ON BOOSTING STREET GANG AWARENESS IN SMALL TOWNS OF AMERICA
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Dear Ones,
ON BOOSTING STREET GANG AWARENESS IN SMALL TOWNS OF AMERICA
As you may know, a considerable number of people in the United States have felony records. As of 2010 (the latest year for which I could find statistics), 3 percent of the US population have spent time in prison. As most prisoners are men, that would be roughly 6 percent of the male population nationwide, as of 2010.
As an aside, I would like to note how very out of date these figures are, and how good it would be to have up-to-date figures. To continue …
I note that the most felon friendly states are California, Colorado, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, Texas, and Washington State …
I feel that former members of street gangs from the large cities might be emigrating to small towns in these felon friendly states, and that some of these small towns might consequently be experiencing heretofore nonexistent street gang activity.
It is my hope that all small towns in these states be acquainted with the well-organized (and sometimes ruthless) mode of operation of street gangs (which to me have some broad similarity to other ‘outlaw’ groups such as organized crime and ‘killing cults’).
I suggest getting acquainted with the Los Angeles Police Department’s wide-ranging street gang programs, so as not to be caught off guard. Here are a few good leads …
While I realize that the majority of felony records are nonviolent, and believe in restorative justice, I also feel that violent felons need closer oversight as members of small town communities, than do those with no violent criminal record.
In other words, I feel that, while every felon ought to have a fair shake at a new start in life, nevertheless he or she must live up to the expectations of the small towns of America, and lead a law abiding life after paying a debt to society.
In love, light and joy
This is Alice B. Clagett.
I Am of the Stars … and so are you!
…………………………………………..
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See my blog categories: Crime families – cults that kill – outlaw gangs – street gangs … Antisocial personalities … and … Feral drives – pack instincts
This is about child trafficking in Los Angeles. Here is an excerpt …
I can’t say why, but I was reminded of a Batmobile. That reminded me of the entertainment industry. I began to wonder along those lines like this … Could it be the movie industry is trafficking in children in Los Angeles? Is there a network of actors that are pretending to be parents and snatching up children wandering in the baby stores in LA? Could it be that is where all the missing children ads originate? Not from family quarrels, but from Batmobile snatchings at Buybuy Baby? No way, right?
Dear Ones,
I know I have taken a long time to talk with you all about this; every time I have thought of talking about it, the Dark has been doing that Mind Slide thing, and forget about it. When that happens, and I notice it, it is a ‘heads up’ for me that something that needs saying is in the works.
Finally I remembered it today. It is a Sunday; it is a blessed day, and there is a lot of good energy on Sundays, in the San Fernando Valley. So here it is …
A few weeks ago … I think it was Monday, 18 June 2018 at about 4 pm … I was in a parking lot on Topanga Canyon Blvd and Erwin Street in Woodland Hills, California. I was near a children’s store … one of those chain stores like “Toys Are Us,” but it was a baby chain store … maybe BuyBuy Baby or Babies Are Us … that was about to close its doors. It was sandwiched between an Office Depot and a See’s Candy store in one of the smaller shopping centers in the San Fernando Valley.
And I saw a child about 5 years old, a boy, who had a special light about him; one of the saintly children that are sent to Earth to help humankind. And this very fair young boy was with his mother.
Immediately I saw him, and thought how wonderful it was that we had another Lightworker in the San Fernando Valley, the Dark came swooping in, and said that it would be there, any minute, for ‘pick-up’.
Typically, I used to … in the old days … say: Well, this will never happen. But I was at a concert a year or two ago … not in Los Angeles, but elsewhere … where a similar thing happened: There was a 4-year-old girl wandering around in the outdoor concert area. And she had a beautiful, Lightworker Light about her. And I had a feeling, then, that the Dark would attack her at night, when her parents were watching the concert and she was wandering around.
And I did not do anything about that. And always, after that, I regretted it; I had a feeling that some terrible thing may have befallen her.
