Posted on 05/16/2007 7:55:57 AM PDT by SmithL
Berkeley figures it's found a way to get homeless people off the streets. Keep them from smoking there.
As Mayor Tom Bates sees it, the alcoholics, meth addicts and the like who make up a good portion of the homeless population on Shattuck Avenue downtown and Telegraph Avenue on the south side of the UC Berkeley campus "almost always smoke." And because smoking bans are the hot ticket these days for California cities, why not meld the two as part of a "comprehensive package" for dealing with the street problem that Bates says "has gone over the top"?
In this case, vagrants could be cited for taking a drag on the town's main drags.
Other ideas Bates is pitching include making it easier for cops to cite sidewalk sleepers during business hours, adding community policing and beefing up social services.
Bates has even come up with a politically correct way to pay for the program -- proposing that drivers pay an extra 50 cents an hour for parking citywide.
Plus, he proposes adding meters to such heavily trafficked areas as the blocks around the popular Berkeley Bowl market on the south side of town.
So far, Bates' ideas seem to be fitting fine with the Berkeley mind-set. When the smoking ban came up for discussion before the City Council last week, it was smooth sailing.
"I don't see anyone on the council voting against it,'' said Councilman Kriss Worthington. "In fact, it's possible that some council members would ban smoking throughout the entire city."
Still, Worthington -- who sponsored a resolution in 2001 aimed at keeping cops from citing people for sleeping on city sidewalks -- said he didn't think the mayor's plan would change much of anything when it comes to the homeless problem.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Isn’t there anything on their books for loitering, vagrancy or public nuisance? Isn’t there anything on any neighboring community books for attractive nuisance, or reciprocity?
Broken window theory indeed.
This is not much of a tribute to the fine gentleman after whom that city and university were named.
Nice sneaky way to further persecute law-abiding smokers OUTSIDE while masking it with the ‘removal of the annoying homeless’ (who can’t pay fines and don’t care if they get arrested).
Good One, Lantz. 8^D
Fishing for what..is the question.
Sure shows us where we (”dirty smokers”) really sit in the grand scheme of the health reich.
SmithL:
When did the tobacco plant become ILLEGAL? When I was a boy in the 1970s, my friend’s dad had a tobacco farm and I used to pick the tobacco. I wonder if I would be ARRESTED for picking the best CIGAR WRAPPER TOBACCO — Shade Grown Connecticut Valley. :)
Only in Berkley!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.