Here’s a few other perspectives.
First, I had forgotten about this Glenn Austin project from 2003. It’s a look at the homeless who hung out on State Street through pictures. I think he did this around the time we had one of our other crack downs on the homeless – when they were changing the panhandling ordinance.
Second I went to Burr Jones field to see the so called “hobo jungle”. (I think when Fred Mohs first used the term, this wasn’t what he was talking about.) It seems, “the problem” has been solved. Move on.
Additionally, this is the report I had gotten from Captain Mary Schauf nearly a month ago.
From: Schauf, Mary
Sent: Wednesday, April 02, 2008 7:29:51 AM
. . . I just spoke with the two night officers that work the entire river parkway area. They went out and walked last night, focusing on the Tenney Park portion. Not a human in sight, but did hear one waterfowl. I will forward the list to them. I am thinking a daytime assessment of several items would also be in order. Staff will need to know what enforcement actions they can take. I will talk with Tim ref. a plan since the river area extends from Brenda’s area through yours. I think we can start with a parks dept clean-up of the area.
Turns out, 2 of the 3 areas of concern in a recent letter from the Friends of the Yahara River Parkway are on Alder Rhodes-Conway’s side of the river between E Washington Ave. and E Johnson. The third is in Alder Marsha Rummel’s district. Although, neither Alder Rhodes-Conway or I have received any complaints from our constituents in the past year.
Anyways, while I was at the park I saw three people I assumed were homeless. As I found out, one was formerly homeless. The one guy simply walked by and I saw him glance over at where the tarps previously were. Or maybe it was my imagination, who knows.
And I stopped to talk to a woman in the the Park. I told her I was on the City Council and that I was often an advocate for the homeless. I asked her how things were going. She showed (and told) me where people slept. She shared stories about where she has slept in the past. She told me how the men were protective of women on the street. She told me how she stayed at Burr Jones last fall and how they chased everyone out of the area after the man committed suicide by train. She told me stories about various homeless people who had died. I didn’t ask many questions, I just let her tell me what she wanted to tell me while she smoked her cigarette. While she has a place to stay now, and a job one day a week, she told me she still stops by to check on her friends. She pointed to the third person I saw in the park who was struggling to get his blankets and backpack to stay attached to his bike. She had told me she had tried to help by giving him a bungee cord. She also told me how she worried that the men who hung here at the park and various other places that didn’t have enough warm clothes in the winter and how they had to walk 3 – 3.5 miles to Labor Ready to get a job.
Third, there’s the Chicago Tribune article about Madison and the homeless. I find this an amazing observation:
Is the suspicion of transient involvement in the Zimmermann slaying justified? That almost doesn’t matter. In the hours after the killing, the public soon became aware of a large police sweep, rounding up about two dozen transients after officers received a tip that panhandlers had been going house-to-house that day. The tip was credible because people had been complaining for months about increasingly aggressive panhandlers.
About a dozen transients remain in police custody on unrelated warrants.
And I also find it amazing that once again, Joel DeSpain is not quoted, but everyone’s favorite Lt. Joe Balles is. His fear-mongering gem this time:
“The big city has come to Madison,” lamented Madison Police Lt. Joe Balles.
How’d this guy become the spokesperson for the City of Madison when it comes to homelessness?
Finally, check out my Steven Colbert post from this weekend. Will bumbots come to Madison?