So this time, it happened again, and I said to myself: I won’t let this happen. I’ll just go stand guard, and see whether I can prevent some catastrophe from happening. And then again, maybe I am completely wrong … so then, no harm done! Right? A few minutes lost.
So I noticed that the child and his mother were going into this baby store. There was an entryway area … kind of a hallway, entryway, horizontal area from one left door to one right door, in that building. And beyond that, was the parking lot. On the other side of the entryway hallway, was the area where the toys were on sale, inside the building.
So I went and stood in the entryway hallway, so that I could watch both exits and entrances, to see what might happen, right? I was just wondering: Could this presentiment be right, or not?
I was standing in the entrance way, and normal people were walking in and out … parents with children … the parents a little weighed down by the care of taking care of their children, you know? Wanting to be good parents, and to have enough money to sustain their household … Those kinds of normal cares, right? So that was fine.
Then walked in the door a woman. She was in her late twenties or early thirties, and she had milk-white skin, and she was very, very beautiful … very pale, and very beautiful … and she was wearing that basic, black dress. It was the kind that had a waist that showed her figure, and it came down as far as her knees. And she was wearing flat dress shoes.
A strikingly beautiful, and well poised woman, but not wearing much makeup at all. And very clearly, not a parent. You know? She walked in and started schmoozing and talking up … ‘flirting up’ … one of the cashiers. There were two cashiers, both male. And they had been keeping an eye on the comings and goings of the grown-ups and the children.
So she came in and grabbed the attention of one of the cashiers. So I was watching her, and I was also watching for the child to come back out, unhindered, right? I had a bad feeling about her … Maybe she was a salesperson that came in to the cashier about a line of product. But, it seems to me unlikely, because cashiers are generally not owners.
It was an unusual occurrence … The ‘wrong’ kind of person had walked into the store. It was just weird; parents of young children don’t look like that, as they walk in and out, typically. They look a little harassed; they’re wearing their casual clothes, and so forth.
So she kept talking. So there was she, standing right by the cashiers … which I could see, because the entrance corridor was made of glass on the side by the store. And there was also glass, looking outside, and glass on the doors. So it was a good vantage point for me.
Shortly after she walked in, a man walked in. He was taller than she by about a foot; about her age; and I would say, well proportioned. Like her, he was a Caucasian, but unlike her, he was dressed casually and unobtrusively, in loose-fitting slacks and a casual, solid color shirt.
And he was very reserved. He was doing that thing, you know, where you fit in with everyone, and you say just the right things, and you do the expectable thing. And not the thing that is deep in your mind, but the thing that the other person expects you to do. You know? Two-faced … but not apparently so. Very good at dissimulating.
And so he came in, and from appearances it would seem that he did not know the woman, right? The woman in black. But he stood near her, looking uninterested, right? He stood near her, by the cashiers. He was just standing there.
Now this scenario continued for some time. And I kept watching … anxiously watching the children going in and out … because I did not know how many players were involved in the thing, or whether a performance was taking place, right?
It seemed like a long time went by, but most likely it was only 10 or 15 minutes. Finally, I spotted the child and his mother coming out of the door opposite me. They went out with a couple of other people, so it was kind of complicated … There was like a ‘glom’ of people at the door … one or two other people, the child, and his mother, all leaving through the door at about the same time. The child was very active … he was a very alert and active child.
Just as they went through the door, in that gaggle, the woman in black came sliding through the midst of them. And the feeling that I got was her mind, her thoughts, were ‘hooking into’ the child. But just at that moment the mother reached her hand backwards towards the child, and bade him come to the right.
Then the woman went out, slightly to the left, and straight ahead, into the parking lot. So I went and looked. And the man was not there, at that time. He was not one of those people.
So I went and looked what was going on. I saw the mother and her child join two other people (not the people that had been in the doorway, I’m felt) in a car. I assumed that was ok.
And I saw the woman in black get into a white sports car … looked like a brand new car, and make off. The car was long and low. The hood of the car was very unusual … flat and wedge-shaped, set at an angle that went from the windshield almost down to the ground, with two rows of about 5 slits set at opposing diagonals along the hood, so that it the car seemed to me cruel and swift, probably custom, and probably very expensive.
