We all hear all of the time how wonderful Lake Worth is. People have said, "I moved here because of the diversity." Not only have we encouraged the illegal immigrant with the churches being complicit in that endeavor, but we have also encouraged the homeless. St. Andrews continues to feed them but now say they do not want them living on their church property. The downtown business owners are fed up as the situation has worsened with the economy.
As Commissioner Maxwell stated, "We have become a depository for the homeless." Because of constant repeat calls to the Sheriff's Department, the PBSO made a presentation this morning to the commission outlining what they want to do to help contain the ever growing problem with the homeless. Because of constant repeat calls to them, they want to rid the areas of homeless who are hanging out and committing misdemeanors. The PBSO is asking Lake Worth to agree with their crime prevention strategy through environmental designs.
The response phase of this task is to provide:
- emergency homeless shelter
- increase enforcement of public drinking violations
- more law enforcement presence
- essential support services
Commissioner Maxwell suggested a non-profit to create a place for the homeless as he has a problem turning someone away who is hungry.
City Manager Susan Stanton said, "Ya gotta pee and poop somewhere."
Vive Mayor Mulvehill says that tolerance is not enough. "We need to position ourselves in addressing the problem, not just tolerating it," she said.
Commissioner Golden says we have to be tolerant and the homeless need a place where they can go. She suggested perhaps that the churches pick up the slack a little bit more. But Commissioner, you just voted to give them an assessment, money that they used towards charity.
"We want to work with the issues to come to a desirable end," said Cpt. Silva. "This is a very real issue in Lake Worth. It is complex and the City will have to make a policy decision on what kind of city do we want to have. What policies do we want to achieve?"
This entire issue as well as an Interlocal agreement with the Lake Worth Homeless Intervention Plan will be on the next general meeting of the city commission.
9 comments:
Just read your comments on the homeless and continue to be amazed at the absolute lack of presence and decorum demonstrated by the CM and I quote City Manager Susan Stanton said, "Ya gotta pee and poop somewhere.". With individuals such as this how can anyone expect anything positive from LW, it’s difficult sometimes the things that take place in LW, but even this comment pushes the envelope. What a classless individual and he’s the CM, give me a break.
The quote attributed to the CM is just one that stood out for me. Actually she is FOR solving this huge problem.
I would like to clarify what you said about St. Andrew's continuing to feed the homeless but no longer wanting them to sleep on church property. While technically your statement is factually true, it implies some things that are not true and does not tell the whole story. Yes, St. Andrews continues to lend its support, once a month to The Way Cafe, which is the feeding program at Calvary United Methodist Church. St. Andrews does not run its own feeding program at its facility. Second, it was not that St. Andrews did not want homeless persons to sleep on the property. Indeed, for years, a few individuals slept in the vestibule, never caused a problem, and even cleaned and did odd jobs around the facility. Over time however, some individuals took advantage of that hospitality and began to create sanitary and safety problems in the neighborhood. St. Andrews was forced to make a difficult decision, because while being called to be pastorally responsive to "the least of these brothers and sisters", the situation had become untenable, and it was also important to be a good neighbor. When informal discussions with the persons involved did not succeed in alleviating the problem, the only solution was a no trespassing order.
Thank you St. Andrews for the clarification.
Just to be clear, Anonymous at 12:05 is not St. Andrews, nor any individual officially connected with St. Andrews. Just a person with knowledge of the situation. :-)
Maybe you can and maybe you can’t tell me why it is that everything that happens in LW comes as a complete surprise to the leadership of the city. The homeless issue has been around for years, it may be getting worse I’ll give you that, yet the leadership in the city acts likes this is the first they have heard about it. Everything is in the reactive state, never appears they are proactive, I assume that gives them some time to actually come up with the bs they spew to the public, incredible. It happens with every issue presented, never make a decision today that you can put off until tomorrow.
Ask Palm Beach how they solved their homeless/panhandler problem.I don't see any homeless or panhandlers in that city.
Simple.... in Palm Beach, it IS considered a problem. In Lake Worth, it is part of our funkiness, our diversity, our humanity. "We don't want to be like Palm Beach".
Don't you get it?
As someone who lives near St. Andrews, the homeless sleeping on their property has been a problem for the neighbors for several years. The people sleeping there were also drinking, pan handling, peeing and pooping (as Stanton says). St. Andrews only responded after years of complaints and repeated calls to PBSO. I know that the church has a mission and respect their efforts but they were absolutely creating a hazzard for those who live in close proximity to the church. And as much as I like Joann Golden she was of no help on this issue and she was supposed to be representing me and my neighbors since we live in her district.
The Homeless problem is worse because the economy is worse, PB Co. has no shelter for single men and the shelter space for women and families is quite limited. WPB has the same problem we do with the homeless. And the homeless do have rights and should be respected, I have no problem with them hanging out in the cultural plaza but I can understand the concern of parents who want their kids to be able to walk to the library. A much larger percentage of homeless have addiction and mental health problems which can sometimes cause them to act out. Some are simply regular people down on their luck.
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