Cut unhoused folks a break
“ SLO to get 80-unit cabin homeless shelter project in 2025 ,” (sanluisobispo.com, April 26)
To those who feel that the location for the “Welcome Home Village,” slated for the Health Center in SLO, is not appropriate: Where is the right location? Somewhere far from the madding crowd where you won’t have to see them? People living on the streets don’t get to choose where they spend the night without being harassed; they don’t get to travel as far as they want to get a meal or a shower or clean clothing. Many homeless folks don’t even have bus fare. We know because we’ve been working with them for decades.
So let’s cut them a break and make their presence legal. They are here now, and they aren’t going away anytime soon.
Kudos to the city and county for working on making this housing project a reality!
Becky Jorgeson, M.A.
Hope’s Village of SLO
The wrong fit
“ SLO to get 80-unit cabin homeless shelter project in 2025 ,” (sanluisobispo.com, April 26)
“Welcome Home Village” is the wrong fit for the proposed location, and the County of SLO is expediting this project before locals have had the opportunity to weigh in.
More than half of the 80 residents will have mental health issues; many will have criminal records, drug and alcohol addictions; and all residents will have unpredictable or unsafe behaviors due to the trauma of relocation and recovery. Space for recreation is almost non-existent in this proposed facility. Where does the county think these residents and their pets will go when they want to blow off steam, meet friends, drink or get high? Where would you go?
There are residences on three sides, open spaces, creek beds, two schools and three preschools. This is not a “health campus.” It is a neighborhood.
Business owners on South Higuera Street had legitimate reasons for taking legal action, and the county was forced to find another location. Is that what it takes for the Board of Supervisors to listen? Because right now we don’t feel heard.
Deborah Cleere
San Luis Obispo
Opinion
Evil
“ Diocese of Monterey may go bankrupt amid child abuse lawsuits ,” (sanluisobispo.com, May 2)
The Catholic bishop of Monterey wrote that “these actions are never acceptable.” Wow, I’d say that sentence would be a more appropriate response to a child who burps at the dinner table. I should think that “evil” better describes child sexual abuse.
Penny Koines
San Luis Obispo
More data before Mars
“ Before and after: How Carrizo Plain superbloom seen from space compares to drought of 2021 ,” (sanluisobispo.com, April 12, 2023)
NASA is focused on getting people to the moon or to Mars while neglecting its program of Earth Observation Satellites. Three (Terra, Aqua and Aura) of their workhorse platforms are being lost or aging out, without replacements. This means that the continuous stream of data for understanding the Earth and modeling our climate (and making better predictions about our future) will be stopped or interrupted.
Some climate deniers have argued for “more data” before they consider changing their views — removing any lingering doubt. Getting better and better data would seem a better choice than planning for a Mars adventure.
B. K. Richard
San Luis Obispo
Reduce incarceration
“ California budget deficit could get worse for Gavin Newsom ,” (sacbee.com, April 30)
To date, the state corrections budget has climbed to $15 billion. The current cost of incarceration per person is $132,860 annually — a 90% increase in the past decade. At a time when our state is facing a significant budget deficit, it is fiscally irresponsible to maintain empty bed capacity when thousands of Californians are facing cuts to the very social programs that keep them alive and out of crisis.
We can better balance necessary budget cuts by eliminating surplus capacity at the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in a structured way, as Assembly Bill 2178 (Rep. Phil Ting, D-San Francisco) proposes.
Tannah Oppliger
Irvine
Cut prison spending
“ California budget deficit could get worse for Gavin Newsom ,” (sacbee.com, April 30)
Prison closures are a clear path toward achieving savings in a difficult budget year. While we are seeing proposed cuts to vital services like housing, climate change mitigation and education, we are also seeing increased spending on the infrastructure and staffing expenditures in the Department of Corrections. We need legislators to protect Californians in this budget deficit and cut spending on prisons.
California can and must reduce excess prison capacity, close at least five more prisons (which is in line with the Legislative Analyst Office’s recommendations) and cut spending on incarceration to preserve progress in these tough budget times.
Olivia Gleason
Long Beach
Most Popular
Comments / 0