Staggering homeless count stuns LA officials

[Raptor Witness]

Staggering homeless count stuns LA officials - CNN June 6, 2019

The new homeless count released Tuesday by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority showed nearly 59,000 people living in the streets across Los Angeles County, a 12% increase over the prior year; and 36,300 homeless people within the city limits of LA, a 16% increase over last year's count.

__________________________________________________________________

If the official count is 59,000, then the actual number is likely double or even triple, if you count the people who don't want to be counted.

I recall when I was living there back in the 1990's, going to Santa Monica, and being overwhelmed by homeless people everywhere. It was the same way in Atlanta.  

Probably half are by "choice," but all this means, is that mental illness is the overriding issue.  

The United States has hit an iceberg in the middle of nowhere. The men in the crows nest aren't paying attention, and the captain is asleep.

  

 

[aztek]

la officials should look in the mirror, they will see a reason why homeless population is on the rise

[+susieice]

It's also causing an increase in a lot of diseases. 

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/typhus-zone-rats-trash-infest-los-angeles-skid-row-fueling-n919856

https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/03/typhus-tuberculosis-medieval-diseases-spreading-homeless/584380/

Bubonic plague is likely also present.

https://www.wnd.com/2019/05/bubonic-plague-likely-already-present-in-los-angeles/

I can't link the LA Times right now because I'm at my monthly quota, but in the last week they've reported cases of typhus in a police station and and that the LA County Courthouse is also overrun with rats. Here's a link to the NBC station reporting about City Hall.

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/Typhus-Infectious-Disease-Los-Angeles-City-Hall-Rats-505579671.html

Edited June 6, 2019 by susieice

[Imaginarynumber1]

 

A massive increase in homelessness is reagan's legacy

[Gertdoggy]

5 minutes ago, Imaginarynumber1 said:

 

A massive increase in homelessness is reagan's legacy

Way to deflect

[Imaginarynumber1]

Just now, Gertdoggy said:

Way to deflect

Not my problem if facts bother you

[Gertdoggy]

2 minutes ago, Imaginarynumber1 said:

Not my problem if facts bother you

We also had 5% of the population homeless during the great depression. That is also a fact and has absolutely nothing to do with the topic. 

[spartan max2]

Didn't this last election cycle LA passed some huge tax increase to fund more fighting homelessness.

It must not be doing anything.

The city is just too expensive. Too much taxes and liberal policies probs. 

Edited June 7, 2019 by spartan max2

[Merc14]

26 minutes ago, Imaginarynumber1 said:

 

A massive increase in homelessness is reagan's legacy

Explain you ridiculous comment, especially talk about how a President who left office in 1989 is responsible for the mess in LA in 2019 in a state and city ruled by YOUR party for nearly all of those years.

20 minutes ago, Imaginarynumber1 said:

Not my problem if facts bother you

You have provided ZERO and made all the accusations. Time to man up snowflake.

 

 

Edited June 7, 2019 by Merc14

[Agent0range]

I don't really understand what you guys are trying to blame this on.  Democrats?  Your hate for California?  Los Angeles is the city in the United States with the biggest economic boom in the past couple years.  The city with the highest GDP.  It seems you only care about the left behind when it fits your agenda, and arguing points.  

Quote

That's proving to be a winning message in the bond market, where the City of Los Angeles Department of Airports municipal debt handed investors a 5.6-percent return during the past 12 months. That performance in income plus appreciation easily beat the 4.6 percent average of U.S. issuers, including California, at 4.2 percent. It also exceeded the return on national airport municipal debt, 4.4 percent, and on transportation bonds, 4.3 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-04-05/los-angeles-economic-boom-outpaces-u-s-cities

[Agent0range]

22 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

Didn't this last election cycle LA passed some huge tax increase to fund more fighting homelessness.

It must not be doing anything.

The city is just too expensive. Too much taxes and liberal policies probs. 

And the best GDP and economy in America!  Considering that seems to be the measuring stick for conservatives right now...how can you argue their policies?  They literally have the best economy of any city...while we are giving our Trump loving midwest $19 billion plus in bailouts because they can't sell their own crops.  Now that's what I call welfare.

[+and-then]

35 minutes ago, spartan max2 said:

It must not be doing anything.

Sure, it is.  It's attracting many more homeless.

[Agent0range]

9 minutes ago, and then said:

Sure, it is.  It's attracting many more homeless.

Source please!

[Nnicolette]

This is just a symptom of a system designed for failure. Some are by choice i bet a lot are due to the opiod problem but the fact of the matter is our economy is getting less and less surviveable. The government is more geared toward knocking people down rather than humanity. One serious medical incident and most people would wind up homeless too. 

[Merc14]

32 minutes ago, Agent0range said:

And the best GDP and economy in America!  Considering that seems to be the measuring stick for conservatives right now...how can you argue their policies?  They literally have the best economy of any city...while we are giving our Trump loving midwest $19 billion plus in bailouts because they can't sell their own crops.  Now that's what I call welfare.

LOL funny.

[Big Jim]

4 hours ago, Raptor Witness said:

If the official count is 59,000, then the actual number is likely double or even triple, if you count the people who don't want to be counted.

Not only are there people who don't want to be counted, but it's hard to take a census of people who may move from day to day.  Another thing to consider is that homeless doesn't necessarily mean roofless.  A person who is couch hopping or staying with relatives is also homeless, but unlikely to be counted as such.

[Big Jim]

48 minutes ago, Agent0range said:

And the best GDP and economy in America! 

