The Homelessness Epidemic

As an Angeleno, I see people living on the streets all over every day. It has reached epidemic proportions. Small businesses too are being affected by this human tragedy, as tents are being pitched right outside the businesses’ front doors. And the continuous threat of the spread of medieval diseases is again upon us.

The millions of dollars being thrown at the problem by the “professional” politicians for the purported purpose of creating extra housing is not the answer. Step one needs to be to do a deep dive into the severe mental illness that underlies much of the epidemic. Most of the homeless in Los Angeles would not be able to live (without serious care) in the housing supposedly being built even if it existed. If you don’t believe me, take a walk sometime through Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles.

I want to work with the experts in and out of government, from around the world. Our country’s decimated mental illness treatment system has to be rebuilt from the ground up. Long term facilities must be built, and we need the ability to again involuntarily commit for treatment and care for as long as needed those who have no ability to care for themselves.

These same problems underlie the horrible mass shootings we have witnessed. If you know someone who is clearly severely mentally ill and a danger to themselves and others, there is nowhere presently for you to turn. At best, the person gets held for up to 72 hours and is back on the streets. One of the parents of the Parkland shooter’s victims said as much: everyone knew how evil, crazy and dangerous the shooter was, long before he killed so many beautiful kids. But no one could do anything about it. There was nowhere to turn. It is time to create the facilities in which to commit such severely mentally ill people. And they too would be safer, and our communities would be far safer as a result of what I am proposing. For starters however, we need a Congressman who cares about these issues. I care deeply about them. My opponent has done nothing about these problems in his 20+ years in office.