Moving the homeless is understandable, but not a solution

Update: A few days after this appeared, Thomas Lepera denied he had any intention of busing homeless people to Villanova. To me, it sounds like he caved to pressure.

This is what used to be called a hot ghetto mess before some people decided “ghetto” was racist.

It is not, as it refers to the clumping together of people of a certain type, not a certain race, any more. The word is Italian and was first used to designate the Jewish quarter of Venice.

Homeless encampment in Norristown. (Photo: Times Herald)
Today, it generally means low-income areas, except when used ironically, as in the Golden Ghetto of Beverly Hills.

Anyway, the current mess concerns a stated plan on the part of Norristown’s council president, Thomas Lepera, who has a potty mouth, to entice homeless in his borough to accept two things — $500 gift cards (1)  in exchange for (2) bus transportation to the Villanova University campus.

He’s doing this because Norristown has no homeless shelters, while Stephanie Sena operates one in Upper Darby. Sena is an anti-homeless advocate and anti-poverty fellow at the University’s Charles Widger School of Law. That creates the homeless/Villanova connection.

Norristown is in Montgomery County, Villanova is in Delaware County.

It is an inter-county war.

Wait! says Villanova, sensing a looming PR disaster — Sena’s homeless activities are on her own dime, not connected with the university. 

The Inquirer reports Sena is working on behalf of 160 homeless people in Norristown.

Here’s where it gets ugly, and sticky.

Lepera met briefly last week to discuss homeless encampments with Sena and Eric Tars, legal director of the National Homeless Law Center, in Washington. Sena and Tars agree Lepera called Sena an “ivory tower elitist,” which seems fair, but concluded the meeting by cursing at Sena and making an obscene gesture, which was uncalled for.

What makes it worse is that Lepera is the political director of IBEW Local 98, the politically powerful, Philadelphia electricians union. 

I know some union men cuss, but there is a time and place for everything, and when an Inquirer reporter called to get details from Lepera, the union guy reportedly cursed out the reporter and hung up.

He later issued a statement saying Norristown has about 20 encampments and “When Stephanie reached out as a representative of Villanova [the university denies Sena represents it] I said, ‘How perfect is this? Because Villanova, with hundreds of millions in revenue, that prides itself on Catholic values and wants to help the poor, has a school now with empty dorm rooms… ‘ I couldn’t see a more perfect scenario as where to move the encampments.”

And now the homeless issue aligns with unrestricted immigration. 

Lepera rightly has been accused of following in the footsteps of Texas Gov. George Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who have bussed “immigrants” to Democratic-run Sanctuary Cities in the north, including New York, Chicago, Washington, and Philadelphia.

The critics of the governors neglect to mention that the Democratic-led U.S. government has been flying and busing “immigrants” all over the country, often under the cover of night.

That is a fact, and is a consequence of newly-elected Joe Biden’s decision to reverse almost all of President Donald J. Trump’s border policies. When Biden brought back “catch and release” — meaning stopping either illegal crossings, or faux asylum seekers — and then allowing them into the interior of the country, the border exploded. I explained what I meant by faux asylum seekers in an earlier column.  

Abbott, DeSantis, and Lepera may be guilty of guerilla theater, but guess what? 

It got everyone’s attention and eventually forced Biden, just weeks ago, to retract some of his well-intended, but demonstrably stupid border policies.

He had created a magnet for illegal immigration — to the point where some illegals were wearing T-shirts addressing him by name. Those obviously were distributed by Open Border types, even though anyone who can do basic math understands that Open Borders means suicide for the United States. I explained how here

The homeless have been a problem for longer than the immigrants.

Losing his grip, Tars likened Lepera’s voluntary  relocation with the forced relocation of Japanese citizens during World War II. To me, that’s worse than cussing. It rewrites and denigrates history.

What do we know about the homeless?

I see four types 

Economic. Those willing to work who may have been laid off or lost their income and finances in some way.

Addicted. Those on booze or drugs, who can’t function.

Mentally deficient. Those incapable of caring for themselves.

Leeches. Those who can work, but refuse to.

The economic must be given jobs, even if the jobs have to be created for them. This might align with the concept of guaranteed minimum income, brought to the fore with the Presidential candidacy of Andrew Yang, that he called the “freedom dividend.”

Those willing to work must be accommodated. I don’t care if they are handed a broom, or a shovel, or assigned to be teaching assistants, or coaches, or safety monitors on mass transit — give them work!

On the other hand, the leeches should be given nothing. This includes the nouveau Gen Z who seem to think all work and jobs should be voluntary. 

Don’t worry. They won’t starve. They will leech off parents and friends until the poor fools realize they are being played. Eventually, to eat and pay rent, the leeches will be forced into the labor market, and, yes, they can have fries with that.

The addicted are breaking the law. As such, they can be offered a choice between rehab and jail, which will serve as a less-pleasant rehab than a medical facility. Once they are straight, they can be guided into job training or a job.

The mentally deficient must be institutionalized in decent facilities. That will cost a lot, but maybe less than having them living on the streets.

California has spent about $10 billion on homelessness in the last three years. The money is being spent, but inefficiently.

We have come a long way from being homeless in Norristown, and elsewhere.  

They need help, but the help must not be hammocks that permit them to continue self-destructive behavior.