HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-12-2013 pc zahaCOUNCIL MEETIN G
ITEM NO .:
January 10, 201 3
Dear Dan Carpenter and City Council ;
My friend asked me in September of 2012 to add my input to the homeless situation in SLO
county. He doesn't have any idea that I am pretty well versed on the shelters throughout the stat e
from personal experience and choice . Due to domestic violence issues I have been homeless a
few times myself. It never lasted long as I always found work and a place to live fairly quickly n o
matter where I was at the time . I walked from Tijuana to National City (my birth place) then ont o
Pacific Beach where I lived at the time in 1996 . I made the trek to California from Mexico with a
bunch of children . I broke my right arm on Memorial Day in Fallbrook, California in a nasty truc k
roll over accident . I lost half the blood in my body and fell in a swamp before I called a n
ambulance to take me to the hospital . I had 5 hours of surgery to repair my nerves and could no t
use my right hand for 6 weeks . I had staples in my arm . I had to learn to be left handed . It was
not fun and I lived in Oceanside where the per capita murder rate at the time was 7 per cent .A
rough place to say the least .
Other pretty bad things happened to me in Orange County and I was the subject of an article i n
the Orange County Registar and the L .A. Times. I have the articles and can prove they are abou t
me. The sheriff of Orange County told me I had to leave after I saw the perpetrator of thes e
crimes at the Catholic Church in Capo Beach . I called from the Mormon Church across the stree t
to tell them the dude was at church . It was July 25, 1996 . I came back to San Luis Obispo and
got ajob doing landscaping . I then got a job at Cheap Thrills and was made night manager in les s
than a year .
In 1998 and 2000 I was homeless again and chose to go north . In 98 I lived and worked in
San Mateo and Burlingame . In 2000, 1 worked on fishing boats from Monteray to Eureka an d
Arcata, CA . It was an experience that was much more pleasant than the one I had in Souther n
California. The people and cities were more friendly and prepared for a homeless population . The
fact that there are homeless people was accepted and embraced by the communities I chose .
I have lived in San Luis Obispo County since I was 5 . I sold a house in Nipomo and bought a
home in Atascadero . It is the best place to live on earth in my opinion . I know that a lot of yo u
agree with me on this fad .
I have been at the "shelter" since October . Eating and staying there off and on . I went dow n
to Nipomo in November . I participated in Supervisor Jim Patterson's last meeting at Mission Sa n
Luis Obispo de Tolosa . I have spoken to many people and was a payee for my friend from `96 t o
2000 . I am not for or against any group or organization . I am highly concerned about our
homeless population here in SLO County .
My father was president of the peace officers Shrine Club in 1987 . My mother was the firs t
teacher of the nursing program at Cuesta College . I was raised on county and state jobs . My
parents paid off their house after 9 years of hard work . I worked in the fields since I was 1 1
picking any thing to earn spending cash . It is hard work but you can make a good living doing it .
I am not related to Dorthea Lang . I am from Nipomo, the foot of the hills in Chumash . My dad
was from Massachusetts, the foot of the hills in another Native American dialect .
The main problem I see at the homeless shelter is too many chiefs and not enough Indians .
This refers to the SLO capps employees . The way this system and the whole shelter idea has bee n
tweaked to fit the budget since Kurt Kupper donated the land for the Maxine Lewis shelter is a
travesty . Of justice, of humanity and it shames people like me and Terry Morris who started th e
Peoples Kitchen . I just want to die of shame when I look at what has been done with the fundin g
and the whole thing . It is not the way the churches and the past city and county administration s
planned it and I don't care how it got this bad . My goal is to get the shelter self-sufficient the way
that the achievement house operates . Jo An Kirby was a personal friend of mine . We worked
together at Ernie Ball . Ms . Nancy Mann at Cuesta College got my into the world of environmen t
and politics when I took her course at Cuesta . I also took Mick Bondello's courses at Alla n
Hancock College . They were married at the time . I learned an awful lot from all the grea t
teachers here in this county including Debris Dana, Arthur Cardoza, and too many others to
name . They would be ashamed of me if I did nothing to resolve this situation .
