Tired of Homelessness Making My Community Third-World

 Tired of Homelessness Making My Community Third-World
By Lee Hemen
August 2, 2021

People are getting fed up with wear a mask, don’t wear a mask and rightly so. We begin to feel like ping-pong balls. What baffles me however is the fact that we have begun to allow so many things into our lives that we no longer are angered at them. The enslavement of mandates is one such occurrence but the other that frustrates me is homelessness.

I moved into my home in 1977, it is now paid for and I am looking forward to my retirement. Through a lot of hard work, lean times, and good times we have succeeded. Yet disturbingly I now have to weekly chase wandering indigents out of my trash and recycle bins. Homeless camps have cropped up in my county like weeds on a springtime lawn. Everywhere you turn there are tents, cardboard shacks, or dilapidated RVs parked on every vacant lot. And now I learn that the Sherriff Department or local city police will do nothing about bums abusing my community because of our City Council, County Commissioners, or State Legislature wanting to be more sensitive to the homeless. Ill-conceived compassion does not help it encourages bad behavior.

Portland, Oregon has become a trashed third-world mess and now Clark County is quickly following suit. Taxpayers are ignored while freeloaders are coddled and understood. It is disgusting. Now least you think that I am uncaring, I am not. For decades I supported groups that work with the addicted, sponsored them in my church, helped when I could, and have personally counseled people out of homelessness but I have reached my breaking point.

Throwing more money, time, or effort at a problem that is an individual’s choice has proven fruitless. And now we are not only excusing it, we are taking it up a notch and supporting the trashing of our communities and State. As a homeowner I would not dare try and build a structure on my property without getting the permits and permission to do so, yet we allow people to build whatever wherever they want on public land in the name of compassion. Try throwing a piece of garbage out of your vehicle’s window in front of a policeman and see what kind of fine you get. Yet we allow the homeless to cost us millions of hard earned tax dollars cleaning up the mess, waste, and heaps of trash they leave behind.

The fact is that most of those who are homeless, about 90%, are men of working age. The one I just chased out of my recycle bin this morning is in his 30s. Most are addicts, have mental illness, or have simply chosen this lifestyle because it suits them. We have places begging for workers (yes I see the irony), yet these men would have us believe they can’t find a job? It is time for taxpayers to stand up and say, “Enough is enough. End homelessness now!” Not by more handouts, free tents, blankets, food or providing an empty lot to freeload on and trash but by outlawing it completely. No more ramshackle buildings. If you want to live in an RV or tent you must live in a designated area, with trash containers, bathrooms and cleaning stations provided by the City and County or get arrested. Offer job opportunities so that they can move out of the RV or homeless camp. Have a time limit to how long they can remain. No more living off the land, anywhere, and everywhere. Do not allow unfettered begging without a free permit that has the person’s name, age, picture, and finger prints. Digital cameras with portable printers could be used to provide them and the information saved for future arrests or if a homeless person is found dead. No begging in the middle of the street or near on or off ramps, schools, or places of business or worship. Sound harsh? Yes it is because being homeless should be hard, begging should be hard, and being addicted should be hard. Now I know some of you will say that it is hard already and that we have to understand why they are homeless, we have to help them get out of being homeless, and provide ways for them to break free of their addictions. However I have learned over the decades that no one wants to be helped until they reach a point where what they are doing is worse than getting the help they need. Now if someone wants to be helped we should provide and help with resources to get them back into society and away from their addiction or homelessness. Help those who truly desire to be helped but enforce the law for those who want to continue to trash our communities.

Politicians are to blame for this mess because of not enforcing current laws, funding our police, and encouraging a better community through compassionate law enforcement that gets people off the street and those who do not want help out of our communities.

Homelessness should never be ignored or given a free pass by government or any of us It isn’t compassionate to do so.
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This article is copyrighted © 2021 by Lee Hemen and is the sole property of Lee Hemen, and may not be used unless you quote the entire article and have my permission.

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