Wednesday, October 16, 2024

Unhoused People & Environment Summit: our 60 seconds @ the open mic...




entire reason we even bothered at all is because 1.)  Richard Santos inspired us with his talk at BCAC..  a gathering of people with the authority to take action!    -not just talk...     and 2.)  Our cherished friends the Wilson's,  they were willing to sit through another... who knows how many hours, and how much BS,  to get that 1 minute to speak..

so, we were inspired by them also

and thank them here again for driving..

-k-, so,   we each wrote our 1 minute talks, which i will share in this post as i receive copies of them..

and, as you can see from the agenda, we had to wait through 3 hours of...     

and this is where Jesus won! -where i am concerned..

because, i am not exaggerating to say that it took some 911 silent prayer activity on my part not to stand up on my seat and make a scene

stand up on my seat, and start yelling..    "Enough of your BS! already.."    i held myself to my seat with both hands

and i'd like to thank the Holy Spirit here for helping me exercise the fruit of the spirit named, self-control.

God can only help, if you ask, otherwise it would be called God-control, not self-control;  -write, 

but anyway, 

it is also a good thing I didn't have this with me:


   -because i think i would have stood up on my seat and started listing,  in bullet point fashion,  the $$$$ from since 2015 that has been provided for the homeless cause; 

     [employ facetious/sarcastic tone here]:   -for our veterans, mentally ill, drug addicted, unhoused, impoverished..  the most vulnerable among us..   -they use this angle every time to get the money; that then disappears... 

and it still sickens and disgusts me that this $$$$ is unaccounted for; the problem has only grown and no one seems to be being held accountable..    -criminal!

so, to listen to each and every panelist associated with a homeless non-profit,  
 
   -continue to ask for more money...    -to make pathetic excuses for not knowing where previous millions went..      -create stories around why it isnt their responsibility..      or, share a mistakes happen, attitude, and suggest we are all just supposed to ignore, forgive, and give more money..    the utter lack of accountability on anyone's part;

disgusting.

anyway,   -i could go on and on..   how stacked and dramatically unbalanced the summit was; i mean, just look at the agenda..

one woman expressed upset during her 1 minute, that there were no, unhoused, people on the panel.. and how unfair that was..

i agree. -although hard not to recognize how well they were represented by leaders from non-profits that support them and plead their cause

while the HTLC population goes ENTIRELY IGNORED,   [Hard Working, Tax Paying, Law Abiding Contributors]

there was ONE,   -ONE-  brief and vague mention of a public safety issue with a Valley Water Employee trying to clean near a creek, under a bridge..

and the rest of the three+ hours was homeless advocates asking for more money, explaining how homeless people are homeless exclusively, apparently, because of lack of affordable housing, and how lack of affordable housing is to blame for their drug and alcohol addictions

this is a little bit lost on someone like me, because all i could do was afford to rent a room (divorced, mom of two young children) and work multiple jobs, crazy shifts to do just that

so while i agree 'affordability' and 'living wages' could be improved; and i do support smaller rent increases, over longer periods of time, with more warning..

struggling to find shelter and pay rent are pretty common struggles, and a poor excuse for  'now i'm addicted to drugs, steal to pay for them, can't hold down a job, no one can trust me, and i am colonizing the creek, and it's someone elses responsibility to get me out of this mess


heard the term "humanitarian" crisis, multiple times..   but never, "public safety crisis"   -which it actually is..

     -not mentioning in detail here, the impact of encampments on our waterways..  and not mentioning how way too soft 'bio-waste' sounds compared to, 'homeless defecating in and on..'   compared, maybe to  
     -the amount of human sh&%  accumulating in the waterways (on sidewalks, in parking lots.. in front of stores and restaurants)          -and 'litter' is way too soft a vocabulary for the toxic garbage, the poisonous trash that accumulates at encampments          -these euphemisms are not helping. 

i was disappointed there was not a more balanced problem solving panel, which i've been advocating for since NOTonNOBLE initally sounded alarms.

     -not one small business owner on the panel..   not one resident that lives near these creek encampments,  -no one (individual, family or business owner or staff)  no one representing anyone who has been victimized by a homeless criminal, or anyone who has had to change their route to school, work or shopping due to safety issues caused by homeless;   no one to discuss the small businesses colonized and closed.

no healthcare workers, no ER staff on the panel; no fire-fighters, no police officers..       not one of the high school students who had to have their own uprising due to multiple crimes from homeless taking over their campus.     

add on, that rumor has it, there were movers & shakers, authority figures & leaders invited to this summit, that for one reason or another,  didn't attend. 

the upshot for me, /and i may be speaking on behalf of many others..

