Homeless Evictions: Displaced and Confused People at Risk and Possibly ‘Dangerous’ to Residents
“A couple of days ago there was 30 people up there–maybe more,” said Lois Cordova, a homeless woman and advocate who was on site monitoring the final evictions. “Now those people are wandering around the streets.”
Cordova worries that the people removed from the area will just move to other nearby areas but without their support systems. “There’s still a lot of places for people to camp around here but there’s not any people to camp together and help each other,” she said. And, she said, social services can’t find their clients to help them now.
Referring to a well-known local but homeless man, Cordova said, “Mental health was up there looking for Vern…Mental health couldn’t find him. When somebody has a place they go back to all the time, then you could find them.” Now she says Vern is displaced and confused. “He doesn’t understand. He doesn’t know that he can’t be there….He’s one of those people that really needs to be in care.”
In addition Cordova believes that many of the increasing number of transients or homeless in the Southern Humboldt area that people have complained about actually are just displaced people who are more visible now that they have been evicted from their camps.
At the same time a resident of Redway worried that homeless and transients from the Palco Marsh eviction in Eureka and this eviction today would be moving to his area. “They just sent them all down here,” he said referring to the forest camps to the north of his town. He worries that the cooking fires which caused so many wild blazes near town the last few years could be worse this year.
“You can’t just send these people into the forest,” he said. “It’s dangerous.”
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Well, the owner of the land has a right to clear his property. These people were on his land illegally.
How about letting these “displaced” persons camp in YOUR backyard?
Of course, he does. That doesn’t mean however that there aren’t consequences to the homeless and to residents of other areas. The idea is that by asking the questions and talking together hopefully we can find some solutions
It was my understanding that Hippy Hill is a parcel with the freeway on one side and the freeway off ramp on the other. And that it was owned by someone out of town until purchased by someone with the intent of requesting the people be cleared.
If that is true it doesn’t change the fact that the owner had a legal right, it does diminish my impression of that person. But perhaps I can continue to hope that the person will come to see that having people there was better than having them displaced…
This is just so terribly terribly sad…
He should clear his or her property….ya no if someone got hurt on the property that person could sue? Why is it that the needy feel their misfortune is other peoples problem? I was homeless once….it was my problem. I fixed it. Done
As sad as it is most of these folks don’t want help,just want to stay high and steal from hard working.folks who barely get by them selfs.it sad,the children should at least have food and shelter.and when you offer them a job and.they say “GO FUCK YOUR SELF”THAT tells me alot.
Yeah, you sound like a christian.
We have all witnessed the impact these people have had on Southern Humboldt when it went unchecked. Now it is Southern Humboldt’s fault for not providing housing. How about don’t come here in the first place unless you have somewhere to stay and plan to work. ANYONE that wants to can thrive here and eventually find housing and employment. Thing is , that’s not what the transients want, but somehow I am supposed to feel guilt that they don’t have it . Really?? Just show up in a town, trash and tresspass, drug and steal and the advocates are bending over backwards to accommodate them and guilt everyone into thinking they aren’t ‘Christian’. Fucking Bullshit.
Right????
Telling a Samaritan to go fuck themselves isn’t Christian.
If our “homeless” problem was just Vern and the few spun out local kids we could handle it, in fact we did for years. Now, with career transients and professional bums, we’ve became a foster home for anyone who chooses to be homeless here. Not anymore, this is the beginning of the end for this behavior and rational people see right thru the bull-shit. Who gives a crap where they go, as long as it isn’t Southen Humboldt.
What do you think about the concerns of the Redway resident?
His concerns are legitimate to a certain extent. Are “they” sending homeless down here and are homeless going to move into his yard.. I don’t know, most likely not. His concern for homeless fires is very real as it happens at least a dozen times a year. CDF is disbached to these camps regularly. All of these fears, legitimate or not should be taken into consideration if we as a community are seriously trying to have a conversation about becoming a homeless sanction camp for all of society’s rejects. I think his “concerns” gave a alternative perspective and spin on the story but I’m not quite sure what direction you were intending to go with it. If it was using fear to support trespassing, hard drug sales, child endangerment, deficating and littering TONS of trash into our woods in support for “somewhere” for these people to go. It didn’t work for me. As I said, I don’t give a crap where these people go, as long as it’s NOT Southern Humboldt.
I think that most of us are NIMBY’s about the homeless/transient/mentally ill/drug addicts in our neighborhoods. None of us want them. But, they exist and moving them on only relocates the problem. In some cases, not very far. How many of those evicted from Hippie Hill do you think got on a bus out of SoHum and how many more moved their camping site less than five miles?
I agree, I’d say they most likely moved or are right back on Heroin Hill. The point is to keep them moving and uncomfortable UNTIL they buy a bus ticket out of here.
We can’t fix the responsibilities of the County or the gross incompetence of bureaucracy. We can however create a social standard of what is acceptable in our LITTLE communities (town). People who live in the hills do not see the problem on a daily basis. Not to mention what these people do to tourism and local commerce.
They ALL need to Go.
Dave, I don’t think that letting trash pile up and people live in the filth is a good answer either. However, there are consequences to actions and addressing those consequences if possible is a good idea.
