At the last district meeting I attended, many neighbors were referring as their source of city information to a website that is not run by the city. Somebody gave me the address, and it was interesting to see how this social media is used, from a neighborhood-watch tool to a platform for causes.
The most active threads are under the Crime & Safety section, and they are related to the impact of the homeless. The discussion goes back to the times when Spitzer became famous, or infamous, in this area in the border of Anaheim and Orange. I recognized the names of some of the people with whom I shared some of the concerns about the nearby shelter, but with whom I strongly disagreed with their approach and solutions.
Once the shelter was settled, the concerns about the potential negative impact of homeless in my neighborhood decreased, until the riverbed tent cities became an issue. The local media covered the problems that the neighborhoods around the stadium were having with the camps, but I didn’t feel that this area was directly being impacted. Our lovely trail walk, the Coves, remained and remains as pleasant as before. The police reported at the district meeting that the crime rate was not out of the ordinary.
The riverbed situation is the major discussion in this social media right now. As far as I can tell, neighbors who run in the riverbed started venting their displeasure of the negative encounters with homeless from the camps. The most outspoken neighbor describes his experiences in terms similar to the ones used by the hard core shelter’s opponents, and by coincidence or by natural tendency, inserts post links from the controversial Anaheim blog operated by an Orange resident.
This neighbor may not know that the blog’s operator ran a fear campaign against the shelter, a campaign that until now is suspected that he was paid to run. He painted the homeless in gruesome terms, describing them practically as zombies , an image that this neighbor repeats on his own description of this population. It is like scenes from the late George Romero, the famous horror-movie director, without the redeeming underlyng values of his films. The legacy of the operator is far from these values.
The impact of George, the outspoken neighbor, can be as bad as bad as the legacy of the operator or could be a compassionate one in the sense of recognizing that the riverbed camps are temporary ones, and that the solution is not to send the homeless to far-away places. He is promoting a petition that has garnered substantial support essentially against the tent cities, and leading the opposition to the initiative to install toilets in the riverbend camps:
“Neighbors, below you’ll find a copy/paste of the message that went out this morning to our neighbors who have signed the petition, asking for enforcement of the anti-camping ordinance for the portion of the homeless, who are help resistant. ———— Over 8,000 people have signed our petition in just a few days, and more are signing every hour. PLEASE keep sharing the petition on social media since doing so helps promote the message we are sending to our city and county leaders!
Not everyone is getting the message though: This Tuesday, August 29th, Anaheim Councilman Jose F. Moreno will seek permission to have porta-potties installed in the Santa Ana River Trail encampment. Good intentions aside, this will increase the permanency of the situation that we are working so hard to undo.”
(J. Antenore, VOC)
The petition is primarily addressed to councilmember Vanderbilt. He was the only councilmember who met with neighbors during the shelter process.(see here). I wonder though why it was not addressed to the councilmember representing our district, Mr Faessel.
The opposition to Dr Moreno, which does not represent all the Rio Vista neigbors, rather than to reflect the genuine concerns of the neighbors, reflects the perpetual political animosity of the Anaheim blog operator. He is a crusader against any change that expands inclusivity and uplifting our communities towards shared goals and benefits.
The riverbed camps are not, and it shouldn’t be, a permanent solution. In the meantime, let’s provide a basic service of any developed country to the people living there,
Well said, amigo!
Ricardo, what blog operator are you referring to?
Indeed.
Please insert “WAS PAID TO run a campaign . . .”
There are two issues. I think one is the “Nextdoor” platform which has been abused by PringleCorp® and then there is the comical Anaheim Blog whose sole existence appears to be to attack Tait and Moreno, now using the wedge issue of homeless, etc.
It’s clear that the Kleptocracy has decided to use this issue to go after Moreno next year and probably to promote the hapless clown Sidhu, as well.
It’s also quite clear they’re being paid by the usual suspects.
ALWAYS look for the cash nexus with this crew. Everything else is bullshit.
David. The Nextdoor app is protected. It is a private group that requires address verification. While the conversation there is “robust”, I have seen no evidence that it has been hijacked or exploited. To the contrary, concerned residents are voicing frustration to the city governments ignorance to our situation.
It’s worth noting, there are many renters discussing this too. People who pay a lot of money (too much imo) for apartments. They too face the danger, drugs and crime, just by living their productive lives.
THIS IS NOT A RICH VS. POOR THING.
I don’t think that he has admitted yet that he was paid. He made it look that he volunteered his time and PR skills.
I hadn’t read Cunningham’s blog for a while. I thought that Murray had distanced herself from this man after he apparently opposed her on the shelter.
He “opposed” her on shelter because he was permitted to, proving that the Kleptocracy® didn’t give a rat’s ass whether the Kramer Place shelter happened or not. What they really wanted was no shelter off Karcher Way, a decision that was never taken in public by anybody after the Council bought the sight (in public) expressly for a homeless shelter.
The site is just a vehicle to pass along pro-Klepto propaganda that just happens to align precisely with the list of talking points Murray is given.
*Good Reporting Ricardo…..like it. However, we will relate an interesting anecdote about a friend of ours. Before public doggie bags were installed throughout “The OC” back in the 80’s our dear friend loved to walk around his neighborhood in CDM. It seems that he couldn’t go 15 feet without stepping in a variety of “Doggie Poo”, some hot, some steaming, some soft, some partially hard, some sticky, some very wet……which had a wonderful tendency of sticking to his well cared for Addias White Sneakers. Even when he moved to other brands of expensive Sneakers, he had similar results. Many times the results included a splashing of the material onto his socks, his exposed calves and even sometime his Designer Bermuda Shorts. He complained bitterly and even called the police and fire departments many times. All to no avail. He finally attended a Newport Beach City Council Meeting and chatted with each and every member of the Council at the time. The process was slow, but eventually some of the Business Improvement Districts – throughout the city, started
offering Blue Doggie Bag Dispensers for Responsible Dog Owners. To this day, we would argue….our friend is still finding uncollected and unpoliced Doggie Poo on the toe or heel of his Designer White Sneakers.
Epilogue – Romero is doing the right thing. He is not spending $250, 000 dollars for permanent toilet facilities which could easily be used for Graffiti and Amateur Art projects. Finding solutions to the Homeless issue, starts with a first step and but it certainly isn’t finding 100 beds for 8000 people – as a long term answer.
Hi Ron & Anna,
in your epilogue line you may have meant Moreno, no Romero.
*Don;t forget all Chinese people look the same to us Gavacho Gringos! Sorry…you know what we meant….kind of….right?