LOCAL: Yes, We Are Criminalizing Homelessness

Sitting on a Park Bench for more than an hour is a Crime? Really?
Chapter 9.40
PUBLIC BENCHES
Sections:
9.40.010 Infraction established.
9.40.010 Infraction established.
It shall be an infraction for any person to sit, lay, or remain upon any public bench for any continuous period of time in excess of one hour, or for any period of time in excess of three hours in any twenty-four-hour period; or to arrange one’s personal property on or in front of any portion of any public bench in a manner that obstructs or precludes the use of the bench by another person. (Ord. 1491 § 2, 2006)

Above (click to enlarge): Photo of the actual ticket received, with the name of the person covered up. Note the address as "General Delivery", meaning a homeless person with no address. This is not right!

Yes, we are criminalizing homelessness. A group of homeless each got a ticket like this one because he and others were sitting at the picnic table at Meadow Park in SLO during broad daylight, apparently for "more than an hour". I have attended picnics at that very same table (for more than an hour) and never got ticketed. Gee, are they discriminating against the homeless?

Was this written with the homeless in mind? "or to arrange one’s personal property on or in front of any portion of any public bench in a manner that obstructs or precludes the use of the bench by another person."



Where Can the Homeless Go Without Getting Ticketed?
The article ran in Cal Coast News on 12/24/2015, which you can read here: 
http://calcoastnews.com/2015/12/yes-we-are-criminalizing-homelessness/

Apparently, this subject has resonated with the local media, because The Tribune newspaper also ran my article "Yes, we are criminalizing being homeless" on Sunday 12/27/2015, which you can read here: 
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/opinion/letters-to-the-editor/article51752295.html
Many people made rather harsh comments in response to these articles, thus illustrating my common experience that many people bitterly hate homeless people. Sad but true.

The comments in response to the above article included: the homeless are bums, they are lazy, they should be put in prison, they don't want to work (total lie), etc. - the hateful comments are practically endless. 

When I tell people about how the homeless are despised and hated by so many people here, they can't believe it's true, but it is. They don't even see them as being human. That's why politicians won't act - helping the "bums" is unpopular (and they don't vote, either!). Click on this link to more clearly understand the difference between the terms "homeless" and "transient". Transient is a pejorative term when applied to homeless people just trying to get back on their feet - that's why SLO PD uses it. When the SLO PD uses the term transient, they are denigrating 100's of CHILDREN, veterans, disabled, and mentally ill in our county. Sad indeed.

Beginning of Article: Cities are judged by how they treat the less fortunate. On that basis, the “happiest place on earth” is doing poorly. SLO County has about 150 shelter beds for the 2,000-plus homeless. We must have an answer to the question posed by the homeless: “Where can I sleep without being ticketed?" Until our government has an answer to that question, they should instruct law enforcement not to ticket the homeless for trying to sleep. 

Across our nation, laws that make it a crime to not have a place to live are spreading. In the city of San Luis Obispo, they are already here.  We treat stray dogs better than we treat our homeless. I have had homeless people tell me they would love to live in one of the dog kennels at the local humane society, where they would have a safe, secure, dry, clean place to live. 

Above: Welcome to San Luis Obispo! The sign that greets visitors to our community gives a subtle warning to the homeless that they can't sleep in their cars or RVs on the streets of SLO. Otherwise, they will get a ticket. This photo was taken on Los Osos Valley Road in SLO, just 2 blocks from my house.
Clearly, there are not enough shelter beds. Even if there were, our shelters don’t admit those who drink, curse, have a drug addiction or mental illness, or even a pet dog. Many of our homeless are children, veterans or the elderly. In this relatively affluent community, we should be able to find a way to shelter and feed everyone. 

There are affordable, unsubsidized solutions out there, as I have posted over and over again at this web site. There simply isn't enough money to subsidize affordable housing for all who meet the criteria (homeless or low income). Unfortunately, the government officials I have met with have ruled out all "common sense" solutions to housing the unhoused and creating affordable housing.

