blazer
By Blazer
A midday meeting on Thursday on the tracks just off the freeway in Montecito was the scene of a multi-agency effort to coordinate the cleanup of homeless encampments in the city and county.
Sharon Byrne of the Montecito Association, County Supervisor Das Williams, Santa Barbara City Councilpersons Oscar Gutierrez and Kristen Sneddon, Hillary Hauser from Heal the Ocean, and Andrew Velikanje of Earthcomb were in attendance along with Cal Trans representatives and Fire Officials from both Santa Barbara and Montecito.
The gathering was to announce multi-agency coordination for the removal of homeless encampments throughout Santa Barbara County. Cal Trans, Citizen Groups, Santa Barbara City and County fire, police and sheriffs are now working together to combat what has become a whack a mole exercise for public agencies. If the City sends a crew out, the camps move to County property, then to Cal Trans property, and so on.
It remains to be seen what results from this collaboration will do to remedy what has been deemed an intractable problem. The Loma Alta fire below TV Hill on May 20, 2021 provided a hard to ignore sign that added urgency to political leadership in solving the danger of homeless encampments throughout the county. Many feel this is the first step in ending the “not my jurisdiction” discussion when approaching the encampment issue.
The outstanding work of Andrew Velikanje with funding from Heal the Ocean and the Montecito Association in cleaning up camps across the county has been an unheralded but startlingly efficient project. Visit the Heal the Ocean site for more on the progress so far as well as interactive maps.
Map of local homeless camps by Heal the Ocean
FORCED Drug Rehab. Then teach them how to lay asphalt and patch potholes- Then employ them with CalTrans across the State.
There are drug addicts and mentally ill individuals who are unable to care for themselves, suffering, and living in hazardous, squalid conditions. How do we respond? Do we take them into custody, evaluate them medically and psychologically, give them the care they need, and start them on treatment and rehabilitation programs? Of course not. Do we look around, take some photos and notes, and possibly clean up some of their mess out of concern for the creeks and waterways while leaving them to continue suffering as they careen towards an untimely and virtually certain death? Yep, that’s how we care for our fellow man in california.
Trillions invested in the most unproductive part of economy…and what do we get…more misery…
So slave labor? So much for American freedoms and rights.
Community service is a big part of restorative justice and the courts have decided that certain rights can be suspended for a time.
Here is a homeless clip from Seattle. Make sure you watch until the AK47 comes out of the tent.
(Also although the AK47 was in plain view inside the tent, Seattle PD was unable to enter at first and had to wait to get a warrant
https://youtu.be/fKOgeCzNuyA
Before anyone tries the “motels are the answer” nonsense
SF Chronicle: Article Title: “The Disastrous Results of S.F.’s Program to House Homeless in Hotels ”
https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Bay-Briefing-The-disastrous-results-of-S-F-s-17126222.php
@oakman… why don’t you take in a few or all of them? If YOU truly wanted.
Okay please add my name to the list for the free house in one of the most expensive zip codes In The USA. I promise to take a true stake in the community if you give me a free house!! (SMH)
Actually, a lot of people do not want to be homeowners. It’s a big responsibility. Lots of upkeep. But most people do want a safe space where they can sleep and hang out, and keep their belongings secure.
The Loma Alta fire same identical thing happened same place 40 years ago what has the city done about it squat to !!
What @Parvo??? Are you bummed out that homeless people aren’t dying in throngs? You do realize they are humans right? It’s our job as fellow humans to help, not wish death.
But isn’t that “socialism”?
Why?
Don’t tell me you buy into that “we’re so special” BS.
If humans were so special and fragile than why are there over 7 billion and counting of us?
The Matrix was right – we are are an over-reproducing virus that threatens the very survival of this planet.
The only thing special about us is that we are talking monkeys with opposable thumbs that refuse to accept the biological constraints that Nature imposes on all other lifeforms.
This is our species’ Achilles Heel.
an argument could be made that arrestees who are unhoused that are jailed for crimes are actually being given housing, nutrition and medical care. likewise for a diversion program that forces a choice between rehab or jail.
What is proposed is not “slave labor” and it is completely legal. From enlightened California: “Most California inmate programs inside of institutions receive a little over $0.25 to $1.25 per hour for labor”. CA requires all inmates to perform at some job. Some states pay $0. This is entirely legal and common in all 50 states.
The best job in the CA system is firefighter which pays $2HR and gives 2 days a week off the sentence. Its also the most dangerous job.
