Letters for November 22, 2012

Full picture of homeless people

Re “The real face of homelessness” by Nick Miller (SN&R Feature Story, November 15):

It is very gratifying that SN&R has stepped up to better understand the situations that we homeless people in our area find ourselves in and to present what was found to its readership.

This article coolly, plainly shows homeless people as we are: suffering, struggling and often feeling entrapped. But also, we do get help, there is gratitude, we enjoy each others' company, and we're sometimes just happy and forget all else.

While some details in the piece may relate to areas where there is disagreement, I think it is healthy for the general public to be “in on” the controversies and the many difficulties that frustrate homeless people and those who sincerely want to help us.

“Let the poisons in the mud hatch out,” said the title character in I, Claudius. I give writer Nick Miller great credit for investigating a difficult, mostly hidden topic and presenting what he found to the mostly ignorant public. Happily, I think this is good for homeless people. The more the public knows, the easier it is for people to identify with our travails.

Thomas Armstrong

Sacramento

It could happen to you

Re “The real face of homelessness” by Nick Miller (SN&R Feature Story, November 15):

I read with great interest this article, a big change from the coverage in the “other” Sacramento paper. They cover the late-night raids on the homeless that try to sweep the river of everyone who can’t find a job, may have mental-health or substance-abuse issues, or can’t get access to the 150 beds in shelters because the wait is too long, or they have a dog.

With 150 beds, no jobs and no money, where are we supposed to go? Not all of us are criminals or druggies or totally nuts. Some of us just had the misfortune of hitting an incredible streak of bad luck, kinda like throwing bad dice at a craps table.

What people who hate us, who chase us and who demean us don’t understand is this: It could happen to you.

Divorces happen. Layoffs happen. Health crises draining you of all available savings happen. So the next time you see a downtrodden person pushing a shopping cart or asking for any spare change you might have, remember: It could happen to you. Or to someone you love.

In fact, with all the layoffs at that other paper, Marcos Breton might end up without a paycheck and join us here on the river. Ironic, isn’t it?

Stacy Selmants

Sacramento

Let Jerry Brown eat homemade cookies

Re “The real face of homelessness” by Nick Miller (SN&R Feature Story, November 15) and “Cottage, geez” by Raheem F. Hosseini (SN&R Frontlines, November 15):

In the article on homelessness, it reads: “’I came from a community that had 4,000 people on just one street. New York is pushing 100,000 homeless.’ Detroit has nearly 40,000, and almost 12,000 in San Francisco.” I’d like to know how these numbers, as percentages of the overall population, compare to Sacramento.

As for the article about home-cooked food: How about Gov. Jerry Brown samples all the home cooking, and if he doesn’t get sick, it can be sold? If he does get sick, that could be the new version of getting “Jerry Browned.”

Noah Kameyer

Sacramento

It’s good to say thank you

Re “Thank you, Sandy Sheedy” by Jeff vonKaenel (SN&R Greenlight, November 15):

What a refreshing column to read. We in the public are inundated with negativity about our elected officials. How discouraging it must be to the dedicated “servants” of the people to be lumped together with the scoundrels.

Thank you, [Councilwoman] Sheedy, for your good work in improving your district.

Doris Fodge

Sacramento

Starting over

Re “Start again” (SN&R Editorial, November 15):

America has turned the page from an exclusive past to an inclusive future. To live in this time period and see the past fading away in the 2012 elections can be compared to that time when America was transitioning from an age of horse riding to the age of automobile. At that time, there were many horse riders who resisted the change to the automobile. However, there were those that accepted the future.

The 2012 election results should serve as wake-up call to many in the Republican Party: The future is about real inclusiveness, and the past—a past that is fading away—has outlived its usefulness. The America that once was—reflected in the crowds Gov. Mitt Romney drew on the campaign trail—is a fading America holding on to outdated notions of the past.

With the re-election of President Barack Obama, the world has witnessed an America leading the way toward a tent where all ideas are heard, and all talents are considered. That America was seen in the crowds President Obama drew on his campaign trail. That’s the America that will lead the world in tolerance.

Alfred Waddell

via email

Legal is better, all the way around

Re “Marijuana is legal!” by Ngaio Bealum (SN&R The 420, November 15):

The voters of Colorado and Washington state have made it clear that the federal government can no longer get away with confusing the drug war’s tremendous collateral damage with a comparatively harmless plant. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to subsidize violent drug cartels, prohibition is a success. The drug war distorts supply-and-demand dynamics so that big money grows on little trees. If the goal of marijuana prohibition is to deter use, prohibition is a failure. The United States has double the rate of use as the Netherlands, where marijuana is legally available. The criminalization of Americans who prefer marijuana to martinis has no basis in science. The war on marijuana consumers is a failed cultural inquisition, not a public-health campaign. It’s time for politicians to catch up with the people and end marijuana prohibition.

Robert Sharpe

policy analyst, Common Sense for Drug Policy

Clarifications

In last week’s cover story “The real face of homelessness” (by Nick Miller; November 15), Brenda was identified as a former city of Sacramento employee; she actually worked in San Bernardino.

Also, Tom Armstrong has spent hundreds of nights at the Union Gospel Mission, not dozens.