Open Letter To Gavin Newsom: Homelessness In LA and Border Crisis
What’s up Gav?
I have been living in West Hollywood for the past three years. I absolutely love the beautiful and diverse state of California and have dreamed of living here my whole life. I remember visiting West Hollywood 4 years ago before moving and as soon as I stepped out of the cab from the airport into this wonderful city I knew right away that it would be my home. It was clean, beautiful, safe and I felt an immediate sense of community.
If you were to take a walk with me today down any street I could tell you the history of the buildings and who used to live there ( Grace Kelly lived 2 blocks from my current address and I walk past Lucille Ball’s first house weekly). When my friends come to visit me I have them watch a documentary telling the magical history of the Sunset Strip. I then take them to have a glass of champagne at The Chateau Marmont, after we head to The Comedy Store and slowly make our way down the rest of the strip. The history in that part of town is so thick you can feel it and it is fun to be with someone who is experiencing it for the first time. I love showing off my city!
Unrelated, but last yearI learned how to play the ukulele and got to play at The Rainbow! How cool is that? This really is a place where anything can happen.
Recently things have started to dramatically change in my city and upon doing research I learned that it is not just West Hollywood or LA even, it is happening in many parts of California at an alarming rate.
So, this is where my real letter to you starts. Also, I hope you don’t mind, I made some art that I will be peppering throughout my letter to you… just in case you get bored.
Since you identify as a feminist and are all about abortions and stuff. I thought I would write this letter to you from my strong independent female perspective. Cus the future is female amiright???
So let’s dive in. I am going to bring you along for a day in the life of me, a female living in your state.
If I didn’t work late the night before I will typically wake up around 7 a.m. I live in a lovely apartment right next to a popular hiking spot right on the cusp of West Hollywood. My roommate and I work very hard to be able to afford it. I chose to live in this area because we are surrounded by luxury apartments and it is very residential and “safe”… or so I thought.
I eat breakfast, read a little and then walk 3 blocks north to do a morning hike. This particular walk is usually pretty uneventful, maybe I’ll see a few discarded liquor bottles on the side walk, a homeless person digging in the trash, yesterday was fun I stepped over a giant dead rat. I also saw some officers talking to a lady who had set up her tent in front of an apartment building. Apparently, you cant have tents there. I should have intervened and told her to go 2 blocks south to the newly formed tent city right off Sunset Blvd. Oh well, maybe I’ll catch her next time.
When I finish my hike I walk to the grocery store which is two blocks away from my house. Isn’t it nice to be able to walk to the store? I take a very specific route, even during the day to avoid a tent city and screaming drugged out mentally ill homeless people.
Yes, they scream, at nothing, it is both terrifying and heartbreaking at the same time. I know this because I made the mistake of taking the wrong route and found myself right smack in the middle of it. I didn’t expect to see that because it wasn’t there a few months ago. Silly me!! If this ever happens to you walk straight and don’t make eye contact with anyone and definitely don’t touch anything.You will be fine (hopefully!)
Back to my day, I take my “safe route” to the store and I play a fun little game while walking on the residential sidewalks it’s called “is it human shit or dog shit?”. I know! I’m ridiculous, I just love games! And I can never tell!
I have gotten really good at telling between human piss and dog piss by the unavoidable odor emitting from the sidewalk(both are very distinct)but the poo is a different beast. Oh, I almost forgot! I stepped over my first needle on the sidewalk the other day! It was quite a milestone!
It seems like the new rite of passage for being a California resident is when you spotted your first used hyperbolic needle in a public place. I’m in the club.
I walk past a few piles of trash and into the parking lot of the store. There is a woman who is there almost everyday asking for money outside of the entrance. I have to hold my breath when I pass her.
I get home and turn on the news and see that my state is doing SO WELL at increasing homelessness that Medieval diseases are making a come cack. Who knew that Typhoid Fever, Tuberculosis and the threat Bubonic Plague would so California 2019. I see this on the news and at the same time I am developing a slight cough, I immediately think back to the rat, and the needle and the shit in the streets and think to myself “ do I need to hoard potatoes??”
I’ll tell you what, I never ONCE thought that even for a millisecond I would be developing a symptom of a common cold and that would lead to fear that I might be coming down with the Black Plague. Never say never.