Some possible partial solutions that some might suggest could run the gamut from evicting people in the north Redway camps to building tiny homes to house them to offering drug treatment programs and mental health services to putting trespassers in jail.
Looking at the problems caused by displacing the homeless doesn’t mean that you also can’t look at the problems with some of the people staying in the camps strewing trash and feces. I think its a good idea to see things clearly. There are problems if we evict homeless people from one area. There are also problems with leaving the camps to grow. The solution is only going to come if we look at the problems and weigh them carefully searching for the most good and the least harm.
Let’s help buy bus tickets for people that want to go home.
Or went to the next overpass and lost their life?
I lived in North redway for 3 years. Is is SCARY AS FUCK when the woods a few hundred yards from your house goes up in flames at 2 in the afternoon on a 100° day…. Which has happened a few times. I remember one time it was a brainless homeless woman making a “special meal” for her boy friend. Never found out if calfire stuck her with the bill or charged her with anything. SoHum should get a pool going and give all the bums one-way bus tickets to DC.
If I lived in Redway, the possibility of fires would keep me awake on summer nights.
I’ve lived in my home and Redway 32 years now. I’ve always been able to keep the drug users and heroin users out of my backyard literally. The local homeless know my name. And they also know my game. I wasn’t home 2 years ago in June when the fire behind my house started. From the homeless lady making her boyfriend a special lunch. I was in the hospital with my sister dying of an asthma attack. I was beside myself when my daughter called me and said that the red fire retardant from the plans, was landing on our house. My heart fell into my stomach. All I could do was pray. I can honestly say. There have been people in these Woods for years. There are local homeless people. That have camps that keep them clean believe it or not. But for the most part these people have mental issues. Summer easy to deal with most aren’t. I found being a vigilante comes in pretty handy. Not that I would ever hurt anyone. But scaring the bejesus out of them certainly works. I remember when my son was four years old and came home from behind the house period saying mama I found psychedelic needles. Obviously he meant hypodermic that he was too little. Their cook fires are very dangerous especially if they’re drunk, and passed out. Which seems to be their Forte. I honestly don’t have a solution I wish we could find one. In the meantime I’m going to be myself. Be kind, ask them if they need help moving. Teehee
FYI first photo of man on right with arm bandage,a life long resident of so hum/no mend. Struggling with mental illness and other life issues including addiction…..not considered “dangerous” sometimes even close family can’t help.no resources for mental illness and law enforcement is forced by circumstance to ignore…..
There is a distinct lack of help for the mentally ill and drug addicted everywhere but particularly in Southern Humboldt.
I occures to me that is why they are here. They don’t want help. They want to be left alone to live in thier filth and do their drugs. That is why SoHum is so much worse than other places, it’s further away from “help”.
Small housing would only cause them to be entrapped in the fires that they cause in their stuppor. Every place that feral humans stay burns. I have seen it too many times.
I think that the only help for some of them is to be institutionalized. Some of their minds are sadly gone forever. Those that could have helped themselves will do so if they are forced to. Anything less than telling them to get a life is only enabling them to remain bums.
Vern, too?
Unfortunately, Vern is one of those that would do well in an institution.
Vern is reasonable when talked to in a friendly fashion. He instantly adopts the mood of the person that is talking to him. Vern is a good example of what happens to a person that has fried their brain on drugs. He is not evil. Some say that he was hit in the head with a frying pan, but I can assure you, he was hit in the head with drugs, and sadly, he will be that way FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE.
We that knew him when he was normal owe him some compassion. But he is what he is. He will never be able to care for himself as a person should. He will lead a short life because of that.
Some of the drug addicted feral humans are pure evil, they enjoy trashing our town and being a detriment to anything nice that the town people try to do. Ron Machado is one of those. (The buff dude with the tan) he is the one that piles trash downtown in the parking spaces. He also has fathered children that have been taken away from him and his girlfriend. We as a society are raising them. He has cost the county enough to buy him a three bedroom house with two baths. How is that fair?
There is no solution to the feral human problem. Utah is no comparison. The weather there gives the homeless no choice other than accept help and move inside or die. They are being institutionalized by the weather. In SoHum there will have to be a law to do that, and in SoHum that won’t happen. Somehow the rest of the county thinks that we deserve this. DO WE REALLY?
Maybe euthenasia?
Meth causes early senility.to call a group dirty is very historical.want to return to the stake and pyre.it is society that is forcing their sociopathic behavior.[edit]
There is no lack of help. It is the fact that the individual must chose personal to get treatment. The state, federal government , and families legally can not force anyone with mental illness or addiction into full time treatment. There lays the problem. May of these individuals don’t understand what’s going on with them and many do but refuse to correct their problem to rejoin society.
When they are having a bad day and acting up. Running around town getting moved along by everyone. They begin to stress everyone else.
They are given chocolate dognuts, and jesus.
So you go clean up franks needles then
That comment was not directed at Ernie.
