Eureka's Legal Camping Plan
The Times- Standard reports on plans by the city and other powers- that- be for a legal place for the homeless to camp. Areas under consideration are the east side of the Samoa Bridge, the Balloon Tract, the north parking lot of the Bayshore Mall and down by Hilfiker Lane- pretty much where they're already staying, minus Devil's Playground.
I appreciate the situation and agree that something needs to be done. I've wrote here before that people should have some legal place to stay when they have nowhere else to go. I'm not sure this effort will accomplish all that much in regards the objections most have to the presence of the homeless in town.
It seems to me it's not so much the current homeless encampments that annoy people. Sure, it's something people can point at as a problem, but the main issue seems to be the homeless people themselves. We don't like the panhandling, theft and whatever else they do during the day, including just walking down the street being seen.
Sleeping in a tent, wherever that may be, should be the least of our worries. It's what they do outside the tents that's a problem and that will still happen wherever the tents happen to be.
Giving them a legal place to sleep is a nice gesture and should be done. I'm not sure it does much at all for the main problem, that being the presence of the homeless themselves. It could actually make things worse.
But, no, I don't have an alternative to offer and I appreciate the city's effort.
posted by Fred Mangels @ 8:24 AM
8 comments
8 Comments:
So once again the bad behavior is rewarded.......keep doing it until ya wear them down and then they cave in and ya get what ya wanted in the first place, it just took some time for it to turn out your way. Brilliant!
I vote for the Balloon Tract. Rename it Potter's Field. Uhh, I mean, Arkley's Field.
I sleeping outdoors in Humboldt County is a REWARD, I'd hate to think what our punishments are.
Now we will truly attract all of the homeless up and down the west coast. Why pay taxes when I could go homeless any have everything provided.
9:41, tell me where this fabled Candy Mountain exists where I can have everything provided for free. That's certainly not Humboldt County you're describing. Someone has toked one too many doobies.
You do have to wonder if this will attract more vagrants? There's a story in today's Press- Democrat about homeless encampment clean ups in Petaluma. When word gets out they can camp up here without getting hassled, will they make the move?
Our weather is what makes our area so nice for 'camping'. It's the same everywhere. My son says Sacramento has cleaned up their streets but San Francisco is horrible. He runs obstacle courses and commented his obstacles in the city were human feces and urine everywhere. Ugh. I don't like the Old Town site but we have to do something.
It is the homeless mindset, They don't want to work. As Americans they have the right to choose any lifestyle they want. Pushing boundaries as they have for the past two years at the DP is their right so long as LE remains toothless. If there were employment they might consider that as an alternative. Even undocumented laborers group in parking lots in other cities. County Supervisors have failed to offer incentives for employers to locate here. Wages would be cheap and the workforce plentiful.
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