Little Rock considers sweep of homeless as Clinton library plans for grand

[Nambe]

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP)

City officials want to eradicate 27 homeless camps, getting their occupants into shelters or out of town as Little Rock prepares for the high-profile opening of the Clinton Presidential Library.

Officials deny the strategy has anything to do with the Nov. 18 opening, but homeless advocates fear the city is being merciless perhaps at the behest of the library. The homeless were living at the library site before construction began. ..

He said the city is working with the Veterans Administration to reach those who are eligible for benefits. The city's board of directors created a task force last fall to look at the issue of chronic homelessness, Moore said. Police Chief Lawrence Johnson said his department has been trying to handle the issue for years.

The Little Rock Compassion Center's director, Rosemary Holloway, says she supports aggressive efforts to clear out encampments because they tend to contain vagabonds and ``professional panhandlers'' people she alleges tend to be violent and drug-addicted.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. The point of locating the libary where they did

was to revitalize a blighted part of Little Rock. I don't think eradicating blight includes chasing off people like they are rats. This is awful.

[tlcandie]

2. Ms. Holloway nees to go to the dictionary pronto to read the true

meaning of compassion! I think she's a bit confused just like * about what true compassion means!!

Too bad people aren't truly interested in the homeless other than the fact that they believe them to be a sight for sore eyes when it gets in the way of their politics and such! :puke:

If they had any true compassion, they would be inviting them in for snacks and such!!! Find a way to lift them up... as in get them to shelters for the day or someplace where they can shower, eat, and relax ya know!!! Get some clean clothes! That would go a wee bit towards at least making them feel somewhat better instead of sending the cops in to round em up like cattle!

[Nambe]

3. This article will lead to a solution.

AP was probably shooting at the Dems and will wind up helping the homeless. Nice try.

People without homes is always a big problem when the economy is so bad for workers. I have worked in that arena at times. I was amazed at how many of them can be helped with good advice and a cell phone.

[Cannikin]

4. The residents of Little Rock just KEEP on getting screwed with the library

Clinton Library Worsens Little Rock's Financial Woes

"The William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library Foundation has been approved for millions of dollars in subsidies and tax breaks by the city of Little Rock, Ark. - even as local officials worry that the city's growing budget deficit may force deep cuts in funding for health care services, education and other community needs.

"Our city is broke," Little Rock businessman and leading Clinton Library critic Eugene Pfeifer told NewsMax.com Friday. "We've got about $500 million of unmet infrastructure needs. Our county is practically broke. We can't even maintain an adequate county jail."

Indeed, just months before Clinton Library officials convinced the city and state to forgo $4 million in sales tax and user fee revenues, Little Rock City Manager Cy Carney proposed a list of budget cuts so deep they left local residents fearing the worst.

Potential cutbacks included the elimination of health care services at the East Little Rock Community Center, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported in October. Also targeted for possible elimination: two other community centers, with the city's Education Commission, its Youth Task Force and Domestic Violence Commission earmarked for consolidation.

[Disturbed]

5. B. Clinton

Could he not spend some of the millions he has made with speeches and his book to help the homeless?