I can’t believe all the talk of how the social services folks can’t get to these people to help them now that they are scattered about. What help is that to leave all these vulnerable folks illegally squatting in the forest? They were getting help from case managers? Was a deadline announced beforehand? Was no help offered before the deadline to move out, as in the case of the PALCO squatters? Where’s the Betty Chinn of SoHum? Is this a case of not enough legitimate housing or a case of druggies hanging out being idle?
Love it…..
Not one of these people in the pictures really live on hippie hill. Ron has tried to live there but he says he gets robbed so he doesn’t like to stay there. And most of the other ones live or are constantly at the lone pine. And the girl with crutches was in a car wreck the other night way up Alderpoint hill and I’m also pretty sure is from the lone pine
It is hard to tell whether folks who look homeless actually have residences. These photos are just showing the people in town today who appear to be experiencing life difficulties.
After doing the locals on patrol since it was started it isn’t very hard to know who they are or their story you really get to know these people being out there a couple times a week.
Every single one of them is a drug addict, and don’t desire any help to change their lives or get better. Keep enabling the behavior, and it’s just going to keep getting worse.
That is true tired of it. These people have all been offered help and have refused all they care about is doing drugs.
Addiction is an illness. Educate yourself & stop blaming.
Yes addiction is a illness, but it doesn’t mean they should be enabled to run around with no respect for other people it’s bad enough they lost respect for them selves. You could give each of these people a home and car and in the end they would sell it off for drugs. I’ve seen people lose everything they worked for to drugs and alcohol. But at the end of the day they would still choose to get high. Some of them you have to let hit rock bottom. And most people would consider the way these people live is rock bottom, but has long as they are or still have a way to get high they are doing fine.
The altruists enabling an illness.cheerleaders.
Addiction is a choice.
Boy you are out of touch!
I agree. If you own a business in town or spend more than two minutes a day, you catch on pretty quick to their hustles. The one pictured with the arm sling is a heroin runner for one of the dealers out of the lone-pine. The others are his customers.
Yes the one with the arm sling is he used to be a decent kid him and his brother used to work a Cecil’s then this one decide to go on a trip and wasn’t heard from for awhile. His family reported him as a missing person. Then he showed back up strung out on drugs.
Yep yep yep all yep.
Absolute truth. I agree yepper
Our community caused this mess. Our community needs to clean it up. Not judging, just saying.
Yes our community created this mess through Tolerance and Apathy.
Both are the Last Virtues of a Dying Society.
Bingo!
Apathy is bad, tolerance can be a virtue. Tolerance of evil is what I assume you mean.
Adolph?
[edit] Haven’t we cleaned up enough? In any state or federal park don’t u realize no one leaves that amount of trash? People pay to rent a camp space. These aholes aren’t “camping” they’re squatting. Gawwwd. Go “camping” at Dean creek and see how they tolerate this shit!
Absolute truth. I agree
Overwhelming is society forming in a human whirlwind, only possible with ogata’s cristal.its nueculus.not who’s fault.quien yo?
I liked what geist said. He was homeless, his prob, he fixed it. Exactly. Anyone seen “in the pursuit of happiness” ??? Many of these people want hand outs and just to get high. How fucking nice. I work two jobs to raise my son, he just started his first fast food job. I’m very proud of him.
Ideally, everyone would fix their own problems but when they don’t, sometimes that affects the rest of us. One Redway resident worries that the homeless are merely relocating to near his home. He worries that their cooking fires might start a fire that could destroy a chunk of Redway, a town that contains the elementary school for our community’s children. If his concerns are valid, that is our problem.
No offense Kym but leave fear-mongering up to the politicians.
Almost smells a little like Paul Encimer in here!
So the Redway resident’s concerns seem totally groundless? I covered those fires and they are very real. If you follow the link you can look at photos taken as firefighters battle flames in a homeless camp there. I also covered the Lake County fires and watched Middletown burn that night and heard the panic in the voices of the dispatchers as they realized people were dying in the flames.
You can’t really have it both ways. You can’t say the problem is terrible in Garberville and we need to move the homeless along and then turn around and say there isn’t a problem when they move to Redway (as it seems at least somewhat likely they will.)
I’m not advocating that Hippie Hill needed to stay the same. I’m providing a place for voices in the community to say, Look this causes other problems. If we are aware of the problems, then we can come up with solutions before the problems get worse.
Sharon, you should be proud of yourself and your son both. We need more people like you.
Funny, I saw Vern like 4 times today all over town, but they couldn’t find him? He’s frickin’ everywhere!
The top photo, the old man on the left, is a known drug runner. He is highly visible on the streets back and forth daily. The other man is from Leggett, and I have been told is battling mental illness, but he appears to partake in some sort of substance on a regular basis too.
I’ve seen her out and about, but not 100% on her story. She is the woman who had a Bf shouting at her to stop doing heroine. Also, said she should be put out of her misery.
Ron, he does not camp near anyone. He doesn’t trust the other transients. But is totally responsible for a lot of the crazy trash piles everywhere. & junk being stolen from people’s trash cans… & I do believe he does drugs too.
Many of the homeless are addicts. They do not want help. We need our justice system to order them to state mandated rehabilitation centers!
