California Homeless Problem Out of Control…Citizens’ Solutions Meeting Resistance From Liberal Advocates and Authorities

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FoxNews.com reports that

Outrage. Frustration. Fear. Those are some of the words residents used in 2019 to describe the growing homelessness problem across the United States. There were numerous cases of harassment, rampant drug use and disturbing displays of mental illness that shined a light on the harsh reality that America’s once-containable homeless problem had morphed into a modern-day crisis.

In Los Angeles, Heidi Van Tassell said a homeless man pulled her out of her car, dragged her into the middle of the street and dumped a bucket of feces on her head.

In Oakland, the soaring stats are still affecting the way retailers like Mika McCants operate their small businesses. Things soured so much in Seattle that Father Michael Ryan of St. James Cathedral sent a letter to congregants asking that they pray the city and church finds “the balance we need in order to not only be a welcoming place, but a safe place.” The letter was in response to a homeless man storming the church and smashing a 200-year-old wood carving of Mary with a large rock. It wasn’t an isolated incident and the church now has a uniformed police officer present during all weekend Masses. Sadly, there have been similar complaints popping up across the nation.

Fox News spoke with more than 100 homeless men and women, advocates and residents who said that they’d lost faith in their elected officials’ ability to solve the crisis especially after most cities and states had spent hundreds of millions of dollars to address the problem only to watch it get worse.

Fed up, residents started taking matters into their own hands and have tried everything from dumping car-sized logs in front of businesses to pitching plans to pack party buses with the homeless, handing them some cash, driving them across the border and abandoning them. While some suggestions have their foot firmly planted in fantasy, other proposals could actually work.

Here are some of the unconventional ways people came up with in 2019 to help curb the current homelessness crisis.

The homeless situation in Oakland, Calif., is pretty grim. The city has seen a 47 percent increase in homelessness in the past two years and elected leaders like Councilman Noel Gallo say the situation is only getting worse.

Currently, city council members are considering a proposal that would house 1,000 homeless people living in the Bay Area on a cruise ship. The idea was introduced by City Council President Rebecca Kaplan who said her plan “could be a great way to house a lot of people quickly” and added that “cruise ships have been used for emergency housing after natural disasters and for extra housing for things like the Olympics.”

Kaplan is expected to present her full proposal to the council in January and claims her plan will be at “no or low” cost to the city because the people on aboard would pay for their rooms based on their income. Kaplan said she’s been contacted by numerous cruise ship companies about providing a vessel for emergency housing.

Jonathan Warmund believes the Bay Area needs a “property option” that can help address the growing number of homeless men and women who are battling drug addiction and mental health issues.

He believes that barges or houseboats could be set up quickly and adds that the “vessels can support the critical wraparound services necessary to assist with these complex issues, along with many other unique property features.”

Getting it done, though, could be an uphill battle. Warmund said he’s tried reaching out to nonprofits and local government officials but hasn’t had much luck.

“I suspect there’s fatigue with what appears to be an intractable situation but I’m sensing or speculating that there may also be resistance to new ideas from current folks on the frontlines,” he told Fox News.

Gene Gorelik knows a thing or two about pushback from local officials. He angered a lot of people when he suggested Oakland’s homeless should be put on party buses stocked with alcohol, driven over the border and stranded in Mexico.

He has other ideas that make the Mexico one look conservative. Gorelik told Fox News he thinks the city should pay homeless drug addicts $100 to fill potholes and says “filling potholes needs to be more profitable than robbing cars. Two birds. One stone. Done.”

Gorelik also tried unsuccessfully in 2019 to bribe the homeless to leave Oakland.

Someone in Oakland started putting car-sized logs in front of businesses this year In an effort to deter transients from parking their RVs or dilapidated vehicles in front of businesses. While the motive was clear, no one person or group has come forward to say they are behind the long line of logs.

Sean Maher, a spokesman for Oakland’s Public Works Department, said he considers the logs an “intentional obstruction of the public right of way,” but admits the department hasn’t reached out to local businesses to get to the bottom of the mystery.

In September, a group of neighbors in San Francisco’s Clinton Park caused quite a commotion after paying to place two dozen large boulders along the sidewalk to keep homeless people from setting up tents in the area.

There was an immediate backlash and neighbors said they were threatened and harassed by activists who pushed the rocks off the sidewalks. The tug-of-war continued and public works employees were called by residents three times in one week to put the boulders back.

Ultimately, though, the neighbors backed down after they said they received death threats from people online sympathetic to the homeless.

In October, a resident in San Francisco’s Ingleside neighborhood erected a plywood wall in an alleyway to keep drug dealers and the homeless out. The neighbor told local media the city had approved the plywood wall but about three days after it went up, other neighbors complained and it came down.

“I did not agree with the blockade at all,” Miles Escobedo, vice-chair of the Ocean Avenue Association, told ABC7. “That was a very nuclear decision and that was the big issue. Why board it up? That’s a circumstance of fear, which is almost worse. We should not be scared. We should be able to contact our local authorities.”

Los Angeles has been struggling for years to clear encampments and get a handle on its homeless problem. It hasn’t worked. In fact, it’s gotten worse. The number of homeless in Los Angeles County has risen for the third time in four years. The most recent count released in June by the Los Angeles County Homeless Services Authority shows that there are nearly 60,000 homeless people living without permanent shelter on any given night.

Ticked off by the uptick in numbers, residents and business owners have been using their own methods to manage the problem. In South L.A., business owners built chain-link fences around buildings while others planted thorny rosebushes and pointy cacti to keep unwanted visitors out. In Venice, large planters were installed to discourage the homeless from sleeping on the sidewalks. Advocates protested and in August the planters were removed.