I am sorry to say I have been unable to find a photo of a similar car online. This photo is the closest in ‘feel’ to the car that I saw, that I can find …
Video: “One-Off Ferrari 458MM Speciale,” by TheStradman … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMtlEryQBPg … COMMENT: I see from online these are right expensive cars, which leads m to guess there must be a great deal of money in child trafficking.
I can’t say why, but I was reminded of a Batmobile. That reminded me of the entertainment industry. I began to wonder along those lines like this … Could it be the movie industry is trafficking in children in Los Angeles? Is there a network of actors that are pretending to be parents and snatching up children wandering in the baby stores in LA? Could it be that is where all the missing children ads originate? Not from family quarrels, but from Batmobile snatchings at Buybuy Baby? No way, right?
Then, on the psychic plane, I heard this: I heard that there is a witch’s coven near that place, and that they were located there on purpose, to snatch children from that place for the child trafficking trade. Whether there is any truth in this, or not, I do not know.
But I do feel that our community should be on the alert for their children in those kinds of stores. I feel that with definite certainty: Watch out for your children.
Try and find out from local law enforcement, whether children are missing, in the age range of about 4 years to 9 years old. It is possible, although I hope it is not true, that children in that are range are being trafficked for the sex trade and for porn movies. And maybe for snuff movies. So I suggest: Be very careful.
I feel certain law enforcement, were they to hear this story, would say: So what? Nothing happened. And of course I understand their point of view, since I am sure they have their hands full, dealing with the nitty gritty.
But from my own point of view, something did happen: It was like a play within a play, or a scenario taking place, that had a feel to it, of a well rehearsed game plan. So, I feel: 50-50, might be true. Better be careful.
All right, parents, take care! And take good care of your children, who are the blessing of the future of Earth. God bless you all.
In love, light and joy
This is Alice B. Clagett.
I Am of the Stars … and so are you!
Written and published on 8 July 2018; updated on 9 January 2023
child trafficking, child welfare, witch’s covens, Satan cults, law enforcement, community health, community alerts, mind slide, Los Angeles, entertainment industry,
However, this includes addiction treatment, healthcare, and lost job productivity in addition to federal drug control expense. As it is the federal drug control expense that would be curtailed by legalization, I looked that up. The federal drug control expense for 2018 is estimated to be $27.8 billion dollars … That would mean the other costs … addiction treatment, healthcare, and lost job productivity … tally about $50.2 billion dollars a year.
It seems to me that generation of jobs is a moot point in the above article, since the jobs are already there, in our economy, but just not included in the job statistics. Further, income tax revenue from legalization of these jobs is included as part of the $132 billion revenue figure in the above article.
So, the important figure there is the $132 billion annual revenue for nationwide legalization of marijuana, I note this figure takes into account payroll tax deductions, a retail sales tax of 15 percent, and business tax revenues, which seems appropriate to me. I note also they are calculating federal revenue rather than state or local revenue (i.e., ‘sin taxes’).
$708.6BESTIMATED INCREASE IN TAX REVENUES FROM NATIONWIDE LEGALIZATION OF ALL RECREATIONAL DRUGS
I was unable to find comparable estimates for generation of revenue from legalization of sales of all categories of recreational drugs, including marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and other recreational drugs. However, this may be estimated as follows:
According to a 2010 Cato Institute report, the ratio of tax revenues for legalization of all drugs, to tax revenues for legalization of marijuana, was 46.7B : 8.7B. For these data, see …
Plugging this ratio into the more recent estimate of $132B annual marijuana revenue, we get:
46.7B / 8.7B = X / 132B … and
X = $708.6B … X being the current estimated annual revenues for legalization of all drugs nationwide.
