By Cheryl Erb Santa Monica
I, too, am fed up with a problem that runs rampant in this beautiful city and seems to get worse day by day. It is clear that this guy Randy Walburger is obviously a homeless hater, but it’s well disguised as his social obligation of feeding homeless people. Does Randy hold down a job? Did he come from a wealthy family so his value system is totally different from people whose entire lives are represented by the “treasures” in their shopping carts.
As a human being, how productive is Randy other than writing articles “Give ‘em shelter” (SMDP, April 25, page 7)? Why would any working taxpayer need/chose/want to “give shelter” to people who don’t/can’t/won’t earn it for themselves? Working taxpayers shouldn’t carry this burden.
I agree that many of the homeless have physical and/or emotional problems, so what they could contribute is limited. But what about those who choose to live on the street because a long time ago, for whatever reason, they decided they made a career decision to get hand-outs from every agency possible. They have the mistaken idea that governmental agencies, no matter what level, owe it to them. These people need a kick in the rear or whatever else it takes, to get a job and become productive citizens. They need an incentive different than letting other people support them.
I like the suggestion of a survey that Mark Sanderson made (SMDP April 29, page 4). Randy would be a wonderful volunteer for that project. A lot of people would like to see those statistics. Then the way homeless people are viewed and assisted would change, hopefully for the better.
I think it’s important that no matter if we agree or disagree with Randy’s viewpoint and his work assisting the homeless people themselves, what do they need to make the necessary change in their lives to get off the streets permanently?
Obviously, every homeless person has different reason(s) why he/she ended up on the street, so I don’t think this problem can be solved with “one solution fits all.” Each case is different, so don’t forget these are people — humans, not just a file in a social service office.
Solutions are necessary, not money. If money solved the problem, there would be no homeless. More than $2 million is a tremendous amount of money to spend on anything, especially if it doesn’t work and is non-productive.
Being a Santa Monica resident for more than 30 years, I’ve seen the problem firsthand because I see it everywhere, every day. When I see it, I think about it and wonder what could be done. I have a couple of suggestions: ■Assign jobs to the homeless so they have a sense of pride and accomplishment. They feel necessary to making a good contribution to this city. When they feel pride, etc. they’ll want that feeling to continue, so hopefully they’ll be motivated to help themselves. ■Assist them with life skills and job training with follow-through so they don’t fall through a crack in a sidewalk of our beautiful city. ■The key is to motivate the homeless to help themselves. I think that a lot of them becoming homeless when they couldn’t provide for themselves. They got lost somewhere along the way, and were unable to find their way back. So they got stuck in a rut and their entire lives changed.
So Randy, will yo do the survey? Are you willing to do that to help the homeless?
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 11, 2005. Read the original PDF.