As someone pointed out in comments on yesterday's post of how the two main Jeffersonville mayoral candidates (Moore and Julius) were falling over themselves in an attempt to see who could be more helpful to the homeless during this spell of inclement weather. Mayor Moore was seen with a camera conveniently there to photo him passing out blankets at a temporary shelter set up for the homeless in downtown Jeff.Not to be outdone Moore's main opponent Julius posted he was donating $2000.00 of his own money (which will later be reimbursed by the City Council) to the local homeless shelter the Haven House run by Barb Anderson who the BatBlog believes they saw sitting in the front row of the Julius campaign kickoff gala.
Now it's great that during tough weather conditions that everyone is being generous so that everyone can at least stay warm. The BatBlog just wonders where these same two politicians were when the attempt to rezone the old JJ's video for a permanent downtown shelter for the homeless was taking place. Did they speak out in favor of the idea ??? Did Julius vote yes to rezone since he was a member of the zoning board (city council) ??? Did Moore as mayor push for what seems like a great idea ???
I think you all know the answer to those questions. The rezoning wasn't approved and I can't remember one single politician who spoke out in favor for the zoning change or the project itself. The project died and the building remains abandoned.
The genuine and sincere advocates of homelessness like Paul from Exit0, the volunteers at the food kitchen, the homeless task force and the people on the Clark County Chatter that volunteer their own time to provide a meal each month are to be commended for their work. They donate their time without the benefit of cameras or trying to impress anyone...They do it from the heart, our politician's do it looking for a vote....For the homeless take advantage of the generosity of politicians because the election cycle has just began but after the election you're back on your own except for those who do it from the heart and not the camera....
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| Julius paying on the Haven House sewer fund...just happened to be a camera in the office |
Dennis voted against the zoning change. Mike didn't say anything publicly, but his planning and zoning hire spoke against the rezoning after acting like he was helping Exit 0 attain it for months.
ReplyDeleteBut that was right AFTER an election.
Yeah it makes for good press to look compassionate and caring toward the homeless community. When in fact it's a problem as a politician that you want to just go away to another city.
ReplyDeleteThe homeless for the most part don't vote, if you put a shelter anywhere you will draw the wrath of the voters in that area. Politicians have to walk that slippery of pretending they care but not to the point of putting or supporting a shelter against the will of those who do vote.
But putting your arm around and hugging a homeless person makes a great photo opp.
Councilmember Zach Payne voted in favor of the zoning change and also spoke up in favor of it.
ReplyDeleteHe did! Love that kid!
ReplyDeleteIs there some reason why Jeffersonville taxpayers are responsible for all the expenses of helping the homeless people in this whole region? Even when Jeff Democrats or Republicans make an extra effort, they get criticized.
ReplyDeleteHow did Louisville, Clarksville, N'albany, Sellersburg, Charlestown, etc. all get a pass on this issue? Did Jeff people miss a deadline to opt out on being the regional homeless capital?
Julius scares the crap out of me. As a first-time City Council member he has enough juice to have a heinous crime covered up. What kind of graft could he get away with if elected Mayor?
ReplyDeleteWhat makes you think these other communities got a pass?
ReplyDeleteLouisville has a strong Coalition for the Homeless that was on the ball with White Flag arrangements. New Albany has been very engaged in the process to get a coalition formed and end homelessness in Clark and Floyd Counties. Clarksville public safety agencies worked with Exit 0 to try and get some of those most determined to stay outdoors during the cold sheltered. Clarksville doesn't necessarily have the numbers of homeless Jeff has, but they have a couple of the hardest cases. Clarksville also deals with those staying at motels near Eastern Blvd who are essentially homeless. Sellersburg and Charlestown doesn't have significant populations of street homeless, but all Clark County residents pay for the burden to inappropriate responses to homelessness - the jail and emergency room.
Jeff has made huge strides in the right direction under Mayor Mike Moore, ending sweeps that tossed the property of homeless individuals and establishing the Homelessness Task Force. The politicians were on the wrong side in the day shelter issue, and I think they know that now.
Yeah that was a pretty stupid statement. There is NO way shape or form that "Jeffersonville taxpayers are responsible for all the expenses of helping homeless people in the whole region"....
ReplyDeleteActually Jeff taxpayers do very little other than through private donations to churches and the Haven House. There are very few tax dollars spent other than the occasional donation like the city council threw out yesterday. Of course there are cost associated with jailing that taxpayers pick up but that is minimal...
Correct me if I'm wrong but the proposed shelter was to be a privately run shelter by Exit 0 and there would be no tax dollars involved.
The only thing required of government was a rezoning request that was shot down by the zoning board/ city council.
Something to consider is why are Jeffersonville taxpayers required to pay for a facility for soccer players in the whole region.
How did Louisville, Charlestown, Clarksville, Sellersburg get a pass on this issue.
They propose (City council) to spend another 3 million on this multi million dollar project...did Jeff people miss a deadline to opt out of being the regional soccer capitol...
You are correct. There were no tax dollars involved in the day shelter effort. Exit 0 had secured the lease from a private property owner that new of their plan and was fine with it. All they asked was to be allowed to use their own resources to serve. City leaders claimed the rezoning was inappropriate for the area though there was a church two doors down and, at the time, Dennis had a church as a tenant in 300 Spring.
ReplyDelete*knew
ReplyDeleteYeah from what I'm hearing Julius is a phoney not to be trusted....he obviously speaks out of both sides of his mouth on this helping the homeless issue...
ReplyDeleteIt looks good in the paper to donate a check but when he really could have helped he voted the other way....
Good post.
ReplyDeletePride and narcissism are such ugly traits of most politicians. I also think it's insulting to the constituents; they must think them idiots to not see the motivation.