I try hard to remaining apolitical. I try to find solutions, and not dwell on whether the objective is highly desired by one political team or another (Team R: Republicans, or Team D: Democrats). It's hard to argue that we are not heading down a path to look suspiciously similar to Europe. I, for one, want no part of it. I love the American spirit and energy, which derives in large part from our work ethic and our drive for innovation.
Let's look at some details in France - a beautiful country - similar in many ways to the semi-socialist state of California, where I live. France has realized the opposite-of-America dream: 35 hour work week, extreme restrictions on business and employment, voluminous and complex laws and regulations, ever-expanding free services from the government (health care, college education, pensions, etc.)
Above: Theo the Dog resting on a recent backpacking trip to the Inyo Mountain Wilderness - his first time wearing a backpack for 5 days! Blog posts are boring without photos, and this one is totally unrelated to this blog post! Click to enlarge.
I was recently asked: "What one subject would you write about homelessness in a Viewpoint Article in the Tribune Newspaper?". Here was my reply (word for word):
"It would be that government is not only unwilling to take action to curb homelessness, but through its laws and actions, prevents us (the citizens) from helping the homeless. There are actions the government can take to help the homeless, but they refuse to do them."
The very next day (today 5/13/2016) this article appeared in the Tribune Newspaper (click to read the article, then come back to this one): Mayors want to convert Paso youth camp to homeless center
Let's cover some of the facts in this article:
• The former California Youth Authority center near Paso Robles covers 160 acres and has at least 40 buildings. It has been abandoned since 2008, and costs the state government $730,000 per year to maintain the unused facilities.
• On April 8, 2016, all 7 of SLO County's mayors sent a letter to the state, requesting that the property be used to run what they call a "Beyond Homelessness Campus".
• The effort is being spearheaded by Paso Robles Mayor Steve Martin, who stated that the mayors have not heard back from the state of California.
Posts are boring without photos. Starting out on the Lonesome Miner Trail (LMT) in 2013. Will be heading back again soon. Click to enlarge. Photo by Tom.
• Assemblyman Katcho Achadjian is willing to talk about it, but is he willing to take any action? He speaks as if he will take action, but so far he it appears that he has not. Meanwhile, thousands of homeless people in SLO County hide out in our creek beds and under our overpasses. When does it get so bad that action is warranted?
• Here are some quotes from the article attributed to Achadjian: He is willing to consider the idea; I [Katcho] am committed to find a solution to homelessness; exploring all avenues is necessary. From these comments, it is not clear whether any action will be taken by our local government official.
• Note that I am not picking on Katcho; there is no apparent action on the part of other SLO County officials either.
• The proposed homeless facility would be used for counseling, education and training for the homeless, as well as providing transitional housing.
• Though the state of California has found no use for the property since it closed 8 years ago, it can't simply turn over this surplus property before studying alternate uses for the property. They have had 8 years - that should be enough time to study the use of the surplus property? IMHO, yes, it should have been enough time. Now, let the 7 mayors have their way and use it for the truly needy. Do we need another study that may take many years, while in the meantime, the homeless are still living under our bridges and in our creek beds.
The article goes on to praise Paso Robles for spending $41,300 dollars removing 40 homeless people against their will from the Salinas riverbed. What it does not say is that none of that money was spent on housing them - just removing them out of their crude shelters - the only home they currently have. As always, they left the homeless to simply move their camp somewhere else Paso Robles, until they are asked to move again.
Here is the quote about this behavior in the article linked to above:
"Paso Robles and other cities in the county have made the issue of homelessness a high priority. In March, Paso Robles spent $41,300 to remove some 40 homeless individuals who were camped out in the Salinas riverbed in advance of an anticipated powerful winter storm.
The city also removed 20 tons of trash and debris from the riverbed. On April 5, the City Council voted to form a North County Homeless Coalition to promote potential long-term solutions to homelessness."
