Between Homelessness and a Rich Place

According to the Voice of Modesto blog, Joe Muratore and others have selected a group of people to be involved in a "Blue Ribbon Homeless Commission." The Commission, which includes not a single person who is actually homeless, will study the homeless issue in Modesto for six months and then report directly to the city council with how best they best believe the issue should be dealt with. 

Public enemy #1?

It is telling looking at the people who have been selected to be on the commission. Joe Muratore, the developer turned city councilman who helped shut down Paperboy Park, selected surprise surprise, another developer who is the Vice President of the Building Industry Association. Muratore also nominated Mike Moradian Jr., head of the La Loma Association, an organization which (surprise again?) strongly endorsed Joe Muratore in his bid for the council seat and to which he is a member. The La Loma Association itself helped push several anti-homeless initiatives, such as the 'Dumpster-diving ban," calling for the punishing of homeless campers, and the installation of surveillance cameras in local parks.  

Some of the other people selected for the commission include many people who are involved in organizations that already 'manage' and 'control' the homeless population, including representatives with the First Methodist Church, Renaissance Christian Center, and the Modesto Gospel Mission. Other selections include the Chief Deputy District Attorney and business people such as Frank Ploof, a consultant, and J. David Wright, a business owner of Farmers Insurance. Rounding out the group is Vanessa Czopek, who is a librarian at the County Library. 

Big pimpin - poverty.

So what can we gather about those selected for this special commission on homelessness? Well, who makes up the commission? It is comprised of people from the religious, business, and political community. Those with access to money, power, political, and business connections. 

To those from a developer and business background, the homeless are an element that can be purged, helping to raise property values and attract investors allowing tax revenue to flood into the city. We have already seen time and again how 'friendly' the local politicians are to the business class. Just recently, Muratore and his buddies on the council voted 4-2 to, "lower the waste water capacity fees from $4,905 per lot to $500 essentially giving a free ride to developers and sticking the average Modesto water rate payer with their bill."

To the political players like the representative from the District Attorney's office, the homeless represent another part of the population that needs to be controlled and managed, as well as a population that constantly ends up in jail, receives tickets, and faces jail time - another big money maker for the city.  

And finally, for the religious organizations, they want to be sure that in any future plans that the city makes towards the homeless, they are able to secure their position within it. Ensuring that money that comes into them through grants and donations, as well as their control over sections of the homeless population is secured.   

Who's streets? 

So what will this group of people find? And more importantly, what will they decide that those that run this city should do about the homeless? It can be safe to assume that it will be more of the same. We will see more and more attacks on public space, as perhaps more parks will be 'privatized' such as Paperboy Park was in 2010. We will see the 'consolidation' of homeless services in select areas, which will also help the police harass and further criminalize not only homeless but those that bring food to share with them. But moreover, will will see this process of increasing police powers and harassment with a smiling face go hand in hand with record breaking developer deals with cost taxpayers millions and do nothing for the average person. The bigger question is, are we going to allow the developers and business interests to take the city from us?