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Marx’s martial arts and Hill’s “kumbaya” highlight SLO homeless meeting

January 13, 2013

homelessmeetingSan Luis Obispo Mayor Jan Marx recalled getting punched in the arm outside city hall, Councilman John Ashbaugh proposed video surveillance of the homeless and County Supervisor Adam Hill delivered a “kumbaya” moment during a city workshop Saturday on the issues of homelessness.

About 50 members of the community spoke at the workshop, offering their solutions to the city council on the problems surrounding homelessness in San Luis Obispo.

Several representatives of the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo pled with the council to provide funding for current services provided by their agency, as well as for the proposed homeless shelter on South Higuera Street. Hill’s girlfriend and CAPSLO homeless services director Dee Torres said the community is “in crisis,” and the council needs to provide “more ample services” for the homeless or “everything will fall apart.”

Well before Torres spoke, Hill began public comment by apologizing to San Luis Obispo business owner Bill Thoma for lashing out at him in an email regarding Thoma’s opposition to the location of the proposed shelter. Thoma, the next speaker, accepted the apology, and the pair sat next to each other for the remainder of the meeting.

Several speakers thanked Hill and Thoma for setting a tone of unity. Richard Margetson called it a “kumbaya moment.”

Hill suffered a political blow Wednesday when he lost his bid to become the next president of SLOCOG. Members of the public have criticized him for using bully tactics following recent emails he sent chastising not only Thoma, but also state parks officials. Hill has since grown a “pacifying” beard, pledged “greater tranquility” and made nice with Thoma, leading up to his opportunity to take over the presidency of the Air Pollution Control District Board.

Ashbaugh, a supporter of Hill’s and member of the CAPSLO board, said the city needs to collaborate more with the nonprofit. But, Ashbaugh said the council must take a “tough love policy toward homeless.” He suggested placing surveillance cameras in public places frequented by homeless in the city to monitor their behavior.

“As a card-carrying civil libertarian, I hate this idea, but frankly, security cameras,” Ashbaugh said.

Marx said the city as a whole needs to take a tougher stance on the behavior of the homeless and transients. She said a man punched her in the arm in December as she was walking from city hall to the county government center.

“I was punched in the arm by somebody who was bigger than me and really smelly,” Marx said. “I didn’t know if the person had a home or not, but that’s the stereotype.”

Marx said the man “smelled like a brewery” and behaved in a similar fashion as homeless people who have committed assaults around town. The man left her alone after she went into her “martial arts training,” Marx said.

The mayor also said a smelly person recently opened her husband’s car door and climbed inside with him near the county history museum.

“The situation is now reaching a point where it’s just not acceptable in terms of the experience of being in the downtown,” Marx said.

She said the council should consider programs for homeless families and landlords should rent more often to homeless veterans, but residents should not give money to panhandlers.

 


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This nation actually had a solution to the homeless and mentally disturbed up until about the 60’s. However, the ACLU filed suit claiming that their rights were being violated and foolish judges released most of them on to the streets. Now, after much pain for the homeless and the rest of us we are finally seeing why these poor people need a consistent and healthy setting in which to live. Yes, I mean an institutional setting where these folk can get the help with their meds, food, housing, social needs, financial need, etc. In addition, if there is no free ride outside of the institution the freeloaders will have to get productive or get rousted out of the town they are in. Now, people on the left love to blame Ronald Reagan for the release of the mentally disturbed because he was governer of Calif. at that time, but it was the good old culture destroying ACLU, sorry. We have tried to help homeless people by giving them a place to live, they stoled my truck, never got it back. We’ve let them camp on our property and they set fires, we’ve offered to buy food which they agreed to accept but when we return with the food they are gone. Most people who have tried to help know what I am talking about. This is all very predictalble for anyone who is based in REALITY and is honest- leaves out many politicians. So the con is on us and we just keep electing con men who live in the fantasy world of leftist politics.


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Marx went into her “martial arts” stance, are you sure she didn’t say “marital act” stance? I can believe that would have made him run away.


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Self aggrandizing attorney’s like Jenkins and Blank and others are just drooling over the prospect of implementing some of these out-of-the-box, worth trying ideas.


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My daughter lived in LA after graduating high school here. She went to the Fasion Insutitute Inart LA. It was right after the Rodney King riots. It was a bad time. The Beverly Center down there every street was burned, and it was a mess.Unless the city took a proactive role in bringing and cleaning up the city by not letting the homeless and rough necks control the area there would be no future for the businesses.the city cleaned up downtown and the city managed to keep it clean. Now you can walk around at the Staples center and it is bringing people and businesses in with tax revenue. Unfortunately there is a small group that will protect the absurd behavior disguising itself under the heading of “freedoms”, but the the freedoms of us the tax payer have been harmed. I was attacked in the mission park while taking my grandchildren and daughter on a picnic at the children’s museum, a homeless man and group came charging us. I called the police. Nothing was done. I have walked down the streets of Chorro with my mother in law walking over the pan handlers while they laid across the side walk. I have given food to the homeless on the street to watch them take a bite and then litter the sidewalk. I refuse to shop there anymore, and I haven’t in years. SLO needs to wake p come to reality, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM AND IT NEEDS TO BE DEALT WITH. It’s only a matter of time before someone is attacked on the BOB JONES TRAIL. Do something and stop the legal nonsense!


