Posted on 08/24/2009 12:00:07 PM PDT by SmithL
Pedro Hernandez said he's lived in the well-maintained pink Victorian at 13th and C streets for more than half of his 71 years.
This weekend, Sacramento's latest version of tent city bloomed just beyond his backyard fence. About 35 homeless people are now living in a vacant lot owned by Mark Merin, a prominent attorney who has championed their cause.
Hernandez said Sunday that his new neighbors have made him "stressed sick" and kept him up at night with noise, prompting him to file a complaint with police. "I am an old man," he said.
He and his wife have diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problems, he said.
If Merin is such a champion of the homeless, he said, why doesn't he "take these people to his own yard? That way he can feel like my family."
Merin said Sunday that he already has a homeless man sleeping on his porch in Alkali Flat. Another man lives in the side yard of his midtown office building, he said.
The new camp is necessary because city officials have failed to provide camping for the homeless, Merin said.
City leaders and advocates for the homeless have crafted a plan to create a legal "safe ground" where the homeless can camp without police interference. A task force assembled by Mayor Kevin Johnson has drafted a report saying such a campground would house up to 60 people and offer basics such as running water and garbage pickup.
But advocates say the campground faces a difficult fight in the City Council and won't be approved in time for winter.
Merin said the problem is bigger than Hernandez. "I don't see his argument as having equal weight to the needs that homeless people have to be somewhere safe."
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
If it's illegal all people have to do is call the cops.
The remaining question: Where does Mark Merin live?
Let them camp on HIS front yard.
The liberals always use compassion to trump everybody else’s rights. The fact that someone may be worried about their safety, peace-of-mind and enjoyment of the neighborhood, well tough toenails. If you have taken care of your property, paid your taxes and been generally a good citizen, then it is only right that the city should insert that ‘golden sc**w’, right?
“If Merin is such a champion of the homeless, he said, why doesn’t he “take these people to his own yard?”
The money quote from this article.
Maybe in Californication or other red states. I have an empty lot next to my house and there is no way in hell that our neighborhood would allow a homeless camp.
Just when you thought there was no need for an HOA.
Where do the wee-wee? I wonder what that lot will look like in a week.
-PJ
Free campsites, amenities, and no cops!
Yeah, this is going to work real well. LOL Pedro should get ready to sell tickets to this circus act.
Could it be pay back for painting his house pink?
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