Additional information can be found here:
• Increasing criminalization of homelessness around the nation
• National Law Center on Homelessness and Poverty: A lack of affordable housing contributes to homelessness

Banned from Speaking to Law Enforcement
Update 12/23/2016: While on homeless camp patrol this week, a homeless person told me that CAT Officer Fellows, who had recently transferred to the lower paying and less desirable SLO County Sheriff's Department, had been busted for a "double double" twice the speed limit (102 mph on Los Osos Valley Road) and twice the legal alcohol limit (.15, nearly double the .08 legal limit). You can read more about the DUI/Speeding incident involving Officer fellows by clicking here, or just google "officer fellows DUI". I got the impression that the homeless weren't overly found of Officer Fellows, from the way in which they reported the news to me. I am meeting with the new Police Chief Cantrell early in 2017, and hope that she has a kinder view of our local homeless population - we'll see. Wonder who replaced Officer Fellows on SLO's Community Action Team?

The city of San Luis Obispo is very touchy about the homelessness issue. There are many city police and parks department employees who are kind and sensitive to how they treat the homeless, including the Community Action Team ("CAT") officers.  Note that in this link that describes the CAT officers, it doesn't specifically mention the homeless (or transients, as our local law enforcement inaccurately calls them). 

Let's distinguish between "transient" and "homeless person". First, you can read a detailed discussion of the differences between these 2 terms by clicking here. Transients choose a lifestyle with no permanent address. The homeless have become so through some unfortunate state of affairs, and seek to become re-housed. In our community, the homeless population far outnumbers the transient population. Also, the term "transient" is used by the city government to denigrate (and mislabel) homeless people. Transient is the pejorative term, whereas homeless is the empathetic term. Obviously, you can tell where local law enforcement stands on this issue. You can read more on this distinction by reading this Huffington Post article.

However, because I write on homeless issues and am often critical of local government, I have been banned from speaking with these CAT officers, though I have made many requests to do so. Instead, I am given to the SLO Public Relations Officer, who accuses me of "having an agenda" and "being political" (as if that were a crime). Nothing could be further from the truth. 

My only agenda is to get people out of homelessness and into housing, the same goal that the city and county of SLO have both signed on to solving. You can read about their 10 year plan to end homelessness by clicking here. Also, I try very hard to remain apolitical, and only to focus on effective solutions to homelessness, creating affordable housing, ending student loan debt, and other issues. That the government has deemed these goals to be "political" is just plain old BS. Frankly, it is the city of SLO that has the "political" agenda - not me.

*****12/28/2015: Comments that I wrote in Cal Coast News regarding my article.
I made a devastatingly large number of comments in response to the mostly mean comments written about my article "Yes, We Are Criminalizing the Homeless". No, I didn't just sit around all weekend taking pot shots at the homeless-haters - I was doing a 3 day shift taking care of my older relatives (who just happen to have internet access), so I had some time between taking them to the bathroom and "depends" changes to make a bunch of comments. Here they are. You'll have to use your imagination to figure out what anti-homeless comments I was respond to. Note that I wrote exactly 4,136 words in response to mostly cruel comments about the homeless.

It is true that sleep deprivation has an extremely negative effect on people. You can read more about it here: 
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/01/08/sleep-deprivation_n_4557142.html

Unlike the stereotype of a typical homeless person demonstrated by most comments regarding my article, a significant percentage (no, not all!) of homeless people are ashamed and embarrassed at being homeless and try their best to HIDE IT from their friends and family – they certainly are not out aggressively panhandling or holding a sign on a street corner. These people that have nowhere else to go either go to the shelter (which is often full) or the streets. When they try to sleep in a in creek bed, they awaken at every twig snapping, afraid that they will be rousted by law enforcement or attacked, robbed or raped – they tell me they cannot get a halfway decent night’s sleep.