After watching the news, I get ready to head to my agents office. I am an actress and am lucky enough to have a wonderful voice over agent. I get to read for lots of animation projects, the opportunities alone are an absolute dream come true and I have worked hard to get this far. I complete the auditions they have me do and then head to my restaurant job. It is about 11:00 am and I am working the lunch shift. I notice something interesting on my drive down Wilshire from my agents office to my job. Mind you, I have taken this drive 100 times, I almost know every bit of scenery by heart but today I notice something different.
Wow, another mini tent city has popped on on the side of the road. Those tents were not there a month ago. What is going on?
I arrive at my job. I work at a really fun sports bar right off the Sunset Strip, in a very historic and very popular spot. It’s a fun job but I work very hard and had to fight to get the shifts I need in order to support myself. Hard work aside I am very thankful to have that job and love all of our regulars that come in. I used to avoid going in the kitchen but I have tougher skin now. All them men that work in the kitchen speak Spanish and when us servers would go in the kitchen they would say very inappropriate and sexually explicit things about us. We knew they were saying it but were unable to defend ourselves on the spot because we don’t speak the same language and couldn't tell exactly what they were saying. They would make fun of us too and laugh right in front of us.
How ironic, I live in Hollywood, the heart of the #metoo movement. I guess it doesn't apply if you don’t speak english. I learned to just put up with it, management couldn't help, they didn’t speak Spanish either. They got away with it. Even though I knew they were saying gross things about me right in front of me and even laughing, I just dealt with it. I think the group we have working in the kitchen is better now but it was pretty bad for a while.
A few hours into my shift I am sitting at the host stand and I notice that the homeless person across the street who is face down on the sidewalk hasn't moved for two hours. I know what you are thinking, “holy cow! there was a person laying facedown on the sidewalk and you didn’t do anything for two . hours!”. I get it. But, I see this several times a day.
One time about a month ago I called the paramedics. There was a half naked man face down in the middle of a sidewalk. I was so saddened and frustrated and said to myself “how many bodies am I going to step over until one of them is actually dead”. How freaking sad is that? I step over bodies so much I am used to it!
I called the paramedics, it was 2:00 pm in the afternoon. I told the dispatcher that there was a grown man in his underwear, unresponsive and face down right in the middle of the sidewalk. You wanna know her response? “Well, do you think he needs medical attention? Can you ask him?” I didn’t get the chance to ask him. Even though I was across the street, he woke up and saw me looking in his directions and started yelling at and threatening me. I told the dispatcher “I think he is fine” and ran off.
Back to my lunch shift and the passed out women across the street. I and a few bar patrons were growing very concerned. We ordered her a burger and fries and one of my patrons and a buddy went across the street with the food to see if she was okay and if she was hungry. She ended up waking up, she had a hospital bracelet on and a cast on her foot. Almost at the exact time they got to her two officers showed up. “ She does this all the time” they said, silly Susan!! She ate her food and was face down in the same spot the next day.
Walking down Sunset Blvd or any street is becoming more and more unsafe by the day. I see new tents popping up not on a yearly, monthly or weekly basis but a DAILY basis. I have so much compassion for these people and wish I could do more to help. I am scared of them, not because they are homeless and not because I think they are bad people but because their behavior is erratic and unpredictable. I walk past homeless individuals screaming for no reason everyday. These are not “rough” spots of LA, this is not downtown or anywhere near the infamous Skid Row. These are areas where families live, where young professionals are supposed to thrive, there are children and elderly walking about.
Today, I was right outside of a nice lunch spot I was just walking by, there was a young woman had set up a tent right by the outdoor seating. Even as I walked passed her I was still about 5 feet away, with headphones on and completely minding my own business, not even looking in her direction. She was screaming at me while I was walking by “ You are not me! You will never be me! Stop trying to be me!” while staring at me in a very threatening manner. Her tone was quite aggressive and I got away from her as fast as I could. My only guess as to why she was yelling at me is that we both had bleach blonde hair. I took this photo below and you have to look closely to see her tent. I took this far away to protect my safety and her dignity but wanted to show the absurdity that is LA. AGAIN, his is not Skid Row, this a not a bad part of town, this is right in front of a popular street where people go to shop and eat. I saw her later as I was passing back to go home (in an Uber this time), she had a yoga mat sprawled out on the sidewalk and was tanning.
If you walk down Santa Monica Blvd (home of LA Pride) any day before 10:00am it is like a zombie apocalypse. People are laying in the sidewalks, you can’t tell if they are sleeping, passed out or dead. The people walking are either mentally ill without medication or high on drugs to the point of psychosis.