What use is a good GDP if the quality of life continues to deteriorate for so many?  

[Imaginarynumber1]

2 hours ago, Merc14 said:

Explain you ridiculous comment, especially talk about how a President who left office in 1989 is responsible for the mess in LA in 2019 in a state and city ruled by YOUR party for nearly all of those years.

You have provided ZERO and made all the accusations. Time to man up snowflake.

 

 

The massive raise in homelessness thanks to reagans idiocy is well documented. There's this website called "Google". You can search for things there and it will find it for you. You should give it a try.

Please, tell me who MY party is? While i would never align myself with you moronic republicans, i sure as **** don't support the idiotic democrats, either. 

Blow it out your ass, snowflake. I don't answer to you, keyboard warrior.

[Imaginarynumber1]

2 hours ago, Agent0range said:

I don't really understand what you guys are trying to blame this on.  Democrats?  Your hate for California?  Los Angeles is the city in the United States with the biggest economic boom in the past couple years.  The city with the highest GDP.  It seems you only care about the left behind when it fits your agenda, and arguing points.  

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2019-04-05/los-angeles-economic-boom-outpaces-u-s-cities

They like to ignore the fact that that republican led states have the worst economies, the most debt, lowest education rates, etc.

[darkmoonlady]

13,000 people left LA over the cost of rent. 60,000 homeless divided under people with drug and alchohol addiction,  mental illness, and people who cant afford rent and also cant afford to leave sounds about right for the population and the weather. Rent vs income ratio for LA average 47%. If you pay half your income per month to rent and something comes up like a medical emergency even out of pocket with insurance would mean you would be broke or end up homeless. How many of us on this thread would be in dire straights with say 2000 dollars worth of medical debt for ourselves or spouse or kids? Could you pay that and your current rent or mortgage? Or have enough money to move somewhere less expensive? It isn't just LA with growing homelessness, and no the location or politics dont seem to matter. It's happening in places like South Dakota.

[Merc14]

22 minutes ago, Imaginarynumber1 said:

The massive raise in homelessness thanks to reagans idiocy is well documented. There's this website called "Google". You can search for things there and it will find it for you. You should give it a try.

Please, tell me who MY party is? While i would never align myself with you moronic republicans, i sure as **** don't support the idiotic democrats, either. 

Blow it out your ass, snowflake. I don't answer to you, keyboard warrior.

Your claim, your responsibility to prove it.  You won't because it is an adolescent, angry response from an old man who got everything wrong the last 40 years (I'm an old man to so back off mods).  Attacking Reagan?  LOL ridiculous, defend your statement

[Merc14]

4 minutes ago, darkmoonlady said:

13,000 people left LA over the cost of rent. 60,000 homeless divided under people with drug and alchohol addiction,  mental illness, and people who cant afford rent and also cant afford to leave sounds about right for the population and the weather. Rent vs income ratio for LA average 47%. If you pay half your income per month to rent and something comes up like a medical emergency even out of pocket with insurance would mean you would be broke or end up homeless. How many of us on this thread would be in dire straights with say 2000 dollars worth of medical debt for ourselves or spouse or kids? Could you pay that and your current rent or mortgage? Or have enough money to move somewhere less expensive? It isn't just LA with growing homelessness, and no the location or politics dont seem to matter. It's happening in places like South Dakota.

Only cities run by your party are suffering like this, explain.

[darkmoonlady]

46 minutes ago, Merc14 said:

Only cities run by your party are suffering like this, explain.

I did it's happening everywhere red state vs blue state doesn't matter unless South Dakota is a blue state, or Idaho (Boise), feel free to Google average rent vs income ratio for most states and you'll find to afford an average one bedroom apartment you'll have to work between 60/80 hrs just to make rent. 

https://reports.nlihc.org/oor

[darkmoonlady]

Proof of Reagan contributing to California's homeless is well documented.

"Gov. Reagan signed the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act in 1967, all but ending the practice of institutionalizing patients against their will.

When deinstitutionalization began 50 years ago, California mistakenly relied on community treatment facilities, which were never built. And the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act made it virtually impossible to compel treatment prior to extreme decompensation.

The consequence became clear quickly. The number of mentally ill people entering the criminal justice system doubled the first year after the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act was enacted.

We in the criminal justice system use the expression “life on the installment plan” to describe the cycle.

Offenders would commit low level crimes and be incarcerated. Jail or prison for many meant stabilization through regular sleep, food, hopefully no alcohol or drugs, and for some, much needed mental health treatment. Then, they’d be released.

Back on the streets, they would decompensate, get arrested again and continue to serve life on the installment plan.

The connection between deinstitutionalization and incarceration is all too obvious. In 1978, the prison population was about 25,000, By 2006, it had grown to over 170,000 and 30 percent of the prison population were designated as needing mental health services."

Jerry Brown then added to it by releasing inmates. A third of inmates were released due to legal changes. 

"As the jails and prisons emptied, homelessness jumped. Unlike the rest of the U.S. where homelessness has been relatively flat, California’s homelessness spiked in 2015. Now, approximately a quarter of all people experiencing homelessness in this country reside in California.

And while there are fewer inmates, the prevalence and severity of the mental illness among prisoners has increased. Astonishingly, in just four years, the number of people in California who were deemed incompetent to stand trial has increased by 60 percent, straining courts and state hospitals."

(Written by a DA by the way) https://calmatters.org/articles/commentary/hard-truths-about-deinstitutionalization-then-and-now/

 

 

[Merc14]

I remember the act well but it was decades ago and the problems CA is having now is the product of many bad decisions.