Last Thursday night, in Santa Barbara High School’s theater, the Milpas Community Association held an actual community meeting and invited the general public. People who live in the Eastside neighborhood were asked to share their concerns. It was a change from October 14, the day of the group’s inaugural press conference at the Santa Barbara Inn, when Alan Bleeker of Capitol Hardware read a lengthy statement, some of it focused on the crime and other problems homeless people create.
Thursday night’s meeting was designed to boost membership, inform people of MCA’s goals, and enlist volunteers for a Neighborhood Watch program. There was an educational element, too, with Rev. Edgar Mohorko, leader of an Oxnard gang intervention group, speaking about the success they’ve achieved suppressing gang activity there.
Oddly enough, the word homeless was barely uttered; but the issue of homelessness, the presence of homeless people, was alluded to obliquely numerous times. To read more, see homelessinsb.org.