$686.2B ESTIMATED ANNUAL NET IMPROVEMENT IN THE FEDERAL BOTTOM LINE
This estimate of $708.6B may be on the high side. However, going with this figure, and using the prior bolded figures, let’s consider what federal revenue changes might take place if all recreational drugs were legalized nationwide.
The current $50.2 billion dollar cost for addiction treatment, healthcare, and lost job productivity would stay roughly the same.
The current $27.8 billion dollar annual federal drug control expense would be greatly curtailed.
The current estimated annual revenues for legalization of all drugs nationwide would be $708.6B.
On the plus side for the federal government are the last two bullets: $27.8B plus $708.6B = a total of $736.4B total ‘fattening of the federal coffers’.
This increase in the federal bottom line might resolve the issue of the first-bullet minus: A portion of the federal increase might be set aside to completely cover the $50.2 billion dollar annual cost for addiction treatment, healthcare, and lost job productivity would stay roughly the same.
This would leave a net improvement in the federal bottom line of $736.4B less $50.2B = net $686.2B.
$17B ESTIMATED ANNUAL IMPROVEMENT IN THE STATE AND LOCAL BOTTOM LINE DUE TO ‘SIN TAX’ INCREASES
An added plus would be sin taxes on that might optionally be levied by state and local governments. In 2014, state sin taxes for were $32.5B for currently legal activities and products such as alcohol, tobacco, casino, racino, and gaming. The largest category was tobacco at $16.9B.
The retail value of 2017 annual tobacco sales in the United States was about $121B …
From 2000 to 2010, Americans spend about $100B annually on illegal drugs, including cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and methamphetamine, according to the RAND Drug Policy Research Center for the Office of National Drug Control Policy. This is the most recent figure I have on the market value of illegal drugs in the United States, so I’ll go with this.
Looking at these two figures: 2017 annual tobacco sales at $121B, and 2010 estimated annual illegal drug sales at $100 billion, we might consider these to be roughly equal.
Thus the sin tax on legalized recreational drugs sales might be anticipated to be about what states and local governments receive in annual sin tax for tobacco: that is, about $17B annually.
FEDERAL LEGISLATION THAT MIGHT GET AROUND THE MORAL ISSUE STATES HAVE WITH LEGALIZATION OF DRUGS
This crunching of the figures makes it clear that the most logical thing to do would be to legalize all recreational drugs, and generate federal and state revenues from their sales. However, many people in the United States have strong moral stands on recreational drugs.
In fact, the fury over legalization, or criminalization, of recreational drug use in America today is very similar to the fury over alcohol use that resulted in Prohibition … a ban on alcohol sales and use from 1920 to 1933. As I understand it, criminal activity around ‘bootlegging’ skyrocketed during those years. Then when Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the crime wave abated, and federal and local governments began to benefit from liquor revenues.
I feel we might have the same benefits with regard to recreational drugs in this way …
The federal government might legalize all recreational drug use and sales.
States might have the power to prohibit recreational drug use and sales, either altogether or in part.
Those states that legalize recreational drug use and sales, either altogether or in part, might get the benefit of remuneration by the federal government, based on increased federal revenues from recreational drug sales in their state.
Federal remuneration to states that decide to legalize recreational drugs might be earmarked for drug-use-related health care, addiction treatment, and health education for schools, and for drug users and their families.
In love, light and joy
This is Alice B. Clagett.
I Am of the Stars … and so are you!
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Tobacco tax revenues in the United States are expected to be about $14 billion dollars for the year 2018 …
government, law, drug use, legalization of drugs, economy, federal revenues, state and local revenues, sin tax, Prohibition, crime, law enforcement, social issues, mores, morals, drug use, addiction, community health, history, economics, health, education,
Alice’s First Dream: The University Man Who Was a Member of the Army of the Night [The Doc]
Alice’s Second Dream: The Young, Homeless Woman in the Public Restroom
Alice’s Third Dream: The Young Woman Walking in a Maze of Streets
Alice’s Fourth Dream: The Red Gila [The Migrant]
Alice’s Fifth Dream: Death by Drowning of 16 People in a Dugout in the Mountains [The Migrant]
“Prayer for Homeless and the Homed,” by Alice B. Clagett
Conclusion
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Dear Ones,
INTRODUCTION
This is a description of a vision I had … the vision of the Red Gila … as I recall, on a night after a day or so of rain in Los Angeles, most likely on 9 January 2018.
