Editor,
I feel compelled once again to air my disdain on how the ACLU has helped Laguna Beach to roll out the welcome mat for all homeless. After walking by the congregation that panhandles for “your” money this morning, I made my way for coffee at a local service station. There, I encountered a well-known homeless person asking what the winning lotto numbers are? What the….? I just had to ask.
The station owner tells me that this person spends sometimes $100 a day of “your” proceeds on lotto. Booze, drugs, cigarettes and now lotto. Great. Rest assured, your gratuity is being well spent.
As their numbers continue to grow, I am seeing more tagging, petty theft, random lawlessness and disorderly conduct within our community. A strain on our police force and a wasting of our tax dollars. I have personally witnessed a homeless man tipping over and damaging clay pots and trashcans. Pulling recycling out of the city’s trash cans and leaving the rubbish on the ground for maintenance workers, already stressed, to clean up after them.
On the beach, feces and trash littered about. Finding hypodermic needles on my beach clean-ups almost weekly. Sleeping day and night on the beaches without fear of code violations. Last week, I confronted a man throwing traffic cones onto Coast Highway. He told me he wanted to “do something bad”. Really dude? “You almost caused an accident,” I exclaimed.
I am sure that the business owners just love the “bench people” camped out in front of their high rent storefronts as well. It’s great for business?
This is a poor representation of this beautiful city. I feel as though they (the homeless) have more rights than the hard working citizens of this town. Tell your city officials that you have had enough. Do not give money directly to the homeless. Instead, give to a responsible charity. I feel Santa Ana is a better location for the homeless as more resources are available for them there. As long as people continue to give money directly to them, they will be certain to remain. If you see something wrong…do something right and report it to authorities.
Jim Dane, Laguna Beach
Just for fun, the facts: the number of homeless in Laguna Beach has remainded constant – the red carpet was rolled of for no one… It is not illegal to be homeless nor is it illegal to spend money on lotto tickets, booze or cigarettes…I’m worried that the conversation about the homeless in our community has strayed from trying to help mitigate what is certainly a difficult life, to speaking of them as though they are not human and not worthy of basic dignity. I see things on the street that I don’t like on a daily basis – but because I am not the Emperor of the Universe, I accept that the world isn’t going to create itself in an image I find acceptable…the homeless don’t deserve to be spoken about as though they are animals in need of relocation.