Four Fatalities on Skid Row
While the Council was grandstanding and posing for photo ops yesterday, it was reported that four different people living on skid row were found dead of various causes, none of which were foul play.While the council did vote unanimously to set up an ad hoc committee on homelessness to launch a new effort to combat the problem, one has to wonder if this is just yet another chance to put their mugs in front of the cameras. Enough is enough. Every single politician in this city is exploiting the situation for their own gain, and not a single one of them seem to be actually getting anything done towards getting these people the shelter and care that they need.
Maybe rather than touring Skid Row for an hour in their shiny loafers or handing out toys and serving food in front of cameras, they should go there and spend at least an evening and truly feel these people's plight. Maybe this committee should be more than "ad-hoc." The problem is here. It is NOT going away. Rather than the "stunned silence" that the Times reports, we could get a little action.
Posted by Anonymous @ 12/21/2005 09:06:00 AM
37 Comments:
The homeless problem has been there for years yet just the last couple of months do the city council members start jumping on the bandwagon all congratulating each other for wanting to finally do something. Skid Row was in Antonio and Jan Perry's area and they did NOTHING.
Homelessness is most prevalent in Skid Row but is hardly a "downtown" problem. The amount of resources to address this issue has to be comprehensive and go even beyond the City's effort.
This is a County issue. If one city takes on the burden alone, the homeless from neighboring cities will migrate and eventually overburden the efforts of that proactive city.
The County and every city within the county must devise a plan to comprehensively address the problem.
Amen Mayor Frank
Jan Perry is NO friend to the homeless! She's bent over backwards aiding developers in Downtown and truly has done nothing to lead the cause for homelessness there.
While I don't blame her for the problem or expect her to single-handedly solve it, the fact remains that this problem has festered in her district her entire term without her making a concerted effort to fix it.
Jan Perry has challenged the County to extend the winter shelter program , she helped in relocating and expanding the midnight mission(the only mission that caters to people to rehabilitate from drug and alcohol abuse wihout the religious requirement) ,, she challenged Santa CLarita when they wanted to ship their homeless problem to Los Angeles and now Ramona Ripston is taking a serious look at suing these municipalities to do their fair share, she continues to approve rehabilitation of single room occupancy hotels in central city east , she has stated children should not be living on the streets of skid row and is lookng for other options for them, the only problem is that there are nimby's all over the city who do not want low income housing built in thier communities for these families , even on the east side.
Not only this, but she understands that their needs to be funding sources for these types of projects, right now that is the in lieu off site housing for low income hosuing devlopers have to pay , and then now that ANtonio Villaraigosa has challenged us with a 1 billion dollar housng bond , we might be able to use the HOusing trust fund for the Homeless , etc instead of first time home buyers, (vote 1 billion dollar housing bond for the first time home buyers)
Many politicians refuse to even delve into skid row and its problems because it is a hot pootato issue. NImby's cry foul that JAn PErry is sending the homeless into their neighborhoods and low income advocates cry foul that she is displacing the poor. I agree that we shouldn't do this , but one great thing about this whole issue is that she is pushing, if it wasn't for that, many concessions would not be coming forth , no lawsuits to make things right etc, etc.
These low income advocates make ton's of money off of conflict , thanks to JAn they are getting rich and the poor are being given the concessions.( in some instances)
These people that are crying foul are the same people who were there during redistricting , because they wanted to stay in her district, because they probably knew the other district would ignore the issues here to avoid conflict.
To ignore the issue is worse because things stay the same. Thank God for Jan Perry.
Many residents here in Central city east , due to Jan Perry's help have direct lines to other state and federal politicians , vets are also in contact with these people who are helping them , I can't name names , but she has been helping get people the tools they need to stay off of the streets and others to get off of the streets ,on a personal basis , whch of course you won't see or hear about.
Her office is the most responsive to the individual members of this community
ANdrew ,
Let's get real. If you learn the history of Central City East , you will know that this has been an ongoing issue ;since 1976 , when the City Business District Redevelopment Plan was being fought over and the CRA did not know what to do about Skid Row. It has been an ongoing issue for 20 yrs.