PANELS   -as a forum for this type of problem solving are a huge waste of time, energy, human & financial resources    -especially, with such dramatic lack of balance

but panels are a waste any way you slice it, from my experience

when someone can just drone on and on, make up stories, make excuses, fast-talk, BS..   and never be interrupted or challenged,  sing a fiction song, and then just pass the mic along..

that's a waste.  and essentially we listened to the same thing being said over and over, just in a different order, by a different person

i argue here,   

  [especially having been required to edit my talk to 60 seconds..!]

but perhaps someone really, one day could,  -assess and evaluate what i'm about to say,  for the truth; the actual time and numbers:

but, if you remove all the platitudes  -all the atta boys the panel gives each other..
and you remove any/all repetitious talk,  -so that each valid point is made only once, by one person on the panel..

like if you remove every time we heard a variation of..  this is a complex problem, there's no silver bullet; its going to take all of us, and take a long time...   /and lots of money...

i suggest you place all of that on a big visible bulletin board/screen of some sort..   and require panel members themselves to EDIT THEIR TALKS

sorry.. no more panels.   -they should be banned.   where was i?    -yes!  if you remove all platitudes, atta-boys, repetitions..    this 3 hour + summit meeting could have been accomplished in 20 minutes.

what you want, if you really want to problem solve, is ROUND TABLES, with more voices/perspectives represented,   -timed/edited/thought-out ideas being shared, with opportunities to challenge, to request clarity; to add on...   to what if..   etc.

and these roundtables should be made public.

 no more waiting through 3 hours of BS for a few people to talk for 1 minute; long after the most appalling things were already said as if wonderful, genuine, fact and true.

*****   here is what we had to say, 
we =  Elva Wilson, Tom Wilson, Robert Mickanen, Sandra Harrison Kay  ****

60 SECONDS @ the SUMMIT, by Sandra

This is a public safety nightmare.  We are in a state of emergency.

We continue to advocate for Dignity Acres Emergency Campground.

And advocate for Santa Clara County Fairgrounds as the place

for Dignity Acres Emergency Campground.

The fairgrounds has over 100 acres.  The fairgrounds already has infrastructure.

The fairgrounds give first responders a place to relocate homeless individuals IMMEDIATELY. NOW. TODAY.  While we resolve the crisis in a more comprehensive way.

And This would be appropriate use of Prop 1 funding.

 We are RE-submitting here today, Our outline for

Dignity Acres Emergency Campground. 

Which is available to the public at NOTonNOBLE.blogspot.com


60 SECONDS @ the SUMMIT, by Robert

The term homeless is too one-sided and misleading. The homeless we see on the streets are not in their situation because of financial difficulty.  The people who end up homeless are the ones who destroy their relationships by their own actions. The actions that force friends, family, and apartment managers to have these dysfunctional people removed from their residence are as follows:

physical violent assaults,

intimidation,

 fear,

 threats,

stealing,

destroying the property,

 drug addiction,

 verbal assault,

conducting criminal activity,

 not respecting others,

not obeying the home rules,

 filth,

and refusing to be productive and get a job.

  Just draining their friends and family financially and mentally. After many chances, there comes a point when their friends and family can’t take the abuse from them anymore and they must leave. 

NOTE:  there were a few people talking over robert's 60 seconds,  'homeless arent criminals!'

                  /which brings me over and over to:   YES, a % of them are!  there is more than one demographic;  the homeless population colonizing our creeks, and sleeping/begging in front of our local businesses are not 100% domestic abuse victims, or 100% people unable to find affordable housing

exactly the point robert was making..  

60 SECONDS @ the SUMMIT, by Tom

Homelessness has become a major crisis in my City, and yet, it isn’t being treated as such. The number of people living on the streets in San Jose rivals those left homeless after earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes, fires, and floods. But, for San Jose’s homeless disaster, no federal relief is available. Why is that? Isn’t the suffering of homeless people just as real as the suffering of those displaced by catastrophic events?

The time to act is now! It’s time to lobby the federal government for funding, and It’s time to build-back our mental health and drug rehabilitation institutions. Doing so will take many years, so, in the meantime, we must immediately build tent cities large enough to shelter the entire homeless population of San Jose. Too, it’s time to find new, innovative solutions. The course of action taken thus far has been a very expensive, and very massive failure, with the biggest outcome being an ever-increasing population of those living on the streets.

