Hemming Park and Homeless Issues Downtown. Administration Rethink.

[stephendare]

The Peyton Administration has decided to finally move forward in reaction to the increasing number of the homeless and jobless people in the downtown area.

In conversation last week, officials revealed that several very proactive projects are being mulled to alleviate the rising tensions between the downtown merchants and businesses and the social service community.

Some very positive changes (at last) are about to be made.

What kind of solutions would readers of the forum like to see?

[TPC]

We should send them to Mexico. 

I actually heard someone say we should send all of our homeless to Mexico in exchange for all the illegal immigrants we have here.

[civil42806]

We should send them to Mexico. 

I actually heard someone say we should send all of our homeless to Mexico in exchange for all the illegal immigrants we have here.

Well if they are willing to do it would probably be a plus for us

[Deuce]

Here's a novel idea. Instead of clustering all the homeless services downtown, build a complex in the outer suburbs for all the non-profits and move all the homeless there. If these people are homeless, then where they "reside" is irrelevant. Land costs are lower in the burbs and the money that is generated from the sale of the prime real estate downtown and the resulting increase in tax revenue can be used to fund the project. Relocating the indigent to an area where they can't go anywhere (nothing close in walking distance & no public trans) also has the added benefit of separating them from distractions (i.e. begging for money instead of trying to improve their skills, alcohol, drugs). While they are essentially captive, there's nothing left to do but train them in job skills if they're able and get them the appropriate help if they are mentally ill.

[jaxtrader]

ENFORCE THE LAW! All one hears from the Peyton camp is the bleating refrain "homelessness is not a crime". Disregarding the fact that a great number of the transients that infest Hemming Plaza are not actually homeless, let's examine what is a crime: it is a crime to trespass; It is a crime to sleep on public space; it is a crime to urinate or defecate in public; it is a crime to panhandle or harass the citizenry; it is a crime to be publicly inebriated or to disturb the peace. If the JSO were to actually enforce these laws, the problem would effectively be solved. The JSO doesn't want to enforce these laws as the claim to be too busy fighting 'serious' crime, and anyway there is no room in the jail. To this I respond that they will be amazed to find how many of the people arrested for lifestyle crimes have outstanding felony warrants, and that once they start making these arrests, the commission of these offences will plummet, making the jail space a non-issue.
Manhattan used to be lousy with threatening, irritating street people. Giuliani rendered them invisible within a few months in 1994. That should be Peyton's model for municipal governance.

[JeffreyS]

I like the spread them out idea. 

[xian1118]

let 'em work, let 'em live

[Deuce]

Spreading out is a much better alternative to what we currently have. The problem is NIMBY. Just like we complain that we don't want them downtown, neither will people want them in Baymeadows, Ortega, or Mandarin.

When I said outer suburb, I meant way outer suburb, like a farm where they grow organic vegetables or something.

Let's be clear though, a good part of the homeless and other indigents around downtown are bums. They either don't want to work or be a productive contributing member of society.

Jaxtrader is right about applying the law. If NYC can clean up, we can too.

[downtownparks]

So how do you guys feel about the proposed homeless housing over on Davis and 3rd?

[thelakelander]

If it were up to me, I'd prefer additional housing be in an obsolete warehouse district, like the area south of Dennis Street/north of Mccoys Creek.  Centralized, yet buffered from nearby residential districts.

[BridgeTroll]

Some sites that can add to the discussion...

http://wanderingvets.com/  ...Lots of definitions, ideas

http://hpn.asu.edu/archives/2002-July/006399.html  ... interesting private sector solution.

[Tripoli1711]

The "enforce the law" idea, sadly, will not work.  I'm a former prosecutor in town.  When we would get the homeless guys coming through first appearance court for panhandling or public intox, it was always adjudicate them guilty and time served.  Sometimes the Judge would give them 30 days.  Big deal, now we all just pay for that guy for a month.  A lot of these guys had well over 85 convictions, all for homeless-style crimes and the received a sentence of like 3 days on average for each of them.  Once they get out, they are still homeless and will go right back to it.  In the absence of their truly doing something unruly, to arrest them simply takes up the officer's time that could be better spent patrolling for some of the thugs doing the real crime in town.  On top of that, it adds another body to the woefully overcrowded PDF and another body in J-1 the next morning.  All to convict the guy for the 73rd time and send him on his way.  If we lock them up for 6 months, then the taxpayers pay room and board and they get crammed into our overcrowded jail system.  Lastly, arrest is no deterrent to them because to get taken to jail means a roof over their head and a hot meal.  I'm all for law and order and wish that enforcing the law would work, but in this context it is no help whatsoever.

[Mugatu]

I was a police officer in Baltimore for a couple of years and dealt with the homeless population with some frequency.  As mentioned before, looking to the police and courts to solve the homeless issue(s) is both a waste of resources and time.  While there have always been bums and hobos, the homeless population exploded on the east coast in the mid to late 80s when the state hospitals that had previously provided mental care for the destitute started closing.  If these facilities were re-opened, there would be a place where people with real mental issues could be held and treated until such a time that they were well enough to rejoin society in a more productive manner. 

And, yes I'm aware that those hospitals had real issues, but I have to imagine that in the long run they beat living on trash and sleeping on steam grates.   

[Bewler]

I like the warehouse idea, God knows there's plenty of abandoned buildings that could be renovated for this purpose. But still, is there a strong likelihood that even if we did this that they would just eventually wander back to Hemming like someone already mentioned?

As a side note, why do I get the feeling that if our entire population of homeless people living downtown somehow suddenly migrated into Ponte Vedre or the Town Center that the city would immediately jump into action to have them relocated? Yet its tolerated in the city.

[Johnny]

How about the FEMA Concentration Camps?   j/k