Not until we got the adaptive reuse ordinance in place did the resurgance of the issue of cleaning up the area begin.
This is just a continuation of the battle that has been going on for over 20 yrs. THe City turned a blind eye to the large hotles moving families in them because no one forsaw the adaptive reuuse orinance , they bare a burden in fixing this problem, and the point of rehabilitating the sro's was to be a form of gentrification , but using low income residents and hopefully after bringing them in off of the streets they could clean the streets.
You are seeing the beginning of phase II of 1976 . THe ARO has allowed the asthetic hiding of skid row , which again was a part of the plan back in 1976 , these ARO buildings will surround CentraL City East and no one will venture here because they can't see it. But no one knew really how to do it until the ARO.
ANdrew , we can continue the failed policy of containemnt from 1976, which is what is going on now or this time , in 2006 we , we can choose housing and other options , apart from a skid row.
I am drawing up some solutions, a white paper if you must know. I will be bringing it to the attention of the people in charge.
Did I read somewhere a few weeks ago that AV issued an 'edict' that the homeless would not be allowed to spend the night on the streets of skid row?
Did I read that various police depts. have been dumping the homeless on skid row regardless of where they came from?
Did I mention that L.A. would rue the day when AV took office?
Did I read that the bums on City Council are working their asses off to earn their outragious paychecks?
Blame it on AV....this idiot is running around yapping about his DREAM (i/.e. nightmare) of making L.A. highrise and increasing density!!!! Does anyone really think an intelligent person would live in a highrise next door to the world's biggest slum area?
Is he nuts or something???
SOMEBODY BETTER TELL AV THAT L.A. IS THIRD WORLD NOW!!!!
ARE WE READING TO DO A GRAY DAVIS ON A.V YET?????
A
9:46
"The poor you will always have with you..."
-- Jesus Christ (and Antonio Villaraigosa)
This is not even a county issue its a Fed issue. Most of these homeless folks are mentally ill that cannot be committed. So where do they go? to the streets since you cant *keep* them anywhere else.
Its way beyond a city & county issue.
PicoGrl
Sorry Dgarzila to disagree with you on a point. Jan Perry only got really interested in the homeless issue this year because of the billions of dollars developers will be spending and do you really think they want the homeless in their backyard? NO. Also ask the residents on the Eastside and South LA where Jan is pushing the homeless, to their areas. Instead of having a solution all these council members do is grandstand. Now Antonio jumped on the bandwagon with some stupid press conf. again.
Jan Perry has done what she could with what she has. The rest of her district is full of homeless folks too. Look at her donors - developers. She takes from them (cause she has to) and also helps deal with the homeless issue in downtown. Get off her ass (and it's a big ass)
dgarzila,
Do you think it is the case that other parts of the City don't do their fair share to help out homeless populations? Like, what is the SFV doing? I talked with a homeless guy today on the Orange Line, he said that they, "ship him downtown every chance they get".
dgarzila - you must be high. Perry's response to the homeless stems from the pressure placed on her because of billion dollar redevelopment going on downtown.
That ain't the same as leading the cause to house the homeless.
12:54 - It's the State that has failed to provide the funding necessary for community-centered services to mentally ill. If these services were distributed evenly throughout communities, there would be considerably fewer homeless on our streets.
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
To get any kind of grip on Skid Row, you have to go there without a filter. You have to look yourself and see what the dispossessed tell you, directly. You can't go there and have a politician or a social worker telling you what is happening, because they can only tell you what they want to believe is happening.
Many folks who are NOT mentally ill, first off, believe that it is the LAPD's anxiety to give an African American male a criminal record before they get started in life that is the reason behind their descent to Skid Row. Whether it's true or not, inductive reasoning tells you that African American males who have been to jail make up a disproportionate amount of the Skid Row population.
