“All of the homeless people in Oakland, California have won an all-expenses paid cruise ship adventure, Pat!”

Well…, not exactly all of the homeless population of Oakland.

According to Travis Fedschun of Fox News, “The City of Oakland considers obtaining a cruise ship to house the homeless!”

“This is not exactly ‘The Love Boat,’ but it could help make a dent in one California city’s homeless crisis.”

Unless you’re over 40 years old, you may not get the reference to “The Love Boat.”

For those of you who aren’t familiar with “The Love Boat,” “The Love Boat” was a TV series set on a luxury passenger cruise ship called the Pacific Princess.  The show aired on ABC from 1977 to 1987.  The series revolved around the ship’s captain, Captain Stubing (played by Gavin MacLeod), and a handful of its crew: Julie, Doc, Gopher and Isaac, along with several passengers, played by various guest star actors each episode, having romantic and humorous adventures.

Anyway…

“During a city council meeting on Tuesday, Oakland City Council President Rebecca Kaplan broached the idea of using a cruise ship to house up to 1,000 homeless people, suggesting a ship be brought to the Port of Oakland as the region deals with skyrocketing costs of living and a shortage of affordable housing.”

Have these liberals in California all lost their minds?

Seriously…, I’m seriously asking.

Their “solutions” just seem to be getting dumber and dumber.

I’ve heard they have excellent buffets on cruise ships, but our drug addicted friends may find it hard to find a fix if they’re confined to the ship.

And there would be a lot for them to do on the ship, but it seems all these homeless people do is lay around and sleep all day.

I don’t think we’d see a lot of them in the pool or on the water slide, but I could be wrong.

‘“It could be a great way to house a lot of people quickly,’ Kaplan told the San Francisco Chronicle. ‘Cruise ships have been used for emergency housing after natural disasters and for extra housing for things like Olympics.’”

“Homelessness has spiked in Oakland, with a 47 percent jump in two years — one of the largest surges of any California city, according to a one-night street count released in July.”

“The count, which used federal guidelines, showed Oakland had 4,017 homeless people, up from 2,761 in 2017. The increase has put the city’s per capita homeless rate higher than neighboring San Francisco and Berkeley.”

“Kaplan told the Chronicle she plans to present a proposal to the council in January that will be at “no or low” cost to the city, because residents of the cruise ship would pay for rooms based on their income. The city would not buy the cruise ship.”

I would like to go on record with my prediction that if this idea does come to fruition, it will NOT be at little or no cost to the city.

“The council president added that she has been contacted by cruise ship companies about providing a ship for emergency housing and that the companies – which were not named – were reaching out to the Port of Oakland about mooring options at the port.”

“The idea for a cruise ship in Oakland would be similar to the Queen Mary in Long Beach in Southern California.”

“The 1936 ocean liner is now a floating hotel with 347 rooms, where a room with two twin beds goes for $141 a night and $146 a night for a full-size bed.”

‘“It could be like that,’ Kaplan told the paper. ‘But as affordable housing instead of hotel.’”

Ha!

Something just doesn’t seem right here.

Why in the world would cruise ship companies be contacting the Oakland City Council, offering to let the city use their ships for housing homeless people?

Would anyone like to take a guess as to how long it would be before the ship was completely trashed and deemed worthless?

One month?

Two months?

Three months?

I’m sure these cruise ship companies have an interest in doing something along the lines of the Queen Mary in Long Beach, with a hotel type of situation; not as some sort of floating homeless repository!

There are also many port related issues and regulatory issues standing in the way of this happening as well.

It’s obvious that the liberal politicians are confused and haven’t done their homework…, like usual, regarding this brilliant idea.

“Cruise ships have been used as emergency housing before. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, the Federal Emergency Management Agency chartered three luxury cruise liners to provide housing for up to 8,000 people that were left homeless after the storm. That $236 million contract was later scrutinized in a study released in 2006 by House Democrats, which said it proved ‘wasteful for the federal taxpayer’ because it ended up costing $50,000 to house a single person for six months, more than $300 per person for each night’s lodging.”

Remember the words, “at no or low cost to the city?”

The logical progression of this line of thinking would be to eventually buy an island and dump the homeless people off there for a permanent vacation!

Out of sight out of mind!

These liberals are really something, aren’t they?

That being said, I would like to offer my services and submit for your consideration, my proposal to deal with this homeless crisis.

Typically, communities are spending an adequate amount of money to address their homeless problem…, they’re just not spending their money appropriately or wisely.

There are many different reason for being “homeless.”

First, we need to divide the homeless into areas of situation and areas of need.

Families are treated differently, and routed to a family specific center.  Families would have all of the same considerations that individuals do plus the additional considerations for any children, regarding family continuity, safety considerations and school requirements.

If we’re dealing with an individual, we need to determine what exactly their situation is and route them at an appropriate assistance center.

Each of the following determinations would have its own specific assistance center.

We start and the top of this list and work our way down.  A person may fit into multiple stops on this list before finally not being “homeless” anymore.

Our overall goal is to not have anyone living on the streets, and to make sure everyone is being properly treated for whatever may be ailing them.

Is the person physically ill?

Is the person mentally ill?

Is the person addicted to drugs?

Does the person have an alcohol addiction?

Is this person disabled, receiving assistance, but needs shelter?

Does this person need shelter and help getting assistance?

Does this person need shelter and help getting employment?

Is this person a victim of circumstances not covered above?

 

Once the proper determination has been made, the individual would either receive the required medical treatment, be treated for their respective mental illness, treated for their addiction, and/or assisted with their administrative processes.

Our homeless population doesn’t need “band aid” or “feel good” solutions.

Our homeless need real solutions, and so do we.

People don’t mind paying for things that make sense, are effective, and that are run efficiently.

If I ever come across a government program like this I’ll let you know.

Until then, we can always hope.

 

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