Issue link: https://www.epageflip.net/i/28511
6A – Daily News – Monday, April 4, 2011 Opinion Hope and help for the homeless D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer’s home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor. Mission Statement We believe that a strong com- munity newspaper is essential to a strong community, creating citizens who are better informed and more involved. The Daily News will be the indispensible guide to life and living in Tehama County. We will be the premier provider of local news, information and advertising through our daily newspaper, online edition and other print and Internet vehi- cles. The Daily News will reflect and support the unique identities of Tehama County and its cities; record the history of its com- munities and their people and make a positive difference in the quality of life for the resi- dents and businesses of Tehama County. How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 According to the US Depart- ment of Housing and Urban Development, there were 643,067 sheltered and unsheltered home- less persons nationwide on a single night in January 2008. Additional- ly, about 1.6 million persons used a warming center, a homeless shelter or a transitional housing program during the 12-month period between Oct. 1, 2007 and Sept. 30, 2008. These numbers suggest that roughly 1 in every 200 persons in the US used the shelter system at some point in that period. There is little doubt that home- lessness has grown as a result of the economic meltdown, with record numbers of home foreclo- sures and lingering high unem- ployment rates. The future looks even bleaker with local, state and federal housing, health, and finan- cial assistance programs under attack by Tea Party and Republi- can budget cutters. According to the United States Conference of Mayors the main cause of homelessness is the lack of affordable housing. The four next primary causes are mental ill- ness or the lack of needed services, substance abuse and lack of need- ed services, low-paying jobs with- out benefits, and child support enforcement keeping drivers licenses from citizens and other civil rights violations. Other signif- icant causes cited by the mayors are prisoner release, domestic vio- lence, poverty, and unemployment. The most common demograph- ic features of all sheltered home- less people are: male, members of minority groups, older than age 31, and alone. More than two-fifths of sheltered homeless people have a disability. At the same time, siz- able segments of the sheltered homeless population are white, non-Hispanic (38 percent), chil- dren (20 percent), or part of multi- person households (33 percent). Approximately 68 percent of the 1.6 million sheltered homeless people were homeless as individu- als and 32 percent were persons in families. Domestic violence is the direct cause of homelessness for over half of all homeless women in the United States. This should be of particular concern in Red Bluff where domestic violence increased by an alarming 27 percent in 2010. Approximately three quarters of the women who attempt to avail of domestic violence shelter beds are turned away in major American cities. Many victims of domestic violence are excluded from home- lessness studies despite the lack of livable conditions in their homes. Veterans make up one in four homeless people in the United States, though they are only 11 percent of the general adult popu- lation. Sadly many soldiers return- ing from service in Iraq and Afghanistan are joining the home- less ranks due to lack of employment opportuni- ties and untreated men- tal health issues. Fortunately the peo- ple and leaders of Red Bluff are to be com- mended for recent and ongoing efforts to help end homelessness. A local volunteer organiza- tion aptly named "Poor and The Homeless" (PATH) operates tempo- rary shelters in local churches and a shelter for mothers and their children in the Sale House. A permanent homeless shelter is in the works with a million dollar grant, city council approved zoning for a site, and widespread community support. In addition a group of local businesses, public service organi- zations, and volunteers sponsored Project Homeless Connect at the Tehama District Fairgrounds last week to offer essential services and supplies for the local home- less population. The second annu- al event attracted more than 50 homeless and low-income Tehama County residents in the first hour to receive assistance with getting identification cards, having their yearly taxes filed, receiving a tetanus shot, getting their hair cut, being treated by a dentist, and obtaining information, toiletries, and food all free of charge. Local hair stylists, Richard Mazzucchi Positive Point dentist Willem van Opi- jnen, and representative from the Tehama Coun- ty Health Services Agency, the American Red Cross, California Department of Motor Vehicles, and the Social Security Administration offered their expertise to provide immediate assistance to the local homeless population. The California Conser- vation Corp was there to recruit new workers and the Tehama Rural Area Transit sys- tem offered free transportation for the homeless to attend this event. In the event they were not able to assist someone that day they promised to make sure they com- plete their free service so the homeless get what they need. It is gratifying to know that north state businesses, agencies, and citizens do so much to provide hope and help for the homeless. Richard Mazzucch can be reached at living-green@att.net. Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2635 Forest Ave. Ste. 100, Chico, CA 95928; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (415) 403-0100. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Whether spring or winter, it’s banquet time Commentary It’s now the time of year for my personal meteorological split per- sonality. Red Bluff, and our fair environs, can be basking, luxuriat- ing in the finest of spring condi- tions. The sun is gentle and begs a lifted face to take in its warmth. Grass demands mowing, trees with budding leaves require pruning, and pesky weeds simply must be dug up before blooming and spreading their unpleasant progeny far and wide. And yet, only 300 miles to the north in Bend, Oregon – where a modest ski shack bought as a bank repo is our home away from home – it can still be chilly, snowing and blowing. That would be in town; up on Mount Bachelor the snow may be falling, even accumulating. Even there, the seasonal transition makes itself known with rain inter- rupting the white stuff, only to have it all start melting when the bright sunlight emerges. The gentle scents – whether of grasses and blooms down here or fresh, moist earth exposed by receding snow among the pines up there – can almost induce one to imagine all is well on God’s ver- dant earth. Almost. I frequently find myself carrying material with me in case a return to Red Bluff is not practical just to write a column; it is emailed to the editor just the same no matter where I sit and write. Much can be learned by expo- sure to another state’s budget and economic woes, as well as the political attempts to deal with said woes. Like California, Oregon has been the legislative playground of Democrats, and their default policy is always to raise taxes. California has its so-called temporary tax hikes; Democrat spenders in Sacramento would just love to unleash millions of dollars of forced public employee union dues in ads to persuade gullible voters to extend them for another 5 years. Really! Just 5 years so they can have a little breathing room to keep all the subsidized masses from having to do with a little less of our money for their lifestyles. Oregon’s Democrats raised their gas tax by fifteen cents or so; they also hiked an exorbitant "bar- rel tax" on their breweries. And those forced public employee union dues that Republicans would dearly love to take the state out the business of collecting? Oregon’s unions provided millions of dol- lars, the overwhelming majority of money spent, to pass 2 voter initia- tives to raise taxes on "the rich and the corporations." I wrote about it last year – all Oregonians will pay those taxes in one way or another. Oregon’s budget is marginally closer to balance than California’s; their economy fares little better with an unemployment rate only slightly better than ours. In our dysfunctional state, we have Democrats and Governor Brown showing no serious interest in reducing spending or enacting massive structural reform of the state’s pension system. I’ve looked at California’s tax revenues (Cen- sus Bureau) going back to 2004 and can tell you with certainty that if the budget had grown only as much as population and inflation, California would have tens of billions of dollars of surplus instead of deficit. Our problem from California to Wash- ington, DC, is too much spending, not too little taxation. This is your last reminder for the Repub- lican Red, White and Blue Banquet on Satur- day at 5 p.m., with din- ner at 6 p.m., at the Vet- erans Memorial Hall on Oak Street. I should mention something about the featured speaker, Mr. Sam Pare- des (puh-rah-dez), exec- utive director, Gun Own- ers of California. I’ve personally heard his presentation to Tea Party groups on the topic of "Confrontational Politics" and I will state without reservation that his message is inspirational and reveals what it will take to con- front and defeat the liberal/pro- gressive left in America. Call 529- 1226 or 567-2323 for reserva- tions. On another topic, I found it dis- turbing and highly offensive to have to read liberal garbage about President Ronald Reagan on the anniversary of the day that an assassin’s bullet nearly took his life. An example of the lack of veracity of the writer would be the attempt to saddle Reagan with responsibility for the deficits of the 1980s. His tax cuts nearly doubled revenues to federal coffers. Democ- rats agreed to cut spend- ing – they nearly tripled it instead resulting in the deficits that the writer disingenuously ascribed to Reagan. None of the other items referred to in the letter have any more truth to them either. Don Polson The way I see it Finally, while no one wishes high unemploy- ment on our country’s workers, neither should anyone take overly opti- mistic reports of reduced unemployment at face value; they are manipulated and inac- curate. Gallup’s more honest research and reporting shows the rate at 10 percent; underemployment hovers close to 20 percent. Annually, almost 2 million jobs would have been needed to keep up with workers joining the job market – they weren’t. The economy would have had to grow 5 percent for a year to lower the rate by 1 percent – it didn’t. Watch for more phony economic data designed to make Obama’s economy look better than it really is. Don Polson can be reached by e-mail at donplsn@yahoo.com.