Stop the Bosses’ War of the Poor
City Manager Edward M. August Jr.’s bullying of the people of
Worcester not to give donations to other people of Worcester (panhandlers) is
problematic. It was tried before by other City bosses and failed. The failure
led to the expensive lawsuit regarding “aggressive panhandling” which the City
will have to pay over $1,000, 000 in legal fees.
First let me say I have not noticed an increased in “panhandling”
in Worcester. I have witnessed a person asking for help at the corner of
Belmont and Shrewsbury Streets being arrested on May 21, 2016. I suppose the
cops have not read the Supreme Court ruling.
This man asked me and others for donations on June 4 2016. He
was polite, well groomed, and thankful.
Going back to the same old failed policies as the City tried in
the 2000’s is problematic. It is a legal problem, a moral problem, an ethical
problem, and a social problem.
It is legal problem as the City Manager is using his
governmental authority in an attempt to bully people. This issue of asking for
help in public has been decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. People
asking for help in a public place are protected from negative governmental
actions. This might include City Manager Augustus speaking as the Chief Law
Enforcement Officer and telling people it is better not to donate to “panhandler”.
I suppose it would be different if he said that was his “personal” opinion and
not that of the City Manager.
It is unethical for City Manager Augustus to speak from the
bully pulpits of his office attacking a group protected by the First Amendment.
It also might be unlawful and actionable.
It is a moral problem as we have been taught to be charitable.
There are somethings that government should stay out of. One of them is the
bedroom. Another area government should stay out of is our choice of charitable
giving. The government should not tell people to stop giving money to a church
collection basket nor should it tell people to stop putting money into the
coffee cup of a person asking for help in public.
It is a social issue as not all of the charities are set up to
help the homeless or others asking for help in public. When City government
tried to get people to give money to charities and not to “panhandlers” in the
2000s several of the charities indicated that they had no programs for them.
At that time I asked the charities,
“How did they intend to make sure that money that people wanted to go to the
homeless or others asking for help in public got the money?” Their responses were that they intended just
to keep the money for their ongoing projects.
The situation is the same today. City Manager Augustus assertion
that money given to charity will help the homeless and others seeking help in
public is pretext and a joke.
The City Manager’s response is not dissimilar to his response to
BlackLives Matter. The Manager’s intimidation and then the joke of the so
called Race Dialogs did more harm than good.
I am not surprise that the racist gang of 3 City Councillors,
Rosen, Lukes, and Gaffney seems to support the City Manager’s continuation of
the War on the Poor.
I am surprised that the City Manager has ignored his Jesuit
training of Men and Women for Others. A training that emphasizes personal
charitable works. There is nothing
charitable about the City Manager’s work at this time.
It would be a good thing to end homelessness. It is clear that
City government is unable and unwilling to do so. This is especially true when
City Councillors who are trying to help people are confronted by the bullying
tactics of Billy Breault, Ed Augustus, and the Gang of 3. Mr. Breault made
intimidating utterances to Councillor Rivera who heads up the Sub Committee on
Homelessness.
The issues of homelessness does not seem solvable within the
present economic system. So it makes sense for those seeking help in public to,
on their own, seek their respective solutions without negative governmental
interference.
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