Did anyone watch “Real Orange” today on KOCE? They did a story about the plight of the homeless in Orange County and how Occupy Santa Ana has taken up their cause. It started out pretty straight forward. There are about 20,000 homeless in Orange County and not enough beds. So what is the city’s idea to help with this problem? To issue $500 citations for sleeping in public of course!
The members of Occupy Santa Ana have been working hard to get city council to get things moving to find a year round shelter and to get the citations stopped until that happens, but all they get from city are excuses.
John Moorlach, Republican Orange County Supervisor was interviewed and he managed to insult OSA by calling their statements “ignorant”. Moorlach claimed that they have a ten year plan to help fix the homeless problem and then went on to say they probably won’t really fix the homeless problem. He also mentioned getting millions of dollars. What? Millions of dollars? Where is it and what have you done so far? He claims that they do have programs that help the homeless. But the only program I see is the one where police hand out citations.
Then the report went on to say the police are doing everything they can to help the homeless and they serve them meals, and take care of their mental health needs. Really? When I was there a couple of weeks ago I saw two different church groups but certainly no police serving food to anyone.
There is a bus station sitting empty and can be used as a year round shelter. If there really is a million dollars sitting in the bank, let’s use it and stop passing the buck to some other agency. If Santa Ana really wanted to solve this problem they could do it tomorrow, or at the very least they could tell their police force to stop ticketing the homeless.
If you ask me, “Real Orange” did a pretty poor job of getting to the bottom of why the homeless are getting citations. That’s the real issue. Trying to say that OSA is using the homeless to advance their own agenda is baseless. I mean if there are no beds to sleep in and sleeping is a natural thing we all do, then what’s up with the citations? That’s what the story should have been about.
*Every day when John goes to work he has to walk through a raft of homeless folks. They inhabit the County square and remain their unmolested. It is rather depressing to see, leaving the normal citizen with a feeling frustrated that no solution ever seems to come.
The Governor of Hawaii came up with a huge solution for the displacement of all of the homeless from Ala Moana Park – that wound up inhabiting all the vacant beaches on the way to Makaha. She come up with a great plan to take State land and building small condos for the homeless. That program is working.
What upsets us….are the many vacant commercial buildings in Santa Ana that could be retrofitted for exactly the same purpose. Anaheim, Buena Park, Garden Grove, Fountain Valley…all have good targets for retrofit. Even vacant strip malls. Taking the homeless off the streets is an important responsiblity of our society, unless we utilize the Libertarian answer…..send them to relocation camps the deserts of California.
We’ve raised that idea — to blank and uncomprehending stares. (OK, that may be some poetic license.) But, yes, one possibility is to give the homeless — places to live.
The counterargument? That this would make Orange County more attractive to the homeless. The implication of the counterargument? Current policy is to make Orange County less attractive to the homeless. Did Moorlach mention that?
It would seem that John Moorlach has little to do really finding any solution to the homeless then a ten year plan? Where was that plan ten years ago? This idea of not allowing homeless the basic human necessity of sleep because it will bring others is inhumane. So we fine them?
It’s not just sleep — it’s the need to use restroom facilities. Most of us have surprisingly little choice about that.
Karl, you are absolutely correct. The story should have focused on how ridiculous the city is for fining people for doing something we all do everyday. The difference is most of us are lucky enough to sleep in a bed, which I am certain the mayor and city council do peacefully every night.
Occupy Santa Ana are the only group who has been willing to risk arrest by sleeping outside by the Walk of Honor to raise awareness of this homeless issue. A couple of weeks ago they held an action called “Necessity Village” where they spent 7 days doing civil disobedience.
It’s funny that for 7 days and nights they were not bothered by police, however the morning of the 7th day police handed out citations for “camping” not to the occupiers but to the homeless,because, in my opinion, they do not have the strength to fight city hall.
I am calling on all my left-liberal-progressive brothers and sisters to support me in eliminating the homelessness now!
Liberal brothers and sisters please support and promote my concept of homepooling as in carpooling NOW!
Same as we drive our vehicle from point “A” to point “B” we use our home to get from “today” to “tomorrow” and so do our brothers and sisters who form a needy pool.
Pleas register your home today with our “Orange County Homepooling Enterprise” so we can provide a contact between you and a person who needs to get from “today” to “tomorrow”.
great idea….let’s start with newport coast,,,those people have lots of rooms that they use very infrequently. hell, why ask, let’s just send the sheriff up there to open the gates and unlock the doors
as for moorlach, did you really think that he would do anything that was not in his self interest. by the way, how is that third term thing going
THIRD TERM? THE MOORLACH NO GET.
http://www.orangejuiceblog.com/2012/02/the-moorlach-want-third-term/
Take from those who work and sustain what’s left of the economy and give to those who choose to provide nothing.
Somehow that does not sound like it will work.
Soylent Green, though — that would work, right?
What’s your opinion on what should happen to the homeless, cook. Should they die quickly, as Alan Grayson got in trouble for saying was the Republican position?