I use to be friends with the young girl in the photo. She had everything going for her and she got into drugs. She had many of opportunities to clean up and chooses not too. So sad but you can’t change people who don’t want to.
Kym, this is better than loco. Your a patient reporter-blogger. This is a very hot button topic for working folks. So frustrating at best. Meth and heroin are to blame. Repeal prop.47, more court orderd rehabs. Thats the only way to help. More rehabs and jail space.
Not drugs but people circling them.start with authority, that stresses addict when he quits (stereotypically) and accidently? Causes relapse, and more. distribution.you have to step back.you know a man by the small things.
I think about my friend in eel rock. Nah, her dog would take care of biz…
Plenty of extremely wealthy growers who live in that area. Perhaps they can help?
I think it would be nice if they would. However, that’s like saying Rob Arkley lives near Palco Marsh, he should help. Maybe some wealthy growers could be persuaded to pitch in but how can we encourage that? Who would administer the money? Are there other ways to attack the problem?
What?
What would $ go too?
“Small houses” so they can host more drug addicted transients and professional losers? So we can 10 years later say they need a whole block, or postal code, more and more to what end?
I think I’d rather see the drunk and high ones put on a boat with no motor and sailed out from the bay. Adios!
What about some stricter local codes voted in?
Vote for 30 day holds in jail, no bail, if found to be heroin addicted or dealing on local streets. 30 days without drugs or free gifts from from a liberal society is a new unknown world to many of these dregs. Same for any harassment to public. This behavior has been tolerated way too long.
2nd offense 60 days.
3rd offense….I dunno, they should be gone by then, if not, year long labor camps could put them to work for the area. They could build “small homes” for the working families, and all the labor savings can be put to infrastructure and education.
Hardworking , law abiding, family households paying more in taxes for services and “free” housing is not the answer.
hint;
the jail is overcrowded already…. were looking for a long time solution not just another bandage
We need a working ranch, these people could build and live the way the want, if they choose the right choice they can build a full working, feeding ranch and house them all choose different duties for each person. Start a recycling station and start cleaning up the town and recycle the goods to get some cash. It’s just gonna take someone to donate the property to get started and someone to get the ball rolling
Just an idea, thank you miss Kym! You rock
A working ranch would be one way of providing a living space and jobs.
Cleaning out the barn, bucking hay bails, weeding crops.
This would all depend on them having housing, the building of which is a expensive and unwanted by many attending planning dept. meetings.
What you guys don’t get is that THEY DONT WANT TO WORK. You assume all these people are chomping at the bit to work for a place to live. Don’t you get it? They can do that by being a regular citizen . I can just imagine the homeless in Sohum having a good laugh over all the handwringing everyone does over them.
I agree that many don’t want to work and some can’t function well enough to work. But there are people who work regular jobs or are seniors or veterans in Humboldt that don’t have homes.
good luck, aren’t u listening, they don’t want to work…..they just want to do drugs and veg….
I understand that some actually work in town. However, there are many with drug addictions, too.
With a shooting up shed.
Good idea!
Salt Lake City has reduced its homeless population to almost nothing by providing housing and counselors who get people off drugs and diagnose mental illnesses.
http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/Salt-Lake-City-a-model-for-S-F-on-homeless-5587357.php
It seems to be working. These people are not vermin to be disposed of; they’re human beings who deserve compassion, people with families, possibilities and hope. Use the tax money from soon-to-be legalized cannabis businesses to deal with homelessness, along with rebuilding green infrastructure (like the WPA), and funding the state parks.
Criminalizing and jailing the mentally ill and drug addicted is terribly expensive and counterproductive. Both mental illness and addiction need to be treated as a public health problem if we’re going to solve it. In the short term, emergency housing in a campground or trailers with restrooms, sanitation, trash removal and counseling is preferable to secret camps in the woods.
Well said and that is an excellent article that compares the programs in SF and SLC explaining why one works so well compared to the other.
That’s wonderful. Looks like we need to send them all to Salt Lake City.
I’m not in opposition, but I do feel it’s important to hear the other side of the story. Utah didn’t work as well as the developers want us to think. Like unemployment, they just came up with a new way to crunch the numbers, in order to sound better.
In order for something like this to work, both truths would need to be scruntinized carefully. Blindly following the call of developers who receive permanent income from tax funds is getting as old as watching the national or state healthcare system dole out higher wages & benefits to management instead of using the funds for weekly cleanup crews, security, patient care…
http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/apr/27/utah-homeless-shelters-housing-first
And crunching. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kevin-corinth/think-utah-solved-homeles_b_9380860.html
Maybe we need to think outside the system.
Those are excellent articles. I like the clear way they point out the problems with the “just-provide-homes” solution. I think the actual solution will be more like taking several different paths to ameliorate the problem–making the situation better but probably not completely eliminating it.
I agree. I didn’t know about the flip side until the veterans were complaining in disgust about their right to live, not just room, in their own apartment. They want what they fought for, what they protected against, freedom to rule your own home (wherever that may be) as your own castle. Some smoked, some had pets, all had valor.
