Letters: Shooing away the homeless

Re “Union Station’s homeless,” Editorial, Dec. 25

Once again we read on this Christmas day that the business community — in this instance, aided by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority — finds no room for the desperately poor at Union Station.

One way to justify keeping the homeless at bay is to perpetuate blatant stereotypes, exemplified by the oft-repeated phrase “aggressive panhandling.” Both words are extremely negative and imply that people asking for charity are not only “bums” but that their actions, as the word “aggressive” conveys, border on violence.

When our favorite nonprofit organizations beg for our money, we call it intensive fundraising and assume it to be normal and expected, even when we are “aggressively” bombarded with stacks of nuisance letters and phone calls — something no person without a home has ever done to me.

I suspect The Times was being ironic when it mentioned that only 4,000 shelter beds are available each night for Los Angeles County’s more than 57,000 homeless, and then that outreach workers should encourage people at Union Station to seek out shelters.

Douglas J. Miller

Santa Barbara

On Christmas Day, an article in the Business section reported on houses built with moats and other luxuries selling for as much as $50 million.

In the same paper, The Times editorialized on the homeless in Union Station. The editorial noted that there are 57,000 homeless in L.A. and only 4,000 shelter beds to serve them.

Something is seriously wrong.

Jan Goldsmith

Sherman Oaks

Before the action taken by Metro to allow only ticketed passengers to sit in waiting-area seats, the homeless encampment at Union Station was truly out of control. As a passenger, I was unable to find a seat early in the morning.

A lot of public and private money and effort are poured into shelters downtown. If these shelters can’t attract the intended beneficiaries or don’t have sufficient capacity, those underlying problems should be addressed, and I’m happy to help pay for improvements.

Those of us who live downtown coexist with the homeless on a daily basis and show tolerance and respect, but limits and balance are also needed. One such limit was reached at Union Station.

Dan Silver

Los Angeles

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