2 Rallies Aim at Problems of Homelessness : Street people: One seeks to register Skid Row habitues to vote. In Santa Monica, residents express concern about crime linked to transients.
Two rallies concerning the homeless of the Los Angeles area were held Sunday--one sponsored by people aiming to help street people re-enter the mainstream, the other by beach community residents concerned about violence linked to the transient population.
Kicking off a weeklong campaign to register homeless people and transients to vote in California’s June 5 primary, a local social service agency held an afternoon concert and voter registration drive at a Skid Row park. A van from the Los Angeles County registrar-recorder’s office was parked nearby to register people to vote.
The Single Room Occupancy Housing Corp.--a nonprofit organization that owns and operates 10 low-cost hotels in downtown Los Angeles--held the afternoon event at San Julian Park on San Julian and East 5th streets.
“When you’re trying hard just to survive, registering to vote is not the first thing on your mind,” said Kori Kanayama, a special assistant for the housing firm. “We want them to feel that their vote will count and that their vote is wanted.”
Starting today and ending Friday, all of the corporation’s hotels will compete to register the most votes, said Doneg McDonough, an assistant director of the organization. The hotel with the most voters registered will win tickets to a Dodgers baseball game, he said.
Angelia Adams, a 33-year-old resident of the Southern Hotel on Skid Row, was among those registering to vote Sunday. She said money problems forced her to leave her South-Central Los Angeles home for the streets three years ago, and during that time her previous voter registration lapsed.
Adams, who begins a new job with the U.S. Census Bureau today, said: “I feel myself getting back into the real world and (voting) is something a responsible person has to do. You’ve got to know how the country runs and what it does. At last, I feel like a part of it.”
About 600 people attended the concert that served to spotlight the voter registration effort. By the end of the day, 61 people had registered to vote, Kanayama said.
Meanwhile, in Santa Monica, about 150 people attended an afternoon public forum at the Santa Monica Library where they engaged in rancorous debate about how local officials should deal with the city’s burgeoning homeless population.
Officials from the city’s human services agency and tourism promotion office, as well as Santa Monica law enforcement officials, fielded often hostile questions from residents about the rising incidence of violence caused by transients in the area.
The officials said most of their efforts to combat the problem are futile because of social ills afflicting all of society--such as a lack of affordable housing, jail overcrowding and a scarcity of programs for the mentally ill and those with alcohol and drug problems.
Homeless activists had feared that the meeting, organized by Concerned Homeowners of Santa Monica, would turn into an afternoon of homeless bashing. Some residents on hand, however, defended the city’s efforts and the rights of the homeless, saying changes on the federal, state and county level are needed so that homeless people have a place to stay and a place to work.
Santa Monica City Atty. Robert M. Myers, who was not present, bore the brunt of criticism for his reputation of being lenient on transients accused of misdemeanor violations such as public inebriation and sleeping in parks.
The homeowners’ group recently took a survey of Santa Monica residents, who overwhelmingly reported that homelessness was their biggest concern.
