Town Hall on ACLU Settlement
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — I'm going to be honest here, I have no clue why this issue is still alive after the settlement was rejected last month. But it is -- apparently. We really don't know much of anything because action to do with a lawsuit only gets talked about behind closed doors.
This evening DLANC hosts a Town Hall meeting on the proposed settlement. Various interesting people will be presenting. It's not intended to be a debate (since everyone wants to get home before midnight), but just a chance for education on the issue.
The fun happens at 7pm this evening, at the old Farmers' and Merchants Bank (SW corner of 4th/Main).
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David Kennedy on October 24, 2006, at 12:23PM – #1
I suspect the powers that be don't consider the matter closed. Recall, the mayor, city attorney and the police chief agreed to create a lawless zone in downtown without regard for residents and businesses here. Moreover, some institutional interests -- the shelter service providers and the ACLU -- have very powerful economic interests at stake. I fully expect them to fight for the status quo, regardless of the impact on residents, businesses and the rule of law. The powers that be caved to these people already. They'll be back.
Let us hope Jan Perry et al are at ready to resist public policy which essentially amounts to a kind of apartheid. The issue is stark. Should the law apply equally to all? Why should something be illegal in Brentwood, but legal in Skid Row? Just this morning I read a letter to the Downtown News where a former homeless person said to be homeless is to be above the law. He suggests that the police enforcing routine laws against camping in the street is a form of discrimination.
I resist the idea that public order must be sacrificed to provide services to the 'homeless'. I think the failure of this idea is obvious. However, many people don't want to accept this fact. As I said, the powers that be want something and they'll fight to get it.
Whitman Lam on October 24, 2006, at 10:54PM – #2
Here is another example of the special interests at work creating blight on our city.
To any ACLU member who says they are fighting on behalf of the homeless for social justice is absolute false.
There is an entire service industry being built around the homeless. Shelters, mental clinics, rehab programs, liquor stores, and drug dealers.
What would become of the homeless industry if their prized vagrants and derelicts were to be relocated, taken off the streets ?
Our streets would be so much safer, but those businesses who have catered to homelessness and squating for so long, will soon be shut down.
This is a reality that the homeless industry cannot accept, they have invested so much into growing the problem, so they hire the ACLU to do their dirtywork. Social Crusaders? I think not...