There was a ‘swooping in’ to the persona of an antisocial personality and his wife, maybe at Caltech or some place a little like that;
then a ‘swooping on’ to the persona of a young girl trying to hide in a restroom in a public park at night;
then onward to a young woman walking down a maze of streets;
and then on to a vision of a place by a country road where 16 people lay buried .. . drowned in an underground cavern after a rainfall.
Then there is a prayer for the disadvantaged peoples of Earth.
There is an edited Summary after the video …
VIDEO BY ALICE
SUMMARY OF THE VIDEO
Hello, Dear Ones, It’s Alice. I Am of the Stars.
I thought I would tell you a story … It is about a dream like a nightmare I had three or four days ago … It was a very vivid nightmare that woke me up. And I do not know the significance of it.
I remember that it happened during two days of heavy rain in Los Angeles, most likely on 9 January 2018. There were days when the streets were flooding up above the curbs, because there is not a lot of rain in Los Angeles, and they do not plan the grade of the streets according to the water flow that happens when there is a storm that continues, with rain falling all day long. And that happens once or twice a year, that the streets get flooded up.
And so, in the middle of the night, while it was raining, there may have been a different sound in the air: A sound on the roof; a sound outside, where the rain was hitting the ground; and so forth. And I wonder if that may have had something to do with this nightmare that I had that night, and some other nightmares that have happened since then.
Alice’s First Dream: The University Man Who Was a Member of the Army of the Night [The Doc]
Anyway, it went like this: There was a city dreamscape, maybe in Pasadena. It seemed like Pasadena, but no real place there, you know … with high freeways soaring above valleys that included residential districts. It was easy to get lost on these elevated freeways … traffic was zipping along. Off one ramp was a college campus.
It might have been a place like Caltech, or maybe some other university in the Pasadena area. I have only been to Caltech once or twice; I do not remember any place like that. It was just a feeling; a place like that, I think.
There was a person there, who was living with a woman. He was an antisocial personality; he would go out at night, and stalk the people there, on the college campus. What they call, on the astral airs, an army of the night kind of guy.
It was like I dropped, or dipped, into his consciousness, got a gander of his life there, and then stepped back out.
Alice’s Second Dream: The Young, Homeless Woman in the Public Restroom
So that was the first. And then I woke with a dream of being in a very small restroom … on the East Coast, it seemed like, or maybe Europe … a woman’s restroom. I was homeless. It was a young woman, I think; I am not sure. It was a woman, though.
And she was in this very small restroom, in a park, trying to find a way to get a few minutes of rest, and at the same time, protect herself from any men that might enter there and try to exert violence over her, as it was nighttime.
But I remember she had a very positive attitude: She said she was sure that someone would come in, and offer to take her home and take care of her … like that.
Alice’s Third Dream: The Young Woman Walking in a Maze of Streets
Full of concern over that dream, I segued into another dream; an even worse dream. There was a young woman; it was as if she were walking through a series of streets … kind of complicated streets, like sometimes in Europe and on the East Coast there are streets that just do not make much sense.
They are not laid out in an orderly fashion, like they frequently are, here in California. But rather, they simply sprang up, with time, here and there, centuries ago, when our nation was first founded. Or in Europe, it is probably the same way, sometimes. So, there would be streets that would meld together, and would not make much sense, in terms of ways of getting from one street to the other, and so forth.
That same person, or another young, homeless woman was walking along those streets, and knew them very well, and had stayed in a certain place, by some body of water, I think; and was then back in this urban area, and was walking along.
Alice’s Fourth Dream: The Red Gila [The Migrant]
And all of a sudden, the road changed, and the person changed. The scene changed to a place like the California or Arizona countryside. It was mostly barren and mountainous. And I saw first, a strange creature by the side of the dirt road.
