Chief
12-19-2007, 07:40 PM
http://www.theolympian.com/southsound/story/303874.html
TUMWATER — The Tumwater City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to permanently allow outdoor homeless encampments within city limits.
An emergency ordinance allowing such encampments had been set to expire January.
The ordinance was prompted by Camp Quixote, an encampment for homeless people that has been in several locations in Olympia since February. An ordinance similar to the ones adopted in Tumwater and Olympia also is under consideration in Lacey.
Under Tumwater's ordinance, a "host agency," meaning a church or other faith-based organization, can join in an application for a temporary-use permit to provide a "temporary emergency homeless encampment."
**SCHNIPP**
Baloney! I see the same damned "homeless" people around here constantly. To surrender to the drifters and malingerers who choose to live hand to mouth in tents is bad public policy. These people are not paying any property taxes, pay minimal sales taxes, and generally speaking use the maximum in public services directly and indirectly. Some of these "homeless" are living the way they do by choice, and are part of an underground economy that seems to flourish out here on the Left Coast. Look across the river to "Dignity Village" to see exactly what I mean.
While we're on this rant, has anyone been keeping tally on all of the toy drives in town for the "under-priviledged children in our Community"?? The local television stations compete to collect toys by the pound, not by the need. If there truly are that many indigent children in this area, wouldn't it be more caring to collect shoes, warm socks, coats, clothing, and things like that?? How about collecting children's reading materials, (printed in English of course...). How exactly does a million pounds of toys contribute anything toward the betterment of anyone's kid??
There are places like Dornbecher Children's Hostpital that need (and rightfully get) a multitude of support from a lot of different sources...
I heard tonight that there is a West Linn charity who is appealing for frozen turkeys and spiral sliced hams for their client's Christmas food packages. I'll bet they are!!
I realize there is a real need for a lot of people out there, but I get this sneaking suspicion every year at this time that there is an underculture out there who is milking the system for whatever they can get their hands on, at the expense and in the name of those who really need it. I wonder if anyone is screening or qualifying the recipients of all of this generous giving, especially given the high incidence of fraud, ID theft, the presence of too many illegal aliens to count, and all of the other smarmy ripoffs we hear about so often...
>:(
TUMWATER — The Tumwater City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to permanently allow outdoor homeless encampments within city limits.
An emergency ordinance allowing such encampments had been set to expire January.
The ordinance was prompted by Camp Quixote, an encampment for homeless people that has been in several locations in Olympia since February. An ordinance similar to the ones adopted in Tumwater and Olympia also is under consideration in Lacey.
Under Tumwater's ordinance, a "host agency," meaning a church or other faith-based organization, can join in an application for a temporary-use permit to provide a "temporary emergency homeless encampment."
**SCHNIPP**
Baloney! I see the same damned "homeless" people around here constantly. To surrender to the drifters and malingerers who choose to live hand to mouth in tents is bad public policy. These people are not paying any property taxes, pay minimal sales taxes, and generally speaking use the maximum in public services directly and indirectly. Some of these "homeless" are living the way they do by choice, and are part of an underground economy that seems to flourish out here on the Left Coast. Look across the river to "Dignity Village" to see exactly what I mean.
While we're on this rant, has anyone been keeping tally on all of the toy drives in town for the "under-priviledged children in our Community"?? The local television stations compete to collect toys by the pound, not by the need. If there truly are that many indigent children in this area, wouldn't it be more caring to collect shoes, warm socks, coats, clothing, and things like that?? How about collecting children's reading materials, (printed in English of course...). How exactly does a million pounds of toys contribute anything toward the betterment of anyone's kid??
There are places like Dornbecher Children's Hostpital that need (and rightfully get) a multitude of support from a lot of different sources...
I heard tonight that there is a West Linn charity who is appealing for frozen turkeys and spiral sliced hams for their client's Christmas food packages. I'll bet they are!!
I realize there is a real need for a lot of people out there, but I get this sneaking suspicion every year at this time that there is an underculture out there who is milking the system for whatever they can get their hands on, at the expense and in the name of those who really need it. I wonder if anyone is screening or qualifying the recipients of all of this generous giving, especially given the high incidence of fraud, ID theft, the presence of too many illegal aliens to count, and all of the other smarmy ripoffs we hear about so often...
>:(