The mentally ill but functioning and the addicts who are reasonably healthy who have broken the law could maintain firebreaks, clean parks, clean the beaches, power wash the parking structures and maybe even clear out old homeless camps… or a hundred other tasks.
Upon release they could be put into half way houses and in this job market should be able to get an entry level job quickly.
This would leave a much smaller remnant of deeply disturbed mentally ill and/or physically impaired individuals who would need additional assistance. I am not qualified to speak to how those people can be handled. My guess is that absent state intervention/coercion thoughout the rest of their life, they will be on the streets and in the woods
It’s a disgrace how the money allocated to help with the issue is wasted. For example, the Rose Garden Inn was used to provide rooms for 63 people. A total of 12 were actually housed, the rest went back on on the streets. Cost? $2.3 million.
There is no problem that cannot be made worse with government “help.”
If you want more of something, subsidize it. If you want less, tax it. Works every time.
Homeless care less about your feelings and good intentions.
I hear people advocate for keeping these people on the streets.
Great, put them in CUYAMA(for the 10th time)no Liquor stores to speak of and a long way to drugs, would solve alot of our homeless probs.
Edney, that is true but being homeless is not a crime and attempts to criminalize it have failed many times under judicial review. “Vagrancy” laws were once endemic but have been stopped by Constitutional review. “Loitering” laws were found just as defective.
So your analogy fails.
Wrong.
I never said homelessness was a crime, and I know vagrancy and loitering are not crimes.
Under the influence of a controlled or illegal substance is. Public drunkeness is. Possession of narcotics, possession of stolen property, petty theft, battery, domestic violence, assault etc etc are.
Hany manyhomeless people commit crimes
Here’s something to think about- $40 BILLION , That is 40,000,000,000.00 proposed by the Democrats to be going to Ukraine… Think about how much that could HELP U.S. Citizen’s HERE AT HOME…!!! That would build a lot of transitional shelters and rehab facilities if “AMERICA FIRST” was implemented…
Crazy that anyone could down-vote that. From a massively progressive newspaper in the most left-wing city in our country. Sometimes I think our ‘wokest’ advocates are right-wing plants intentionally making us reasonable progressives look terrible.
If you want progressive solutions, like I do, you need to look first at what our progressive cousins in Seattle, San Francsico, etc have tried. Instead of vilifying, we need to learn, correct, and move forward with solutions that aren’t already proven ineffective… like most of what we are doing. There needs to be place in the discussion for results-based criticism. Positions perhaps in-between “All they need is more love and free things!” …. annnd… “Send ThEM to thE DeseRT!”
If Santa Barbara had a reputation that encampments are routinely visited by drug sniffing dogs and drugs quickly taken away, I suspect our unhoused neighbors would find new digs.
And how much more in taxes are you willing to pay for this 24/7 drug sniffing dog and handler team? Law enforcement is always crying poor yet buying tons of swat gear and armored vehicles so expect this number to be quite high.
What would you do with $40 billion? It gets back to the problem that there is a lot of money currently being spent but unclear how effective it is.
No.
Socialism definition:
A political and economic theory of social organization which advocates that the means of production, distribution, and exchange should be owned or regulated by the community as a whole.
Prisoners are routinely assigned jobs that pay pennies per hour and the courts have held that is legal under US Constitution
You’re incorrect oakman.
Rypert J called it right. Toss all the money you want to throw at this deal and it’ll just keep on evaporating until you get what he’s saying here.
It’s not easy to be the parent, but when adults start acting like children it’s time to handle it and they don’t get to do whatever they want anymore.
You know why?
It’s because for very dollar we spend on them it’s a dollar less we can’t spend on kids, our youth, our future, and their education from the start.
And that’s exactly why I think California’s education system is absolutely in the tanks. We’re wasting massive, and I mean MASSIVE, tax dollars on the kinds of ideas and programs that some of the above Edhatter commenters would advocate.
Money doesn’t grow on trees, folks. Even here in CA. You’re fooling yourself if you think the solution is to give them a dollar at the stop sign, house them in a converted hotel, or build a bunch of mini-homes for them to live in.
Nobody’s going to round em up. But if you keep making it easier and easier to do what they do, it’ll keep getting worse.
Wait for them to commit a crime. Trespassing, dedicating in public, possession of stolen milk crates. Anything.
THEN once they are CONVICTED send them to public housing in TEHACHAPI
The law says the homeless must be provided assistance, BUT THAT ASSISTANCE DOESNT HAVE TO BE AT THE BEACH
A drug sniffing dog is a lot less expensive than having your car broken into for drug money