This observer attended the Modesto City Council meeting on Tuesday, 11/14/17. What unfolded before my eyes was a human tragedy in progress and getting worse. During the public comment period, a homeless mother of 12 children came with her children to speak to the City Council. She stated that she is distraught over the lack of services for herself, her family and other homeless people in Modesto.
Modesto Mayor Ted Brandvoid asked one of the City staff personnel to talk with the woman and get her information. He also asked the staff member to inform the woman of the services that are available for her and her family. The outcome of her meeting with the City staffer is unknown.
Another woman came up to the lectern with a female companion. She talked about a particular apartment complex in the West part of the city where the managers have become very predatory towards senior citizens. She said that the managers have raised the rent drastically, and have begun evicting very elderly seniors who have lived there in excess of 10 to 15 years or more. She stated that the residents, some of whom are disabled and in wheelchairs, have become homeless and have nowhere to go. Councilwoman Kristi Ah You asked the woman to give her contact information to the City Clerk so that she can contact her after looking into the matter. This observer will be watching over the next few weeks to see if the woman's requests for help are addressed.
Another citizen,
Sebastian Jones, made an impressive and impassioned plea for assistance for about five or six disabled and elderly individuals who also have been thrown out of the same apartment complex. Jones, who is a public-spirited citizen who often speaks to the City Council, got emotional and with a choked up voice, he begged the Council to help those people. Jones stated emphatically, "Please help these people!!!"
Jones got not response from the Council whatsoever, except a rejection from Mayor Brandvoid of his plea for an additional two minutes to speak because he is disabled himself. Mr. Jones left the lectern and not one council member said anything in response to his helpless plea for help from a stone-silent City Council. Their silence was deafening but it said it all.
One disgraceful tragedy: Whose fault is it?
The
tragedy of homelessness in Modesto did not happen accidentally. It is the result of a number of factors, some of which emanate from other places besides Modesto. On the federal level, it is the result of decades of a bad economy in the United States, coupled with outsourcing by major employers who once paid good wages. When those companies left town, so did their jobs. The Hershey Plant in nearby Oakdale, which outsourced its jobs to Mexico, is a good example of that.
Also a number jobs that people used to do for the major employers have been replaced by automation. People were laid off and they did not have the skills for the remaining jobs at the places where they had worked previously.
On a state level, the biggest cause of unemployment in California was the closure of the State Hospitals. This led to a conglomeration of mentally ill people on the streets, people who would have been helped and returned to the job market before Governor Ronald Reagan closed all but a handful of State Hospitals in the 1960's.
On a local level, the major reason for the widespread homelessness has been Modesto's widespread history of "turning things down" over the last 50 to 60 years. Beginning with a huge amusement park that applied to come to Modesto and ended up going to Santa Clara after the City Council turned it down, Modesto has enacted more than its share of "turn downs" of major employers who could have boosted the City's economy ten-fold or more. Other things that could have been built in Modesto but went elsewhere because of "turn downs" and/or unrealistic demands for sidewalks, street lights and other things that the City is supposed to provide, include the Shriner's Hospital, which went to Sacramento, the Western United States Department of Forestry, which went to Sonora, and the Cancer Research Center, which ended up going to Sonora as well. Modesto also was in the running for the University of California campus that ended up going to Merced after Modesto pulled out.
Also, about 50 years ago, there was a proposal to build a major airport that would serve as a Regional Airport for both Modesto and Stockton. The airport would have accommodated the large airliners and would have been dubbed a "Metropolitan Airport" or perhaps even an "International Airport." Stockton was all for it but the Modesto City Council turned it down.
UC Med Center in Modesto?
Right now there is talk about building a major university hospital in Modesto which would be part of the UC Merced. Let's only hope that if it comes before the City Council for a vote, that they won't turn it down.
Preserving farmland and jobs
While we do have to limit new construction to protect the farmland, we must not use farmland preservation as an excuse for turning everything down and keeping Modesto in its current state of total economic misery. The City already has laws requiring that new construction take place on city infill; so there is no need for the City Council to "turn down" any additional employers who wish to come to this town and bring us jobs, including the University of California.
And for crying out loud, Council, don't just sit there in stone-cold silence when public-spirited citizens like Sebastian Jones come to speak to you about the human tragedy of homelessness. Show some concern and tell us what you are going to do about the situation. And for crying out loud, don't turn down the UC Med Center!
