Not Outraged

I am not outraged by the Sacramento warming-center controversy. There are just too many homeless people out there for warming centers to make much of a difference. Breton also notes that Sacramento just voted against Measure A. I did too. Sacramento would prefer to keep neighborhoods powerful than have a powerful mayor address homeless needs:

In one breath, some are calling for City Manager Howard Chan to be fired for not opening a city warming center at the downtown library that might have spared homeless people from the wicked weather. But retroactive outrage directed at Chan conveniently overlooks how the will of Sacramento residents played a role in the decisions that led to that horrible night of shame. 

Twelve weeks before what was described by some as a “night of terror” for the homeless, Sacramento residents rejected Measure A – a ballot initiative which would have transferred many administrative powers in the city from Chan to Mayor Darrell Steinberg.