Just heard about this tonight and haven’t had a chance to report it out, but I’m hearing some of the Someone Cares Soup Kitchen neighbors are organizing to block the soup kitchen’s request to put up a 1,000-square-foot portable structure in the parking lot to offer tutoring. So I can’t give you a clear view of the exact details of the opposition or of the soup kitchen’s plans.

But a couple of neighbors have contacted Costa Mesa officials with complaints about the soup kitchen’s clients and the nonprofit’s proximity to the next-door liquor store.  One neighbor even referred to my homeless series as a “one-sided fluff piece” that glossed over the problems neighbors deal with.

“The Daily Pilot’s recent fluff piece was one-sided, and drove home one thing only, and that is that it’s just the Westside, no harm and no foul,” the neighbor wrote. “Try living here and raising a family within 500 feet of this. Try and explain to a 6-year-old, why homeless are in the backyard, and front yard, and why we need to pick up after them, (OVER A VERY TALL SOLID FENCE). Or perhaps you should speak with Smart and Final management about the harassment of employees and customers.”

OK, fair enough. You have problems. I appreciate that. But I don’t see how my writing was “one-sided.” I didn’t think that it was an either-or issue. What are we talking about here? Pro-homeless and anti-homeless? I would think we’re all against homelessness, not the people, and want to find solutions to the problem. Where we may differ is in the solutions. I understand that no one likes unruly or disruptive neighbors. But let me be clear about this: I wrote the piece to tell you the homeless are our neighbors and when neighbors are in trouble we try to help them. How you do that is up to you. But can we stop with just complaining about it? It’s easy to whine and cry about problems. It’s a lot harder to offer constructive solutions. And, no, herding the homeless to Santa Ana is not a constructive approach to the issue.

Look, we have a problem on the Westside. There’s no doubt. And no one thinks having a liquor store next to the soup kitchen is a good idea, including the soup kitchen volunteers. But what are you going to do? Try to put the store out of business? That’s not fair. And you should know that more than once I’ve had a volunteer there point to some of the more unruly homeless people who aren’t allowed in the soup kitchen anymore because they choose to get drunk at the liquor store before lunch. Did you know the soup kitchen won’t serve you if you’re drunk? I wonder how many of the neighbors know that.

If you don’t like what’s going on, get involved. And by getting involved I’m not suggesting just showing up at the planning commission and shouting your head off to get “those people” out of your neighborhood. Better that you encourage your city council members to form a task force of community leaders that will come up with multiple approaches to the problem that include social services and, yes, enforcement. It’s a false choice to say we must pick between the two. More than a few homeless people have told me there are jerks among them who cause problems at Lions park and that they are thankful the cops keep an eye on them.

Now, to be fair, I’m going to reach out to the neighbors and hear what they have to say. But if all you have to offer are complaints then I’m afraid I don’t have time for that. I want to hear solutions. Our homeless neighbors are people — not trash that needs to be carted off to the dump.

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