Tent City

Having just finished reading “Plan for Rose Canyon ‘Tent City’ Raises a Cry” (Sept. 24) I felt compelled to respond.

I am a resident of the immediate area of the planned tent city, living only about a half block away. I found the comments of Councilman Hartley’s aide, Nick Johnson, to be disingenuous in the extreme.

Among Johnson’s misleading utterances was the insinuation that the proposed tent city is in a non-residential area. I live only a stone’s throw from the site. True, I don’t live in one of those “expensive homes” overlooking the “shimmering waters of Mission Bay.” I live in a rented condominium in a building full of middle-income people who work hard to keep a roof over their heads.

Secondly, Johnson said the proposed site is “where a bunch of trash trucks are parked.” and that “it’s already a stinky, smelly mess that no one should worry about.” I would like to inform him that the trash trucks can be neither seen nor smelled from the street. It appears, however, that the tent city will be located right behind the fence, only 25 feet or so from the street.

Johnson also implied that people’s objections arose from the idea of a tent city, the stigma, as it were. Let me hasten to set him straight. I and many of my neighbors fear for our safety and our property. To quote a line from “Me and Bobby McGee,” “Freedom’s just another word for nothin’ left to lose.” Too many of the homeless have no stake in our society and nothing left to lose. What do they care about your or my property rights or even our personal rights? Some of the homeless will take anything that isn’t nailed down and some things that are.

As for the city’s efforts to evade liability, I suppose that just indicates the city’s awareness that there will be problems arising from a Rose Canyon tent city.

CHARLOTTE SHALE, San Diego