Editor,
(This letter was also addressed to Mayor Kelly Boyd.)
Hope all is well in your world and that you’re feeling good and back to 100%, or so I hear through the grape vine.
First off I want you to know, we believe Laguna Beach has the best police force with the finest officers in the world. Absolutely first class professionals and my hat’s off to each and everyone of the brave men and women working to protect us.
But… the City Council has handcuffed them when it comes to dealing with our growing homeless problem.
Just wanted to let you know this morning was our second run in with homeless trespassing, defecating, urinating and sleeping on our property in the past couple of months.
Both incidents requiring police assistance.
The incident this morning, the man was bare ass naked from the waste down, heading into our bedroom door, when I scared him off.
What if my wife Kim had been home alone instead of me? Or if he’d headed into our neighbor’s home with their Dutch-door open and Casey’s wife home alone with their new baby son?
This has got to stop.
Beverly Hills and Newport Beach don’t put up with this kind of behavior. Why does Laguna?
The police responded immediately and did an amazing job locating the fleeing man who was hiding under a bush. Like I said, first class officers.
After trying to coax the gentleman out from under the bush, for over an hour, with no results, they handed him a candy bar.
I’m only saying, he scared me half to death heading into our bedroom with his junk on full display.
Only a suggestion, but maybe next time the police, instead of handing the trespassing, half naked-gentleman a candy bar, they could try using handcuffs. Maybe then the gentleman might get a different message, other than it’s okay to wonder around bare-ass half-naked, full frontal exposure in Laguna Beach, walk into people’s homes, urinate on their walls and then just stroll off.
Only a suggestion or is it going to take a rape or murder before this city wakes up?
But then again, we live out in the canyon (where the homeless belong) and not in Emerald Bay or Irvine Cove.
Laguna’s policy of keeping all of our “homeless guests” out of the downtown/village area, off the beaches and out in the canyon has to stop.
Having lived in Laguna Beach since 1969 and having been a home owner here since 1976, I can’t believe that the city has cowered in fear of being sued by the ACLU or whomever while leaving it’s tax paying residents to deal with the city’s “open arm – welcome all homeless” to beautiful Laguna (Canyon) Beach policies.
What do you need from us as residents of Laguna to clean up this growing problem?
Michael Fowlkes, Laguna Beach