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I’ve said it before, round up these people on the street, the beggars and homeless, put them in a camp, no drugs,no booze, the ones that are legitimate will get on site help, classes,Dr, medication or what ever, the ones that are able to move and function will go to work, they will have a job, any monies coming to them for any type of benifits will go into an escrow account and a possible due to be taken out of that for the shelter. We all would benifit from this program, the ones that really need help will get it and get clean bathed and clothed, the ones standing on the corner with a cardboard sign will either go away,go home or go to work, we the people get these people back into society and off our streets and sidewalks. Just building a shelter for Hill and his girlfriend with no constraints or direction is going to do nothing but invite more bums here, a work program is what will take care of business.


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That would be all fine and dandy for the homeless services to keep money from the homeless, to save for them, but, as long as they quit stealing from them! Get the healthy one’s to get off their lazy A**es, find any job, and quit stealing from them so they can get off the streets.


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I agree that most of these so-called “workshop” meetings are a waste of time – except for those that need to ‘exhibit’ their profound interest, gain politically, or just plain don’t have anything better to do.


The homelessness (city, county, or state) issue is really no different than most other issues facing this country, be it prisons, immigration, gun control, budget deficit, etc. We, as a nation, have became soft by trying to please everyone and ending up pleasing no one. Everybody has their 2-cents worth, but nobody really wants to take concrete action, being afraid that they will upset someone or lose some political stature.


Whatever the solution is (if there is even is a solution) – it will have to be different that anything tried so far. Building new shelters, providing food and clothing has done nothing, except to attract more

homeless people. While it is very true that there are some of these people who are really down on their luck and are truely homeless – there are many others (probably more that 1/2) who use the term

“homeless” to scam the system. They have accepted that this ain’t a bad life (by their standards), they have no desire or intent of ever working a real job and any attempt at getting them to ‘conform’ to what we may think is a better life for them – they are having no part of it. As long as they can beg for a few dollars (no food, please), have a fairly warm place to stay (has anybody heard of a homeless problem in Fargo N.D. in Dec or anywhere else that the weather is really bad?). No. So, if you want more to come to SLO – treat those who are here kindly and see what happens.


The $64K is how do you separte those who are really in need from those who are working the system? I would suggest work – make working for the shelter, food, and clothing mandatory – if they

are unwilling to do some kind of work – then no benefits at all. The work may be hard and unpleasant, but the idea is to take ownership of your situation and take steps to fix – not expect others

to do it for you.


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Why anyone bothers going to these dog and pony shows is beyond me? These meetings or community forum workshops are nothing more than a formality, since the powers that be have already made their decisions. Litchig’s husband needs a job in San Luis Obispo for him to move here, thus Litchig will manipulate the data and need for a “homeless university / campus” no matter what. So, 60% of the homeless in San Luis Obispo are from San Luis Obispo or is it the other way around? Hard to truly decipher the data when the survey questions were pre-loaded to illicit a predetermined result. Adam Hill and his girlfriend want the facility, so that they can build their empire on the backs of those most vulnerable in our community. Ashbaugh claims to be a card carrying member of the ACLU, but then boldly states that we need security cameras which anyone with any connection to the ACLU would know adamantly opposes such a George Orwell concept. The meeting / workshop is just lip service. They truly don’t care what the residents want.

In regards to the homeless, some suffer from mental illness; some have found themselves in unfortunate and horrific circumstances that have led them to where they are today. Many have found themselves in their situation because of the greed of corporate and political opportunist. Thesse homeless typically don’t pan-handle. However, a whole new segment of homeless, that once were called bums choose the lifestyle because simply they don’t accept the “confining constraints of society”, but choose to antagonize shoppers and patrons of the down town for money. The end result is that the bureaucrats are using the situation of these poor people for their political gain and most likely a financial angle. Just disgusting!


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This too…. while i like John Ashbaugh and have voted for him, his suggestion of video suveillance is a really dumb idea . Unconstitutional on its face.

Who would be watching all of the multitude of cameras, and at what expense ? Oh, yeah…pants polishers get paid, too !

Then what ? The middlemen voyeurs report to the cops ?


Someone else suggested beat patrols. Take Officer Friendly OUT of his cushy squad, or the souped up bikes, and MAKE THEM WALK THE BEAT ! Tthey will be visible and accessible at a moment, and some may even lose a few pounds.


WIN / WIN !


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