Lol Salt Lake City also goes below freezing for much of the year
Salt lake city is a city .We are small rural community …Not even a close comparison
At this working ranch, they would want to do there drugs… So unless they all got clean, or we were ok with them doing heroin at this “ranch” then I don’t imagine this being a good solution. ): Also we may need to keep a good eye on Redway school these next few weeks, maybey some parents could do some checks around the playground for needles. Or do some cruises by campus to make sure there not hanging out near it.
The patrols sound like good ideas. I wonder if someone will step up like the Sutherland women did in Garberville.
A Facebook friend recommended this http://www.sfgate.com/nation/article/Salt-Lake-City-a-model-for-S-F-on-homeless-5587357.php In this model, the idea is to end homelessness and then when the person is homed start trying to help with their addiction.
Together more buying power.cheaper.
When we first moved here a little over 2 years ago I thought it was the perfect small town. I thought we had found a little piece of paradise. After a few months here I learned that Garberville is called garbageville because of the homeless. It’s definetly not a tourist draw. This community would soar if the homeless and just passing through vagrants could be curtailed to just a few . I don’t think it’s a matter of housing the forgotten mentally challenged. There has to be a show of strength by all that live here. There has to a visual obstacle to show they are not welcomed or tolerated.
Last year there was a young woman assaulted in town by a transient. there was no cause of the attack other than the guy thought he could get away with it or he just didn’t care one way or the other. the people have to show it won’t be without consequences if our young people and others who live here have to live in fear of being hurt.
I personally would like to bring a swat team in and clear them all out. These people are rude and often threatening . If thier money needs are not met one way they will find another way. Not to mention the number of dogs they all have. We are sustaining them as well.
Most of them do not have the desire to work , some of them are not mentally capable of holding down a job due to drug addiction the list is endless.
I hope the town and surrounding areas survive .
We should do a report about all those green rushers that moved here two years ago to trash the place
Yes, while the transients are busy changing Garberville/Redway for the worse, the greenrushers are busy destroying neighborhoods in the outlying areas . How many of you have been invaded? I’ve been here 45 years. I know so many people that have to now put up with grower bullshit .
Mike Miller and his clean up crew were always hauling trash from there..
He told me about the man who had a steady job, and lived in a tent away from druggies, etc., this man just didn’t have the funds to get in a place…
Couple of weeks back I saw a tent on outside of fence( on highway side) and a young woman squatting going to the bathroom.. Guess she thought grass was high enough!!!
Is there a solution to keep everyone happy??
I doubt it…
Hold a town meeting with residents and others to attend to openly discuss a solution. An open air meeting , make sure we have voluntary and capable people on hand to prevent crossfire. Make it known the town as a whole is taking a stand. NO more handouts from the town as a whole. Any loitering will be harshly dealt with. Those that can offer work to those who will work be there on hand to offer it up. Let folks know if they choose to camp out in our woods they will be ask to leave. WE HAVE A NO TOLERANCE TOWN !
Those at the meeting that strongly oppose are welcome to leave and if need be will be removed from the area.
Special needs folks need to attend like people with children and the elderly that need a home. Maybe someone can offer resources for them. Bottom line is if your trying to help change your situation of being homeless maybe the town can help in some way. If your NOT be forewarned we intend for them to leave.
Of course our local law will be ask to assist.
Garberville and Redway are not responsible for the nations vagrants .
A show of strength…It would be cheaper to hire private security for the town than to build everyone free housing it’s a small town doubtful we could afford it.
I’m just tossing out thoughts hopefully the solution will show itself…
Trish, the article posted in the comment section says that Salt Lake City discovered it was actually cheaper to build houses then it was to arrest people. I don’t know if that would follow through in a small town though. AND where would we get the initial money to build the homes?
People are building on their property all the time…perhaps they could donate left over materials, sinks and extras they would discard….hardware stores leftover paint, etc… pick a community place
rarely used…let them build there own tiny houses, put up a building there for social services and a clinic…apply for a grant to finance it?
Kind of a KOA for the homeless.
Why the hell should we pay for anything .That is the problem
People like you are the problem. What the hell happened to humanity. We are all one, what hurts one hurts us all. We need to work together and find our way back to love. I was homeless there for a couple years, I know almost all of the homeless community, they are almost all nice people if treated as such.
This is NOT a third world Country! People flock here by the tens of thousands daily with nothing and are able to etch out an honest living. Why should they not receive the same free housing and support that you espouse all homeless people receive? Is it because they aren’t Americans? Freedom DOES have a price! It also has Laws, Rules, and Regulations. If someone isn’t willing to pay that price, they shouldn’t be “Helped”.
You’re the best Kym. I admire your honest reporting and your willingness to engage with all the commenters.
I’m trying to work out the best way to deal with this huge problem. People stating their opinions helps me see what questions I have about that–what possible problems might come out of their solutions. Which hopefully leads someone to offer a better solution.
It’s time to demand that the Measure Z money be put into mental health and drug rehabilitation centers. Calling Supervisor Estelle? I am.
Estelle has gone over to the dark side. Don’t waste your time
Veterans friend, what does that mean? What is the dark side, to you? The last I heard, she was protesting at the state capital in an attempt to get our road funding as due. That’s not dark, to me. I don’t know the other stuff that she’s doing or not doing. Can you fill us in?