In jail, you compare notes; in jail, you learn that white kids in the suburbs get a warning, maybe two, maybe even a dozen, before they get busted for juvenile crimes, but a black man generally goes to jail straight away for an offense. In County, you learn that most chain drugstores let some shoplifters off but bust others, and race seems a good predictor. If you're touring Skid Row with someone who's showing it to you, your filter is NOT going to tell you this. But that is first thing out of everyone's mouth in this particular third of the population: that they are there as a result of a process that began with a record.
Then, most who are borderline mentally ill will tell you, if garbled, that they rather be on the streets and even pretending to be able to take care of themselves than a ward of the state. Above all, they don't want to spend protracted stays at any "hospital" which to them is like prison, and which makes them do things against their will. Indeed, the County spends much every year trying to get people declared non compos mentis, but you need twelve jurors to declare as much, and it rarely works. This too is something that nobody other than a mentally ill disposessed and displaced person will tell you. This too you don't hear from officials, to whom it represents system failure, an indictment of the facilities they fund; and this too you don't hear much from agencies, who don't want to tell you that they really have nothing to offer the mentally ill street person that the mentally ill street person really wants to have. If you do hear it from an agency, it's in an exasperated "But what can we do if they don't want help?" tone of expression. God forbid agencies change the way they do things.
Finally, addicts---they speak with honesty to nobody who makes any demands of them at all. Their addiction is the central organizing principle of their day, and you can hear anything you want from them for $5 or even $1. The addict is the least likely person from which you can collect meaningful data, less likely than even a social service administrator. You only get meaningful data from addicts when handing out needles, and guess what?---you see a frightening amount of employee ID badges when you hand out needles, worn by people holding down jobs and living in the suburbs. These are mixed in with the more typical Skid Row resident---but this is a different kind of population entirely than the preceeding two, although all combine with each other in Venn diagrams of overlapping, redoubled despair.
Things didn't get this way because these problems are easy to solve, nor are they staying this way because nobody's interested to solve them. But filtering out the bullshit and listening to the real reasons, as perceived by those who live it, that Skid Row exists would be a welcome first step towards shrinking the population.
Ubrayj ,
It is true . Other parts of the city don't want to take on this issue.
ON another post someone mentioned that the homeles are the same numbers in othe rparts of the City. Well, I beleive the numbers are inncreasing . NO decent person , even homeless, wants to trek here to get services. That is why I beleive PAth in HOllywood is becomng such a success.
We need to deal with the lawlessness here.
As far as the eastside is concerned , blame it on their council people do nothings they have had .
The creation of low income housing in Jan Perry's district and others like Herb Wesson's and Bernard park's district , again, have been going on for years. Over 30 yrs.
PEople in Los angeles , whatever their wages , can not choose where they live ,it is based on economics. Thus even the middle class has a sort of resentment towards low income hosuing they are paying for with their taxes, being built in hollywood , when they can't get out of a very ridiculously priced apartemment where they don't want to be. So where do you expect this low income housing to go?
LEt me also put it this way, what if these low income families were not African american , would there be such an outcry to build low income replacement hosuing for them on the eastside? I am of the opinion that yes it would be easier.
I suppose people who are saying that it was Jan Perry that started the ARO mess , I guess they forgot about rita waters when she was councilwoman and Riordan whom Tom GImore convinced, or how about Tom Bradley , who was the one who was so proud of the Central BBusiness District redevelopment project area , that wanted to move the homeless away. COme on folks. This has been going on for years.
And folks , to really understand the ARO ask yourselves , who owns the buildings , or owned a lot of those empty office buildings in the Historic Core of Downtown- you got it - the City of Los ANgeles. I wishes I could get the data on that.
As far as African Americans and jail time , you got it. It is staggerinfg. 17% of the voting balck mail population is behind bars. A big chunk. BUt it still doesn't explain all of the homeless caucasian youth in HOllywood .
Now, JAn Perry , is a balancing act , representing the wealthy who own DOwntown and the homeless and the poor. LIke ying and yang you have the low income advocates who are in place.
