Downtown News throws first volley in dividing downtown- Poor children do not belong downtown only new gentry families deserve to be protected

With the recent articles written by Kathryn Maese, the Downtown News is finally showing it's true colors in regards to why certain parts of downtown deserve to have the new gentry protected and major efforts to make that happen as opposed to the poorer people who reside in other parts of downtown Los Angeles. I finally responded. There is no guarantee that it will be published. I do agree with Kathryn Maese that Homelessness should not be a respected condition ;Neither should arrogance and, just throwing people into a place and leaving them there to die is also not an option. But hey, let's complain about Broadway , but not San Julian Street.

There is a difference between mental illness and mental incompetence. I firmly believe that those on both sides of the debate are not fully aware of this fact.

Just because a person suffers with a mental illness does not mean they are mentally incompetent. This is why there are so many mentally ill people on the streets because the law
makes the distinction. AS it should. Long ago it was easy for anyone to take their parents to court and claim that they were mentally incompetent to lock them away and take their property or become their payee, or if you got tired of your wife you could do the same and lock her away.

IN the instance of the baby in the stroller, I would have held that person accountable as a father in my own way. What if he had a knife, a gun, blah blah blah!!! HMMM.....Not me. You attack my child be prepared to get it.

As for those who tell this couple to just let the culprit get away with attacking a child , well , I see something inherently wrong with that thinking. If it would have been my kid, the first time that person yelled , he would have been chased away. I am sure the witnesses would had not have had a problem with that.

Bot sides are just using this incident to spin it to one way or the other. What if the person was on drugs? Who was here first blah blah blah.

The point is that as long as the rest of the city is full of NIMBYS then they will even use those talking points to defend the attitude that downtown should have different standards than the rest of the city.

I am amazed at the many families down here with small children in strollers . I am talking about the newer loft living family. People who do not know that it is ok to tell someone to get away from their baby, Me, personally, I would never use a stroller that puts my child in front of me when walking the downtown streets. No way!!!! There has got to be a better way.

This isn't going to change overnight; but rest assured the debate now becomes; why is theire an effort to speak on this subject and fight for a better place to raise families with children but there has been such an effort to remove families with children from "skid row", Downtown. The Huntington Hotel isn't in the supposed skid row boundaries and there are lot's of families living there. Aren't you kind of giving ammunition to the civil rights activists when you claim that families have a right to better living conditions in that part of downtown. HOW are you going to remove those poor people from that hotel Like has been going on in the heart of skid row if they now have the right to live there and :

"But the argument that "they were here first" does not mean I don't have the right to create a better place to live for my family and neighbors, to challenge the status quo as it relates to open drug dealing, urine-soaked streets and humans living in misery, filth and desperation. I will never understand the idea that homelessness should be a permanent and respected state."

Why is there now an effort to fight for the rights of families to enjoy the sidewalk when poor minority families in skid row are being evacuated by the County of Los Angeles in their policy of having no families in skid row.

Why hasn't there been this much outcry to clean up the streets of skid row so that those poor families don't have to live in certain conditions?

You guys opened up a can of worms and shown the double standard that is happening in downtown.


I hope these words are used against those who want to remove the poor families from downtown later when the debate over the Huntington Hotel and others happen.