Editor,
I know I am going to ruffle a few feathers here, but I am writing this letter because of my increasing uneasiness living in my own town with so many transient, homeless people. These people loiter in front of the supermarkets, banks, and businesses downtown; they sleep or congregate on the bus and park benches, and they set up camp all over Main Beach.
They lock themselves inside the public rest rooms at Whole Food and Wells Fargo Bank downtown so customers can’t use them, and recently I’ve even been getting harassed for money pumping gas or walking to my car with groceries.
Every time I read the local police blotter I see many, if not most, of our weekly incident reports involve people with “no fixed address.” They are either stealing something, accosting somebody, fighting, dealing drugs, or under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Why is Laguna Beach designated as a “haven town” for the homeless? Why us?
Many of these people have mental illness and addiction issues – and they may or may not be dangerous. Laguna is not equipped for this. We have one small homeless shelter in the canyon with a very limited number of beds. From what I understand, during the day, their residents are forced out of the shelter and they all end up downtown loitering around until it opens again in the evening. Who even knows where the unsheltered transients all end up.
Now I fully realize these are tough times for many people, myself included, but Laguna Beach is not equipped to handle this influx of homeless, drug addicted and mentally ill people. It can’t be good for our tourist industry upon which Laguna depends.
And so many of them smoke and I’m quite certain their cigarette butts end up in the gutters and therefore the ocean – not to mention the concern of starting a brush fire in Laguna Canyon.
And if they can’t find a public restroom, well I hate to think. Yes they are people with rights too, but what about my right to live in my own town safely and walk my own streets without fear of harassment, or go to the beach and swim without coming back to find my towel and belongings missing?
I pay taxes to live here – these homeless people do not. There’s just got to be a better solution than what’s happening here now.
Marsha Bianchi, Laguna Beach