One developer put it this way to me once : I picture you guys running around back there and get glimpses, between the buildings , of you guys quickly placing your howitzers( cannons).
So the fight isn't over . Even with the ACLU on LAHSA.
WHy do you think Eric GArcetti and Jan PErry pushed for an ad hoc homelessness commitee, well , to take awy the power of the LAHSA appointees form creating too much policy.
This fight will continue , even 20 yrs from now when we are long gone.
Like someone else said Los Angeles is a third world city. If we choose to take the same steps in addressing homelessness it will stay the same.
I JAn Perry knows that she has to be consistent in what she does. I think she knows that the rich developers downtown will not get what they want unless the poor get what they need first. That is why she is pushing so hard. If , of course they build me a subsidized house in the suburbs with a backyard I will gladly leave. You don't hear this , I wonder why? You only hear low income advocates claiming we want to live downtown .
Maillander is correct , not unless you actually come down here and talk to the people will you realy know what we are feeling.
NOw Generalizations. Drug addicts are predominantly .... 65% of them live in the suburbs and have decent paying jobs , so claiming these drug addicts will not tell you what is going on is erroneous. But in order to begin to deal with a skid row , denial will not help. I agree with JOseph there.
Acceptance of the problem is important and guess which politician has accepted there is a skid row:
You got it ; Jan Perry
MAny here , if you talk to us like JAn Perry because she is breaking up this racket , nad business of only placing people in central City East.
But it is a battle that must be met with resistance , because the developers can and will take it in the wrong direction. And throw the baby out with the bath water.
Joe Mallander,
First, well put.
Second, even if people were able to do all that observing and thinking, would it lead them to suggest an economic and political system that is more fair and humane?
I know of one policy catch-phrase that seems to help a lot of people out: "Housing First".
Also, instead of looking at ways that we can throw money at the problem, and feel good about ourselves as a society - how about we look at ways to bring some of these folks back into the world of legitimate economic activity? What I mean by this is: hire them to do positive things that require very little skill. You might bump into disputes with organized labor (regarding menial jobs like keeping a sidewalk clean), but, ultimately, helping people into better situations will come from looking at them as fellow human beings capable of doing something productive and valuable to society (be that small amounts of manual labor, or some other type of work someone would like to pay another for).
I think that more than sympathy and understanding is required. Economically engaging people at the bottom of our economy, I think, is key to helping people out of the hole they may find themselves stuck in at Skid Row.
It's a hopeless situation for the helpless citizens of this city.
Granted, nothing has been done for 20 years since Reagan unleashed the helpless to the mean streets of Los Angeles.
I have been an emergency room M.D for the past 20 years at L.A. County and, believe me, you never want to know about the reality of life on the streets.
I can only tell you that in most cases, there is virtually no hope for rehabilitation in 75% of the cases that I see day after day.
However, this is no excuse for the abject neglect perpetrated upon these unfortunate human beings by a city that could well afford to do better.
As a humanitarian, I am ashamed of the inhumane treatment of the mentally ill. It seems that everyone just tries to sweep it under the carpet.
Not only do we not take care of our own, we are supporting the citizens of a foreign country...Mexico. 99% of the emergency cases that present themselves at County are illegal immigrants from Mexico. We are forced to administer to them. Gunshot wounds, stab wounds, gang warfare, etc. etc.
As a physician, first and foremost, I must uphold the Hypocratic oath, but as an American, I find myself becoming more and more resentful of performing my duties while our own citizens are being neglected and ignored.
My hopes were dashed when Antonio Villaraigosa took office because I realized that Los Angeles is doomed by virtue of the fact that this Mayor has absolutely no ties to this community, other than trying to make a name for himself.
As much as I truly care for our people, I have lost hope for any chance of progress when everyone from Villaraigosa on down cares nothing about America. They are only serving their own selfish agendas.
After twenty years of working at County, I feel as though I am wasting my talents. I do not want to spend the rest of my life trying to save the lives of illegal immigrants. I feel that the responsibility belongs to their country - Mexico.
