Posted on 04/15/2023 12:06:44 AM PDT by Morgana
Homeless encampments in the Hollywood stomping grounds of Beverly Hills have taken a turn for the worse, as a local business owner says there are now naked people deterring customers.
A naked woman was seen just lying out on a leftover couch amid the rubble in one of the encampments in recent days, scaring a business owner who would only refer to herself as Debra.
She says the encampment has hurt her haircare business and made her afraid to work past 6 p.m. along San Vicente Boulevard, just south of the Beverly Center.
'I have a nice clientele, but now my clientele is getting to the point where they just don't feel comfortable,' Debra, who has been in the area for two decades, said.
She's begging city officials to take action to stop her from losing any further business.
I saw the couch one day out there and I think, 'Oh my God,'' she told ABC7. 'The next day, I came back and see she's all over the couch and she's just naked. She was crying. I felt bad for her, you know?'
'I wanted to like give her something to cover up but I felt like if I do the little things, then I'll have everyone coming and asking for help.'
'My home is within walking distance of these encampments,' said Councilmember Katy Yaroslavsky, whose district includes Debra's business, in a statement.
'I walk or drive past this neighborhood almost everyday with my three children. What these small businesses and the surrounding communities have had to endure is unacceptable.'
Debra has said she's been unable to get the city or any of its officials to help.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
The homeless camps should be in front of the homes of politicians and media people. And judges.
There have always been homeless people, addicts, alcoholics, and the mentally ill. They belong in shelters or in treatment. Until recently, if they wanted to roam the streets, they needed to refrain from bothering other people. They also needed to keep on the move and stay largely out of sight, at least in decent parts of town. The gray areas consisted of informally recognized bowery districts where the police cut them a bit more slack.
What has changed in recent years is that big cities have pulled back the police and given the homeless free reign. Some of this is driven by the pols. Some of it is driven by judges. But the left now operates on the idea that it is oppressive to police the commons and prosecute quality of life crimes. The left now concentrates its efforts on trying to ensure that people are as comfortable as possible on the streets. At the policy level, the left now insists on “housing first,” with treatment available on a purely voluntary basis. But the reality is that alcoholics and addicts want to drink and drug, and government is acting as the Great Enabler. The current mess on the streets is almost entirely the result of specific policy changes.
When I moved to DC, Mitch Snyder was in full form. Lafayette Park across from the White House was a permanent encampment. The homeless were sleeping in the entryways of downtown buildings and, in large numbers, in metro stations where they were sheltered by the weather. Early morning commuters had to pick their way carefully, avoiding the sleeping bums and the occasional piles of excrement.
What changed? The Reagan administration came to town and declared war. The war wasn’t won overnight. It took years and constant litigation. I recall James Watt and Ed Meese as particular stalwarts. It can be done. If there’s the political will to do it.
I am all for offering a helping hand to the homeless, who are overwhelmed by a familiar set of problems. But society has to be willing to enforce rules.
In the meantime, my interim solution would be to meet the lefties on their own ground with housing first, on the stipulation that housing projects for the homeless, needle exchanges, and other elements of the enabling infrastructure be located next door to politicians’ houses. Clear the streets in other parts of town, and dump the homeless — compassionately, of course — in interim camps in Muriel Bowser’s front yard. We would not wish to burden the homeless with cruel demands that they keep picking up and moving, but that’s what social workers are for. The social workers can be deployed to pack up the tents and belongings and shift the camps to wherever the politicians move.
I hear that couches, and debris around them, catch fire easily.
Apparently Denver, then entire city, is a fast homeless camp now, too.
I always enjoy your well thought out and totally realistic comments.
A suggestion - also move large encampments of ‘the homeless’ to Martha’s Vineyard for the sheer joy of watching that level of MSM attention focused on the problem...
Thanks for sharing sphinx.
Release the bees.
“Why do people expect the government to fix things?”
Probably because people really aren’t geared towards burning them out or flogging them into lunacy.
I try to keep in mind the San Francisco of the 1980s, it was magic.”
I lived there 1985 - 1989.
Yes it was a great place. Still partially a Navy town. The liberal policies were starting, but hadn’t yet destroyed the place.
Lived a block from Haight St, then moved further south to Cole Valley. Nice area.
Meh, just deport them
Mexico and Central America send their trash here, let’s put ours on boats to Europe of some other enlightened place and be done with it
That’s right.
We lived at Switzer and Beverly Blvd. it was a really nice neighborhood. We walked everywhere and never felt threatened
This is why I hate that Godless, soulless racist excuse for a party.
