The battle is over and the homeless have lost.
I just read a post on the Plano blog for the Dallas Morning News that the Samaritan Inn, the only homeless shelter for Collin County in Texas has sent a letter to the Plano city council formally withdrawing its zoning request for the site the facility would have been built on but will continue to pursue the funding to purchase land elsewhere for a second homeless shelter for families.
I was not able to make it to the meeting last night, but I have not only read about what was said at the meeting but the city of Plano actually puts video of the council meetings online in their entirety. I was proud of the turnout last night, as the vast majority of the people in attendance were there to support the proposed shelter. Only one person, one, spoke against and that was against the location only, not against the proposed shelter itself.
The city council's decision? Table the proposal for the time being. Apparently the council felt there were zoning issues to be dealt with. Were there any zoning issues? I personally do not know, but I do believe that the council made the wrong decision here. There was community support, both at the meeting and elsewhere. There was land available at a fraction of the price for the proposed facility, but the decision made, to me at least, was a political one. Do the "right" thing that will allow you to be re-elected.
It was a wrong decision.
Yes, the battle to protect the neighborhood from the big bad homeless families was won last night by the businesses and neighborhood associations as well as the Plano city council. They will no longer have to worry about the homeless six year old, the homeless moms and dads bringing down their real estate values, nor any dips in their profit margins.
And apparently they no longer have to worry about their humanity either.
Eric
Showing posts with label Homeless. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Homeless. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Sunday, August 08, 2010
Battle For the Homeless in Plano, TX
I live near the city of Plano, TX and I came across a story in the Dallas Morning News online about a homeless shelter being proposed to be built in the eastern part of the city of Plano. Now, this is not in my neighborhood, but I am not too far from it.
The area in question is on the edge of a technology park, almost in a lower income neighborhood. There are a number of agencies in this area as well as a public transportation stop that will quickly help the homeless but there is much opposition to this. There are several businesses who are worried about what having a homeless shelter will do to this area. Will it drop the property value? Will it bring an increase of crime? Will it be a detriment to businesses in the immediate area?
Already one business, a self-storage place is complaining that two of their clients have said that they would pack their storage and leave to find another place to store their belongings as they are afraid their items in storage would be stolen. It is a sad fact of humanity that this perception exists.
What price do we place on a human life? When do we stop worrying about property values and start worrying about people who are in dire straits? We are talking about human beings who do not have a roof over their heads, who do not have an air-conditioned place to relax in. We are talking about not just individuals, but whole families who are homeless. Moms, dads and their children who have to worry about where they are going to sleep and what they will eat. It seems that all people can care about is "How will this affect the value of my home/business?"
What if it were them? What if something horrible happened to them and they became homeless? What would they think then? I know what I would think. You see, I've been homeless before. It's not fun.
The Plano City Council will be meeting tomorrow, Monday, August 9th to decide whether or not to spend 700,000 dollars of federal money to purchase the land to build this shelter on. I plan on being there to offer my support for this. I hope that if you live in this area, you'll show up as well to offer your support for those who are not as fortunate and don't have a place to sleep tonight. Perhaps in the future they will.
Eric
The area in question is on the edge of a technology park, almost in a lower income neighborhood. There are a number of agencies in this area as well as a public transportation stop that will quickly help the homeless but there is much opposition to this. There are several businesses who are worried about what having a homeless shelter will do to this area. Will it drop the property value? Will it bring an increase of crime? Will it be a detriment to businesses in the immediate area?
Already one business, a self-storage place is complaining that two of their clients have said that they would pack their storage and leave to find another place to store their belongings as they are afraid their items in storage would be stolen. It is a sad fact of humanity that this perception exists.
What price do we place on a human life? When do we stop worrying about property values and start worrying about people who are in dire straits? We are talking about human beings who do not have a roof over their heads, who do not have an air-conditioned place to relax in. We are talking about not just individuals, but whole families who are homeless. Moms, dads and their children who have to worry about where they are going to sleep and what they will eat. It seems that all people can care about is "How will this affect the value of my home/business?"
What if it were them? What if something horrible happened to them and they became homeless? What would they think then? I know what I would think. You see, I've been homeless before. It's not fun.
The Plano City Council will be meeting tomorrow, Monday, August 9th to decide whether or not to spend 700,000 dollars of federal money to purchase the land to build this shelter on. I plan on being there to offer my support for this. I hope that if you live in this area, you'll show up as well to offer your support for those who are not as fortunate and don't have a place to sleep tonight. Perhaps in the future they will.
Eric
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