Breadlines will be next.

Welcome to the joys of Marxism.

Is it just me, or, have you noticed that homelessness is a problem which occurs a lot in cities Which have been Democratically-controlled for a long time.

There are vagrants in my hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. However, we a still a city with a lot of churches and religious organizations who do a lot of charitable work among the poor and down trodden, such as the Memphis Union Mission.

Democrats, like Newsom, Schiff, and Pelosi talk a good game…but that is all they do.

Why should they care?

They all live in gated communities or have a gated fence with guards which reaches around their palatial estate.

Meanwhile, average Americans, especially Conservatives give more to charitable causes than Liberals do.

Per Liberal Columnist Ncholas Kristof of The New York Times,

Liberals show tremendous compassion in pushing for generous government spending to help the neediest people at home and abroad. Yet when it comes to individual contributions to charitable causes, liberals are cheapskates.

Arthur Brooks, the author of a book on donors to charity, “Who Really Cares,” cites data that households headed by conservatives give 30 percent more to charity than households headed by liberals. A study by Google found an even greater disproportion: average annual contributions reported by conservatives were almost double those of liberals.

Now, there is no doubt that Liberals love to advocate for the homeless.

That is why they will not like these businessmen and women do something about the homeless.

However, do they ever really do anything FOR them to help them out of their poverty besides being a salaried advocate in a 501c funded by Soros’ Open Society Institute and OUR tax dollars?

Nope.

But, as advocates they do get to go to swell conventions.

Back in the day, before Liberals decided that average Americans could not make their own decisions and President Lyndon Baines Johnson created “The Great Society”church -run charities and families took care of those in need.

Then, Johnson and the Democrats proclaimed “We’ll do it!” and prosecuted the “War on Poverty” like a matador having the bull run under his cape while shouting “Ole”!

What we are see in California and across the country is a dystopian result of the Democrats’ “dream”…Americans abandoned by “The Great Society” and abandoned by those who promised to “take care of them”.

Pelosi and the Democrats would have…but they’re too busy trying to overturn the 2016 Election because they don’t like the President to worry about the homeless right now.

Liberals screw up EVERYTHING.

Until He Comes,

KJ

Starbuck’s New “Third Place Policy” Not Going Over Well With Employees and Customers.

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I always start my day with a red-eye misto – two shots, extra hot, extra foam – from Starbucks. – Mika Brzezinski

FoxNews.com reports that

Starbucks announced a new policy Saturday that allows anyone to occupy the coffee shop or use the store’s facilities, even if they don’t buy anything, but many are left to wonder if it’ll have a negative impact.

The “Third Place Policy” maintains that employees should consider anyone who enters Starbucks space, including restrooms, cafes and patios, a customer “regardless of whether they make a purchase,” the company said in a statement.

“We are committed to creating a culture of warmth and belonging where everyone is welcome,” Starbucks said.

Customers using the space must still follow a set of general guidelines, which requires them to use spaces as intended, be considerate of others, communicate with respect, and act responsibly, or they might be asked to leave.

This policy comes after the company faced intense scrutiny and backlash when two black men were arrested at a Starbucks in Philadelphia.

The incident, which CEO Kevin Johnson has called “reprehensible,” took place last month and quickly made headlines after video of the arrest circulated online.

According to officials, the officers were told the men were refusing to leave after being denied use of the restroom since they hadn’t purchased anything.

Cellphone footage shows police talking to the two men sitting at a table before handcuffing them and leading them outside. Their friend arrives, a white man identified as real estate developer Andrew Yaffe, and tells police they were waiting for him, but an officer says the men were not complying and were being arrested for trespassing.

Johnson said shortly after the men’s arrest that the company had made a “mistake” and was working to “take appropriate action,” including a review of company policies.

But the resulting Third Party Policy is being called into question by both customers and employees alike, who wonder what impact it’ll have on stores, specifically in urban locations.

In a Starbucks subreddit, people are voicing concerns that the new policy will lead to stores being filled with homeless people and drug users. One user who claims they work at a Chicago Starbucks wrote that a homeless person using the bathroom got into a fight with a customer and police requested to see the store policy before taking action.

“This is exactly the kind of behavior that I fear will drive all the regular customers away, at least from urban locations. Opposing racism is nice and all, but it is not the responsibility of Starbucks to resolve all urban problems at one location let alone turn its stores into homeless drop-in centers,” another user wrote in response.

I have written several times about Liberal Intolerance.

In this case, Liberals are bending over backwards to attempt to prove that they aren’t.

In this case, Starbucks Management’s altruism is about to backfire against them.

I have a confession to make: I don’t drink Starbucks Coffee.

I have been in a Starbucks a total of two times, both work-related.

I’m just not a big coffee drinker.

Besides that, $5 for a cup of coffee? Are they out of their mind?

But, I digress.

The upscale customers of Starbucks are simply not going to abide having “just anyone” come off of the street and use the restroom there. They want to sip their latte and surf the web in genteel surroundings.

They don’t want to suffer the anxiety of a homeless person coming in to use the restroom or hanging out in the restaurant asking patrons for change.

And you know what? They have a point.

In their attempt to smooth over what they perceived as a Public Relations Disaster, the Liberal Executives at Starbucks have potentially placed their patrons in peril.

Through this attempt to save face, it is apparent that Starbucks has shot themselves in the foot.

Starbucks did not have to prove themselves to not be racists.

I observed that they had a diverse workforce during the two times that I have been in one.

By unintentionally jeopardizing their customers, Starbucks has probably decreased their revenue…to say the least.

Liberals are their own worst enemies.

Until He Comes,

KJ