California’s homeless crisis remains America’s worst-kept secret. Americans living outside the Golden State are used to seeing images such as homeless people sleeping in tents, drug-addled individuals lying naked on the streets or in public places, piles of trash and human waste piled up in areas designated “camping areas” for the homeless…the list is endless.
Residents in cities such as San Diego and Los Angeles are being forced from their public spaces by the homeless crisis. Recently, I met a single woman in Los Angeles. She said, “It’s so bad that I can’t walk alone in my own backyard.” I am forced to walk straight past homeless people who are either drunk or high parked right in front of my house. My neighborhood council said nothing and suggested that I get pepper spray to address the safety concerns.
Up to now, the government has not listened to citizens’ concerns about their safety or preservation of their private and public property. California’s homeless industry is worth a billion dollars. The homeless industry in California is worth a billion dollars. There are grants, tax breaks, and corruption. The Democrat political class is not in a position to fix the problem.
Except for when a well-known rich person complains.
Bill Walton, the legendary basketball player. Walton complained recently on social media about the homeless taking over his bike paths and making it unsafe for him to enjoy San Diego’s beauty.
Almost immediately, Todd Gloria, Democrat Mayor of Detroit, responded with “sweep” notices. The city will rush to remove Mr. Walton from his bike path as soon possible.
It’s not hard to see that Walton’s photo will cause some eye rolls among Californians, who live in poorer areas of their cities but are seeing far worse every single day. However, Walton and the rest of San Diego residents spend a lot to maintain their public spaces. Walton’s complaints can be as valid as any other.
According to Voice of San Diego, Walton was sending Gloria emails complaining about his problems since September at the latest. Walton claims that he was attacked once. Although those emails were not enough to warrant a quick response, Walton immediately took the matter to his Twitter account, which has 117,000 followers. The city of San Diego quickly reacted. It was whiplash-inducing to see the speed Gloria’s administration acted on the issue.
Bill Walton, a basketball legend, Grateful Dead fan, avid bicyclist, and perhaps San Diego’s most well-known resident, has been emailing Mayor Todd Gloria about San Diego’s homeless crisis for the past several weeks.
Emails aren’t a huge deal, as they don’t reveal anything that we already know. Because Walton is well-known, they aren’t a major deal.
Gloria is a progressive leftist and was elected to the office of mayor on the basis of 2020 Black Lives Matter. His campaign spending and close relationship with Nathan Fletcher, the Chairman of San Diego County Board of Supervisors, have been criticized. Fletcher is married with Lorena Gonzalez, one of California’s most hated politicians. Gonzalez is now a union leader and was the assemblywoman who almost single-handedly decimated California’s independent contracting sector with the unpopular AB5. This bill, which made hundreds of independent contracting jobs illegal and is being exported to Congress, was passed by Gonzalez.
Gloria and his union comrades have no interest in the state’s common people, yet they run every election with the belief that they are the ones standing up for the small guy, the poor, and the oppressed.
Gloria’s quick response to public complaints from the wealthy while ignoring and insulting the average citizen who has the same problem is a glimpse into the heart of the California Democrat party. It doesn’t matter what you think. It doesn’t matter what your quality of life is. Your complaints do not matter.
Unless you are rich and famous, then your social media followers don’t matter that much.