It kind of reddish; a rusty orangish reddish brown color. And it looked like a fat-bodied snake 1 1/2 or 2 feet long. Then when I looked closely, I saw that it had tiny legs on it, like a lizard might. They did not look very functional, but it had legs.
This creature was right beside a tiny bush on the north side of the dirt road or path which I was walking along in an easterly direction. The mountains were across a lower stretch of desert, to the north of the dirt road or path.
Then it was not the young woman, but I who was there. I went for my camcorder to record the creature, and looked back, and it was gone.
So first there was that vision of the creature; I do not know … Was it a Red Gila? Was it the orange snake? I just do not know.
Alice’s Fifth Dream: Death by Drowning of 16 People in a Dugout in the Mountains [The Migrant]
And then I saw a man’s leg; he was standing on the north edge of the path, by what looked like two coyote holes above a little ridge that let down, by maybe a gradual, erosion-worn, 20 foot drop of ochre-colored Earth, to the lower desert land between the road and the mountain range.
I do not know if you know about coyote holes. They are not very big; they are just about everywhere, out here in California. They are dug into the dirt, and they are only about 6 inches wide … maybe 4 inches wide. And yet they can get down in there.
But one of the holes I saw by the man’s leg was much bigger; it were maybe 1 1/2 feet wide; a hole that went down into the Earth by the side of the road over the decline where the level of the dirt declined pretty fast.
Six to 10 feet lower, there was another hole that went down into the dirt. And past that, the level of the Earth continued to tumble and cascade down, into the valley that overlooked a high mountain in the distance.
What I intuited, all in a flash, was that the rains had come down, coursing down the dirt road, and they had not damaged the surface of the road. But when they got to that hole there, at the top, beside the road, they had filled it up with mud.
I saw the man standing, with sorrow in his heart. I saw not his face, but his foot, with a hiking or running shoe … the kind with the tread on it … stamping down into the firm but damp Earth.
I could see, when he removed his foot, where the sole of his shoe had been; you know how, sometimes you can see tracks of hikers, in the mountains when you walk, or on the beach? Like that.
And the feeling that I got was that maybe 16 people lay buried in that place … that there was an underground chamber there, that had filled with water. And mud had come down, and prevented them from getting out.
The chamber had collapsed. There were some women and children, along with the men there. And they had all died during the rains.
This person who knew about their place, their home in the Earth, had stopped by and heard them, he said. He had heard them crying out, from deep in the Earth, and saying that the water had slowly risen up, inside the dugout, and that they could not get away. And then … he said … their cries stopped.
That was the end of that terrible sequence of dreams, which I vividly remember still, and am attempting to figure out. I am sorry to say that sometimes the prophet does not have the answer, I guess.
. . . . .
“Prayer for Homeless and the Homed”
by Alice B. Clagett 13 January 2018
I pray for all those who live in the mountains,
who have homes burrowed into the Earth,
all over California.
I pray that they may be safe;
that they have enough to eat;
and that they should have happy and fulfilled lives,
just as might all beings everywhere.
I pray that this may be so.
. . . . .
Conclusion
For me, this vision is a heads up that much needs to be done, all over the world, for the disadvantaged peoples of Earth.
God bless you all, and keep you safe, and give you all that you need for a happy and fulfilled life on Earth.
In love, light and joy
This is Alice B. Clagett.
I Am of the Stars … and so are you!
