*In March 2017 California voted “Yes” on Proposition H – a quarter-penny sales hike that stands to raise some 3.5 billion dollars over a 10-year period to help house the homeless. Sounds good! People got emotionalized; got warm fuzzies about helping the homeless. I’m all for it, but I do not have good feelings about what’s being played out.
In November 2016, California voted “Yes” on Proposition HHH to fund an affordable housing program. Then in March 2017 at the top of the six categories of the Proposition H budget is affordable housing…again! What gives? Isn’t that double-dipping? The other five categories – coordinated outreach, case management, homelessness prevention, preservation of existing housing, and income support are not clearly defined. It makes you wonder where the money is really going? The property developers? The trumped-up Prop H measure has yet to reveal what the nuts ‘n’ bolts of the plan are. California essentially voted for an empty budget plan whose overseers (according to a pre-election conference call I listened in on) are not very well versed on the issue.
Last week the House Rpublicans won by a narrow vote to repeal and replace Obamacare, but with what? I’ve heard more than a few Republican representatives who voted for the bill without fully understanding it, and are unable to explain the ramifications to their constituents. Then they shamelessly go to town hall meetings trying to defend something they know nothing about. Here again, people are voting for an empty plan. What’s up with that!?
Are elected officials so comfortable in their roles that they feel they can say and do anything they want? What arrogance! We need to keep opposing those who do not feel they should be accountable.
Concerning Prop H: I was recently quoted in the Los Angeles Times as such…
[There has been no organized opposition to Measure H, and no group filed a ballot argument against it.
However, Larry Buford, a South Los Angeles resident who lives next to a recently completed homeless housing project, posted a critique of the measure on a community news website, saying he thinks it lacks transparency.
“What’s disturbing is that not a hint of how the funds will be apportioned has been rolled out before the vote,” Buford wrote.
In an interview with The Times, Buford complained that the project near his home was approved by the county with insufficient parking despite community opposition.]
Whether on a local or national level; “whether a ‘no house’ issue or a White House issue; we must stand up and speak out about things that just make no good common sense.
Larry Buford is a Los Angeles based freelance writer. Author of “Things Are Gettin’ Outta Hand.” E-mail [email protected]
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