‘City must pay $134K for targeting the homeless’

Ninety-nine criminal citations were dismissed thanks to the intervention of the San Luis Obispo Homeless Alliance. Dozens of people in the California city had been accused of the crime of sleeping in their cars, but a judge found the city’s law against vehicular sleeping to be unconstitutional, and awarded a payout of $134,000, which all went to the lawyers.

Resident, there’s too much here for me to coherently respond to, so I’ll make just a few brief points. SLO County surveys have shown that the majority of our homeless have ties to our community, meaning that they either grew up here, lived or worked here for some time, or have relatives that live here. The homeless are already here. Busing them to another community does not solve the problem, it just pushes it onto someone else – not really my style. 

Question for Resident: How does making them leave make the world a better place? Answer: it doesn’t.

:Resident", one more comment…you begin by saying that my article is “off the mark”. However, the point of the article is that we are indeed, criminalizing homelessness by making it illegal to even nap in your car on a public street. For whatever reason, some people have nowhere else to go, and people have to sleep or they will eventually die. The unpaid citations build up, turning people who have nowhere to live into criminals.

Note also that city and county laws make it illegal to sleep in a car or RV on PRIVATE PROPERTY as well. Nothing in your comment disputes what I attempted to prove in my article.

Since the Great Recession, we have seen way more families that are new to homelessness, due to loss of jobs that secure enough income to pay rent in expensive SLO county. Also, we see way more working homeless, because even full time minimum wage isn’t enough to pay for housing in our county (no, I’m not pushing for an increase in the minimum wage – that's a different issue).

Note also that I have many issues with the new shelter being built, which I discuss here: http://timwaagblog.blogspot.com/2015/06/slo-new-homeless-services-center.html

“Resident”, I am responding to your comment: "Read this article from a homeless advocate who asks them where they are from.. Nobody from SLO: https://weusedtobeneighbors.wordpress.com/ "

I went to this link and read the article, expecting to find some diatribe against the “filthy bums”, but instead the link above from “Resident” starts this way:

“After doing this project, it brought to light just how insignificant and small my own problems are compared to all these wonderful people that I’ve met during my interviews. Every single one of these homeless individuals that I met these past few months have touched my heart and made me even more understanding to the multi-faceted problems that homeless people face every single day.”

This article is incredibly articulate in describing the plight of the homeless, as this one excerpt does so well:

In response to questions that I’ve been approached with over the past quarter:
“Why don’t they just stop being homeless?”
“Don’t encourage them, they’ll never learn to get a real job.”
“If you’re poor, why don’t you just stop being poor? I don’t understand why they choose to be like that.”

The simple answer is, homelessness is the result of a cascade of problems that are inflicted on a single individual, with little to no outside help or support. It is a vicious cycle that is monumentally difficult to claw your way out of, and is rarely a lifestyle that the individual willingly chooses.

I highly recommend that you read the rest of the link provided by “Resident” to this fascinating article written by a person who went out and interviewed homeless people in SLO. https://weusedtobeneighbors.wordpress.com/ 

SLO County is not the only place with good weather where the homeless congregate. Check out the weather and the homeless population in our adjacent counties: Monterey, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. They all have great weather, and assumedly, homeless problems (though I am not familiar with their exact homeless situation).

Again, one way tickets don’t solve any problems, and don’t even keep them from coming back. "Kaiser Bill" may cheer the “one way ticket” solution, but those who live in their “landing zone” won’t be thanking you. Whatever happened to “doing the other person right” (as my grandparents used to say)?

Yes, there are indeed transients, but they are a distinct minority, in my experience, though I don’t have exact numbers. My article addresses the homeless as a different group than the transients that you refer to. You can read more about transients vs. the homeless here: http://timwaagblog.blogspot.com/2015/12/nation-homeless-vs-transient-what.html

People are familiar with the term “rescue dog”, meaning a person has rescued a dog from the pound who might later have been put to “permanent rest”. Some have suggested that we start we “rescue person” program. Not a bad idea, IMO.

