San Rafael opts to hire team for $272,000 to work on homeless problem

[Duer 157099]

http://www.marinij.com/sanrafael/ci_22626118/san-rafael-opts-hire-team-272-000-work?source=most_viewed

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I like that something is being done, but when I read things like this:

Andrew Hening, employment services manager with the Downtown Streets Team, said the vision is to have 12 people pick up trash and beautify downtown San Rafael for 20 hours a week.

and then this:

Under the program, participants receive gift cards each week — typically $100 — for food, clothing and other essentials.

it sounds to me like they want to pay these folks $100 for 20 hours of work. That sounds like bullshit to me. Yeah, I understand what they are trying to do, but still.

[Bennyboy]

1. Hey let's strap them to rickshaws!

[Bennyboy]

2. 12 people?

Are there 12 homeless people in Marin? How many are there?

See and this is a problem, is that each and every homeless person would be better served with giving them 5K. to pay off the crap that sent them to homelessness int he first place. the traffic fines, the child support, the drug courts all of that.

[HiPointDem]

3. whereas if they'd just split the $272K between the same 12 people, each one would have

got $22K a year.