Everyone in the city was waiting on the explosion that was the homeless issue. It unfolded just the way it was planned — dig, set and spike. Washington Road being brought up was the equivalent to Tiger placing his ball on the tee at hole number one and smacking it clear across that little dip by the big white sign.
I truly believe that Commissioner McKnight had good intentions when she wanted to show the homeless people on Washington Road. I do not, however, understand the issue when there has been homelessness under the bridge for so long across from Sacred Heart and it doesn’t seem to get a mention. I wonder why!
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The issue becomes two-fold. First, why did it need to become an issue in a certain area of the city for it to concern certain people? Second, why not get off your butt and attend those meetings so that you could talk to task force about potential strategies to help?
We must agree that Commissioner Bobby Williams established a good point by stating many homeless would rather be on the street. We must understand that there’s more to it than that. Many of the homeless are still using drugs and alcohol, so they would not be allowed in most or possibly any shelters. There’s some who have bad backgrounds which may hinder them from being close to certain groups of people. And then there’s the story of the man who was trying to get his life together and found a job. He worked during the day and when he got off, it was too late for him to enter a shelter, so he was stuck outside all night. What do we do in these cases?
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These are the issues that need to be addressed on the homeless task force. The question is, will this task force actually address issues and fix problems or will they just become another task force in name that never gets anything done?
With young commissioners like Jordan Johnson that means business, the sky is the limit. Remember that he did help get Biden, Warnock and Osoff elected. (That comment probably won’t fly well in this paper)
Let’s begin focusing on what matters: getting people off the street. We should spend whatever we have to for this to happen. Right? Well we can now… since the problem has reached Washington Road.
Speaking of Housing and Community Development, someone asked me about being on that board and stated they were very impressed by Mr. Welcher’s ability to single-handily sell Beacon Station to an investor and make a huge profit. I was unaware of the huge profit for the city, so I am inclined to gather information about such.
To the credit of Jordan Johnson, Sean Frantom, Brandon Garrett and Ben Hasan, they have been trying to address the homeless issues for quite a while. It just seems that some departments or department heads may be waiting on cameras to show up instead of being proactive. But who am I to judge?
Speaking of department heads, I am excited for you to hear it here first: we will be getting a new department soon. Well, maybe. Ms. Sylvia said it.
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Either way, the implications of the need are obvious. I believe we are well on our way to getting a public works department, or how do I say it? We need to figure out who is cutting the grass, or at least who is supposed to. You would think this would be something easy to figure out, but if you call about something that needs to be addressed, it turns into the 311 version of Abbott and Costello. Some of you young folk have no idea what I’m talking about. Google it! Either way, we must get this under control and I believe that a step in that direction may just be on the horizon.
I would like to strongly suggest you take whatever step you need to try to stay safe as possible. As much as I believe that vaccines are helpful, I do know that people should have a right to choose what they would like to do with their body… if that choice does not adversely affect others. Wait, I mean certain people should have the right to choose what happens with their body because it fits the political narrative for the moment…
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Which brings me to a question that came to my inbox from a reader. I said I would love to hear the subscribers’ comments on this. How do people who are pro-life and say the government should be able to control a woman’s right to choose whether she should be able to get an abortion or not are the same people who say the government (or anyone else) shouldn’t be able to force them to get a vaccine or wear a mask?
The reader went on to state that it’s safe to assume the government should be able to infringe on your right of choice to have a baby, but they violate your rights by telling you to wear a mask? I’m fully against abortion, but how does one violate your rights because it’s your body and the other one doesn’t? So, I pose that question to you the readers. Please give us some insight.
Man, I’m always running out of space. Well, to my next point of this possible GBI investigation… Here I go getting ahead of myself again.
Michael Meyers is a Columnist for The Augusta Press. Reach him at Michael.meyers@theaugustapress.com.
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