Posted on 11/16/2012 5:52:32 PM PST by null and void
NEVADA CITY (CBS13) – A police chief says he’s found a one-of-a-kind way to manage a growing problem in his city, and it’s putting the homeless on the hot seat.
A new law would give Nevada City the power to hand out permits to a small group of homeless, which would give them permission to sleep in public. While the new ordinance would give some homeless a place to stay, it would tell others, mostly the troublemakers and the criminals, to stay away.
“I come down here every fall,” said Bob Barton, who chooses to be homeless in Nevada City.
For Barton, the new ordinance that would essentially identify law-abiding homeless and reward them is music to his ears.
“The goal is to start managing the homeless population within our city,” said Chief James Wickham.
Wickham asked council members to pass a no-camping ordinance.
“It just basically means you can’t set up a tent. You can’t live in your vehicle. You can’t live in the woods in Nevada City,” he said.
That is unless you have a permit.
The chief says his program is one of a kind, making only a select few of the city’s homeless population an exception to the law, like William Peach.
“There’s some of us out there like me who try to blend in with the community,” said Peach.
However, others who come to Nevada City to commit crimes or with a criminal history won’t be so lucky.
“Those are the ones we really don’t want in our city and that we’re trying to keep from camping in our city,” said Wickham.
“We’ve seen a huge upsurge in homeless people,” Teresa Mann said.
Mann, who owns a business in downtown, says it’s about time. And so do the homeless who stay out of trouble and want trouble to stay away.
“If they’re homeless and heartless, hey, we got a place for them,” said James, who is homeless. “It’s called county jail.”
For now, the police chief will give out about six to 10 permits. He’ll check back in six months to see if the program is working. If it is, that’s when he says he’ll give out more.
Wickham says he’s identified at least 60 homeless in his community, and 500 homeless countywide.
They no longer need to be alive to vote, and think of all the money we can skim save...
“we” being democrat politicians and their enablers.
Well this ought to look interesting. Bet it’s not as easy to supervise as they think.
And I won’t even comment on a man who has identified 60 homeless but will only issue 6 to 10 permits.
Damn.
I have mixed feelings here. A good bunch of the unemployed are our kids, neighbors, friends too... Christian charity, of the original version, tells us we can’t turn our back on them, doesn’t it?
What a shitty deal this can be for families. I’m not talking about the freeloader, occupy, food-stamp first crowd. I’m talking about the 25 million who are out of work, and are looking for work.
What the hell to do about our brothers and sisters who have involuntarily succumbed to the marxist economy?
I’m not talking about any goobermint program here. I’m talking about local Christian compassion. I’m not sure I can side with any elected ‘official’ granting permits for the downtrodden to exist.
Yah. I’ve got a problem with this, and I ain’t no bleedin heart.
There is no homeless problem until we have a republican president
As James Taranto continually points out...
Yeah. That happened in the last Great Depression, too.
This is actually a pretty sensible way to do this, for several reasons.
To start with, groups of homeless usually self segregate, based on age, friendships and animosities. These groups self limit by size as well, as too many people in a group are harder to provide for, and make too much noise and garbage and attract the eye.
They want to camp out of the flow of traffic, where they won’t be disturbed or even observed by others. Ideally there is an ill used, low maintenance public restroom around for them to get drinking water, wash themselves and their clothes, use the toilets and dispose of their waste in bins.
During daylight hours they spend a lot of time trying to get food and clothing. Since cheap food is not often very healthy, many of the young ones try to be vegetarian when possible, so grocery store “dumpster dive” looking for discarded vegetables, fruits and breads, which can be in abundance, often still on individual racks, because grocery stores often discard huge amounts of still good but no longer premium produce and bread. For example, a rack of 10 pounds of strawberries because half a dozen of them with mold, so they pitch the whole rack.
Will there be a new shiny office of Homeless Permits, with a lifelong bureaucrat with a cushy retirement awaiting him? How about take that money and help the actual homeless?
If there are families, mentally ill and others that can't work, where's their Obama stuff? Not that I'm for Obama’s huge entitlement spending, but he's spending it, so why isn't he actually helping the people most in need? Nobody needs a free phone, welfare and HUD housing when they can work, yet it seems those truly in need are homeless, while those perfectly capable are standing in line for their free stuff. Even before the Depression, my Great grandmother's husband walked out on her. She sold everything they had and bought a smaller house and arranged the rooms so that she could rent them out, cook and do the laundry of her borders. She did this to survive on her own. When she passed away she left three homes to her children that they remodeled into single family homes after the Depression. She didn't get a free phone, welfare or Obamacare. Her borders needed her as much as she needed them. And she didn't leave her family a legacy of dependency but one of look how I was abandoned and ended up owning three houses!
When I was a veteran’s representative at an Iowa unemployment office we would bus the homeless (one-way) to places like Miami and Phoenix. We had a lot of homeless because we were at the intersection of I35 and I80.
You have to have a permit to be homeless. Just tattoo the permit number on their forearms.
Hasn't Rush called the homeless urban outdoorsmen?
So if you cannot pay the permit application fee, does this mean you go to jail to live off the county?
So you won’t be “homeless” after they run out of permits in Nevada County? What a great way to drive homelessness down. Each year simply issue less permits than the year before. In a few short years — POOF! — no more homeless bums.
Reminds me of Obama energy policy. Simply dream of windmills, solar panels, and EVs, spread $100 billion around to your cronies and — POOF! — magically new markets appear employing hundreds of thousands of people.
Liberals are brain-dead.
Thank you. It’s nice to have intelligent conversation (on FR, or anywhere, these days).
How long before they start issuing permits to the non-homeless allowing them to live in a community?
Papers please!
Oh, we’re there.
I just got my property tax notice, $400 higher than last year. It’s not like I don’t have to buy my way back in to the community, every year...
Oh, and my dogs, and trucks, and ...
Damn, isn’t it nice to be accepted in your community? Yeesh. I’m not too sure I can afford such acceptance.
First of all, who are these homeless? Retired folks who don’t want the responsibility of a home or apartment? People who get drunk from begging on the street? If youngsters are homeless, they should live with relatives and put up with it. Anyone concerned about the homeless should mingle among them; figure out who really needs help and then contact the salvation army or a local church or just gather money from your paycheck with some more from friends and family to help them.
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