LAist: City Votes to Preserve Housing on Skid Row & Elsewhere

jrb

Wed, 07 May 2008 11:31:34 -0800

"Luckily the mayor won't give up his fight to hire 1000 more LAPD officers to harass the homeless on Skid Roe." Fish eggs aside mw. I wonder how serious this statement of yours is. If you're being sarcastic forgive what I'm about to say here. If you're not, you are ignorant about what put homeless people on the street in the first place. We can thank Ronald Reagan for the homless problem. Yes, it really does go that far back. Saint Reagan simultaniouly cut funding for mental health, made it easier for patients to get themselves declared sane whether they were or not, and most of the people you see out there on the streets have been there ever since. Bush One of course never dealt with the aftermath, and lastly, The Clinton Administration had the opportunuty to turn that around and didn't. We've been shirking our responsibilites to the menatlly ill for 30-35 years. It's a sad reflection of what we are and what our priorities are as a society. The people are human beings, and if your serious about what you said, you're an asshole.

mwhitney

Wed, 07 May 2008 11:15:49 -0800

It is a little sad though that you are congratulating the city's efforts to protect the rights of citizens to live on Skid Roe. Can you imagine the signs at a protest... "Protect the city's most vulnerable. Keep Skid Roe dumpy!" Luckily the mayor won't give up his fight to hire 1000 more LAPD officers to harass the homeless on Skid Roe. This is a difficult problem, with no easy solution, and even if this moratorium helps a few people short term it is going to hurt many long term.

Anjali Taneja

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:51:20 -0800

Zach thanks so much for posting about this. I was happy that LA had passed a moratorium on new loft development specifically because of the issue of displacing homeless people. Now THIS latest move is another bold and needed one to protect the most vulnerable in the city.