We the taxpayers, will no longer accept the current trend of slowly building expensive temporary shelters for a projected outcome that only addresses a small percentage of the needed units, and which won’t come online until many years from now. Concurrently, the City is funneling the lion’s share of funding to non-profits to care for the homeless on the streets. This is a failed business model that only serves the non-profits. It doesn’t get people off the streets, in fact, it enables them to remain on the streets.

San Jose not only tolerates camping in public spaces, but encourages it by providing free goods and services like food, medicine, transportation and healthcare to campers. People in need will always migrate to where their needs are met—it’s human nature. People migrate from all over the country to live homeless in San Jose. They survive on the streets with no money, no home, no car, no insurance, and no food. The only thing they aren’t given are the tools needed for reintegration!

60 SECONDS @ the SUMMIT, by Elva

    Here is a version of my commentary given at the Unhoused Summit last week. The actual in-person commentary had to be a bit cut short, due to time limitation.

The explosion of mentally ill and drug addicted living in squalor in our streets and in our creeks is destroying the quality of our lives. The lives of the invisible community of residents affected by this crisis.  The same community you keep looking to as taxpayers for solutions to this crisis.  The community that is not represented here on any panels, either.  

The mentally ill and drug addicted floundering on streets need to be stabilized in residential treatment facilities, not in safe sleeping sites, not in expensive Tiny Homes, and definitely not in permanent housing.  

The County of Santa Clara, not the City, not  the Water District, has the legal jurisdiction, funding and technical expertise to take care of those with mental health and drug addiction (behavioral) issues living on our streets.   

The  City and County’s singular focus in addressing this crisis by providing exorbitant funding to community non-profit service providers as the primary solution to the homeless crisis has been a massive failed solution, with no accountability for results.  The growing inhumane suffering of the homeless on our streets is a loud and clear broadcast of the failure of these non-profits to manage and improve this crisis.  It's time to stop funding failure.   ( i underlined that...)

 It is mind boggling that after 3 hours of discussion from government agencies and non-profits here today at this unhoused summit, I did not hear any new solutions to this crisis that does not  involve seeking more funding from taxpayers.  

The County has under-utilized land available throughout the 15 cities (not just in SJ) under its jurisdiction which must  be explored to develop residential treatment facilities for the homeless who are mentally ill and drug addicted. 

The County keeps buying up hospitals, but continues to shirk its responsibility of utilizing these facilities it acquires as desperately needed mental health and drug rehab institutions to house and treat our mentally ill and drug addicted.  Please start acting on behalf of the people you were elected to represent.


****

from the archives:  roundtable flyer from NOTonNOBLE protest



while we are on this topic:






the population is enormous, but how do we answer the questions for
just this one individual?

-who, by the way, a friend of mine and i just encountered recently on the corner
of hostetter and capital.   we were at a red light at the intersection, my passenger side window down, and he was only a few feet away.  he was talking, then yelling, then screaming in a language unfamiliar to me.

i could sense his hostility growing and felt him trying to get my attention

life experience told me not to make eye contact

our light turned green, and we carried on.

*****

ALSO  -in my 'here's a fair question' category..

HOW ARE WE DEFINING  -SAFE-

PUBLIC SAFETY.

Actual definition?

For me,  -in my imagination:  Where you can have a grandma, mommy with baby & stroller
walking together, from here to there,  and 

not just  -feeling-  safe; but BEING SAFE.

Where it is clean and safe for families to walk, picnic, shop, live, study, play, rest, work;
free from any kind of violence, harm or threat.

oh! these places are the goal!  growing more and more safe places for families.

selah! 

"My Art Gallery Debut!" (dove art gallery, milpitas!)

   -and i had written about dove art gallery not too long ago without any prior knowledge of..   without any desire or thought that my mixed media art..

-just a wonderful gallery to pop in on occasionally and enjoy

what happened, is that they were in between exhibits during our last walk-by, and accepting applications..     i still didn't even consider..

my sexy said to me, "want to have some of your art put in there?"

and i was like,  "-no.  i'm still trying to finish the flowers for yard art..."

and my sexy said to me..  "it doesn't have to be something new you create, it can be something you've already created..    like the owl"

  -that changed my entire outlook.  and i am very grateful to have my fall owl bliss mixed media art making its gallery debut.  

and i'll tell ya somethin' even more fun, to me personally..     when we visited the san jose art museum, i took a number of pictures of art that inspired me, and we took our picture   -with-  my favorite art piece

so, to be inside dove gallery, and watch without people realizing,  -watch them take their picture -with- my owl..

early Christmas present!   -made my day..     "thank you!" to my sexy for suggesting/encouraging me.. and