The homeless situation becomes more problematic when the migrant laborers come through. So many more people hoping for a seasonal job, squatting on the town’s doorstep. This is one aspect that will not go away. Some facilities need to be available for that population as well, but those become vandalized or trashed, or worse yet, predator grounds. It is harder to tell who is migrant and who is vagrant. I think the first priority has to be the drug abuse and implementing a zero tolerance for blatant drug usage. Some ordinance about dogs could help as well. The only way for anything to change is for consensus and some solidarity on the issue. The migrant labor is a part of the life up here and complicates the homeless situation. How to help one without enabling the other?
Well said.
We need mental facilities!!!!!!
But hippie hill is not ok. Or any of them.
At least go be where there is some better resources!!!
I’m so glad that camp site came down!!.
It’s not ok!!!
We cannot take care of bagabonds!
But we must ban up and get mental health facilities for those who truly need it.
Remember, alot of these people are drug addicts and choose to be this.
It’s a lazy way out!
Others need help.
We need mental facilities!!!!!!
But hippie hill is not ok. Or any of them.
At least go be where there is some better resources!!!
I’m so glad that camp site came sown!!.
It’s not ok!!!
We cannot take care of bagabonds!
But we must ban up and get mental health facilities for those who truly need it.
Remember, alot of these people are drug addicts and choose to be this.
It’s a lazy way out!
Others need help.
I understand why this happened but I do feel bad for Vern. He’s probably so confused right now! Poor buddy, wish there was a nice place for people that really need help to go.
Some people need the help some people just abuse it. There are some that need mental help ( Vern isn’t as crazy as most think talk to him normal and see what happens) others like Frank Andy and many other “homeless” just use the system and abuse it just looking for drugs to shoot up Time for vigilante monitoring and justice because I’m not pulling any punches when it comes to those shooting up in public
When I first moved out here Garberville was a jewel-box of a small town… clean, happy, pretty. I remember seeing a couple of street people, but since I came from a large city where many homeless are hardened head-cases a couple of hippies doing weed on the sidewalk seemed “cute”.
A few weeks ago I took a friend to G’ville for her first visit there, and we had interesting conversations with the bunches of people on the sidewalk. When we left, she said to me “were they waiting for the Amtrak or something?”
Apparently it never occurred to her that so many people out on the street was a regular, everyday thing. I do have to say that none of the street people that we saw were dangerous or off the edge… some were obviously high – but again compared to some city homeless – they were essentially good people.
I wish we could all remember that most people are nice, some are sick/on drugs and in every group, homed and homeless, there are bad people. It’s my understanding that Gary Bullock had a home for most if not all of his life until the crime of our century sent him to San Q. Using one data point is skewed, but it points out that homelessness and major crimes are not linked in lockstep.
If all the people in Palco Marsh were the major thieves in Eureka, the police might have recovered stolen property during the cleanup. If that happened it was so minor as to be not press-worthy.
So how about a tiny bit of compassion… whenever the urge strikes to go “THOSE… horrible…. people….” (or whatever you say driving by), please remember they’re someone’s son or daughter – show compassion whenever possible and let’s all as a community work together for long-lasting solutions like Salt Lake City did… small homes and THEN worry about addiction. It seems to work.
Heck, most of us wouldn’t leave our dogs out in HumCo rain, why is it ok to let other people live in the rain? If you haven’t got your own Betty Chin in Garberville, how about a committee stepping up to be blue angels down there too? Managing a crisis is better than the head in the sand method and far better than the “this makes me so angry I am going to scream my head off and do nothing” method.
Personally I rehoused someone at great risk of homelessness. A year later this person is self-supporting and living on their own – not homeless. If we all took one homeless person for a project, 200 of us would have projects and the rest of ya’ll can help.
Seriously. If the problem is “homelessness”, the only way to fix this is to get people into shelter/housing/containers/RV’s whatever it takes to get them off the street. Having solved the base problem of living on the street, social services can help with the rest of it.
They found 30 thousand dollars worth of stuff stolen in the palco marsh 6 months ago /not to forget the stolen firearms , Bullock was strung out on pcp and speed like the dangerous fers in town .Time to bust their dealers and fine the hotels where the dealers reside
Cristal, euphoriant stimulant.is the most associative of analeptics.causing grouping of humans.causing society formation (so called) . Cristal, like whitebread for birds, causes grouping, at night too.eureka, now 5-10.elpaso zero, chijuajua 25-50.intimidating groups, if they thimk you like cops and hate cristal (them).
Instead of giving them more, More, more maybe we should start taking away their tax payer benefits. I know when I was a kid and didn’t behave my mom/dad would take away TV or gameboy or my .22 so guess what I started behaving. Piss test them, test dirty loose your tax payer payed for benefits……
Who likes Hawaii, Malibu, or Lake Tahoe? How about 200 of us decide to move into a small town and decide to do whatever we want. You know move into the woods and accumulate thousands of pounds of trash piss and shit on the streets. Drink at every hour of the day while We are hi on whatever nasty drug we can get our hands on. We will disrespect the locals and make there kids feel uncomfortable. We will steal from the stores while we dirupt there business with or shanninagans loitering and panhandling. We will not abide by the rules and laws of the land that we decide to settle in not for it’s convienve to mental social and government help but instead because of its beauty. Yes some of us might want to get a job some of us might need mental and social help but we will insist that you house EVERYBODY. Even though only a few of us will actually use this as a stepping stone to better our lives. How does this sound to everybody else?
