As homeless numbers continue to grow throughout California, the disconnect between people on the ground and state and local leaders also continues to grow. That widening gap between those who work almost daily with homeless people and those who set policy was starkly evident during a meeting of the Modesto City Council on May 9. With a progress report on the city’s efforts to abate homelessness on the agenda, the […]
Can’t Solve Homelessness? Follow the Money
For people on the ground among the homeless in California, there’s no mystery why homeless numbers continue to increase despite the expenditure of billions of dollars. The problem is a complete lack of comprehension among federal, state, and local leaders about the true nature of homelessness. Rather than a case of widespread drug abuse, epidemic malingering or a sudden rejection of traditional family values, homelessness is the predictable result of […]
Modesto May Make Newsom Right about Cities and Homelessness
California Governor Gavin Newsom has been justly criticized for his policies on homelessness, especially his reliance on sweeps as the chief tactic for managing California’s growing homeless population. Many of the sweeps chase homeless people from freeway margins and underpasses into cities, with the result that Newsom has continued to blame the state’s mayors for failing on homelessness — a form of blame-shifting that fails to recognize realities like housing […]
Bob Hackamack — “Godfather of the Tuolumne”
Known variously as “The Godfather of the Tuolumne” and “Mr. Tuolumne,” legendary Sierra Club member and activist Bob Hackamack passed away last week. An avid rock climber, canoeist and kayaker, Hackamack was one of the earliest conservationists to realize the ecological value of San Joaquin Valley watersheds. His training as a Chemical and Systems Engineer enabled him to provide meticulously detailed criticisms of proposals that would have weakened the Tuolumne […]
Homeless: The False Promise of “Affordable” Housing
California needs affordable housing now, but no one should be led into thinking affordable housing will bring a solution to the state’s widespread homelessness. We need affordable housing because even working people with good jobs have been priced out of California’s housing market. A great many homeless people, on the other hand, can’t work due to disability, mental or physical illness, or because they’re elderly and their retirement incomes are […]
Homeless: Where there’s Law without Order
One simple fact — homeless people have nowhere to go — continues to befuddle public officials everywhere and has led to the wasteful expenditure of billions of dollars. Thus it is that while homeless camps may appear to disappear after government-ordered sweeps, the presence of small groups and individual homeless people continues to increase. Sweeps don’t make them go away; they just force them to another location. One day here, […]
“We are in compliance,” says Conagra about alleged Stanislaus River Pollution
In an email dated March 29, a Conagra spokesperson wrote, “Conagra has the proper permits from the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board and we are in compliance with the regulatory requirements as specified in the permits. This includes managing the flow of water from our facility, proper monitoring and completing reporting procedures.” Don Hare, Conagra’s director for “Communications and External Relations,” was responding to our inquiry about possible pollution […]
Did ConAgra Wastewater Pollute the Stanislaus River?
Last October, we received a report from an anonymous whistle blower that wastewater from the ConAgra food-processing plant in Oakdale was being dumped into the Stanislaus River. The anonymous tipster provided water samples taken from a drain channel that flows indirectly to the river that showed high levels of pollutants. The report was persuasive enough that we sent a letter of inquiry to ConAgra asking for details about claims their […]
Homeless: It’s (not) the Drugs
It’s almost impossible to discuss homelessness without a chorus of loud and insistent voices shouting, “It’s the drugs!” While drug use is indeed common among homeless people, reliable data confirm it’s rarely the cause of homelessness. If drug use were the cause of homelessness, you would expect to see a correlation among states with high numbers of drug usage and high numbers of homelessness. There is no such correlation. Hawaii […]
No Drugs, Good Job — Still no Housing
California’s housing crisis shows no signs of ending soon as more and more people find themselves unable to rent or buy housing of any kind, even when they have work and good incomes. Dennis Lewis is only one of thousands of people who turned their lives around, went to work, then suffered a sudden reversal of fortune that led to months of homelessness. Drug free and awaiting a return to […]