Subscriber Comments for
Scanner Reports 9-7-12

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 317171	2012-09-07 08:27 AM
Roger, thank you for reporting on this, and for your honest commentary in the beginning. Assaults from transients onto our citizens are becoming more common by the day. There was a time when the homeless here were mostly local, and harmless. Welcoming out-of-area transients here is a big mistake. These people don't care about us or our town, and we're seeing it. The shelter on Cacique is warehousing many people from out of the area, where they raise HELL on Milpas. Don't look to your government to help, people. They're the ones funding the open-door welcome mats. Don't take abuse, call the police, and defend yourself, as people have had to do this week. And don't give panhandlers money! It's on YOU to take back your town(s). The city governments have already proven they intend to do nothing but grow Homeless Inc. Tell them there's more crime and assaults, and they ask, how can we raise taxes to fund more programs? Stand up for your town, or watch it be taken over.
COMMENT 317180P	2012-09-07 08:40 AM
317171 - taxes have a great deal to do with the problem. We are paying the lowest taxes in several decades - hence there is no funding for schools, mental health, etc - thus we have the problem we have now. You have the cause backwards. There were no transients before the 1980s when taxes were higher. Also, do you know that someone in San Diego (with heart) stopped to talk to transients and found out that a large number of them were vets. The present administration has done more to help vets find jobs and have healthcare, but the problem is enormous especially after Iraq, and will take time to fix. The Iraq war basically scr#wed the US - over $1 trillion in costs and thousands injured and/or with PTSD. This concerned person in San Diego who actually tried to find out the FACTS instead of just guessing, was fortunately rich enough to buy up some condo complexes for the homeless vets. Anymore tax cuts, and the US is going to end up like a third world country with all of the money in the hands of a few and the remainder of the country poverty stricken. We have asked the vets to do their job, now lets ask those people who made out like bandits in Iraq to pay their fair share - and get vets off the street and the medical help they need. Some have to wait up to a year for treatment. It is a disgrace. While the rich are hoarding trillions in offshore accounts because they do not pay their fair share.
COMMENT 317235P	2012-09-07 10:09 AM
80P: Yes, vets, homeless or otherwise, deserve our support, and that support is readily available in most cases, but, as has been pointed out countless times here in other homeless-related threads, there are _very few vets_ among our recent influx of vagrants. Many of these people, the young lout types with tats, an ever-present cigarette, large backpacks and the pit bull pup on a rope leash, that now occupy (no pun intended) large areas of downtown SB, are on the well-known circuit from Oregon to southern California, living what is to them a "lifestyle choice." As they say, you can look it up. These sorts often ruin things for those misfortunate people who are truly homeless and _are_ deserving of our compassion and concern.
COMMENT 317171	2012-09-07 10:12 AM
180p - I disagree. That vet thing is so worn out. Yes, there are some, and the VA needs to be held accountable for helping them. But a lot of what's here is straight up grifters who never served. Stop welcoming and feeding them.
COMMENT 317279	2012-09-07 11:30 AM
Living in SB in San Roque for almost 50 years we have gradually moved our shopping venues to Calle Real and Calle Real Marketplace, to get away from the panhandlers and vagrants. Now they have discovered these two areas where is there to go? Beautiful downtown Casmalia ?
ROGER DODGER	2012-09-07 01:48 PM
@235P Thank You for your comment and where can that be looked up do you know?
COMMENT 317335	2012-09-07 02:21 PM
I agree with you and 235P, that there seems to be an epidemic of homeless in SB and these aren't the old homeless people I grew up here knowing. The guys who use to watch my baseball games at McKenzie Park growing up were non-threatening, mostly vets, and overall would find some work at the park or sweep a bar after hours for money, recycle,or had parents in town.These new ones come here with a backpack and are far more aggressive.They look up SB on a map,come here in droves,find they can get free meals and drink for free,then commit crimes.I have never in my 30 years seen these travelers/transients so up in your face,rude,angry, and taking resources away from what is meant for our local homeless.I traveled different countries extensively with a backpack,but never treated local people the way they do us.They pose a threat and need to be policed better.This is our town and we work hard to live here,unless you are passing through or contributing to the economy I say give em the boot.
COMMENT 317235P	2012-09-07 02:55 PM
@RD. I've seen mention of such a "circuit" in various media over the years and also heard about it from an acquaintance who works with the local homeless and sees it as a problem too (for different reasons than mine though). Don't know if anyone keeps any actual statistics on such thing and assume that they'd not be readily released due to the likely outcry at the results. Here are two stories found via a quick Google search: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/06/local/la-me-arcata-panhandling-20120806 http://www.slolifemagazine.com/special-interest/175/understanding-homelessness-in-slo/
ROGER DODGER	2012-09-07 04:46 PM
Check this out Google: What to do when your homeless-The Ultimate Guide...It's on a site called Venture articles.Very intresting reading.

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