Did you look at the link to the Salt Lake City story? In the last 10 years they’ve reduced their homeless population from around 2000 to around 400 (at a time when across the nation homelessness is going up) and their veterans are almost all housed.
No one addresses the issue of unaffordable and substandard housing here. Our own local work force can’t even find housing! But keep targeting the homeless and averting your eye to the real problems: greed and apathy and three houses destroyed by indoor growing for every single home that gets built or renovated. I’ve been watching the real estate market here for over 15 years and have no hope that anyone will create more affordable housing for people with REAL jobs. Money talks, and BS, and now transients, walk.
Our lack of available housing is a real issue. People with jobs like grocery clerk and gas station attendant are struggling to find a place at all let alone one that allows them to keep much of their paycheck.
What a ridiculous conversation to be having. Entertaining the idea of a “tiny home” camp or some kind of “homeless” farm?? Have you people smoked entirely too much weed? This is insane. You’re advocating for a solution to a problem that you created in the beginning. Ever tried to put out a fire with gasoline?
This problem spawned from acceptance and tolerance, now it’s out of control and your solution is to scale it up with a fucking homeless town? So ridiculous.
Tax payers will NOT support your homeless purposals nor will the County. There is not and will never be any funds for your delusional, selfish ideas. The only tax money I support being spent on these scum is towards enforcing our existing laws that they break on a daily basis. I swear advocates are mentally-ill themselves.
“Tiny Homes” lol, yeah fucking right!
Do you know Vern? Is he scum?
Nobody is discouraging you from buying Vern a house or allowing him to move onto your property. If that’s what you want, by all means, go for it. But guilt tripping people into thinking this is a social collective problem and its our responsibility to fix it through more taxation is ridiculous. If you’d like to use Vern as your case study, I suggest buying him a home and get back to us in one year with the update. Good luck.
I’m curious. When someone says the firefighters need more gear, do you say, “Nobody is discouraging you from buying them gear?” Pointing out a problem is not the same as wanting to solve it all by yourself.
Also, I’m not saying that one must fix the problem a certain way. I’m saying, “Hey, folks, we’ve got problems. Let’s figure out how best to make them not such big problems.
One solution offered is to discourage so many from living in our area. Okay, that solves one part of the problem but here are some problems it causes, what should we do about those?
Let’s stop using Vern. We all know him and accept him because he was an outstanding member of the community as well as having immediate family that owns land and is well respected in the community. We know he’s not the immediate problem
Vern has relatives all over this county, his brother lives in the Cove, another brother lives in G-ville, and a sister in Redway. None want him there as he brings all his drunk, dope addicts friends to live with him at his relatives expense. No body is going to put up with that.
It’s funny how everyone has such a strong opinions.. And the question I ha e is how many many of you have either been homeless and hard up, addicted and on the streets, or traveling with little money and your dog hoping for something… Because each are different, but each is lumped into people’s minds as “transient” or “bum”. Hard to discern sometimes, but if you speak from your heart the words go to the heart, so try that. If one of the more vagrant types offers you heartfelt words back or a smile, then there is their light. If they don’t,maybe they are a reptile alien half breed and then you know. We were all babies, innocent and new, full of light. Remember that, even though Ron is scary and the dope fiends leave needles. I pick up needles, I don’t need a vest though, and I try to be kind to random people I don’t know. There is a scummy underbelly of people with big Ol houses and land who’s energy may be to blame for all the crazyness felt in tow , which is a fishbowl. But there ain’t no place like sohum on earth. That’s why I stay. And I aim to be a positive force myself, so it’s up to all of us individually to search inside and follow bliss instead of fear and hate. Yes. Hard drugs and crazy people are real and Scarry. Especially when you have children. Let’s all keep watch together and do our best to offer help and if that is declined and we are disrespected by Anyone, then use that light we were born with to force the darkness out.(not talking about Jesus).. Anyone. From the lowest smelly smelly of the drunken cross dressers, to the most arrogant of ray banned 90k SUV driving not stopping while texting triple hundred foot light depper, let’s hold then all accountable to respecting our planet and each other. We are just animals, but we are able to feel and express it and have Dominion, so lets twist that into a positive role!! Just some hippie shit, keep it real
Well said, and from the heart. Thank you.
Thank you
When I was little we never saw the bums,till night time when they slept on the benchs.my grandfather told me it’s because their wife’s will kick em out if they come.home.drunk.wow times have.changed.bad attitudes won’t change things only if we all work together as a town,as folks are sick of it!!You think it’s bad here,Try Hoboken N.J.20 years.ago they slept everywhere by the thousand,now wholly cow it’s awful.they should all go sleep on the President’s lawn!!!