Though it’s true that there are 12 houses of worship in SLO that house the homeless during each of the 12 months of the year, I believe, my friend, that you have picked the wrong group to criticize. If you were rational, you could start by criticizing the many houses of worship in SLO that don’t house any homeless ever – ZERO (There are far more than 12 houses of worship in the city, I believe). Next, start criticizing all the other cities and communities in SLO county where there are no programs for houses of worship to house the homeless! Why start by criticizing the group that is doing more any other private group to house the unhoused? Perhaps, you’re being a bit unreasonable?

Mr. Slander, churchfinder.com http://www.churchfinder.com/churches/ca/san-luis-obispo lists 33 churches in SLO, and I believe there are 2 or 3 Jewish temples, plus a Buddhist temple and a few other houses of worship. 11 Churches, plus 1 temple, host the homeless in their church. Why do you choose to criticize the 12 house of worship that DO house the homeless, and leave those who do NOT untouched?

Mr. Slander, may I ask what “house of worship” you are affiliated with, and please provide me with a web link so I can read about how your church takes care of the homeless 24/7 (as you say). I’m waiting…

Oh wait, I’m GUESSING that you don’t lift a finger help the homeless or anyone else? Please prove me wrong. Thanks.

PS – BTW, I see why you call yourself Mr. Slander…

AchillesHeal – Unfortunately, with the city of SLO’s Rental Housing Inspection Program, I doubt that the city would let 2,300 people live at my house. Nice idea, though – thanks!

Actually, charity does already take care of many of our homeless, though we prefer not to call them "bums". Unlike our city and county government, the many private citizens that donate time to house the homeless do so quietly, without looking for attention, headlines or accolades, which may be why you’ve never heard about them. Among those people, many of us believe that it could be us being homeless instead of the ("there but for the grace of G*d go I").

Those who think they could never become homeless are kidding themselves. Almost half of all households in the US live paycheck to paycheck – if you lose your job and don’t have friends or relatives to fall back on – TahDah – you are now homeless. Never mind the scenario where you might get in a workplace accident and become permanently disabled (disability tops out at about $800 month – try living on that in SLO!) and lose your ability to support yourself.

No, I do not believe the cause is noble, but I do believe it is the right thing to do, and so do the other people who volunteer to help the homeless. A close relative of mine is disabled, and with the help of many people and services in our community over many years, this relative was able to graduate from college and get a full-time job, where my relative is now a productive member of society (even though my relative is still disabled). It was not easy, and it was a lot of work, but in the end, human capital is worth trying to save.

Wow. You think the city would allow 2,300 people to live at my house? Somehow, I doubt it.

Actually, though I am no expert on the subject, I believe the city has a regulation / ordinance regarding how many people can live in a residence. I’m pretty sure there is a maximum occupancy law for residential structures. Again, “obispan”, our nanny state would not allow it. But thanks for the suggestion anyways! Any other ideas?

Nobody said that solving problems was easy, my friend. However, there are affordable non-subsidized housing solutions that are already being implemented across the country. These are not subsidized by the government – not 1 penny. There are many of these solutions out there – just one solution would be tiny home villages – you can read about 11 of these villages at this link: http://www.shareable.net/blog/11-tiny-house-villages-redefining-home or google “tiny home villages”.

Unfortunately, Gordo, 12% of the homeless in our country are CHILDREN. A large percentage of our homeless are also disabled, elderly (over 60 years old) or war veterans. A significant percentage of our homeless work full or part time, but don’t make enough to pay for our very expensive housing. You want the police to ticket and arrest who? Children? Full-time workers at minimum wage? Veterans? Really?

