious. We all went to school - most of us, like me, to a public school. We all know the positive influence that great teachers had on us, and also, our lack of motivation when we have bad teachers.

FACT: In the state of California, the average annual teacher's salary is just under $70,000. The long-standing sentiment that teachers, in general, are underpaid is not true, IMHO. I believe that truly extraordinary teachers are indeed, underpaid. However, the average teacher is well-compensated for the 9 months a year that they work - again, IMHO. If there was a market wage for teachers and no teacher's union, I believe that the market would decide that teachers should get paid less than they do now. However, we will never know, because once public unions get installed as an institution, the are never dissolved. We will have teacher's unions forever, IMHO. Thus, the teacher's unions will continue to serve themselves well, and the students? not so well. Sigh.

THE GAME IS NOT OVER: Sadly, it does not end with this ruling. The teacher's unions are appealing, and the judge's orders will not be followed until this appeals process runs its course. The Judge is encouraging the California legislature to "fix" the unconstitutionality of the laws the Judge has ruled against. This will take many years. There is no urgency in this matter, as with most things government. So what if this "shocking" situation continues for years and years. Who cares? Not our state government and not our teacher's union - at least not enough to speed up the process to fix this problem and improve our public schools.

MY SAD PREDICTION - CALIFORNIA STUDENTS WILL LOSE AGAIN:  This will work its way through the appeals process without end. Nothing will actually change, because of the strength of the very public alliance between California politicians and the teacher's unions. The politicians need the union's donations, and the teachers need the politicians to maintain their tenure policy. The politicans will not dare to offend their primary source of political donations and support. However unlikely, if the Calif. legislature ever does "fix" the problem, it will do so in a way that merely continues the current state of affairs, just with legal wording that implements the same basic policy. In other words, the students will lose again, and the low-performing teachers will keep on teaching.

SAN LUS COASTAL IS PRETTY DARN GOOD: Thanks for reading this. We were lucky enough to have good public school teachers for our children, because San Luis Obispo attracts quality teachers, due to the high quality lifestyle of the area. Thanks to the many wonderful teachers that our children had (note that they weren't all wonderful - some were mediocre or worse, and in a private school, they would have been FIRED and not laid off). This doesn't mean I don't care about the students throughout our great state that get stuck with uninspiring teachers with no motivation other than their paycheck. All our students deserve a quality public school education that we, as taxpayers, are paying for but not getting.

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May 2014: Havasu Falls Trip Guide (PAGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

INTRODUCTION: After our 2 week trip to Nevada and Arizona in May, 2014, I've been playing major catch-up for Waag and Co. and personal matters. That dust is beginning to settle. I was so enamored of our 5 day backpack to Havasu Falls, that I will be writing up a little guide to visiting this amazing place. That guide will live right here on this blog site. We plan on going back in May 2015 - let the fun begin!

SLO BACKPACKERS MEETUP GROUP: Kudos to Dave and Gregg for organizing this backpack for our meetup group. On most trips that I go on, I am the primary organizer, so I know how much fun planning trips can be! It was an incredible luxury to go on a trip that somebody else planned - all I had to do was show up! Thanks to my buddy Mark Mac for being such a great person for sharing such an adventure, and to my wife Sue for letting me back out of another trip that I was organizing (Overland Expo, Flagstaff, Arizona) at the same time!

ORIENTATION OF THE HIKE IN AND THE CANYON: (Need to confirm all mileage listed here and elevation changes listed here - so far, this info should be considered TENTATIVE). 
The trailhead is located at a large asphalt parking lot known as "Hualapai Hilltop" (Hualapai is pronounced as WALLA-PIE). The hike from the Hilltop to the town of Supai is supposedly 8 miles (need to confirm). The hike stars out on a well-developed switchback trail that quickly descends 1,200 feet into a side canyon to the main Havasu Canyon called Havasupai Canyon. From Supai, it is another 2 miles to the campground.

WHERE TO STAY: (1) THE HAVASU CAMPGROUND (2) HAVASU LODGE: The vast majority of tourists stay at the campground, located between Havasu Falls and Mooney Falls. Apparently, there is also a hotel where tourists can stay; none of our group stayed there, and I'm not sure that I even saw it or know where it is located (or how much it costs). 

MODES OF TRANSPORTATION TO HAVASU FALLS CAMPGROUND: There are numerous options for a tourist to get

GENERAL LOGISTICAL FACTS: Basic facts for the uninitiated.
- No campfires allowed in the Supai campground (note that we found signs of unauthorized campfires everywhere; there is tons of downed wood that could be used to make a fire, and apparently many have done so (against the rules).
- No camping anywhere except in the campground.
- Packing out all your trash is NOT mandatory. Mark and I packed up all the trash left in our camp, plus collected a bunch more, and was able to give it to the ranger at the corral just above the upper end of the campground. We did NOT have to pack out our trash, though I suspect that they tell people that in hopes that most or all of the tourists will pack out their trash. Note to the Supai: I think having trash collection for the tourists is a good idea, as I believe that most of the illegal campfires were to burn trash. Many backpackers are used to burning trash, and don't like packing it out if they don't have to. If you collect trash, people will not burn it with illegal campfires, IMHO.

GENERAL OBSERVATIONS (WEATHER): Dave put out this weather forecast on our meetup website before the trip:
Weather Forecast on May 12 for:
Thursday, May 15, 2014: 83 / 48
Friday, May 16, 2014:  89 / 53
Saturday, May 17, 2014:  91 / 53
Sunday, May 18, 2014: 86 / 52 
The high temps forecast appeared to have been accurate, but I'm not sure about those lows. What i do know is that I did not need my 3 pound, REI 20 degree, synthetic sleeping bag. On most (if not all) nights, it was too hot when to do anything but lie on top of my sleeping bag and on top of my bivy sack - it was just too hot. I never touched my fleece jacket or my shell windbreaker on the entire 5 days of the trip. I would have been fine with one of those summer sleeping bag / bag liners - a 1lb or less sleeping bag shell/liner. I still would have brought the bivy sack in case there were biting bugs, which there we not. It may have gotten down into the 50's at night, but it would have hit that mark at 2 or 3 am. That is the time when I switched from wearing a t-shirt, shorts, and socks and slept on top of my sleeping bag and bivy sack, to actually getting inside the sleeping bag for a few hours. Since I wasn't getting bit by bugs all night, I eventually gave up on ever zipping my bivy sack closed, because it was just too hot. Note that for the first 2/3 of the night, it was too hot to zip the bivy sack closed, no matter how little I was wearing.

RECOMMENDATION (CLOTHING/SLEEPING GEAR): For a forecast similar to the above, I would have brought my windbreaker shell (9 oz.), a sleeping bag liner (I don't own one, but this would be what u want), bivy sack (REI sack 14oz - use in case of biting bugs or rain), and my regular sleeping pad. I would have left my fleece and sleeping bag in the car, and would have saved about 3.5 pounds of pack weight.

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