Bee reporter John Ellis put together this Q&A on the city's handling of the homeless issue that took it from trying to resolve the problems to paying out millions after Mayor Alan Autry and his city team bungled the issue. Click here to read this informative Q&A that ran in today's Bee.
It explains how complicated this issue is and gives the background on the maneuvering that brought the city to agreeing to a $2.25 million settlement last week. The city had every right to clear the illegal homeless camps, but the federal court said it couldn't take and destroy personal property. That could have been resolved simply in advance of the city's action.
Here is part of the Q&A:
What is the city doing now?After a hiatus while the lawsuit wound its way through court, the city is once again cleaning up homeless encampments. As mandated by the court, the city is holding items seized for 90 days so homeless residents can claim the items. To date, officials say, nobody has claimed any held item.
If you want to understand this tricky social issue, read Ellis' report.
It is good that we, now, know what went down; Fresno City government vs. the homeless. The comments that had been posted, responding to the BLOG topics on the subject, seemed poorly informed, driven by lack of clinical detachment, and some were driven by being passionately judgmental, bordering slander.
Adding up the monetary cost of the legal fees involved, we reach about one million Dollars because the City of Fresno [government] had been incapable of enforcing the law (mostly trespassing) without violating the constitutional rights of the trespassers.
One million Dollars is a lot of taxpayers' money to put on the table to right the unlawful actions of Fresno City government, for no more than misdemeanors.
Not all of the homeless were social derelicts or reprobates. But even the latter cannot be denied certain rights, guaranteed by the United States Constitution. No individual, no government has the right to pick the laws which they want to obey or violate. Such caprice and arbitrariness was wisely eliminated by the Philadelphia Congress in 1787. By 1790, America had a new Constitution.
"We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice...."
Common sense tells is that you can't take a persons belongings and destroy them. The people were told they had to vacate but they refused to do it. They are indeed trespassing but what can we do there is no room in the jail. The homeless encampments are an eyesore and need to be cleared out. Some mental health people need to evaluate the people and try to get help for those that need it and help for the others that are just down on their luck. The 1 mill would have been better used doing that.