Photo by: ROB O'NEAL/The Citizen
A group of homeless citizens is drawn to the warmth of a compfire Tuesday at an encampment in Key West's salt ponds area. About 40 homeless camps have sprung up in the wetlands near the Bridle Path.
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The Hilldabeast will be here on Saturday the 21st for a $250 a plate lunch for her wideness
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Photo by: ROB O'NEAL/The Citizen
A group of homeless citizens is drawn to the warmth of a compfire Tuesday at an encampment in Key West's salt ponds area. About 40 homeless camps have sprung up in the wetlands near the Bridle Path.
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Well, I'm sure that's encouraged many riders to use that bridle path! I see no reason why drifters should be allowed to take over a recreational property paid for by our tax dollars and use it for their residential purposes. California state parks were almost destroyed by the large numbers of squatters (mostly drug using drifters) that took them over in the 1980s. Authorities finally cracked down when some normal campers were killed by a squatter who went on a rampage through a campground, although it's still a problem in some places.
BTW, here in Gainesville, the homeless advocates refer to these drifters nested in our parks as "urban campers." Fortunately, citizen complaints have risen to the point where our police department has started to enforce regulations against - uh, "urban camping."
Gotta love the hypocrisy of it all.
From a homeless advocacy group on Key West, Illegal to be Homeless: The Criminalization of Homelessness in the United States:
Key West, FL
There is no city run shelter in Key West and city officials made a proposal that would have paid transportation costs for homeless individuals to travel the 150 miles to Miami-Dade. They also offered money to shelters and homeless outreach centers in the Miami-Dade area to take these individuals in. Officials in Miami-Dade said they were insulted by the offer and could never handle a large influx of people into their shelter system. The protests from Miami-Dade stopped the proposal from occurring.
A City Commissioner requested a video to be taken of homeless people both during the day and the early morning hours. City workers will film groups of homeless people during the day and then again around 4 a.m. to document the problem of homelessness. The video project is specifically targeted at the individuals that the city considers "chronic public nuisances."
An ordinance that bans all forms of panhandling from three major tourist spots passed the City Council. Aggressive panhandling is already illegal, but this new law covers all forms of panhandling, even people who simply hold up a sign. Technically this law will cover Salvation Army volunteers around Christmas and Girl Scouts, but homeless advocates doubt if the law will be enforced for anyone but the homeless. The penalty is a fine up to $500 and jail time. The City Council is looking to expand this ordinance to other areas of the city.
A small stretch of public beach was closed to prevent homeless people from camping there. Public restrooms and showers near the beach were also closed.
The city closed homeless camps in the wetlands, stating that they pose an environmental and health risk. If people remain in the mangrove fields they could be charged with a third degree felony. The penalty is a $500 fine and 60 days in jail. The city promised advocates and homeless men and women that enforcement of this law would be delayed until a shelter with a minimum of 25 beds could be built. City officials called a meeting of residents to discuss the location of the new homeless shelter. Approximately 200 people came to the meeting, mainly to protest any shelter being built in their neighborhood. The Mayor, Jimmy Weekly, proposed building a shelter under the jail. While the city struggles to find a location for the shelter, the police began enforcing the anti-sleeping ordinance in late July.
The mayor and the assistant city manager had stated that there would be a moratorium on homeless harassment until a permanent shelter had been built or and temporary safe camping ground with showers and toilets had been created. Despite this statement the city cleared an empty private lot where several homeless men were sleeping. The men did not have an opportunity to clear out their belongings before the city cleared the land with a bulldozer. The men lost family pictures, a wedding ring, and identification cards. The city gave two of the men bus tickets to Springfield Massachusetts and Napa California and $500 in cash.
The county and state officials forced that last residents of "Houseboat Row" to move to city owned marinas. They were forced to move because the boats did not have sewer hookups. Houseboat row began in the 1950’s as summer homes for high society, but in the 1970’s it "deteriorated." The city voted to keep the houseboats but the city owns the water under the sea wall and therefore had the authority to move the boats.
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Amazing so much noise can be made walking over pebbles.