Comments
CITYWATCH TODAY—I spoke to a group of international visitors last week. Journalists and media producers from around the world. China, Russia, Palestine, Haiti, Senegal. You get the idea. They had questions about CityWatch and Internet publishing … and politics. The hardest question came from a correspondent from Uzbekistan. Los Angeles looks so rich, he said. Why are so many people living on the streets, he asked.
Homelessness, I told them, is a complicated social issue. Many different causes, needs, views on solutions. Government is not the best model for getting agreement, commitment. For setting goals and creating strategy. And, then, I said … there’s the politics of it. It bothered me … still does … that I didn’t have a better answer for why a city so ‘rich’ still has 40,000 people sleeping on its streets.
If my meeting had only been this week instead. As the days passed, better answers kept coming. The Times reported on Sunday that East LA residents … some immigrants, some illegal … didn’t want any homeless facilities in their neighborhood. Today the Times reported that the 50-member homeless services task force couldn’t agree on how to spend their funding … progress delayed. And, today in CityWatch, Patrick Range McDonald tells us that City Hall is ‘redirecting’ funds voters approved for the homeless to pet projects. It stinks. It’s scandalous. You need to see it. You need to speak up. We need better answers for the world. For our homeless.
++++++++
Reminder: You have a right to know what City Hall does with your money … tax money. And to have a voice in how your bucks are distributed. Jack Humphreville breaks it down for you in Today’s CityWatch … then reports this Thursday and all week next week from City Budget Meetings … live ...on CityWatch. Check in. Let’s me sure … they Show Us the Money!
Ken Draper-Editor, CityWatch