As a matter of fact, I do live in SLO, and we have had a mentally ill homeless person living in our neighborhood for almost 2 years now. This person is a nuisance, but the many people on our street have worked with law enforcement to make the situation manageable – not an ideal situation, of course, but most of our neighbors have shown extreme compassion to this person because they are a human being, with parents who raised them and love them. Mental illness and what to do about it is a whole other topic.

Gordo, Unfortunately, with the city of SLO’s new Rental Enforcement Department, I doubt that the city would let 2,300 people live at my house. Nice idea, though – thanks!

Seriously, I doubt you are really suggesting the solution to homelessness is to have them all live and eat at my house. The government (not me) would not allow it. Read about how the People’s Kitchen gets shut down for handing out food to the hungry (not necessarily the homeless). Read about it here: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article39457557.html

In conclusion, I like your idea to have all our homeless camp at my place, but the nanny state that we are living in would not allow it – any other clever ideas?

It costs far more to put a homeless person in prison than it does to help them get back on their feet. I wouldn’t think this would be a good use of taxpayer money. Unfortunately, with 2,200 homeless people in SLO County alone, throwing them in jail would be expensive indeed. Plus, I don’t think you can throw CHILDREN in jail for being homeless (I’m not a lawyer, so I could be wrong on that one).

Yes, 805local, the problem is complex and difficult – I’m not denying that. You have discovered the truth in your statement: the cycle you describe taxes our courts and public services to the extreme, and that translates into big bucks. Across the country, people have turned to what is called the “housing first” model for homelessness (google it). In many cities, the “housing first” model saves money by reducing police service calls and Emergency Room visits. You can read about it here: http://www.endhomelessness.org/library/entry/what-is-housing-first

“Central Coast RN”, thanks for the intelligent discourse on the homeless problem. The VAST MAJORITY of those who appear to choose to be homeless, don’t actually WANT to be homeless. I know many of these people and have spent significant amounts of time with them. There are exceptions, but these folks will eventually admit that they would prefer to have a roof over their head and warm dry bedding and a safe place to lock up their belongings, but have a difficult time coping with the many demands of modern life.

Just one example: I hired 2 homeless people to paint a building. One of them had been homeless for about 25 years, but still had 2 kids during that time. He is a professional commercial painter. He admitted that he just couldn’t hold a job where people “told him what to do.” In that situation, he would conflict with his supervisors when he disagreed with them, and thus, he “chose” the vagabond lifestyle. He would prefer to be housed, but that lifestyle resulted in fighting and conflict, so he avoided a traditional lifestyle for that reason. With counseling and a proper working situation, who knows? He certainly did a great job painting! Plus, he WANTED to work, yet uninformed observers would say that he “chooses” the homeless lifestyle – not true.

The greater problem with people (mostly men) getting out of prison with felony arrest records is that no employers will hire them. Thus, many do not “choose” this lifestyle, but are unable to obtain “traditional” employment, and are stuck with being homeless. This is why I am also a proponent of the “ban the box” movement. Read more about “ban the box” here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ban_the_Box
And no, the homeless cannot get a job picking up trash, because, with their felony records and citations, nobody would hire them – public or private employers.

IMO, trash is a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself. Surely, you are not suggesting that if the homeless mother with a few children who are living in the creek bed would pick up her trash, then all would be well? The homeless AVOID DETECTION and thus do not want to be seen hauling trash bags for miles to a dumpster. I have tried to offer up a trash collection service at the various homeless camps around town, and there has been resistance, because any and all additional visitation creates unwanted attention to their illegal living situation, and perhaps, citations and confiscation of their “stuff”.

Again, I do not understand the logic of ticketing people with no money and “down on their luck”. They end up in jail for just trying to live, with citations that they will never be able to pay, and a record that will keep them from ever finding employment. Plus, if they have a vehicle and insurance, they lose both and become even more of a burden on the public. No, ticketing is NOT necessary.

“Central Coast RN”, again, thanks for the intelligent discourse on the homeless problem. You may not see too many moms with their kids not in shelters, but I do. Come with me and I’ll show you.

