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Scanner Reports 7-18-12
updated: Jul 18, 2012, 7:00 AM

By Roger the Scanner Guy

There is the Shelter, the Milpas Business owners and residents, and the Homeless. No one seems to be getting along. When the Shelter opened up many years ago I was all for it until the people running it decided to change the neighborhood to fit its needs. There were over 600 Calls for emergency service the first year in the neighborhood they were mostly responding to the shelter for various problems and medical emergencies. Of course the people running the shelter blamed the neighborhood and some of the business owners in the area went along with the shelter blaming a couple other businesses for their sales of "King Cobra" A 40 ounce bottle of malt liquor which gets you there quicker at half the price. One store in particular the Texaco Station, on the corner of Cacique and Milpas was selling more quarts of King Cobra than any other store in Santa Barbara County.

Yours truly was working there part time. First there was a request that our store stop selling single beers and malt liquors, and then there was a threat of having various nonprofit faith groups march on the liquor store. When that did not work, ABC came along and started a little uncover operation to see if we were illegally selling to underage drinkers, and or drunk people. They quickly determined that was not the case. Then the Santa Barbara Police and KEYT came down on us. Constantly watching the store with their little phony camera phones every time I saw a police officer's camera phone pointed in my direction I could not resist the temptation of ramming one of my fingers up my nose for a little treasure hunt. The KEYT newsman stood by holding a quart of King Cobra as if he was advertising drinking the alcohol on the property. One man did open a bottle of Cobra he just bought from the store I physically picked him up and carried him across the street. It was a total "Set Up." Several other businesses in the neighborhood also took part in the Scapegoating of Mikes Texaco, and Circle K, at the corners of Cacique and Milpas. Both stores had licenses to sell the alcohol products yet nothing beats being bullied by everyone in your neighborhood, city officials, the local TV News, and the Feds, of course ABC bowed out when they saw that nothing illegal was going on at Mikes Texaco. Finally the owner got sick of all the harassment and got a lawyer after that everyone left us alone. The harassment of Mikes Texaco was over. They would have to STINK of another way to bring the neighborHOOD down to their level.

It wasn't too long after that an old woman in a wheelchair was booted out of the shelter. She was rolling around Circle K. In this wheelchair with a urine bag hanging from it I was wondering how she was going to be able to take care of herself out here on the streets. I had heard the shelter took her in but decided they could not care for her so they tossed her out! Why not find another place for her? That is what normal people would do but not the people across the street at the shelter they were better than that. This poor old lady who was booted out of Satan's Palace. She lingered on for a couple months then finally had a stroke right on the corner of Cacique and Milpas. When I pounded on the doors of the firehouse down the street to get help, the firemen got mad at me and were going to call the police. When I told them about the woman having the stroke, they asked me "Why do you think she had a stroke?" I said "Go over there and look at her". They did her head was facing her lap and there was a whole lot of gunk hanging out of her mouth. The day I saw that happen part of me shut down.

I was very angry toward the shelter and those that ran it. How could they put a defenseless elderly woman out there on the streets in a wheelchair and watch her die while continually accepting government money and grants that is something only a Poverty Pimp would do. I never went in the shelter again after that I used to go over there and eat once in a while but after I witnessed what happened to that elderly woman any feeling I had toward the shelter was gone. Occasionally I would find an I.D. or piece of mail belonging to someone at the shelter and drop it off there but I would never step further into the structure itself. Through the years I have had several negative experiences with clients of the shelter. One fella came up the driveway grabbed my broom and tossed it thru a neighbors window next door. When I called the police they blamed me for choosing to live across the street from the shelter even though I moved here first. Another fella followed my friend Belinda on to the property and up to my door he was wearing a long overcoat and had in one hand what looked like a knife. He ran when he saw me. I chased him all the way to his car which was parked on Tri County Produce property next to the RR Tracks. I called the police they ID'd him and let him go, I never saw him again. I don't think he liked being chased by Bubba. I have caught two peepers; clients of the shelter peeping in the windows on the property of where I live. One was arrested the other ran away after I caught him looking into the bathroom window where a woman was taking a shower he had his pants down. I have also discovered several homeless people sleeping on the property. Only one gave me grief and he fell into the cactus several times. Many homeless people who have nowhere to go to the bathroom do so on our driveway usually at night. I have seen piles of feces in the driveway before I find a shovel and bury it when I do. I personally think it should be the responsibility of the shelter to clean up human feces as well as garbage, it shouldn't be my job. Unless of course someone wants to give me a nice fat government grant to be the official Pooper Scooper of the neighborhood.

One time there was a huge mess of Vomit, feces, and urine on the neighbor's porch next door at 2009 South Milpas it was very gross there was a lot of it. I went to the shelter because I thought it was part of their "Clean Up" I was told it wasn't. The head maintenance guy was going to do me a favor and send someone across the street to clean it up. They never did. I cleaned it up and the next day after I cleaned it up and complained there were several more piles of human feces on the neighbor's porch, on our driveway and the neighbor's wall of one of the front houses. I have no doubt that the jerk that worked at the shelter had everything to do with the poop attack. One time in all the years the shelter has been here a security officer from the shelter showed up where I live to help me remove a mentally ill client of theirs who refused to leave our property. That was after I physically went over there and requested the help.

I have never seen security from the shelter patrolling the neighborhood. Recently since the shelter got on the "Hot Seat" I have noticed a security guard walking around Circle K and the Habit. While speaking to a client of the shelter today near Circle K I was approached by a shelter security guard who asked me if I received help from the shelter. I answered "No" Then he said to me that Circle K. doesn't like people hanging around their property if I don't leave Circle K. might call the police on me. I didn't tell this annoying bully from the Cacique Street Shelter that I was a regular customer of Circle K. What is the use? I have been treated like scrap all these years by shelter staff. I heard from a client of theirs that every bicycle locked to a pole or a fence on public property in the neighborhood gets the lock chopped with the shelters bolt cutters. Then these employees of the shelter take the bicycles back to the shelter Sound outrageous? Yea will I live in the neighborHOOD. This person also told me that staff members of the shelter have been raiding their camps and taking homeless people's personal possessions back to the shelter and disposing of it in their dumpsters. I don't know if that is true or illegal but to chop bicycle locks with bolt cutters, and stealing the bicycles just because they think the bicycles belong to homeless people is illegal. It's bicycle theft of course they might have the blessings of the powers that be in that case they are blessed and cannot do no wrong.

I personally think that the trouble with the Cacique street Shelter is with management and staff once they are removed and replaced things might get better at least for 20 minutes until the next Poverty Pimp comes along. As far as the homeless go most of them do not cause problems. I don't believe it should be aganist the law to sleep outside under the stars although there should be areas designated for that. On the outskirts of town, or in areas that there is a lot of room, public areas. We all supposedly own. I have a beef too while I don't like the behavior of some homeless people, bullying people, aggressive panhandlers, robbers, Sober Hell raisers, as well as drunk HELL raisers, sex offenders that are still violating. Basically criminals, opportunists hookers, well hookers are ok...Not all homeless people are criminals, or opportunists in a bad way. Some are really here to seek help and they are attempting to do good things in their lives. I think they deserve a chance to change their lives for the better without being harassed. But HELL who am I? Certainly SNOT the King. It's just my opinion. And that is the way the Ball bounces July the 18th 2012.

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