San Francisco tells homeless to stick it

[sbp]

SAN FRANCISCO -- Fed up with growing hordes of homeless people begging and sleeping on their streets, cities across the country have begun taking desperate new steps to restrict their behavior, or to run them out of town.

Here in this capital of compassion, public fatigue with the panhandlers besieging the city has become so intense that voters sound ready to approve a ballot measure next week that would nearly wipe out the generous monthly welfare payments that San Francisco has long provided to thousands of homeless men and women.

Local business leaders also are waging an extraordinary new campaign to shame San Francisco officials into solving the homelessness problem by blanketing billboards and taxi stops around the city with ads that feature residents holding ragged cardboard signs that say, "I want to walk a block without getting hassled for money," or "I don't want to hold my breath past every alley."

The same exasperation is evident nationwide. In Philadelphia, officials just launched an advertising campaign urging downtown workers and tourists not to give spare change to panhandlers. In Orlando, the city council recently voted to jail people caught lying or sitting on downtown sidewalks. Authorities in New Orleans have gone to the point of removing all the benches in historic Jackson Square to stop the homeless from sleeping there.

much more here: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...2002Oct29.html

[Epidemic]

Give free money and they will come.

Guliani did this and a few other measures and the quality of life increased several fold in NYC.

[osprey4]

Bravo. It should be pointed out that panhandlers in tourist areas (e.g. NYC, Phila., San Francisco) are generally not homeless, they're professionals.

Of course, where I live we've been telling people not to feed the Canada geese and the varmints still won't go away.

[RayH]

I am from San Francisco. The City provides tremendous services for the homeless. There are social services for those who want to avail themselves of it. There are drug treatment programs for those whose problem is drugs.

To those who are down on their luck and need help, we help. But now, for those who just want a handout, phooey!

The City ballot measure wants to cut out the CASH, not services to the poor. Panhandle $15 a day and get $400 cash from the city, and you have almost $1000 a month with no living expense!

The problem is that some people don't separate the bums from the down and out. It is beyond some people's comprehension that most of these homeless are bums.

[ClubMed]

I think it would be a much better idea to invest this cash into services for the poor, such as medical, educational, rehabilitation and reintegration.

Better than giving them money so they can spend it on drugs and alcohol.

It was quite shocking to see the amount of homeless and poor in SF, Vienna is quite a sleepy town in nearly every sense, even concerning our poor and homeless, we have very little and you have to look very hard to notice them.

[jman01pa]

I can remember a few years ago, I was waiting for a bus and a homeless person approached me and asked for enough change to ride the bus.

I didnt have any money but was excited because I had several bus tickets in my wallet. Believing I was doing a good thing, I gave the man a ticket and told him this will get him on the bus. He dropped the ticket on the ground and walked away. That moment changed my attitude forever with homeless people and bums.

I say evict them from the streets. Maybe some of them will be forced to help themselves if there is no place to get free stuff.

[Epidemic]

"homeless" come in several flavors.

here they are population denisty.

1) The Junky - Drugged out on what ever drug and cant function any longer.

2) The too dam lazy to work for their money- self explainatory.
The Psycho- someone who is ill equipped to live in the modern world. They were all let out of the institutions back in the 80's because you can no longer hold someone for their own good.

3) The down on their luck ones- The ones who the world has kicked in their teeth an they have not gotten up yet.

3a)the entrepreneur (professional panhandler) I saw one of these on 60 minutes who retired when he hit a million. He bummed up in the morning and drove in his mercedes to a stratgic location and raked in the bucks.

[daveleau]

We live in a country where no one should be homeless. There are so many opportunities, that unless the people are mentally or physically disabled (not a light disability but a completely impairing disability), they should be able to work. If they aren't working and cannot find a job in a short period of time, then they are lazy and/or drugged/alcohol'ed out and we should not give them jack. There are jobs out there for everyone.

[desmocat]

My experience last week:
Going to pick up the wife from work, and pull up to a very busy road that crosses the interstate, and am two cars back from the light. I see somebody stumble across the lane and get into the median and up goes the "stroke victim, please help" sign.
Well, I am not cold hearted, but Mr "stroke victim" was seen by me earlier that day in another high traffic location, about 20 miles away with the same sign. I have also seen the same guy in TWO other locations across Fort Worth.
And, they are not close together, but like about 10 to 15 miles apart.
I called the cops on him. I also told a friend of mine about it the next day, and he told me as he was coming home from work that afternoon, the same guy was being summoned across the street by the police AGAIN, and had no problem walking normally.
My point is if this guy is truely disabled, and he would spend as much effort trying to find a job through Goodwill or some community outreach program as he did panhandling, he wouldn't be out there begging, but would more than likely have a job. But then he wouldn't be making the tax free money that he was begging.

[MDdan]

Like so many other posters, I don't give money to panhandlers.

But: Many of those on the streets are mentally ill. Don't assume that everyone out there on the street is just too lazy to work. Some may be unable to work, or need alot of help.

Call me a compassionate conservative I guess...lol.

I'm all for programs to help them that work. Mental Health services, shelter, whatever it takes to get someone off the street.

As for someone who refuses to work out of laziness....then I say, don't feed him or shelter him, let him suffer. I just don't think the "lazy" crowd is a signifcant percentage of the homeless.