This is where it comes back to you Mr. Newsom and what inspired me to write about this issue. About a week ago I stumbled upon your Twitter and Instagram page. I will be honest, I am not sure what is more shocking; the homeless problem or your complete disregard for it and your complete disconnect and ignorance on what the people of your state actually want and need.
I saw you speaking a lot for the people that want to come to our country and their stories and their struggles. I saw that you even want to offer free healthcare to illegal immigrants up to the age of 26. The people that are not even citizens of your state. Do not get me wrong I am completely for helping everyone and am more than compassionate for the people who dream of coming here but how can we expect to take care of others when you have a worsening homeless crisis that has not been properly dealt with and a struggling middle class??
What about the stories of the people dying in your streets? What about the stories of people who can’t pay their bills or afford skyrocketing rent in your state? What about normal law abiding middle class people like me who are having to walk through filth and be harassed by homeless people everyday?WHAT ABOUT THE HOMELESS? What about the citizens of your state who have been negatively affected by illegal immigration? What about some of my best friends from Finland, Germany, Columbia and England who went through the long and sometimes frustrating process of becoming an American the right way, they pay their taxes and proudly hold onto their green cards that they earned, what about them? What about those stories? Are you the governor of California? Or Mexico? I am confused.
If I didn’t know any better I would think you are putting the benefits of people crossing illegally into your state over your actual citizens who elected you and pay taxes and the homeless people that are dying in your streets. You have the audacity to criticize our President when it is no secret that your state is going down the tubes. FAST.
You say there is no crisis on our border, what about the nearly 4,000 people who were apprehended in one day on the southern border recently? Or the 132,000 people who were spotted crossing the border illegally in May alone. What about the 100 or so migrants from AFRICA who were crossing in Texas. Yes, that is right, Africa. Those asylum seekers purchased a plane ticket to fly to South America to cross our border illegally. What about the 860 confirmed criminals that were traveling in a caravan this past January, a caravan of 3,000 ( which was being tracked by Customs and Border Patrol), some of the crimes included aggravated assault with a weapon and sexual assault. I wonder what their incentive to do that would be …Could it be the free healthcare and the sanctuary cities that you promise them.
Criminal record???? No worries. No papers. No problem, right Gavin?
I would love to go to Africa and go on a safari and see zebras in their natural habitat. I can’t afford that plane ticket though, I live in California. Those asylum seekers seem to be better off financially than me.
Of course there are people who are fleeing their countries for safety reasons. Thus, we have a legal asylum process for them but our leaders like you give so much incentive for people who don’t actually qualify as asylum seekers to flood over our borders and hold up the whole system that, guess who suffers, the very same people who you “say” your compassionate about.
Not only do you give incentive for people who don’t meet asylum status, you give incentive to criminals. If I were wanted at large for murder in Mexico, where would I go???? Hmmm, Cali???
You know, I never thought about owning a gun. But being a single female of very small stature and the streets of my town growing increasingly unsafe as well as floods of military aged men from Central American countries that see women as second class citizens crossing our border and being allowed to stay in my city without papers and no assimilation process. You know, I thought about learning how to use a gun and purchasing one. God forbid I would ever have to use such a thing but at least I would know that I can protect myself.
Ohhhhh, but you want to remove my right to protect myself too! Oh, shoot! What is a girl to do??
You know, I really do think that to assume makes an ass out of u and me. But, if you were to back me in a corner and force me to assume why you seem to not care at all about your people I would assume this:
What you are doing is trying to run for president one day. You are virtue signaling not for your people but for the whole USA. It’s all PR for you, you want to be that “woke”, “feminist”, “progressive”, and “pro immigration guy” that you think we all want to see and that you think will get you elected one day. The problem is, we Californians are waking up to how damaging and disconnected all of your policies are. You’re negligence to your own people is criminal.
Haven’t you ever heard; “ If you point your fingers at someone else make sure your hands are clean?”. Why aren't you focused on the downfall of your state? Over the legit MEDIEVAL conditions that some of your people are living in? The fact that I, a woman, who you claim to care so much about feels increasingly unsafe on your streets? Why aren't you putting the interest of Californian citizens above all else?
I guess that is only for you to think about. But, hey, at least I can get an abortion. Let’s hear it for modern feminism!!
Thank you and good night!
Gav For President!
