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MyspaceIf you’re homeless, your life is wrapped up in logistical problems; how do you get from point a to point b? Where can you stash your stuff when you go for that interview, that doctor’s appointment? A homeless person almost always has to take their things with them, or rent a storage locker. Sometimes people without homes bury their belongings in the woods. It’s a cliché, but necessity truly is the mother of invention.
It’s riskier when a patrol car pulls up and finds there’s a warrant out for their arrest. That’s when a homeless person’s stuff is in real jeopardy, advocates say.
In Santa Barbara, there have been many cases of homeless people not getting their belongs back after being taken to jail, the ER or the Sobering Center. Sometimes, people lose their photo ID, military discharge papers, birth certificate — papers that are a monster to replace. To read more, see homelessinsb.org.
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This excellent report, thanks in large part to Emily Allen and Deborah Barnes, is an example of the kind of work the South Coast Homeless Advisory Committee is capable of.
However, the system finds this SCHAC to be quite a thorn in its side, with these expose reports and the fact that the SCHAC is at least structurally open government and fully accessible for public participation.
In fact, the minimal public participation that occurs through the SCHAC is making the Establishment uncomfortable, and what the article does not state is that there is a political move afoot to dissolve this pesky SCHAC and absorb it to private agencies (BOCH and CG) which are not subject to open government requirements.
Geof_Bard (anonymous profile)
August 26, 2011 at 4:52 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Thank you for the compliments on the Report. One point about the proposed consolidation of BOCH and CG is that they would become an entity that would be covered by the Brown Act. I'm still learning about the details -- but public participation is one plus that I see. Countywide public participation that is facilitated by modern technology would really be a move in the right direction!
EmilyAllen (anonymous profile)
August 26, 2011 at 8:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)