My family and I plan to leave Los Angeles and relocate to a small mid
western town where I feel that I can actually contribute to the health and well being of it's American citizens.
Thanks for listening.
r
GOod luck anonymous
Los Angeles is just the staging area or one of them for thse illegals to go to the small midwestern towns
Antonio was patting himself on the back for the 60$ million federal grant LA got to help the homeless. I guarantee he won't do anything with that money as quickly as it needs to get done. Last night media reported that young gang bangers are going down to skid row to sell drugs. This year alone over 6,000 drug arrests have been just in skid row. But don't tell the ACLU that. They protect gangbangers and are part of the homeless issue. Sorry folks but Jan Perry and Antonio who's districts are skid row should have done something a long time ago and they didn't. Its a hot issue in politics these days so they get all the photo ops with homeless issue. We're in deep trouble in this city with a horrible Mayor like Antonio.
AV didn't do shit to help get the grant. He wouldn't even know how to get that done. Stop giving him credit.
"Sad...drug dealers abuse homeless...
Have any of you seen this? Next door on N. Figueroa@Ave 57...there is a house rented out to rehab people. Knocked on their door, guys told me landlord charges $500 each to stay and previously homeless. Is this legal? Guy said 9 living in house. Some look crazy, drug addicts...
Is this happening anywhere else in the city?"
9:24 a.m.
"is this happening anywhere else in the city?"
Hell, yes!! Let me fill you in on a dirty little secret, my friend.
I happen to be a landlord in south central. Have about 15 little houses that I have owned as rental properties for the past 30 years.
Seems that there are just under 300 complaints for slum landlord violations on the desk of AV's mafia D.A. Rocky Delgadillo. DELGADILLA HAS NEVER RESPONDED OR TAKEN ACTION ON THESE SEVERE VIOLATIONS!!!!
Why? The entire inner city and all of east L.A. is just swarmiing with illegals, drug dealing, gangbangers, rapes, murders, etc. etc. If Delgadillo prosecuted these people it would open up a can of worms. You've got 1, 20, 30 illegals living in one little house or apt. What's going to happen if the rich landlords are fined and sent to prison? Everyone knows that he is protecting the landlords so that he won't disrupt the illegal activities of the renters. Antonio Villaraigosa is PRO ILLEGAL and PRO MEXICAN. 99% of the renters in the slums of L>A> are Mexicans.
The rich landlords are getting richer. I know for a fact that they charge anywhere between $300.00 and $500.00 a head for EACH renter in a single house or apt. NO QUESTIONS ASKED!!
There are millions of health violations not to mention maximum tenancy violations.
WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF THE CITY CRACKED DOWN ON THE LANDLORDS? YOU WOULD END UP WITH MILLIONS OF ILLEGAL MEXICANS OUT ON THE STREET WITH NOWHERE TO GO EXCEPT BACK TO MEXICO.
You have no idea of what's really going on down there. I could write volumes....it is beyond corruption. I guarantee you that it's all going to break loose...wait and see. Stay tuned.
Fasten your seat belts.
Jan Perry is no friend to the children who call Skid Row home. Recently on KCET's Life and Times, she said:
Jan Perry>> It's a difficult issue because, when you begin to create more facilities for children in the area, then that will encourage people to want to stay here for the children. I think the objective is not to have children in this area.
------
Hello, Councilmember Perry, there's 800 kids living in Skid Row, some of whom have been for more than 5 years.
The conventional wisdom
appears to be that children would be better off elsewhere, so if no assistance is offered, maybe they will relocate. Unfortunately, there
is nowhere else for them to go.
It is bad enough that our society disregards the adults who wind up in “skid row”; ignoring the children is unconscionable.
Jan Perry is no fan of the homeless. Rather, she listens only to the developers to make a "LA Live." Shame on Jan Perry!
