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by Andrew DellaRocca/PoorNewsNetwork Media Intern
I registered as a San Francisco voter the other day. It wasn't an easy
thing for me to do. I had resisted declaring myself an official California
resident for quite some time. I'm from New York, and there is that whole
New York pride thing that goes along with it. East coast versus west coast.
Throughout my formative years, this rivalry was sensationalized through
the mediums of MTV and the NBA. I hate the Lakers, I love the Knicks. NWA
did their thing. That was cool. But you'd never have caught me putting
them in the same league as Tribe or the Digable Planets. "California is a
beautiful state", Iíd concede, "but it ainít nothing like New York."
But I'm not even from New York City. I'm from a suburb of Albany, about two
hours north of the City-- a very white, middle class suburb -- and let me
tell you, San Francisco blows it out of the water. And so I decided a
couple weeks back to make it official, and I registered. But with
registration comes a responsibility to find out exactly whatís going on
around here, and I began to watch the local news, and to read the Chronicle
(the Bay Area section).
One face that kept popping up all over the news was Gavin Newsom's. I
couldnít ignore him. Not only because he is constantly covered, but because
he kind of looks like me. Put me in a suit, and we could be brothers. And
I kept reading about this guy, about how he is proposing a new program for
the poor, called Care Not Cash. The local media would pound out the message
that this program would be a solution to the cityís homelessness. Care
sounds good, cash sounds good too but, maybe care is better. I donít know.
And so I decided to find out what it, and this guy, were all about.
And now, let me emphasize something: He aint my brother.
Newsome's Care Not Cash measure is designed, supposedly, to "assist" the
poor and homeless of San Francisco, by reforming the current County Adult
Assistance Program. Since the program is designed to assist the poor, I
thought it would be proper to ask the poor, and those who advocate for the
poor, exactly what this proposal would mean, since it is they who would know
best. They were eager to talk about it, and I soon learned a few things
that my perusals in the Chronicle, and my sittings through the KRON 4 news
report, failed to tell me.
Care Not Cash sounds more like an assault on the poor and homeless than a
program of assistance to the poor. It is a new system that its proponents
say will enable the city to spend more on creating affordable housing, as
well as bettering the services for the homeless. However, it offers no
plans on how to do so, nor does it guarantee that the funding will go into
such programs. What it does guarantee is that money will be taken directly
from the poorest people, who are already required to work for the assistance
they receive.
I spoke with Steve Williams from POWER, and he explained, "He [Gavin
Newsom] is going to require that people continue to work, for free or for
cheap, for the city, and then in the meantime he is going to wind up
slashing the money that the people are receiving. So now, basically, people
would be working in exchange for being able to stay in the shelters, working
to be able to get food at St. Anthonyís or Glide; all services that are
right now free. But now people would have to work in exchange for them.î
Care Not Cash will slash the amount of cash that recipients receive by 85%.
I am unsure of how this will cure homelessness. The plan is to convert this
cash into vouchers, and that these vouchers could be used at the cityís
shelters and food programs. However, these programs are already free, and
by requiring them to accept vouchers, the only thing that this proposal does
is take money away from those that receive it.
I found out from the Committee Against Increased Homelessness that the Care
Not Cash measure would actually increase homelessness. By slashing the
amount of cash that homeless people receive, the measure would prevent them
from having the ability to pay for affordable housing if some became
available. In addition, those persons who are housed ìcasuallyî, who cannot
get a receipt for their arrangement, would be unable to pay the rent,
forcing them onto the street. The shelters are full, and so without any
cash to rent a room, more people would be forced to sleep on the street.
When I learned about all of this, I began to think about what an idiotic
proposal it was. If the man is able to manage wineries and restaurants, why
is he proposing such an incoherent plan to the city of San Francisco, and
then disguising it as a measure that will help the homeless? Then I found
out that he plans to run for Mayor, and things began to make sense.
Although his proposal is idiotic, the man is no idiot, he has a plan. Care
Not Cash gives him media exposure. Homelessness is a problem that everyone
in San Francisco is concerned about, and by advocating this plan, Newsome is
able to get his face all over the News. Likewise, he is able to pay for
media time under the rubric of the Care campaign, preventing those
expenditures from being counted toward his mayoral campaign, bypassing
campaign finance restrictions.
Care Not Cash will also help his campaign in other ways. His website
states, ìThe initiative will bring San Francisco in line with almost every
other major California County, thereby eliminating the incentive for
homeless individuals who want cash rather than services to congregate here.î
The argument that slashing cash assistance will prevent homeless people
from coming to San Francisco, and maybe even compel those already here to
leave, entices the tourist industry, and other big business interests. By
promising them that homeless people in San Francisco will no longer be seen,
Newsom guarantees their endorsement for mayor. However, they fail to
recognize that even if some of the homeless decide to leave, there will be
those on the street that have become newly homeless, as a result of this
measure.
Care Not Cash,if passed, will be a failure to all. The measure, and the
man who endorses it, should be regarded with nothing short of mockery.
Those who support it do so only through ignorance, through pure
self-interest, or through both. I decided to write this piece because I am
disgusted with and concerned about Newsome's proposal. After all, I've got
to make sure us middle-class white boys represent.
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