300 children are homeless in SLO County. 150 shelter beds in SLO County, including ADULTS (not just children). Do the math. Numerically, it is not possible that all KIDS are getting sheltered – so where are they? In the creek beds and under the overpasses. The homeless try NOT TO BE SEEN (it’s not that hard here, because there are lots of places to hide).

Yes, we do agree in quite a few areas. My main issue regarding homelessness is with folks that somehow believe they deserve to be homeless and should be ticketed, arrested, and put in jail to rot, or be forced through city laws to leave and become someone else’s problem. The homeless are here, their numbers have been growing over the years and they are not leaving.

It is up to us, the good people of SLO, to lend a helping hand. The rich won’t do it, because they are too busy trying to make more money. The poor won’t do it, because they are barely surviving. That leaves us – me and you. We have to decide if we are all brothers and sisters, and if we are “our brothers keeper”. I think we are.

Regarding trash, “Central Coast RN”‘s example makes my point. The government employee told you that it was a waste, because the homeless people would just fill it up. Wait, isn’t that the point – to fill up the trash cans for disposal, rather than littering? The government is culpable in the real life scenario that you described. That scenario is what is happening in homeless areas around our county.

What law says we can’t put trash cans and trash collection service at the homeless camps? Gee, then maybe they couldn’t criticize the homeless for littering – one of the main complaints.

Question: Should they desire to do so, where could the homeless dump their trash? Answer: Nowhere. Throwing it in dumpsters they do not own is against the law. How many miles would they have to walk to illegally dump their trash in someone else’s trash can? There are no legal places to dump trash in SLO, to the best of my knowledge. Please prove me wrong.

Where would Cal Poly students dump their trash if they DID NOT have curbside trash pickup? You think they would carry it for miles and dump it illegally in some businesses’ dumpster? Boy, would those businesses howl and complain (and rightfully so).

Cal Poly students routinely dump unwanted furniture in Prefumo Canyon (just outside SLO but in SLO County) near where I live. How about criticizing them? Ask the county how often they have to pick up discarded couches and diswashers from Prefumno Canyon. I can’t tell you how many times we have called the county to notify them of illegally dumped furniture, garbage and building materials in Prefumo Canyon – I doubt the dumping was done by the homeless. (I ride my bike up Prefumo Canyon many times each year, and see all the dumping).

Wow. “Central Coast RN” still thinks that you can ticket the homeless until they become housed? Describe a scenario where ticketing them puts them in a better place to get jobs and housing.

You don’t understand: The purpose of ticketing them is to get them to LEAVE and go become someone else’s problem. You do get one thing right – the purpose of my article in the first place: When the homeless asks Mr. Police Officer “where can I legally go to exist”, we have to have a better answer than “go away” (the current answer). [Remember: 150 beds for 2,200 people – 2,050 still left out in the rain. Plus, we will not shelter addicts, alcoholics, mentally ill, most disabled (no wheelchairs), those with PTSD for you veterans, those who cursing or yell, etc. RV parking program requires Case Management where they confiscate most of your money. You can’t live in an RV on private property or a church parking lot. Etc.]

“Central Coast RN” gets another thing right. Among our government officials, there is absolutely NO SENSE OF URGENCY, WHATSOEVER. It’s like the saying, “Nero Fiddled While Rome Burned”. Rome is burning. The homeless I speak to laugh almost uncontrollably about our ridiculous “10 year plan to end homelessness” – they need a place to sleep TONIGHT. They tell me: “In 10 years, they’ll probably be dead” (perhaps that was the law makers plan all along?).

It is fascinating how many comments criticize the homeless for being mentally ill, when in my experience, this type of illness is not self-inflicted and could occur in any of us. It’s a type of “blame the victim” point of view. How do people justify this position? Some of the most severe forms of mental illness have their onset in males in the late teens through mid 20s. Examples include bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc. These people need our help, not our scorn and disdain, IMO. NOTE: I am not a mental health professional, and t
hese are the facts as I understand them, but I could be wrong in some of the EXACT details, but what I stated is approximately correct. I would be happy to do more research for you in this area.