I forgot to mention one important fact: I'm doing my own investigation now to determine if certain people at City Hall (names withheld)are involved in kickbacks from landlords and/or actually involved in the illegal acquisition of properties to profit from rentals. There are a few syndicates that I am aware of who do nothing but buy slum properties and rent out to dozens of illegals and such at these outragious rents.
Stay tuned.
9:48
"DELGADILLA HAS NEVER RESPONDED OR TAKEN ACTION ON THESE SEVERE VIOLATIONS!!!!"
If this is true, it is pathetic. How can our city allow RICH landlords to use illegal immigrants, disabled people who live like roaches in one room and charge $500 a head.
The Ave 57 house is comprised of Anglo, African American, and two Mexicans. The men and one women act insane and buy crack from neighborhood thugs. Rehab house? Landlord abuse of disabled humans? I don't know.
Anon:
Follow the money trail.
Follow the path, it leads to city officials with Real Estate backgrounds...$$$$$
Who owns what and sold what to who.
Get it?
This is the sort of thing that really breaks my heart.
When people pimp the children for thier own agendas.
but we need to make a decision that we will not lose more kids to what is going on in Central City East. We need to make a decision as a city as a whole how we will handle the children coming to Cnetral City East.
We know that there are pedophiles and sex offenders all over skid row looking to prey on the children and even folks who come from outside of skid row to prey on the children.
The City thus far has done nothing to clean the place up , especially after the ACLU has tied the hands of th LAPD to do anything about the lawlessness that pervades this place.
Instead of attacking Jan Perry on blogs like this , tell us about some solutions that you see may be able to help the homeless kids and the kids who do come form out of the area to cause trouble and be a part of the MArdi Gras that takes place.
It would behoove you not to be anonymous, and post who you are and begin to explain to the many people who come here, what it is you are doing and just maybe you would get more help in your endevours ,( I know you will) I suspect I know who this person is who posted above. So give us some solutions and the solution you have come up with.
So if someone doesn't want children to fall prey to the predators on the row they are not friends of teh children? I tend to disagree.
But I also agree with you. We need to find ways of saving those who are here already.
Since she won't say anything I will.
It works better if you tell them where to go and who to contact:
Contact :
Social MOdel Recovery's United Central City east Prevention Project
if you go to KCTE website you might find the conta t info.
THis group has a place where the kids of skid row can have a safe place be and learn things along with another group callled HOPE which is also trying to do things for the kids. They are becoming successful at saving these kids while we wait for the powers that be to come up with solutions
it is KCET not KCTE.
ALso LA LIve is on the other side of town not in skid row. Skid row thus far has not been touched by the gentrification , and coninues to build sros for the homeless.
Dgarzila who are you speaking to?
To what post are you referring?
I am referring to anon 9:55 Am
For more info on the social model recovery's Ucepp which is helping the kids you can contact:
The
Coalition and Youth Coalition X
Direct inquiries and
correspondence to:
804 East 6th Street
Los Angeles, CA 90021
Phone: (213) 622-1621
Fax: (213) 622-1873
Email: ucepp@socialmodel.com
Web : www.socialmodel.com
UCEPP
Zelenne L. Cardenas, Director
Charles Porter, Coordinator
Although I don't agree that JAn Perry is not a friend to the children because she has to see things from the larger picture , we in central city east also have to deal with quality of life on a daily and more in the here and now perspective.
So if you want to help with the kids in Central City east contact the above .
dgarzila,
Not hiding from anyone. My name is Jacob Nieder and I work for a community clinic in downtown Los Angeles.
I've been working with the kids in the nickel for the past year and a half. And, yes, you are correct that I should of offered solutions rather than simply pointing fingers.
But, in all honesty, sometimes you have to shame people for them to act. You see, I did attend UCEPP's toxic playground forum, where they offered practical solutions for the city of Los Angeles, LAUSD, and Dept. of Rec and Parks for kids classified homeless. Yet, Jan Perry, did not attend and has not acted on any of the recommendations. She's a hypocrite and only making a big fuss now because the row is in the spotlight. She can walk down San Julian every other week, but to me, it's simply a photo op. Much like what Mayor V does.