Lived on Haight two blocks up from Ashbury 97-2000.
….I would not anticipate seeing this becoming wide spread here in my life time.
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Hieronymus… I normally agree with you, but I think there is strong evidence to the contrary. Before I make the case for my position, let me ask this rhetorical question… “if a homeless person has been moved out of a tent located on public space and moved into permanent housing at taxpayer expense, are they still ‘homeless’ and therefore fall under the definition of ‘widespread’?
Certainly Canadian winters might be a factor in the concept of ‘permanent encampments’ but here are some links that would give one serious pause for thought… There have been three primary ‘homeless encampments’ set up in the Kitchener-Waterloo region with the first (and largest) one being set up in December, 2021. So much for winter being a deterrent.
Worse… There was a very significant court ruling that came down In January that ‘legitimized’ the ‘encampments….this was the result of a suit brought on by the municipality who wanted it clarified as whether they could evict those in the encampment and essentially enforce their bylaws. The complete ruling can be found on state enemedia’s reporting of the matter… https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/kitchener-waterloo/encampment-victoria-kitchener-region-waterloo-evict-1.6729433 A better reporting of it on this National Post page….. https://nationalpost.com/opinion/ontario-judge-declares-a-right-to-build-homeless-camps-on-public-land Essentially, Judge Michael Valente looked at court decisions from BC (the big one being the 2009 ruling of ‘Victoria v Adams’…. otherwise known as the “Adam’s Rule”.
Law Times is a daily newsletter that comments about ‘legal news’ in Ontario. Here is a link to a piece they put out on Feb 8, 2023 under the heading of “Kitchener Waterloo homeless encampment eviction stymied by section 7 argument” and here is a clip of the start of the article…
“An Ontario Superior Court judge has found that a municipal bylaw that the Waterloo region sought to use to evict a homeless encampment violates s. 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The ruling followed similar case law in British Columbia, which established that a person has a constitutional right to shelter themselves when the number of homeless people exceeds the number of available shelter spaces…..”
https://www.lawtimesnews.com/practice-areas/human-rights/kitchener-waterloo-homeless-encampment-eviction-stymied-by-section-7-argument/373551 The article goes on to say ““Across the province, there are tent encampments in most municipalities and a rise in the number of people experiencing homelessness…..”
https://www.kitchener.ca/en/living-in-kitchener/encampments.aspx This the City of Kitchener webpage where they comment on ‘Encampments’. Note of course that there is no suggestion on their webpage that the ‘homeless’ shouldn’t be setting up on public space….
https://www.cp24.com/news/waterloo-region-won-t-appeal-court-ruling-on-eviction-of-kitchener-homeless-encampment-1.6289773 The Region of Waterloo is not going to appeal the ruling. Their response instead is that they’ve approved a $163 million dollar ‘investment’ to put up permanent housing…
Bottom line is that this court ruling essentially sets a serious precedent that is now going to be used all over the province and elsewhere. The important line in the ruling is the “…right to shelter themselves when the number of homeless people exceeds the number of available shelter spaces.” In fact, that ‘right to shelter themselves’ doesn’t even differentiate between public and private space. If no homeless encampments are seen in the future, it will because they set up a tent, the municipality (or potentially even a private landowner) didn’t like it but before evicting them, gave them permanent housing at taxpayer expense…. and then evicted them.
“stay largely out of sight, at least in decent parts of town”
In my neck of the woods they opened up converted duplexes and such into shelters. Randomly scattered in the so-called decent parts of town. So now we have tons of homeless wandering our neighborhoods in the evenings headed to their shelter of choice, and then again in the mornings when they get kicked out at 7am. Just in time to have them interact with the kids walking to school.
While that is most likely true, the salon owner in this article is a well-spoken black woman and has located her business there for 20 years. It's not an excuse, but it's a reason why she may have voted Democrat in the past; but we don't know that.
Republicans typically fail to make their case successfully among minorities, until Trump—and he was just getting started; but he got measurable results. So the Establishment had to crush him.
Their local government has outlawed many of the things store owners have tried, such as turning the hose on them, trashing their belongings, playing loud music, etc. It's an entrenched marxist system out there. No taxpayer's rights are any more important that a drug addict's desires.
Bring back the workhouses. Do a certain amount of work, get your meals, methadone or marijuana.
Just yesterday on my drive home I say signs of a homeless camp moving in near the river. We are far from any city.
There may be some redneck enforcement because one they take over a place our state and local officials do everything to protect their encampments.
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