To the editor: Threatening individuals with jail time doesn’t appear to work for any crimes, so I’m curious as to why San José Mayor Matt Mahan thinks the homelessness disaster will likely be completely different (“San José mayor proposes jailing homeless people who repeatedly refuse shelter,” March 6). Moreover, per the examine by the Benioff Homeless and Housing Initiative cited in a recent L.A. Times article, nearly all of the unhoused should not unhoused due to drug use.
Clearly, interim housing is an effective stopgap with everlasting housing and care being the aim, however we ought to be asking ourselves why individuals ever fall into being unhoused. It will appear our system fails to take care of individuals once they truly need assistance. We should always cease letting capitalist decision-making wreck individuals. There’s no motive we will’t make housing a proper as a substitute of a privilege.
Hassan Abdul-Wahid, Los Angeles
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To the editor: Though the explanations for homelessness fluctuate, the primary 5 paragraphs of your article illustrate one widespread motive: Some unhoused people eschew conventional properties in favor of free actual property the place they’ll construct with out permits, inspections, taxes or park leisure automobiles with out campground charges and different prices.
Alan Bell, Los Angeles