She says kids don't belong in San Julian or Gladys Park because it's not safe. No duh! So, make it safe. No money? Excuse. Anybody see Laura Chick's audit of the Parks on November 11, 2005? She found a surplus of $21 million. Yes, $21 million, of which, $2 million was earmarked for downtown kids. What happened? Jan Perry says the park is not safe. So again, no action from Ms. Perry.
What is a park if kids cannot play? We are basically the kids that we don't want them there but yet doing nothing about it. These kids were born on Skid Row. Hello? Doesn't it make sense to break the cycle of homelessness at an early age?
I'm sick of tired of having to go to the row and advocate for these kids and simply be told, "they don't belong here." Of course, they don't. But, have you seen housing rates in Los Angeles?
It's no secret that Skid Row is becoming more Hispanic because newly arrived immigrants can't afford to go anywhere else. For pete's sake, it's not rocket science.
As for the kids. Offer them services that the law affords them. There not asking for special treatment but rather offer them the same services you would give children in San Pedro.
Check out UCEPP's policy recommendations at socialmodel.com and act on them. The children are the voices of reason. It's time to listen rather than simply put together another 10-year initiative to end homelessness. The rhetoric has to end!!!!!
Jacob Nieder
Echo Park, Calif.
We've been shaming them for years , but the problem is that it becomes a civil rights issue , you can't card people to go into the parks.
I have tried to tell this to those who want to put a park in where the old cal trans building is. They think they will be able to keep out the ""ündesirables
I have spoken to the people who manage the parks and LIfe And times left out quite a bit of"what they said. WHich is that; if they were given the resources and the people to be able to supervise the kids they could probably be able to do it, but it boils down to one thing, and I am sure you have heard it over and over again here in skid row: liability.
But you know what, it is frustratng and I applaud your anonymous post.
I am sure Mayor sam can take your name off of this post as well.
but now that you are open tell us some of the frustrating things you see.
It frustrates me too.
on another note , skid row is just like the rest of the city . We are polarized by race. IN the hotels such as the frontier , rossylyn , and alexandria and on the north side of 6th street is predominantly african american , in the east quarter on the south side of 6th street is predominantly Latino.
Thus far as I have seen it. Anyway , thanks for the post.
I don't think Jan Perry wants to bring kids into the row , so where do we send them?
If I was a multibillionaire , you know what I would do . I would build the replacement housing and put the subsidy in a trust fund , that way the people there can live subsidized for as long as they wished.
If only .
dgarz:
Liability is simply another excuse. I think $21 million dollars in the department of recreation and park's budget can help with this LIABILITY situtation?
There's a lot of homeless people that sleep in Echo Park, but I see plenty of children and plenty of park rangers. So, I guess the city doesn't want to spend money to hire security for the two skid row parks.
So, instead of helping these kids and providing some type of emotional outlet, we confine these kids to their 90-square-foot SRO rooms and hope they stay "safe." All we're doing is setting up another generation for skid row.
Does anyone remember playing at a park? It's the only memories I have. Yet these same experiences are not afforded to children of skid row. It's hyprocritical and Jan Perry should be ashamed for not doing anything. Below is an excert from the city's dept. of rec and park's website:
http://www.laparks.org/dept/history.htm
Today, the City's Department of Recreation and Parks manages all municipally owned and operated recreation and parks facilities within the City and has been the human face of the City of Los Angeles. Rooted in the goals of our predecessors, we continue to bring people together to celebrate, to compete, to learn new skills, and to relax with family and friends.
---
J. Nieder
Answer the question - LC- who manages the parks in skid row?
Could it be SRO Housing Corporation , who would be sued?
The City or SRO?
Does it really matter who manages the parks? It's the city's responsibility so let them handle it. I agree with J. Nieder above, let's quit making excuses. Have they stopped the Orange Line because of liability? No, they put more cops to monitor? Why can't they do the same at the parks? It's not a money issue.
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