The compassion cup runneth over in Gainesville.....
A funny thing happened on the way to eliminate homelessness in the City of Gainesville. On Thursday, City Manager Russ Blackburn presented his budget amendment for the fiscal year of 2008. We don't usually find matters fiscal in nature funny, but we think we can make an exception here.
Maybe they made a mistake. Maybe it was a huge misprint that their interns overlooked.
Whatever the problem, the proposal was missing a program crucial to the 10-Year Plan to eliminate homelessness - mainly the City of Gainesville/Ala
The City of Gainesville says despite these budget cuts, they will continue their plan to eradicate homelessness in the community. In addition, because Gainesville works jointly with Alachua County to fund the homeless programs, the county would also cut its aid. Call us crazy, but it would seem that an office charged with managing and supporting the homeless population might be worth figuring into the budget.
According to an article in today's Alligator, the City of Gainesville's year-old 10-year plan called for an opening of service centers, increased support programs and help for a local homeless population of about 1,000 people to find homes and steady jobs. So by opening, they meant closing? Wait, wait - we've got it. The term "service centers" translates to the medians where homeless people choose to panhandle. They service the homeless in that they provide a narrow strip of concrete where the homeless avoid the danger of oncoming traffic. Wow - killing two birds with one stone - a homeless service center and a homeless safety center.
Assistant City Manager Lee Ann Lowery said the reasoning behind the cutting of the Office on Homelessness' funding came from the city's belief that the existing city staff would "pick up the slack" created by the cut. That slack, or something we termed "budget fat" (also known as homeless people), just won't fit into the new and improved city diet. The budget just can't accommodate any of those extra homeless funding calories. They wouldn't be able to fit into their super money-saving skinny pants.
Jon DeCarmine, director of the office and co-author of the 10-Year Plan, voiced his worries about the city's new budget revisions. Though he hopes that the city will still hold helping the homeless as one of its priorities, he remains unsure if this is even possible. DeCarmine said that he created the 10-Year Plan in response to the city's lack of resources in dealing with the homeless. Perhaps there were miscommunicatio
Though the city's budget cuts stem from a decrease in property taxes enacted by the state, we can't help but question their choice cuts. Maybe the city should hold something similar to a beauty pageant or relay race to decide which programs get cut instead of their planning. We could hold a city field day, and the homeless could compete on behalf of their program. By George, we could even pay them in food for their participation.
Whatever happens with the 10-Year Plan, we just hope the city thinks long and hard about what it's sacrificing. Whether the plan will even last 10 years is most likely up in the air. And where will the homeless go when there are no service places or support groups for them to turn to? We guess it's not our problem.
