Failure to Communicate

Well I can't wait to finish watching this epic episode of Santa Barbara's finest. I know we're all supposed to be pissed-off at the government and all. But consider blaming "the people" and their ignorance for a moment.

Hey batter batter. When the San Rogue "neighborhood" is finished playing adult baseball, golfing, horseback riding, elbowing each other while roller skating, all on government property, the government has some serious business to do.

What strikes me about some of "the people" in this democratic republic, and their under-developed opinions is that they actually think that everyone else are bums. Some actually think they're going to obtain the city council agenda or accurate information from the media, and from the News Press of all places!

In the olden days you needed to struggle, often on muddy roads in a horseless carriage to get to city hall to see what was on the agenda. Perhaps you would walk. Later, you could get in your car. Now the affluent can sit anywhere and find out what's going on at city hall via the city's webpage, and from anywhere. Your family could even view the meetings from the giant LCD at the neighborhood Sportsbar...erright.

So why else are all these people so mis-informed. Well this hysteria has the signature of our three right wing council members. One in particular is known to divisively circulate slanted opinions while soliciting riled signatures, lobbying for one-self's family of 8 cars. And this is while making charges of government corruption and favors for friends as well as other improprieties.

Government isn't perfect. Stop blaming the city and it's housing authority. There is a vast nutty, illogical right wing rabble out there misinforming you. It has taken hold of this city and creating this witch hunt atmosphere. Please try not to get caught up in it.

It's a shame — but understandable — that there is so much emotion and contentiousness around this issue. After all, issues like this are contentious precisely because there is merit to both sides. Let’s clarify a few points:

1. The homeless need to be housed.

2. A facility like this will not reduce homelessness around the San Roque neighborhood (Trader Joe’s, Mackenzie Park) because these are not the people who would be housed in the Willbridge facility.

3. NIMBYism has at its roots a basis in the fact that most of the people in that neighborhood have put their life savings into their homes there. It’s not elitism. It’s typically the result of hard work and good planning. Calling struggling homeowners Nazis really makes one look like they have no full grasp of the issues.

4. Belittling someone’s concerns about the perceived safety of their own children is pretty much a nonstarter. In fact, it’s probably the best way to cause someone to shut down in an otherwise productive dialogue.

5. Comparing this planned facility to those near Franklin and Notre Dame schools is not as applicable, since those are closed and more physically secure campuses than Peabody.

Emotions run high here because the homeless and their advocates see themselves as a put-upon minority and also have some well-deserved righteousness about their ability to recover from the depths and lead normal lives again. And that’s understandable. It’s a tremendous accomplishment.

The bottom line is that this is not a battle over homelessness and helping the homeless. I'm sure San Roque people don’t harbor veiled hatred for the homeless. The concerns center mainly around the mental illness and drug and alcohol addictions which are unfortunately so prevalent among our city’s homeless. All it takes is one person off their meds to do something unfortunate to a child, and you can’t ever put that genie back in the bottle no matter how much Willbridge and the city council apologize then.

In the end, it seems that all agree that this is a valid and necessary program. And there also seems to be too much parent concern around locating this facility so close to an open grade school campus. Doesn’t the right solution for all seem to be that Willbridge and the city should just find a different building in which to continue their good work? The challenge there is that the city did approve the purchase of the property while giving the community 90 days to discuss and get educated. So, at the end of the day, the San Roque community faces a choice of either a Willbridge-managed facility or some other form of city-subsidized low-income housing at 2904 State. And, while a Willbridge facility may well emerge now as the best option for the San Roque/Peabody community, it sure feels like a sneaky railroad job by the mayor and the city council. The most disappointing part of this has been the mayor and council's loose adherence to the public process they claim to value.

. "Peabody parents" included a Ms. Roxanne somebody or other who passionately argued in support of supportive housing based upon direct personal experience, arguing "they are not criminals...they are people who need a chance...they are homebodies, they just need help, you might see them at CVS every now and then, that's it." Another "Peabody parent", named Lois somebody or other (not Lois Lane) firmly insisted on maintaining a compassionate policy.

Another woman, also a San Roque resident and/or Peabody parent, apologetically explained that many of her neighbors might disagree but that she also supported a compassionate approach sensitive to the housing needs. There was also a San Roque father who made a similar appeal.

So much for the myth of monolithic NIMBYism.

As for the anecedotes, the allegedly "aggressive" Carls Junior panhandler story was factually refuted as a case of a harmless little old man in his sixties, recently released from the hospital. The other anecdote someone reported that the chatty woman in question tried to "touch" her baby. Presumably she took the step of taking her child into her arms, and maybe it would have been more appropriate to have deescalated the situation with a smile and disarming words. Suburbanites, lack the interactional skills to deal with the street woman and panic . ... but at some point women might develope unity within their gender rather than continue the same old patterns of class alienation. demanding police/investigative/incarceration services. ... Maybe the two women - one from bourgeois comfort, one from the harsh reality of the streets - need to work out the class and social differences which divide them on a thoughful woman - to -woman basis.

That same person's husband testified, incorrectly, that the San Roque eight unit was some kind of squandering of tax money. The truth is that it is a mandated expenditure of the 20% set aside which will be lost to the state general fund if the money is not spent.

Similarly erroneous remarks were entered into the record by an attorney who claimed to be from the neighborhood; he proffered a bunch of legalistic mumbo jumbo which was refuted by Rob Pearson, director of the Housing Authority, thus proving that a little bit of knowledge is often worse than total ignorance.

Maybe attorneys who live near housing for the rest of us should stick to chasing ambulances or suing physicians or representing corporate polluters or whatever it is that lawyers do these days.

This is not to suggest that the individual attorney in question is engaged in types of practices, just poking fun. But the take home message is that misinformation and disinformation underlies the lynch mob mentality we saw on display, and that once people get a better picture of the facts on the ground, most, but not all, of the fear and confusion dissipate.

As Franklin Delano Roosevelt once said, "we have nothing to fear but fear itself."

Longtime_SB_resident states the issues opponents to the 2904 State St project are worried about. Yes, some people who are homeless have some mental illness. But how many of us have a family member with mental illness? I would guess that many residents in the neighborhood also have mental illnesses. And family members know that it takes some support and patience to help our spouses, sibs, cousins, parents, etc. stay on medications. A challenge for those who are homeless is that they may not have as much support and help to stay on their meds, which makes it much harder for them to keep jobs. This WillBridge program sounds like it will provide the help that people need. We citizens of Santa Barbara should be grateful that this non-profit organization is willing to provide that support. We want our less fortunate people to get help to become productive citizens, don't we?

The other point I'd like to make is that residents of this housing project have to have been off the street for 18 months, so they are no longer homeless. They also have to have a job or be in school, and they have to be compliant in taking their medications.

Sadly I think opponents of the project are fostering fear and misunderstanding by conjuring up the scary images of seriously mentally ill, homeless individuals. The residents will be 18 months away from homelessness, and our society generally believes in helping people who have shown an effort to become healthy and productive citizens. Most industrialized countries provide a safety net which doesn't let fellow citizens with problems become homeless. IMHO, we have an obligation to take care of our brothers and sisters who are less fortunate. Isn't that what Jesus taught?
Marian Shapiro

What has this silly self-centered town become? Just that.

Best wishes to Lynnelle Williams and the WillBridge House for a successful project.

It'd be as easy as gathering signatures to mount a recall campaign against Francisco, Self, and Hotchkiss.

Whats wrong with the money going back to the states general fund where it can pay for schools and such items? The constant carping about how that money must be spent is fine if you do not want it to go to other worthy programs.