Filmed on 13 January 2018; transcribed on 15 October 2018; revised on 23 March 2023
visions, nightmares, antisocial personality, homeless child, homeless girl, underground cavern, undocumented immigrants, California rains, homeless, homelessness, disadvantaged, social issues, sustainable living, street children, prophecies, social unrest, visions by Alice, army of the night, dreams, dreamtime, community health, homelessness, natural disaster, stories by Alice, my favorites, 2u3d, astral stories, The Migrant, The Doc, prayers by Alice,
I was reading an article about how a fire at a homeless encampment alongside Fwy 405 is thought to have started the pricey Skirball fire on 6 December 2017 …
I thought it might be a good time to publish the below video about a homeless plan for Los Angeles, as clearly, it’s important to find a solution to the problem of homelessness in Los Angeles, not only for humanitarian reasons (which I myself find very compelling) but also because of …
the threat to property owners caused by forest fires,
improper sanitation at encampments, which might lead to disease outbreaks, and their spread through homed populations
potential lawlessness in confrontations between the homeless and the homed
homeowner fears of falling property values,
and the clear need to find a way for taxable residents to pay for services for the homeless till they can get back on their feet, as has been evidenced in
sharp upticks in property taxes and utility prices in Los Angeles,
and declines in some city services, such as …
freeway and road repairs, including repaving of residential streets … as I understand it, the block I live on hasn’t been repaired resurfaced since it was first paved, going on 60 years ago.
sidewalk repairs caused by street tree roots, although partial rebates may be available for property owners who make such sidewalk repairs … see http://www.sidewalks.lacity.org/ ..
repair of potholes in alleys, which issue I explored some years ago and found to be, at that time, insoluble
and development of more frequent and more widespread mass transit facilities
If the homeless were housed and employed, they could add to California’s tax base, and assist in financing those Los Angeles City Services that are currently overburdened or on hold.
Further, their tax contributions to the State of California and the City of Los Angeles might help lower the high cost of utilities and property taxes, through a more robust the tax base.
In fact, the simple act of just one homeless person finding good employment gives the City a big lift, in terms of it’s need to support and uplift those in need.
There is an edited Summary after the video …
VIDEO BY ALICE
SUMMARY OF THE VIDEO
Hello, Dear Ones, It’s Alice. I Am of the Stars.
This is a continuation of a suggestion I had for a place to house, or allow an encampment of, homeless people, especially men, or men who are with a woman, but not families. Or maybe just homeless men, in the San Fernando Valley. I understand there are about 6,000 people that need homes there.
Anyway, I came up with this notion, and I’m putting it forth as a possibility. If you like the idea, but the location is not appropriate, then you could use the parameters that I’m choosing by, to find another location in the San Fernando Valley.
So I had in mind, as a locale, the parking lot … and maybe also, as time goes on, the building that used to be Costco, at the intersection of Canoga Avenue and Roscoe Blvd in the San Fernando Valley. That’s the southeast corner of that intersection.
It features a big parking lot, and then there’s a really big Costco building there. There’s also a special kind of fueling station … an electric charging station … there in the parking lot right now. But the Costco has closed up and gone elsewhere, and the property has been, for some time, vacant … probably for lease or for sale.
So I had some thoughts about that …
It’s kind of off by itself. It’s not next to a shopping center, like the OSH property that was deserted at the northeast corner of Victory Blvd and Fallbrook Avenue in the San Fernando Valley. So there is less likely to be complaints about it from shopping center upscale retail stores.
And it’s across the street from a Salvation Army Thrift Store and facility. And it’s also next door to a Home Depot.
And I thought a few things: I thought that, with a high fence, the part of the parking lot that’s not being used otherwise could be fenced off and used as a place where the homeless could pitch their tents.
And I also thought that the people at Salvation Army might be ideally suited to help maintain such a homeless encampment, or to provide professional advice regarding it.
Then, there’s a Salvation Army store right there, which would provide cheap goods.
And the Home Depot, I’ve noticed that there are day laborers who gather outside, ready to help people with their home improvement and repair projects. And I wondered if that might be, temporarily, a source of day labor for the homeless encampment.
Also I thought of Home Depot and Lowes, because they have inexpensive, prefabricated sheds. The smallest of these sheds might be helpful to put up as semi-permanent locations, that would provide some security for their goods if they were to go off on a day job, or other job. And that might also provide them with safety while they are sleeping, and better protection from the elements in case of rain, or like that. Although it would be pretty hot in the summertime. And it wouldn’t necessarily have electricity in it.