I won’t even get into your use of the word “choose.”
Cook, I am guessing you have employment? If you do, good for you! But, you are not immune from the problems so many people find themselves in today. There are no guarantees that you will have a job tomorrow. What if the only job you could find paid minimum wage? Can you pay your monthly bills with that? What if you became seriously ill and you couldn’t work? Do you have enough money saved to live on for the rest of your life? Can you live on $900 a month social security? Have you ever talked to a homeless person? Do you know there are homeless people who do work, but they don’t earn enough money to live in an apartment? If you think the homeless provide nothing, what must you think about the Wall Street bankers that gambled away your money, and will have no problem doing it again. Instead of making thoughtless statements, I suggest you volunteer at a local soup kitchen for just one day and you might learn something.
Yes, we should kill the poor, the feeble, the elderly, the sick. Perhaps we can make something “constructive” out of their remains?
The quality of a society is seen in how the least are treated. But we are all about profits over people. Yes, it’s hard to see how these “unproductive” members of society can be anything important.
As for the homeless that block Moorlach’s doorway in the morning or block the entrance for any city/county paper pusher we tried and probably succeeded for a week in getting some to sleep in safety out on the Civic Center lawn where they would not be blocking anybodies path. The biggest problem with that is that it was raising public awareness of the situation.
The people you call “homeless” just want to be left alone.
Yeah … so what are you doing about them being ticketed for $500 every time they just want to sleep?
“The people you call “homeless” just want to be left alone.” Cook, you are correct that the homeless want to be left alone and that means stop the police from harassing them and giving out $500 tickets for sleeping! At the sametime there are some who want to have a real place to call home.
Have you gone to the “Walk of Honor” and spoke to them yourself? Do you know that some are homeless vets? Isn’t the “Walk of Honor” about honoring the men and women who fought for this country? Do we just spend money to put up symbols and pay them lip service? Or do we actually do the right thing and help them reintegrate back into civilian life? If you ask me that area should be renamed the “Walk of Shame”.
The majority of shelters in Orange County cater to the youth and women with children. What about the men? Everytime I go there the line to get food is 99% men. That sounds like discrimination to me. Is a man’s life of lesser value? I spoke to several men there and none of them are bitter about their situation. They all wanted a chance to work somewhere and get back on their feet and a place they can call their own.
What pisses me off is the city and county pretending they care when they are interviewed by the press but when the press leave their true colors show by sending the police out to continue ticketing. They even change the times they come so they cannot be “witnessed” by people who are documenting the event.
I mentioned before Cook, that you should go serve at a soup kitchen or to any of the churches who come out to feed people at the “Walk of Honor”. Volunteer for a day or at the very least spend time with some homeless people and hear their personal stories.
Mika,
A lot of people have come together and tried to figure out a solution to the “Homeless” problem.
Many ideas have been discussed, with a few even being tried.
And after countless decades, the “Homeless” problem persists.
I don’t think there is a solution and I don’t think there ever will be one.
But more restrooms and showers would massively improve the situation greatly for the people living in that community.
More restrooms and showers – there we certainly have agreement.
*Cook: You can be the bus driver that takes all the homeless out to the deserts of Barstow and Camp Irwin to use for target practice for our tank battalions for their National Guard Summer manuvers……wake up dude! Jean Jaquac Rosseau said it
best: ” A rational and true society affords a ‘Social Contract’ among its members!” In the old days…it even included helping little old ladies across the street with their packages at Christmas.
Interesting concept M & M Winship, but why start at the bottom with those who cost the least from the taxpayers treasury.
I will gladly take a bus load of overpaid managers and politicians out to the desert. Maybe then they could earn some of the money they pay themselves.
Typical conservative solution.
Let’s kill the people that we don’t approve of. Then if we can find enough people that we don’t like, we can rationalize having a huge military budget, and invent all sorts of new ways to kill people.
But, we’re Christians!
*Cook….oh, oh we get it: What happens to a bus that goes over a clift half filled with lawyers? Answer: 50% of the seats were wasted.
Please fellow left-progressives,
Stop suggesting that proto-fascists that offend your refined sensibilities volunteer at my soup kitchen. We have more than enough kind, compassionate, experienced volunteers to make do. You are, in effect, consigning the homeless to do your job, which is to first tolerate and the educate these lost blow-hards. Who are you to sentence the homeless to dealing with them? They have the police, Cal-Optima, MSI and the 10 year plan miking their life miserable. Please do your own housekeeping.
Dwight Smith,
OC Catholic Worker
Dwight — I’m not getting the reference. Where did anyone do what you identify as a problem?
I think, Greg, that Dwight is reacting to comments like Mika’s above, suggesting to Cook that “Instead of making thoughtless statements, I suggest you volunteer at a local soup kitchen for just one day and you might learn something.”
Of course we could argue about whether Cook is a proto-fascist, and I can point out that he actually does a lot of work with the local homeless, but his nasty hostile comments make it hard.
Gotcha — you’ve said before that cook does volunteer with the homeless, hence part of my confusion.