"Thank You!" to Rob Carol, founder, curator DoveGallery.com   

hallelujah & amen

Sunday, October 13, 2024

"SURPRISE!" 60th for Robert..


giant "THANK YOU!"    Robert was very moved by the turn out at park victoria church, and then our home.  Especially grateful to Jerry & Sandy,  Richard & Nancy, (Daniel & Mei Rose),   who had been wanting to do something for Robert to thank him for all he does for others.. 

so, i asked if maybe that something could be helping me surprise him for his 60th..   and they stepped up in so many different ways, and allowed Robert to be the recipient of driveway happy hour treats..

everyone brought their cool, fun personalities, their love, support, some great dishes, desserts & drinks to "cheers!"       thank also grandy & pops for helping me surprise him with new BBQ for 2025 berryessa blue zone happy hours; Jerry for the awesome hand-painted vikings birthday banner...    and Rose & Tony for way upping the "SURPRISE!" factor..

All family & friends... "Thank You!" for helping turn this milestone celebration into a cherished memory!   We love you! 

Thursday, October 03, 2024

i am a fan of this adorable, wonderful, delightful (secular) movie.. (me!) sandra, ~topps, writeousmom

if not for a long list of higher priorities, i would write in great detail, my response and experience watching inside out 2.   i will jot only, 

  -written/told from an exclusively secular point of view

  -and how long it took me, personally, to experience     -to interpret, to learn,  that i had evolved/graduated to getting to feel just, or merely 'embarrassed.'

; before i evolved and graduated, i exclusively interpreted/identified my [given] experience as 'feeling'

mortified! & humiliated! 

   -more when time/circumstance allow..   2025-ish

God only knows,  /i say with a smile.    amen. 
 

Tuesday, October 01, 2024


we really prefer when the threat is directed toward the criminal and not law abiding, paying customers; don't you?

#vellumdays in progress...





  




 "Thank You Jesus!   Family...   Friends...         hallelujah & amen

Thursday, September 19, 2024

LOVE this stamp design! (me!) ~topps, sandra, writeousmom


 yes.. "Thank You!"   -tremendous, as a team, what you do.. 

hallelujah & amen

****


and thanks nicole!   -sure really love both of these stamps too, and especially side by side with thinking of you stamp across both.  -i still collect stamps without knowing what i will ultimately create using them...  but, look forward to when that window of time, energy, inspiration all align..   another thank you prayer because i just love stamps and stickers..   color, beauty, charm, history..  connection.   amen. 

Tuesday, September 17, 2024

Public "Thank You!" to the George's! (fancy nancy! & richard!) -in detail soon...


 i know in advance, my next blog post..   and am very excited to share, what a wonderful, wonderful time the george's treated us too..    us, for our 'making it official' wedding, but they were celebrating too, their 18 year anniversary..

we started in the gorgeous paso robles wine country...   and next enjoyed an enchanting fishing village called morro bay..

tbc. with so many great picture memories... 





Officer Black Belt -movie review by (sexy! & topps!)

   about the reviewers: 

sexy, AKA, robert, couple weeks shy of 60 years old:   27+ years of public safety service as a santa clara county deputy, working in both the main jail in san jose,  and elmwood correctional facility in milpitas.

topps, AKA, sandra, age 58 years old:  three time victim of sexual predators (age 6, age 16, age 17); three different predators  [details in other blog posts]

but, it is with this individual life experience; it is through this personal lens, that we watched this movie together:  Officer Black Belt

    /and for the record, i navigate to netflix for a commercial free viewing experience

*****
"WE BOTH LOVED THIS MOVIE!"

let's call it, hopefully, prophetically, a kickstart in mass media of the  'RISING of the RIGHTEOUS'

waaaay overdue..

but, robert,  (and me too, but even more so, robert) he really, deeply appreciated a movie showcasing and featuring good cops  -righteous cops

vs. the 1000's over the past, and current years, depicting very corrupt, evil, cops

and he really, deeply appreciated getting to see good cops supported and rewarded for their fight against evil criminals, vs. the 1000's of depictions where somehow the criminals actions are justified (ignored or celebrated even)  and the fight against evil is criminalized

we have both had quite enough of the fight against evil being criminalized

*****

and i, (and robert too, but even more so, me), i really, deeply appreciated this movie for how sensitive it was to victims of sexual assault

as a three time survivor, i pay careful attention to how this subject is covered in media

-how this topic is covered in this movie, officer black belt,  -is exemplary, in my experienced opinion

