Crime/Drug Addiction/Homeless

[Hatch]

Please take the time to watch this piece in it's entirety. This subject parallels the problems in our city except OUR problem involves an amazing river and eco system that I grew up on on, love and am fiercely protective of!

https://www.facebook.com/13826256623...628248?sfns=mo

[Darian]

Powerful video. Seattle as well as San Francisco are examples of what the Sacramento area/city will become (already there on some level) if our cities/county governments don't stop talking and begin to address this situation. Since the mayor/council members are not all on the same page, it's not likely that anything will be done, once again. Mayor Steinberg seems to believe that providing housing first is the solution to the problem but who will provide that housing and where will it be located?? It's been reported that the developer who has rights two develop the land at the old State Fairgrounds site after promising to provide low cost housing there, has now proposed to make that housing at market rates. So, much for low cost housing.... And, none of this addresses the fact that housing first doesn't address the issue of those that won't accept moving into housing that has even one restriction attached. Maybe if we were able to remove the politics from this problem.

[steveg137]

Thanks Maury 10/10 journalism there

[JasonB]

Thanks for sharing that. I’d agree that it was “powerful”, and thought provoking. I will say I’m pretty disappointed in the lack of depth though. It honestly came off as being more of a propaganda agenda with a very narrow scope. I was encouraged that at the ending they did focus on what would appear to be a very promising program to address addiction. Given the length, and the detail they were willing to go into, I’m very disappointed that there was zero talk about combating the issues on the front end. If we only focus on addressing homelessness, addiction, mental health, etc once they are at severe epidemic levels we’ve already set ourselves up to watch the cycle repeat itself for at least another round or two.

If nothing else, it certainly does help shine a light on how severe these problems are becoming. I do appreciate that, and I do think we are past the point of urgent need to do something about it.
JB

[OceanSunfish]

A good informational report....... saves some from having to explain the situation themselves...... very busy lives and all.

On another note, it's my understanding that some smaller affluent cities in the Bay Area have begun to trim the trees such that they are no longer inhabitable areas to "camp"...... as a result, the "campers" move to neighboring areas to "camp". Problem solved! <hint of sarcasm>

[JasonB]

On another note, it's my understanding that some smaller affluent cities in the Bay Area have begun to trim the trees such that they are no longer inhabitable areas to "camp"...... as a result, the "campers" move to neighboring areas to "camp". Problem solved!

That, in a nutshell, has been the “strategy” for years in my experience. A variety of ordinances, or enforcement projects that basically just push the problem around to somewhere else. We need a multi prong effort that emphasizes the root causes of homelessness in addition to helping to move as many current homeless into more healthy productive lives. It looks like the Governor will be upping the budget for big cities to deal with the homeless problems. Some will probably criticize this as throwing money at a problem; personally, I hope that it’s a sign of awareness of the scale of the problem and a greater level of commitment to addressing it. Time will tell I guess, but overall I see a glimmer of hope there.

As a side note, I thought this article in the Bee had some interesting information on the subject: https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/ho...227740854.html
JB