Homeless problem in Ashland, Oregon (Portland: houses, minimum wage, maintenance)

[daddypants]

In my short 4 years living here, a homeless man burnt down 11 homes, a homeless man recently burnt several businesses downtown (they're still closed), a homeless man assaulted my wife and I when we were just walking past him to go to a Shakespeare play and recently, according to police, a homeless man sexually assaulted a teenage girl.

Last year, a young man was brutally attacked with a sword and nearly decapitated by what the police believe was a transient. The case is still unsolved.

The city proposed letting the homeless take showers in a city facility and proposed setting up donation boxes downtown for the homeless.

Anyone else as fed up as I am?

[hamellr]

What do you propose to fix this issue?

[daddypants]

Well first of all, the city should not make their lives easy here.

Other cities like Burbank, Ca. will pick them up and drive them to the city border and tell them they are not welcome here and warn them that if they come back, they will be arrested. This has worked for them.

Ashland needs to realize that the homeless don't benefit the city, they ruin it. They burn our houses, they destroy our businesses, they kill our sons and rape our daughters. Fact.

[hamellr]

That's not much of a solution, in fact some might welcome it. Get arrested, get food, get a place to sleep for the night? If you're desperate and have no place else to go it sounds like a good idea.

Instead the City should put them on work programs around the city at minimum wage. Tourist Info, janitors, park maintenance, etc.

[daddypants]

Originally Posted by hamellr

That's not much of a solution, in fact some might welcome it. Get arrested, get food, get a place to sleep for the night? If you're desperate and have no place else to go it sounds like a good idea.

Instead the City should put them on work programs around the city at minimum wage. Tourist Info, janitors, park maintenance, etc.

You've got to be kidding! Rewarding the homeless by giving them employment? There are plenty of law abiding citizens here that need the work.

Most of the homeless here are not desperate, they choose this life style. Most of what I see are young and able bodied. They don't want to work for money, they want it given to them and when law abiding people don't poney up the cash, like myself, they are assaulted.

The city would be crazy to have homeless people as tourist guides. LOL

[hamellr]

Then fix the reason the people are homeless in the first place. If they're kids, figure out why they ran away from home. If they're mentally ill, get them the treatment they need, if they're poor and lost their job and house, give them a job! If they have a drug or alcohol dependency, get them treatment and help.

Bussing them to the city limits and threatening arrests do not fix the root of the problem, it simply shifts the problem to another location.

See what has happened to Portland as CA cities bussed their homeless up here? See how Portland has reduced the Prostitution problem?

[Larry Caldwell]

Most of the long term homeless are unemployable because of alcohol or drug addiction, or mental defect. We used to institutionalize the worst of them, but the "mainstream" movement dumped them back on the streets. It's a national problem, not just in Ashland.

Many cities deal with the problem by trying to minimize contact between the homeless and normal people. Sanitation facilities are a good idea, but they should be located in industrial areas. Stores can be pressured to not sell "binge in a can" high alcohol content beer. Your local code enforcement team can force property owners to secure or tear down derelict buildings. Disruptive individuals can be trespassed out of businesses and city parks. Talk to your local police department.

[rockchuk]

this is what happens when bleeding heart silly liberals completely run a town. Common sense takes a permanent holiday. My advice, run for town council and change things from the top. Make loitering breaking the law punishable by a hefty fine and a day or 2 in jail and see how long Ashland lives in fear of these losers who choose homelessness as a parasitic lifestyle. I was there a year ago, walking the beautiful downtown with my wife and was intimidated, threatened actually by a few homeless guys who somehow thought I owed them money. Ashland has a real problem, and again, it isnt the homeless, it's the idiots in charge who make staying there so appealing. Those bums think they hit the jackpot with Ashland....and they have.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by hamellr

Then fix the reason the people are homeless in the first place. If they're kids, figure out why they ran away from home. If they're mentally ill, get them the treatment they need, if they're poor and lost their job and house, give them a job! If they have a drug or alcohol dependency, get them treatment and help.

Bussing them to the city limits and threatening arrests do not fix the root of the problem, it simply shifts the problem to another location.

See what has happened to Portland as CA cities bussed their homeless up here? See how Portland has reduced the Prostitution problem?

The mentally ill or drug and alcohol addicts do not want treatment. The reason they are on the street is that they don't want to accept the no booze or drugs restrictions of the homeless shelters. You can't treat someone who doesn't want to be treated. Some of them are dangerous people, but you can't arrest them until you catch them, and anonymity is an effective shield. No social program is going to help the long term homeless.

The short term homeless are a separate problem, and much easier to resolve. An otherwise responsible person who loses their job and house will eventually find their footing and get back to normal. A runaway teen with adolescent hormone psychosis will eventually return to mental stability, though sorting them out from the early onset schizophrenics can be a challenge. Often a little treatment or assistance is all they need to resume a normal life. Some of them never will.

[Nell Plotts]

There was a reason why our mental hospitals were secure facilities. When they were closed with the 'promise' of community treatment that population typically declined treatment and now resides in our jails or on our streets. As awful as the mental hospitals were I don't think that population is better off as a result of our effort to do better. I have had many a heated conversation with mental health professionals over this. IMHO they are guilty of magical thinking.