“It’s not rocket science stuff,” Whitmire said. “Somebody I read said it’s like a moon shot. It’s not a moon shot. It’s not rocket science. It’s us coming together.”
His plan prioritizes “reducing the number of people sleeping on the streets” and “reclaiming public spaces” by making it illegal to sleep in public spaces at night, increasing collaboration between city departments and stepping up sustainable funding from the city for services.
Whitmire pointed to a recent ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court that allows cities to punish people for sleeping on streets. He called the ruling a “tool” the city can use to “insist that individuals remove themselves from the street.” Source
I am sure that much smarter people than John Whitmire have tried to solve the homeless problem, and yet it still plagues us. Yesterday, I walked through the neighborhood, and a person lived under the bridge crossing our neighborhood. A person was sleeping on a bench in the city park adjacent to the neighborhood. Someone had a tent set up next to the public tennis center. A person was sleeping under a carport in our neighborhood (that person has been seen knocking at doors and rummaging through the trash cans.) Then, there was the homeless person who was riding a bicycle on a neighborhood street.
The mayor expects the homeless to self-deport from public places, which made me smile. They may move if the police come and ask them to move, but as soon as they leave, they will be back. I have seen that happen countless times. But the use of police officers for homeless patrols seems like a waste of a very scarce resource when it already takes them forever to show up, even when a crime is in progress.
The mayor claims it is easy to solve, not “Rocket science.” Well, his simple solution, which was in the news a few weeks ago, has gone out the window. Let us see how long this goes, but he gave himself breathing room, claiming it will take years to make it work.
Well, I wish the mayor good luck, and I hope he does come up with a solution.
The image below shows the resources it took to remove two people living underneath the bridge.
