For those of you that work and live in the Sacramento area, you are well aware of the number one issue that the city is having to deal with, the Tent City that the homeless in our area have created. Mayor Johnson has gone on record, regarding the Tent City issue, saying that he does not want for people to live in a "third world" environment and that a "Tent City" will ruin the reputation of Sacramento and possibly attract more homeless to come to Sacramento and live in a Tent City.
Sacramento's homeless population should not have to live in a third world environment and the sanitation issue at Tent City can be solved quite easily. Portable toilets and washing stations are and have been available for some time and are used quite effectively for temporary sanitation solutions at events and in times of emergency. I am sure that one of our local sanitation suppliers would be willing to donate their equipment and services providing that they get a tax write off for their effort. People, including myself, are donating to the people, "down on their luck", of Tent City, food, water, clothing, shelter and whatever else we can spare. Being that location of the homeless is known and they are not scattered throughout the city, it makes it easy to give, and giving to the less fortunate has it's own rewards on a personal level.
Yes, Mayor Johnson, we may have a Tent City and hundreds of homeless occupying it, but how one treats it's poor and less fortunate is a true measure of a civilized society. If done right, OUR Tent City can be a model for the country and the world to follow. And if our compassion helps to improve Sacramento's reputation, so be it, but that byproduct is only incidental to the greater good of helping our fellow mankind.
Mayor Johnson, do the compassionate thing and support the current Tent City. Put all of the other issues (ie entertainment, sports teams, etc) on the back burners or better yet off the stove until the MOST important things, Sacramento's citizen's issues, homeless or not, are resolved.
Chas. Fenner
3rd Generation Sacramento (Gardenland) Resident
