St. Petersburg targets 69 year old homeless man who lives in backyard shed

[Liberal_in_LA]

St. Petersburg targets homeless man who lives in backyard shed



He's lived for years in the dirt alley off 18th Street and Burlington Avenue N, the white-bearded homeless veteran everyone knows as C.J.

His real name is Jon Bradshaw. For some, he is the neighborhood's trusted watchman. Those folks turned a blind eye when someone built a wooden shed so Bradshaw, 69, could lay his head somewhere.

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Amid the city of St. Petersburg's much publicized crackdown on the homeless, an angry neighbor alerted a city code inspector to Bradshaw's makeshift home.

The resulting battle has pit neighbor against neighbor, and thrust Bradshaw from his life in the shadows into the city's high-profile effort to rid downtown streets of the homeless.

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When William Bechtel bought his one-story wood-frame house on Burlington Avenue in 2008, he says Bradshaw came with it. The neighborhood was rougher then. Bradshaw shooed away prowlers and thieves.

Not long after Bechtel moved in, a handy neighbor built Bradshaw a one-room shed. It had a bed and easy chair, and a solar-powered shower outside. In winter, Bradshaw burned tree limbs on an outdoor stove. Bathroom? Gas station up the road.



http://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/article1184505.ece

[KG]

1. exactly where the fuck are homeless people supposed to go?

[shireen]

3. our society can be so cruel

There's no sense of responsiblity and empathy for each other. I would gladly pay more in taxes for more government programs to help people who fall on hard times -- existing programs are simply not enough. There are wonderful organizations doing a great job, but the need is so overwhelming.

[Alameda]

7. I think they want them to drop dead, preferably in some place

where they won't have to be bothered with them. Who knows, maybe they will become soylent green. This is just so disgusting and wrong.

[mysuzuki2]

8. they are supposed to die.

[kestrel91316]

12. Somebody ELSE'S backyard, not mine. (insert sarcasm thingie here)

[SoCalDem]

13. Yep, they are expected to "move along"

and end up out of sight, elsewhere:(

[graywarrior]

2. Incredible. Bechtel sounds like an alright guy.

I just watched a video about the real Hawaii and how they are trying to kick the homeless off parts of the island. Grrrrr.

[Liberal_in_LA]

4. Hawaii has a lot of people who live rough. In the past few years they have been trying to get them

off the beach.

[graywarrior]

6. Yeah, that's was part of what the video was about

Hawaii sure has a disturbing history.

[stevedeshazer]

5. There's gonna be a lot more of us older folks.

Some of us are gonna end up homeless.

We sure have a lot in our town.

Jobs, jobs, jobs.

Once you hit 50, good luck getting a job.

[csziggy]

9. St. Pete has been harassing homeless and low income for years

The one year I lived there, it was a major issue - and that was in 1970. Then they wanted to require that cops could stop anyone and ask how much money they had. If you didn't have over a certain amount, something like $50, they could consider you indigent and use that as an excuse to hassle you. Elderly people on fixed income seldom had $50 extra any time during the month. I was a college student and my discretionary spending money was only about $30 a month once books, supplies, tuition, room & board were paid for.

[Liberal_in_LA]

10. wow. In the age of debit cards, I rarely carry $50.

[csziggy]

15. No kidding. The only time I have much cash

Is when I am planning a Craigslist purchase. I may get some cash for a seminar I'm going to - and only carry that cash into the Merchandise Night so I don't spend more than I plan.

Otherwise the $20 I get out so I have a little cash for coffee, etc. can last me a month or more. Partly because I seldom go anywhere, but partly because I just don't use cash much.

[JanMichael]

11. I like this quote:

"Bechtel has moved to Tampa and now rents the house. He can't afford a lawyer to fight the city, but said he won't stand idly by if Bradshaw is hassled further.

"If they are going to come and bother C.J.," he said, "they are going to have to deal with a property owner armed with a tire iron.""

Good.

[jdadd]

14. This is so sad......

Back in the late 50s in my home town, we had a WW I veteran (and town character)everybody called Brownie. A local woman that owned several rental properties in town, let Brownie live in a one car garage behind one of her properties. I had a paper route and this dear lady would pay me to deliver an extra paper to Brownie every day. When Brownie got really old and feeble, this lady would take him to the doctor and kind of look in on him. Brownie passed on, sometime in the early 70s.

[Jim Warren]

17. Yes, sounds familiar,

sounds familiar, in same time frame late '50's, there was a old gentleman everyone called 'the hermit' who had built a shack on the lower end of my dad's property. I remember one night we saw him, he was stranded on the path in during a blizzard, my dad brought him in the house to thaw out. After warming up he didn't want to stay so my dad and I walked him home, stoked up his fire.

[flvegan]

16. As a title underwriter and all-around-do-gooder...

Mr. Bradshaw and Mr. Bechtel now have substantial attention.

I have 3 words to share. They are adverse, open and notorious.

I'll do what I can to have his back. This is my backyard.

[ProgressiveProfessor]

18. Would that include whaling?

[Kurmudgeon]

19. I see St Pete has just became more fascist since I left.

I hope they all enjoyed paying for that useless ass stadium. Still have some friends there, may go back to visit but don't care to live there again.