Editorial:
It comes as no surprise that an empty building in Barrio Logan was selected as the site for a homeless shelter this winter. What is a surprise is that district representative Ben Hueso would allow for the shelter to locate adjacent to an elementary school – Perkins Elementary. We always ask ourselves the question: would this be allowed in any other district? Would the community of Poway or say University City allow this to occur? We all know the answer to those questions! Yet for some reason opening a homeless shelter next to a school in Barrio Logan is deemed acceptable!
The homeless problem has perplexed San Diego leaders for a long time, with no coherent plan to date. Most of us can empathize with the homeless and would like to see a long term plan developed.
For many who find themselves without a place to call home, winter can be a very trying time. Many folks find themselves in need of a warm, safe place to stay until their personal situation improves. In general those without a home are decent people, even the chronically homeless person is not what you would consider bad, just unable to hold a job, or wanting/willing to work for various reasons. Most are respectful, they clean up after themselves, and can even be helpful.
The flip side of this coin is the homeless person who is an alcoholic, a drug user, has mental health issues, and others who just don’t give a damn. Many are dirty, sloppy, involved with prostitution to pay for their drugs, habitual criminals looking to take any advantage available.
When La Prensa San Diego’s offices were located downtown, it was a constant chore of cleaning up, sweeping up condoms and syringes. The employees would feel uncomfortable in the evening leaving the office while the homeless laid out under the overhang in the parking lot. We were exposed to a larger number of homeless folks because we were close to church that provided free food, we were close to Balboa Park (a popular place for the homeless) and our office structure provided a couple of unique places to sleep partially sheltered. We coped with the situation and even got to know a few of the regulars.
But this is not the type of a situation that young children should be exposed to on a regular basis. As parents we do our best to shelter our children from this type of exposure, we do everything we can to protect our children. This is not the type of situation that elementary school aged children should have to face every day.
This would have never, ever occurred in any other community, yet in Barrio Logan it is acceptable to Ben Hueso, the council representative, who agreed to this.
The homeless shelter is scheduled to open at the end of November and stay open till March 30. It is too late to change the location, the best the community can hope for is that the incoming district representative, David Alvarez, has the common sense to see that this does not occur again and hopefully the city comes up with a long term solution to the shelter issue that satisfies all concerns.