I find it fascinating that these same people are also the ones who are opposing the PRIVATE NON-GOVERNMENT owned mental health facility in Templeton that, in theory, would help the local mentally ill population. You can read more about the opposition to local treatment of the mentally ill here: 
http://timwaagblog.blogspot.com/2015/10/local-templeton-residents-oppose-needed.html

I guess some people are just opposed to everything?

What? Nobody wants to claim that the mentally ill homeless deserve it? That they brought it on themselves? Come on. I’m disappointed. Surely, somebody wants to make this accusation?

Okay, if not the mentally ill, then how about the 12% of our homeless population that are CHILDREN? Surely, they deserve to be homeless, don’t they? Hey, we’re only talking 300 kids. Or maybe, as some here suggested, these children should be sent to PRISON…now that’s an affordable solution.

Come on guys, let’s hear from you on this one.

“SloLusion”, I didn’t create this world – I just try to live in it. My parents taught me to always try and “do the right thing by my fellow man” and that’s what I do. Period. As I always tell my children: “Life is not perfect and it never will be – just do the best you can, and you’ll be okay”. Yep, I’m that simple-minded. It’s served me well so far. Peace.

MIDDLE AGED MEN IN DINGY CLOTHES WILL BE LAST IN LINE.

slolusion, you are certainly right in that regard. The vast majority of people I help in my own personal homeless services efforts are single men between 40 and 65 years old. Those who NOBODY will help.

Thanks to everyone who responded in a civil and responsible manner this article on how SLO has (de facto) turned being homeless into a crime. My hope is that SLO will realize that the solution to our homeless problem is not giving the homeless more tickets that they cannot afford to pay, thus contributing to their downward spiral, and not being a constructive solution to the problem, IMO.

“Resident”, You are confusing 2 different laws. The one you are referring to is the law that says you cannot park ANY VEHICLE (not just RVs) in one place for more than 72 hours. This could (and should) apply to everyone. I am NOT disputing this law at all.

The law I am referring to is the one that makes it illegal to sleep in ANY VEHICLE, both on a city street and ON YOUR OWN PROPERTY!

When I was in college at UCLA many years ago, I worked at a political campaign computer facility in downtown LA. My shift was from 6am to midnight on both Saturday and Sunday. Because I lived near UCLA, I slept in my car for the 6 hours I was off between shifts (a 1974 Honda Civic, no less!). This would be illegal in SLO and I would get ticketed, were I to do that here…because I would be SLEEPING IN MY CAR. In later years, I worked on software development projects where I parked my RV overnight in the company parking lot, so that I could work, go out to the parking lot and sleep, then go back to work. This, too, is against the law in SLO, and if caught, I would get ticketed for this also.

Again, I do not do this to feel better – I do it because the homeless are still human beings, and it is the right thing to do. I volunteer for many other causes as well – not because it makes me feel better, but because they are causes that I believe in that MAKE THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE.

If you think it is easier to be homeless and live in the creekbed, than it is to have a job and live in a nice warm bed with a roof overhead, you are mistaken, my friend. If you knew anybody who lived this way, you would not make such statements.

Frankly “Resident”, I already do take in homeless people. No, I do not give them money, and no, it does not make me feel better. What does make me feel better is the case of a homeless mother with 3 kids who has been in the shelter system for 2 or 3 years, and just this week, finally got into housing. THAT makes me feel better – results.

Mr. Slander, thanks for helping the homeless with food, clothing, and gift certificates. They need all the help they can get. Good day, my friend.

I just trying to suggest that before you criticize the groups that are helping, perhaps you could criticize the groups that were NOT. Were that the case, I would join you in your criticism. For me, it has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with Christianity. Clearly, for you, it does.

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