-they suggest the evil, for the purpose of the story; without asking the audience to witness evil, they keep the focus on the fighters of evil;   "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

    [i note here, that when movie makers include the evil, vs. suggesting it..  that means they have written; had actors perform; have filmed...    and to process and contemplate that in full makes me nauseous  -there is no valid reason for...     suggestion alone will always be enough]

in officer black belt, we return at long last! to fighters of evil as heroes; not evil-doers as heroes

a refreshing reset in our current culture to be sure.

and 

we both loved the cast...  the pace...   the message...     

also loved seeing young men feeling compelled to fight crime; and the loyalty, friendships in the story

and the mentor/student relationships..

it was just solidly good all the way around.    "Thank You!" to everyone who contributed to the creation of this film

****

additional cerebral hyperlinks for me personally, 

  -after many years, and much contemplation, research & prayer, i landed on:

sexual predators should be permanently removed from society.  no exceptions.   -in this movie, sexual predators are released and inevitably find new victims

sexual predators who also kill their victims, should be permanently removed from our planet.

****

i continue to believe, for example, richard allen davis should have been put to death decades ago.  i also continue to believe, the public, the tax paying public, should know, to the penny, how much it has cost over these decades to keep him in prison;   -how many free meals..  how much cleaning of his laundry..  how much medical/dental healthcare he has received...

let us, as a population, rise in the disgust collectively, until it results in positive, righteous action..

****

have i already written? so, worth repeating..

joyce meyer, and many other countless survivors of evil, incest,   -many survivors of  many different types of traumas, 

if you fast-forward in their lives, they will, upon being healed, say something like this:

"i'm glad that happened... it made me who i am..."   /many variations of that conclusion..

             ...made me stronger...      brought me closer to God...      etc.

but, 

i remind, remind, remind:   there is no time, no circumstance, no parent in their right mind, who would ever say,  -even upon healing, and even many years post trauma, there is no parent that would ever say

'i'm glad my child was abducted, violated, murdered...      it made me who i am today'


also, i've already written, but..   remind:  as humans, we are both flesh & spirit..   when a young person spoke to me of being stimulated by evil sex scenes..

this is one analogy:  you, as a human, have biological default systems; default reactions; -so, with certain foods, your body might respond by mouth watering, for example..

if someone tells you, there is poison in the given food making your mouth water; this knowledge might not stop your mouth from watering; but it would certainly prevent you from eating it

with our spirit, with our minds, we can observe our own and learn to recognize/discern default biological settings/reactions in our human bodies and over-ride them.  we can recognize and ignore vs. non-consciously act on..

this is spirit vs. flesh; good vs evil; exercising free will all combined.    

   -for future writings:  distinguishing between weakness and wickedness; free will choosing evil


*****

also,  -going back to officer black belt..    cool how officer black belt was introduced as non-alcohol drinking, for unique reason, but comfortable in the company of...

and just recently, robert and i, put water in our vikings shot glasses, to celebrate their victory..

we do that too occasionally...

****

robert also watched a movie called ruthless..    i didn't see this one; was doing something else, but..

he loved this one too, and for many of the same reasons he loved officer black belt..   [several movies with 'ruthless' in the title, so picture here for specific reference]. 


****

rising of the righteous in the film industry...       let it be the kickstart of many more to come..

****

in Jesus name, we sure do pray..

Thursday, September 12, 2024

"SEPTEMBER!" @ Municipal Rose Gardens, San Jose, CA 2024


without a recent 'does this street go all the way through to...?' curiosity before our dentist appointments..    -if not for that, we would not have driven write past the rose gardens.. which blew us away, because we just didn't realize how in bloom the garden is in SEPTEMBER...    spring, yes, of course.. stunning,  -but we were there yesterday!  Patriots Day.. [sign of cross]  September 11th, 2024...  and utterly surrounded in blooms of every color, and gentle fragrances galore    -

and we had ourselves a very romantic, fun, delicious afternoon..     enjoying this treasure serves as our "Thank You!" prayer.. to God and everyone who contributes to gardening, maintaining, growing, pruning, cleaning, nurturing

 


 and speaking of "Thank You's!"    -my gorgeous 'fancy nancy' neighbor friend gifted me the hat i'm wearing in this picture... LOVE IT!   -and the tumbler with scripture on it was part of a mother's day gift bag given to mom's, grandmom's, in attendance at dorado church in puerto rico..   LOVE this too!

from glory to glory to hallelujah & amen. 

#vellumdays september 2024





 "Thank You Jesus!"   "Thank You family & friends!"    -grateful, grateful, grateful... amen