I cannot for the life of me understand the "warming shelter" criteria . The warming shelter ca n
only be opened if there is 3 days of rain . Our coldest weather does not happen when it rains . I t
hailed and it looked like snow on April 8, 2010 and it was super cold out . But it hailed and di d
not rain . No warming shelter It was too cold to rain . So no warming shelter . Who the heck
makes up this nonsense? I would appreciate an answer .
These `Clients" pay at least 700 dollars for a priority bed and help toward finding shelter . After
16 years I am still waiting to see it provided to Mr . Lewis, Maxine Lewis' youngest son . He i s
my friend . A guy named cat food is my friend as well . He used to entertain and watch my childre n
while I shopped in SLO . He is a veteran . Veteran services are available in Santa Barbara I wa s
told in October . That is a long way to go if you are homeless here in SLO .
I volunteer at my church every Martin Luther King Day for the overflow shelter because we d o
January . This year we remodeled the recreation hall . After a week of staying there, th e
comments I heard at the Prado Day Center and Starbucks were all negative . I got more involved .
It doesn't help . No one cares if you live at 43 Prado Road . No one cares if you use the Orcutt
Road address . Unless you are in charge of their salary, the SLOcapps Employees coul d
collectively care less . They constantly do their best only to be sanctioned for making someone's
day . For the life of me I don't get it . There are some super great and some super lousy people just
like any non-profit .
I tried to talk to Dee Torres at the Prado Center . I got two seconds of eye contact . It was
almost enough to make me walk away and try to forget my Mends . But I truly love some of the
people I know because of staying at the shelter . I think maybe some of you all know this by now .
If not you are all blind, deaf and dumb as Helen Keller was when she changed things for th e
handicapped .
I'm no Annie Sullivan but I know that with a little help and a lot of hard work we can chang e
this whole thing for the better . It is going to take time and energy from the many people alread y
on the boards and city council and the county supervisors . Paul Texiera has his hands full i n
Nipomo where the majority of the homeless end up . Now there are some great people in Nipom o
and they don't mind sharing, but when you take advantage of their good natures you get on thei r
bad side . You don't want to be on the bad side of the people there . It can become ver y
unpleasant for you very quickly . I know, I lived next door to the Biddies for 3 years, but I onl y
had to back Johnny off my porch once with a shot gun . I am telling you the God's truth .
So I would like to see a resolution from you all (nosotros) to change this damned if you do,
damned if you don't way the county treats the people who have lost their homes . I know a lot of
people from the mayors and their progeny to the lowly homeless vagrants . They are equally m y
friends and I prefer some to others . Money just makes problems easier to hide . Throwing money
at a problem never makes it go away . It just attracts even more people looking for a free ride i n
the place where you vacation but I live . Tourism is a big part of our expanding economy here, do
not kid yourself or me . The only industry here is the prison system . Look at what you peopl e
have put Mr . Dan Duvall through . It is wrong and no social justice committee can ever make i t
right . I'm thankful for my friend Bill being in heaven and not seeing this case action against Mr .
Duvall .
Sunny Acres wasn't a joke . It was a scary place to all us kids . We all got threatened wit h
getting sent there . Personally, my mom's favorite was Camarillo, which no longer exists . I did
use to visit the kids in Sunny Acres when I was allowed to go outside General Hospital as a child .
But I had to do it from about 20 feet away . Their keepers weren't friendly to children . Ou r
parents liked it that way because it was diversion therapy . They could show you where you wer e
going to end up . And I know me and Dan aren't the only people who remember this action .
There are a lot of us willing to help see an end to the homeless situation . Not all of us have gon e
to Mr . Duvall's extreme, but we are being driven there by the city and county governments lac k
of decision making and sticking to the original plan to be self-sufficient . We failed is not a n
option for the majority of us citizens . Sorry to all you higher ups but it just doesn't work . There
is no failure in the homeless lexicon . Failure means death or incarceration to most to them . No t
happy choices for any one . Homeless or of Kelly Gearhart stature, no one wants that to happen .
Thank you for your time and consideration, God Bless and Keep You Safe fro m
Homelessness,
Sincerely,