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By Justin King
Feb 13, 2014 - yesterday in Politics
http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/op-ed-why-businesses-and-citizens-should-avoid-pensacola-at-all-costs/article/370677
Pensacola - The city has suffered international backlash due to a law aimed at making the homeless in the city uncomfortable, but the thought process behind that rule show bad decision making that will hit businesses on their bottom line.
A law passed last summer in the apparent hopes of making the city’s homeless so uncomfortable they flee the area should have businesses and tourists making plans to get out as well. The city council voted 6 -3 in favor of the ordinance it said was aimed at “camping” in public spaces. Their apparent change of heart is too little, too late to ward off the ramifications of their inhumanity. The ordinance stated that no person may be
Read more...
Pensacola mayor now supports repeal of homeless blanket ban
Pensacola conducts 'Running of the Bulls'
Straight to the Street 2009 Helps Toronto's Homeless Special
"adjacent to or inside a tent or sleeping bag, or atop and/or covered by materials such as a bedroll, cardboard, newspapers, or inside some form of temporary shelter."
Confiscating the blankets in freezing temperatures opens the city to massive liability in the event that one of the homeless population dies from exposure. Owners thinking of locating a business in Pensacola would do well to remember that the city council that could not foresee this inevitable liability would be making decisions affecting their bottom line.
The ordinance was ill-conceived from the outset, but the fact that it was defended by the city council until international pressure was brought to bear shows a complete disconnect with reality, and a willingness to punish people who may be in the position they are in because of the absolutely dismal leadership in Pensacola. It cannot be ignored that as soon as one exits the city and crosses the Pensacola Bay Bridge into neighboring Gulf Breeze, the poverty level drops from 16.58%, which is well above the national average, to a mere 4.08%. Being below the poverty level is standard for communities along Florida’s Gulf Coast. In twelve years of poverty records, Pensacola’s lowest reported poverty level was still higher than the highest US poverty level.
The fact that the law enforcement agencies were willing to go along with such an immoral act is par for the course in the city. This is the same community that chose not to file charges against deputies of Escambia County Sheriff’s Office who entered a home without a warrant while the residents were asleep and shot two dogs, killing one. The officers entered through an open window because somewhere in the area earlier in the day there was armed disturbance. No officer reported seeing anyone enter the home, and no suspect was inside the home. Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said that charges would not be filed because the actions were not premeditated. Remember that in the Pensacola area, as long as an assailant didn’t plan it out before hand, he can walk into a hotel room and kill the resident’s pets without facing charges.
An officer willing to strip a person of their source of warmth in freezing temperatures simply because they were told to by a city council concerned with “aesthetic” image is not acting as a police officer, but as a hired thug. These are officers who do not care for their fellow man or their community. They are certainly not the officers that should be expected to find a tourist’s child lost on the beach, unless of course that child was hiding under a blanket. The city might be able to save a bit of funding by employing gang members from 6th Avenue to achieve its goals.
It is not a crime in this nation to be poor. For a city to put the lives of people seen as undesirable in jeopardy simply to raise the visual appeal of the community violates basic ideas of humanity, and fails in the attempt to raise the image of the city because the rest of the world sees it for what it is. The actions of the city council have further darkened the black mark on Florida’s Gulf Coast that is Pensacola. They have let the world know that the voting majority of the city council, in what could be another picturesque community, are monsters that would prey on the weak in the cold of night simply to not have to see them on their drive in to work. This is knowledge the business community and the people should not soon forget.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/op-ed-why-businesses-and-citizens-should-avoid-pensacola-at-all-costs/article/370677#ixzz2tLAy1GbG
Feb 13, 2014 - yesterday in Politics
http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/op-ed-why-businesses-and-citizens-should-avoid-pensacola-at-all-costs/article/370677
Pensacola - The city has suffered international backlash due to a law aimed at making the homeless in the city uncomfortable, but the thought process behind that rule show bad decision making that will hit businesses on their bottom line.
A law passed last summer in the apparent hopes of making the city’s homeless so uncomfortable they flee the area should have businesses and tourists making plans to get out as well. The city council voted 6 -3 in favor of the ordinance it said was aimed at “camping” in public spaces. Their apparent change of heart is too little, too late to ward off the ramifications of their inhumanity. The ordinance stated that no person may be
Read more...
Pensacola mayor now supports repeal of homeless blanket ban
Pensacola conducts 'Running of the Bulls'
Straight to the Street 2009 Helps Toronto's Homeless Special
"adjacent to or inside a tent or sleeping bag, or atop and/or covered by materials such as a bedroll, cardboard, newspapers, or inside some form of temporary shelter."
Confiscating the blankets in freezing temperatures opens the city to massive liability in the event that one of the homeless population dies from exposure. Owners thinking of locating a business in Pensacola would do well to remember that the city council that could not foresee this inevitable liability would be making decisions affecting their bottom line.
The ordinance was ill-conceived from the outset, but the fact that it was defended by the city council until international pressure was brought to bear shows a complete disconnect with reality, and a willingness to punish people who may be in the position they are in because of the absolutely dismal leadership in Pensacola. It cannot be ignored that as soon as one exits the city and crosses the Pensacola Bay Bridge into neighboring Gulf Breeze, the poverty level drops from 16.58%, which is well above the national average, to a mere 4.08%. Being below the poverty level is standard for communities along Florida’s Gulf Coast. In twelve years of poverty records, Pensacola’s lowest reported poverty level was still higher than the highest US poverty level.
The fact that the law enforcement agencies were willing to go along with such an immoral act is par for the course in the city. This is the same community that chose not to file charges against deputies of Escambia County Sheriff’s Office who entered a home without a warrant while the residents were asleep and shot two dogs, killing one. The officers entered through an open window because somewhere in the area earlier in the day there was armed disturbance. No officer reported seeing anyone enter the home, and no suspect was inside the home. Assistant State Attorney Greg Marcille said that charges would not be filed because the actions were not premeditated. Remember that in the Pensacola area, as long as an assailant didn’t plan it out before hand, he can walk into a hotel room and kill the resident’s pets without facing charges.
An officer willing to strip a person of their source of warmth in freezing temperatures simply because they were told to by a city council concerned with “aesthetic” image is not acting as a police officer, but as a hired thug. These are officers who do not care for their fellow man or their community. They are certainly not the officers that should be expected to find a tourist’s child lost on the beach, unless of course that child was hiding under a blanket. The city might be able to save a bit of funding by employing gang members from 6th Avenue to achieve its goals.
It is not a crime in this nation to be poor. For a city to put the lives of people seen as undesirable in jeopardy simply to raise the visual appeal of the community violates basic ideas of humanity, and fails in the attempt to raise the image of the city because the rest of the world sees it for what it is. The actions of the city council have further darkened the black mark on Florida’s Gulf Coast that is Pensacola. They have let the world know that the voting majority of the city council, in what could be another picturesque community, are monsters that would prey on the weak in the cold of night simply to not have to see them on their drive in to work. This is knowledge the business community and the people should not soon forget.
Read more: http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/op-ed-why-businesses-and-citizens-should-avoid-pensacola-at-all-costs/article/370677#ixzz2tLAy1GbG
