Thursday, March 01, 2007
Ask The Captain - Andy Smith
Yesterday the Los Angeles Mission held its’ “Ask the Captain” program before lunch. This is the periodic opportunity for our guests and neighbors to ask questions of the police department. Los Angeles Police Central City Division Captain Andy Smith was kind enough to field questions – despite the noticeable snoring by some of our more tired guests!
I was intrigued by the field of questions. They ranged all the way from receiving littering tickets for stamping out a cigarette butt on the sidewalk to identity theft. There were the usual “my friend did such and such” attempts to avoid personal responsibility. There were the usual allegations of racism, abuse, wrongful accusations and the like. What amazed me was how much it sounded like the regular LA City Council meeting – where nobody really wants to own the issues they bring up.
If we are going to solve homelessness in LA in the next 10 years we need to stop hiding behind name calling and move on to constructive action. Where are the housing units promised by the Mayor? Where are the funds to address mental illness and permanent support housing with the continuum of care promised by the state? And more to the point, where is the spiritual and moral fiber needed by all of us to get off the talking points and on to the implementation of our vision of housing and services provided with dignity, open to spiritual guidance and underwritten by gainful employment that promotes independence and self esteem?
The old cliché seems to hold true, “when all is said and done, more is said than done.”
--Herb Smith, President
I was intrigued by the field of questions. They ranged all the way from receiving littering tickets for stamping out a cigarette butt on the sidewalk to identity theft. There were the usual “my friend did such and such” attempts to avoid personal responsibility. There were the usual allegations of racism, abuse, wrongful accusations and the like. What amazed me was how much it sounded like the regular LA City Council meeting – where nobody really wants to own the issues they bring up.
If we are going to solve homelessness in LA in the next 10 years we need to stop hiding behind name calling and move on to constructive action. Where are the housing units promised by the Mayor? Where are the funds to address mental illness and permanent support housing with the continuum of care promised by the state? And more to the point, where is the spiritual and moral fiber needed by all of us to get off the talking points and on to the implementation of our vision of housing and services provided with dignity, open to spiritual guidance and underwritten by gainful employment that promotes independence and self esteem?
The old cliché seems to hold true, “when all is said and done, more is said than done.”
--Herb Smith, President
Comments:
<< Home
SRO just lost its cdbg4 grant money that was used specifically for the parks , maintenance of the parks , the JAmes Woods Center , and security guards.
I gotta say a lot of the security guards , maintenance workers , and park workers , and people who serve seniors in the James Woods Center , started living in SRO and other housing providers , the missions , etc and now they are going to lose their jobs and their self-esteem through self sufficiency as they built their resumes. I gotta say your post was timely.
I know many that are now property managers even some who have moved on to work for huge market rate housing developers and a security guard that went from living in a shopping cart to training security personnel in the city center due to his experience at leading the security personnel at SRO.
You gotta love the federal government. This post was timely.
So now not only are they not providing for the stuff they have promised , they are taking away what was already here and at the time we all are working on making this the community of hope.
They are taking us backwards.
Post a Comment
I gotta say a lot of the security guards , maintenance workers , and park workers , and people who serve seniors in the James Woods Center , started living in SRO and other housing providers , the missions , etc and now they are going to lose their jobs and their self-esteem through self sufficiency as they built their resumes. I gotta say your post was timely.
I know many that are now property managers even some who have moved on to work for huge market rate housing developers and a security guard that went from living in a shopping cart to training security personnel in the city center due to his experience at leading the security personnel at SRO.
You gotta love the federal government. This post was timely.
So now not only are they not providing for the stuff they have promised , they are taking away what was already here and at the time we all are working on making this the community of hope.
They are taking us backwards.
<< Home
