What a great shame Facebook doesn't have a 'Hate' button.
Facebook wasn't designed by Nazis.
WOW!! So simple Mr Alex.
I never said it was simple.
It's like, what's wrong with everyone else around you that doesn't understand the "benefits" of tent city.
They haven't studied economics?
Who cares that it's a hideout for crooks and criminals.
Do you have any evidence that there are significantly more "crooks and criminals" per capita in Tent City than in other comparably poor neighborhoods? If so, would you prefer those homeless "crooks and criminals" in Tent City, or cold and hungry and sleeping on your street?
And Tent City is a very bad place to "hide out" - the police drive through here all the time to harass us, and they even have security cameras on this place.
The real criminals are hiding at Town Hall - but more on that later.
Who cares that they're polluting the air for all of us law abiding citizens.
And what's your emissions footprint for CO2/etc? Do you drive a car? Do you live in a large house? Do you use heat in the winter, and even air conditioning in the summer? You really should analyze your arguments logically...
Tent City makes economic use of a wooded area. According to one theory, the Township gov't wants to cut it down - which is why they're in such a hurry to bulldoze Tent City. From a purely environmental point of view, Tent City is a carbon sink, and you are the polluter.
Who cares that the invaders trespass and urinate on private property, that people paid for with their hard earned money.
Again - evidence?
This is the 21st century. Most people should have cellphone cameras, security cameras, etc. If anyone, a homeless person or Bill Gates, trespassed on your property, then you should call the police and press charges.
Not all poor people urinate in public. Hitleresque prejudice and collective punishment are unjust.
Without Tent City, a lot more homeless people would be sleeping under bridges and in alley-ways, without the access to portajohns that we provide...
Who cares to pay attention to the fact that they chose Lakewood to open their illegal settlement [...]
You use the word "illegal" in a completely irrational manner. Yes, Lakewood passed an ordinance that outlaws homelessness - that law is unconstitutional and immoral, and I intend to fight it. Four men made up that "law" to serve their corrupt interests. It isn't magic. If they had passed a law legalizing slavery, and making the liberation of slaves illegal, as it once had been, would you revere and obey that law too?
[...]and not Trenton, Camden or Philly........ Why can't the citizens of Lakewood be heard also.
People who claim that Lakewood is "pulling the homeless burden" for other cities / counties should review the arithmetic...
The number of homeless people in NJ is estimated at "
12,000 to 20,000+". Taking the higher number as a percentage of the state's population of 8,864,590 - about 0.23% of New Jersey's population is homeless, or about 1 in 400.
Lakewood Township has the population of 92,843 (about 1% of NJ). All things being equal, you would expect a homeless population of 214 people.
And all things are not equal - Lakewood Township ranks #663 (and Lakewood CDP #699)
out of 702 municipalities in NJ by per capita income. Ocean County overall ranks #16 out of 21 NJ counties in per-capita income - and it doesn't have a homeless shelter.
So you would expect a lot MORE than 214 homeless people in Lakewood, from the local population alone. Why is everybody up in arms about our Tent City, with only half that population?
Most homeless people live outside of a Tent City like ours - either in taxpayer-funded housing or on the streets. Bulldozing our Tent City will result in more of both - more homeless people living on the streets (especially after the "one year of free housing" runs out), as well as higher taxes.
Yes, many TC residents aren't from Lakewood, but that is also true of normal population in NJ - people move around a lot. The reason why the largest Tent City in North Eastern USA is located here in Lakewood, NJ isn't because Lakewood has pulled in all the homeless from surrounding areas, and it certainly isn't that the government of Lakewood has ever been particularly kind to us...
Lakewood was just fortunate to have people like
Minister Steve Brigham, who had the dedication and the competence to organize the support network that makes Tent City possible.
Lakewood residents SHOULD BE PROUD of the Tent City - it is an accomplishment that means fewer people living on the streets and lower taxes than would have been without our Tent City.