Why Should that Homeless Guy or that Small Business Guy Pay for the System's Sins?

Sunday I visited a Hispanic-owned small business. “Little Dick” had been scrawled on the wall with human excrement. Police still hadn’t showed.

The owner, Carlos, was standing by the wall and an overturned garbage can. He’s a gentle guy, not looking for trouble. Two homeless drug addicts frequently spend the night at this business. They leave behind needles and other trash, and also urine and feces.

I sympathize with them. I’ve had homeless friends, and friends addicted to drugs. Too, homeless folks often do no damage.

Our city sympathizes. The city supports Community of Hope, regularly waives busfares, and its municipal court tries not to let the Detention Center become a modern debtors prison. Carlos sympathizes. He sometimes buys homeless people meals at a nearby restaurant.

I sympathize with Carlos, too.

Homelessness and addiction are societal problems. Our system results in some number of homeless people and addicts. It’s mostly not any one person’s their fault; nor is it Carlos’s fault.

Fairness demands we all help deal with this problem, directly or indirectly. Social justice and a pragmatic desire for community peace demand the same. We shouldn’t jail folks for poverty or being disorganized, and legally we can’t jail them for mental incompetence; but battery, threats, and vandalism should have consequences.

There’s a cost to treating everyone with respect and care. Carlos and other small businessfolk pay that cost in ways most of us prefer not to imagine. He’s no slumlord cheating poor tenants; he doesn’t run a sweatshop; nor is he some huge corporation destroying people’s financial and physical health, then tossing ‘em on the slag heap.

He’s just someone working his butt off to get by and take care of his customers. Why must he spend part of his morning cleaning up urine and feces, and disposing of needles and empty food containers? Why must he be vandalized for asking folks not to sleep at his business? After calling the police, why must he wait and wait and wait?

Whatever your political views, tolerance levels, and faith, consider that someone less decent might have kicked these folks into next week by now. Sounds terrible, but I can understand how it might be tempting under certain circumstances.

Carlos’s uninvited guests show up towards midnight. A special detail could patrol nightly. It would include a police officer or two and a social worker, or at least someone savvy about social services. The detail would focus on problem areas. Before removing folks from private property, the detail could try to engage the trespassers about their situation and what alternatives might be available. Police could then evict trespassers, and either drive them somewhere better, arrest them for a crime, or warn them that returning to the premises will get them arrested. To minimize retaliation, the detail would explain they’re a city patrol, not called by the property owner.

I don’t mean to suggest that this is in any way easy. It’s not the city’s fault, but we need to do something, and the city has the necessary resources. (I’m encouraged that the Community of Hope and the LCFD are implementing services and programs that may help; but I worry about Carlos and others in the meantime.) We need to work together, without letting our differences distract us.

Maybe my idea won’t fly; but let’s figure out what does, and make it happen. Soon.

                                              – 30 – 

 

[The above column appeared Sunday, 11 De\cember 2022, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and KRWG's website. A related radio commentary will air during the week on KRWG (90.7 FM) and on KTAL (101.5 FM / http://www.lccommunityradio.org/) and be available on both stations’ websites.]

[This was a particularly tough column to write. It is not one where I see something being done wrong by local, state, or federal government and can see and articulate (or think I can) some solution, or at least steps that would be feasible (politically and practically) and very likely effective.

As with everything, broad strokes don’t cut it. Not all homeless folks are like the ones plaguing Carlos. (And they have attacked his property again since I wrote the column) I believe that’s a very small minority. I’ve not spent as much time as I might have in helping, but I have visited and spoken with folks at Camp Hope, and other folks who are homeless. I’ve also talked to them as a part-time municipal judge, trying to discern, sometimes in a video conversation when they’re in jail, who they really are and how to handle their situation.]

Too, feelings churn chaotically, like seawater when waves hit on odd formation of large rocks along a coast. I empathize with the homeless. Any of us could be one. Our system is organized so that some can become obscenely wealthy and others are treated as refuse if they haven’t dollars or useful labor to give the system. People vary tremendously in mental, physical, emotional, and (some would say) spiritual strength and resources. I never forget how fortunate I have been. Even folks addicted to substances aren’t evil, or bad, but primarily weak and/or troubled; and we’re most all addicted to something.

But standing there with Carlos, I empathize, and I’m angry that he’s subjected to this; but I know my comments to that effect will be used by some to feed a political position I don’t share. The problems we’re experiencing are not unique, not some special failing of Las Cruces that can be righted by some political slogan. Panicked, stupid acts like the City’s appointment of a non-active member of the bar to a municipal judgeship, compounded by suing the chief judge for following the law, don’t help. (What’s hard about realizing that if my case is tried by a judge who’s not even allowed to practice law, his conviction of me for drunk driving is worthless, and I’m free as soon as my lawyer points that out to a real judge?)

This is a huge problem that needs hard work and dollars, a lot of patience, and perhaps some creative imagination to deal with. Let’s each contribute what we can of those.]