The president installed a taller fence. The body guards shoot intruders first, ask questions later, in that gun-free zone. The great finale to ending White House lawn squatters, the president blessed HUD’s annexing program, AFFH, that turns the suburbs into government regional districts that are to be governed by the govt.
http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/421389/attention-americas-suburbs-you-have-just-been-annexed-stanley-kurtz
Funny how that works.
Don’t feed the bears!
Homeless people are people who have become homeless within their own community of origin. Most of the “homeless” around here are not homeless but are transients who have traveled here to become a burden on our community and a blight upon our towns. Semantics aside, we do not have the resources to do anything for these transients, period. Whenever I hear there’s a housing shortage, I get upset because to me, it’s not a shortage of housing, it’s an excess of people. Creating more housing only brings more people, which creates more burden to infrastructure and natural resources. This kind of thinking leads to runaway population growth and the destruction of our planet. Over-population is the root cause of all of our problems.
It would be interesting to get a good count on who came from where. However, just to give some idea of the reality on the ground, of the photos in the article, one person positively was identified as being on Hippie Hill and she has family in the area. Another is said to at least hang around the Lone Pine and has family in the area. So at least in the very small and unreliable sample we have here, a good chunk of the people seen on the streets of Garberville actually have local ties.
Thank you. The unrepentent greed of the super rich contributes as well
We will get by, we will survive.
So how long do you have to live here to be from here?
You’re a true home town hero miss Kym!
Just thought I’d throw that in the mix
Generally, you reap what you sow. If you spend decades promoting the Emerald Triangle as a place to get high and stay high, and inform people that you can come here and grow endless amounts of weed, get rich, and avoid all the laws. Every stray dog from as far away as Florida and even other Countries flock in, looking to live the “good” life.
Legalizing marijuana nationally would be the first step in culling out the undesirables in the tri-counties. Until we do that, we’re trying to bail out an ocean liner with a bucket.
I think garb needs to have elected officials kim kym for mayor we can pass a ordinance like eureka no pan handling and fortuna has the same thing .our hands are tied I’ve seen a big difference in tuna and pukreaka no more panhandling ,but like I said in a ealer post I was in Redway on last Friday saw alot of bum activity . Devil playground feral humans are moving in .we are gonna have bum wars for turf kym I think your ideas are the best just like your reporting I’m your biggest fan and friend. .
This is a calamity that can’t possibly be solved without compassion.
I live in a cabin in the forest west of Garberville, and everyone tells me I should move to town because I am 70 years old and in failing health. Yesterday I made my monthly trip to Ray’s for food and supplies, and there were street people everywhere, all over the parking lot and even leaning up against the store where the shopping carts are. I was afraid to get out of my car. (Last year I was nearly mugged at the “community park” next to Chatauqua, but scared them off.) People yelling, dogs fighting, shifty-eyed men scoping out my grocery bags, one man coughing so hard he fell over. I think I’m safer in the forest among the bears.
People over at Fred’s blog are reminiscenting (haha, dumb spell checker), about the good old days when the town’s were bustling with competive employees and employers. Sure, there was always somebody asking for change, to help them get through until payday, but by golly, there was a payday. They worked hard, bunked with friends, saved up for their own car & apartment. Today, the seasonal jobs are gone, it’s against ordinances to bunk with friends or rent out the attic, and nobody has spare change left after taxes, license’s, permits, fines, fees, to help others out between pay days. Some think that forcing others to give more, is the answer. Some think that cutting out all over regulating & the theft that goes with it is the answer. After listening to the then & now, I see I fall into the back then group. Somehow, we’ve got to regain control of our own destinations, businesses, homes & family’s, & good old fashioned ethical values again. No hope creates no ethics.
There’s nothing more fun than seeing a healthy dose of free market capitalism at work.
Make Garberville Great Again.
Get rid of the liberal bleeding heart mentality that the kooks brainwash us with daily. Shut down K-Mud, it’s their propaganda machine!
Well I’m a DJ at kmud and I’m not a bleeding heart. Just a hard working human that enjoys my music and wanted a radio show. [edit]
Extra campsites owned & run by the community might help with the housing shortage.
Self employment without fines, fees, permits, license’s, should be encouraged, not squelched. Don’t make enough money off your art? Improve or subsidize by prepping canvases of those who do make a living & can hire you.
As for the guy in the bottom photo. It’s nice to see someone who works out and still has time to develop a good tan.
i was thinkin the same thing…Dudes buffed.
that guy in the first picture up top, mules meth around garberville, extra tweeky!
Garb should do like the cops are hire there own private goon squad private security make garb a gated community .build the wall around garb and redway
In your dreams…..
The lone pine, the jognson, these placesneedfucking scrutiny.shifty people all day,and now a wonderful Chinese massage open 10 to 10. Even if it’s not weird it’s still seedy as hell. Way to go garberville. No better restaurants just a fucking massage parlour? What a joke
FYI… WE Need these guys in the following url…
https://youtu.be/1SmgLtg1Izw
This one cracks me up every time.
Vern for President…….. Ernie B for V.P……..Free crank for everyone!…..[ sorry just had to express my opinion]