I feel that the City of Los Angeles might be able to provide WCs, porta-potties, of the kind that have footpumped water dispensers, so that people could wash their hands with and soap.And so there would waste disposal facilities that could be quickly set up and pretty easily managed, I think.
This is the problem: There’s no grocery store extremely close, although within walking distance for those that are not too handicapped, I feel, there are a couple of big grocery stores. The nearest, 2 blocks to the west, on Roscoe, is Vallarta Supermarkets, which is quite well stocked. But not too close, so maybe a shuttle might be provided, from the place where the people are encamped, to a grocery store … maybe once a day, or twice a day; what do you think?
But in addition, for sundries and a minimal amount of food supplies, there’s a liquor store within a block, a little to the south, on Canoga Ave,
Next to the liquor store is a Post office. I know that a lot of homeless people are depending on their Social Security, SSDI (Social Security Disability Benefits) or SSI (Supplemental Security Income) checks, and that might be a place where they could establish an address, a Post Office Box.
I also noticed there are mass transit routes on both Canoga Avenue and Roscoe Blvd., so that’s good.
So there are a lot of reasons why that particular location is a really good one, for the time being.
Then, I wondered about the Costco … A little bit farther out, a little bit later on, I wondered if there might be a way to provide an incentive for businesses to emply the homeless in stalls, or stations, in that Costco. So that it could be rented, by the year, or whatever, by any number of small businesses that are struggling to get on their feet, and that might get a tax advantage from hiring those people that are homeless.
Also I thought, as far as tax advantages are concerned: Maybe there could be a credit if, say, Home Depot, or Lowes, or one of the local lumber companies or hardware stores wanted to provide a discount on … or even provide outright … some of the small shelters that might be needed for the homeless population in the parking lot.
So basically, that’s what I’m thinking.
To the east, there’s a homeless facility that’s open only during the cold winter months, the coldest months of the year. This is an 85-bed facility in Sylmar now open only in the winter, but which is planned to be converted to a year-round bridge housing facility for women.
Link: “Homeless Shelter For Women To Open In San Fernando Valley,” by California Patch, News Partner, 3 October
But I feel that, in the encampment I’m proposing, it might be good to separate the population, even in that one large parking lot, into …
single men, for one large area,
and then families, for another area,
and then in another area: Handicapped people. And the reason to allow handicapped access to another area is that, there might be some roughhousing and carrying on in the men’s area, for instance. And the handicapped can’t move quite so fast sometimes … They’re not as mobile … And they might be better protected in a separate enclosure.
So those are my thoughts.
I also think that a grading system might be established … maybe with Salvation Army, at first, training people who are in the encampment, to become caretakers or people to help keep order and make sure everything is ok … to call the police if any roughhousing happens, and to have strict rules about that, so that the people that are there can feel safe and comfortable.
And also, if it turns that there are people who are either employed as day laborers for Home Depot, or else, say, in a sort of a factory situation, inside of Costco, if that were to work out … Or even if something were to be worked out in the parking lot there, for day laborers with rudimentary manual skills … then there might be these people who have been trained to help decorum during the day, and to make sure that there are no instances of substance abuse, and like that, which cause the feeling that there might be an unsafe situation happening.
I wondered further … If the homeless were employed, whether there might be a discounted training position available. That is, maybe part of the wage that a person received might be benefits for substance abuse programs, or psychological or health issues programs that might be provided ‘on campus’, as it were.
Well that’s my thought: That place, or someplace like it might prove to be quite a Godsend for the homeless population here in the San Fernando Valley.
Tell me what you think about it! This is a topic for neighborhood discussion.
Talk to you later! Bye bye …
In love, light and joy
This is Alice B. Clagett.
I Am of the Stars … and so are you!
homeless, homelessness, San Fernando Valley, government, social issues, Skirball Fire, employment, unemployment, sites for homeless facilities, homeless encampments, tent cities, cities of light, cities of Earth, alternative housing,
