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Today's Letters: Homeless must be held accountable

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published March 18, 2007

Having been homeless myself at one time, I have firsthand experience on what it's like to live on the streets.

There are primarily three types of persons who are living "abode challenged":

1. Those who are genuinely down on their luck and trying to get back on their feet.

2. Those who suffer from mental disorders but won't take medication.

3. The majority, who have no intention of getting out of their homelessness.

From my observations these bums sit on their duffs and have some major entitlement issues. They don't want to work; in fact they don't want to abide by any rules. They just want a handout from hard-working taxpayers. Where do these people get off demanding anything?

I can attest to the fact that there are many programs in Pinellas County to help people help themselves. The Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center has been a great place to help me get back on my feet. Sadly, it appears that the county is willing to negotiate with these vagrants. St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker should demand accountability from these people before proceeding any further.

Joe Quintana Jr., St. Petersburg

Homeless, comfortable

It's remarkable how easy it is to control the debate by defining the terms. The St. Petersburg Times demonstrates this technique by taking advantage of the current homeless controversy to advance a much broader social welfare agenda. The homeless have been with us for a long time as vagrants, street people and bums. But now that the professional hand-wringers in the mainstream media have redefined them as "homeless," we are expected to open our hearts, along with the public treasury, to ease their pain.

The Times citing federal law in a recent article (Homework, no home, March 3) has further inflated the issue by expanding the category to include helpless school-age children who for whatever reason are not living with their parents in a single-family residence. Their poster family for this crisis is the Reitmeyers, a family of six crowded into a motel room. While certainly not an ideal living circumstance, this hardly qualifies them as homeless.

Regardless, the Reitmeyers are not the face of the homeless problem that is turning parts of downtown St. Petersburg into the Third World. In a March 10 article (Another showdown looms) the Times tells us that the several hundred hard-core vagrants infesting the streets of downtown St. Petersburg are now an organized special interest group complete with their own agenda and list of demands. At the top of their list is a demand to control the population in their proposed downtown winter refugee camp that will guarantee its existence in perpetuity. Moreover, once the word of St. Petersburg's homeless hospitality gets out, the city will become a major winter destination for bums all over the country.

The fact that they are resisting transfer to the new shelter in Largo underscores the notion that they are perfectly comfortable with their present lifestyle and circumstances. It is time that St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker and the City Council acknowledge this reality and control it with no-nonsense, enforceable vagrancy ordinances.

Timothy S. "Mac" McDonnell, St. Petersburg

Why someone else? 

Churches should open to homeless Feb. 25, letter

I attend a large church downtown and just visualized what a mess it would be for services Sunday morning after the homeless had slept there. We would have to hire more security and janitorial help, be sure everyone was out before the area was needed for church activities, etc.

Why is it always someone else's duty to "do"? Also, the homeless seem to have money for booze and cigarettes. Why should hard-working people, many retirees, and those who are barely making it, be responsible for the homeless? I think the letter writer should open his house to a few homeless and re-think his suggestion that "others" should be the givers.

E.I. Forbes, St. Petersburg

Panhandler hits homes

Earlier this month there was a knock at my door. I opened it - and perhaps should not have. A fairly well-groomed lady was at my door and went through a rapid rendition of why she needed gas money, stating that she cleaned for a neighbor around the corner. She wanted $6, stating she had kids to pick up at day care. I gave her $5 and she promised to return it later to my front porch. I was doubtful but felt as though I had done a good deed and closed and locked my door.

A friend was in my house at that moment and caught a glimpse of the lady at the door. At 3 a.m., that lady was knocking on my friend's door about a mile away. This time the car was out of gas and there was a baby in it. My friend said "Sorry" and closed the door.

The beggar lady worked her whole cul de sac and was seen by neighbors leaving in a nice car that had gas.

This is a warning to all that there is a woman with blondish graying hair, wide-eyed, fast talking, average height and weight out there banging on doors night and day.

If I were to do it again I would call the police right away. It seems the panhandlers have left the intersections and gone into the residential areas. I think it is time to crack down on the panhandlers. People, beware.

Carolyn Flynn, St. Petersburg

Images hit below belt 

Idol talents need not idle March 11, story

I, among many, are appalled by the photos of the young men grabbing their crotches. What were you thinking in printing such a photo? Is there a message that you would like to send to today's youth? If so, it certainly is not a good one.

Possibly these are good kids, but their behavior in this photo is not an example other than as hoodlums. Exactly why good kids go bad! Where is your editing department?

Michele Moore, Seminole

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[Last modified March 17, 2007, 20:08:49]