Aside from picking up the weekly rag that's thrown on my driveway each week, I haven't touched (or even seen) an actual newspaper in over a year. TV is the "media" you want to be contacting.
That makes sense. And I thank you for it. I have become myopic towards thinking locally all the time. The irony is not lost on me that that’s exactly how local authority wants it “handled”. I reply consistently that that’s exactly what they would like. I have proof in the form of original internal paperwork and documents detailing how a great deal of federal money has gone missing. The building in which I live was purchased as a way to make it look like federal funds were spent on what those monies were intended for without actually spending them at all. This was done by recruiting a very questionable businessman from the outside (a civilian not involved in local government) who is known to me because he kept a friend of mine’s half million dollars which was supposed to be returned when a specific point was reached in the development of a local business. At any rate, this man had members of his family take out SBA loans (which were written off by the banks as uncollectable when not a single payment was made) to buy this building out of a condemned status and without any work done on it whatsoever (the county gave him almost a million to do such work but he kept it as I am sure he was intended to do) and put at least 50 veterans in here of which perhaps 2 remain alive only 5 years later. As they have died, they have been replaced by more that also have died. I am getting ahead of myself here, but I graduated from California polytechnic state university in San Luis Obispo summa cum laude in 1995 and New York medical college some years later. “Doctor” to me is a career. The MD degree confers a title but… I just want to be clear that I do not consider myself a doctor although I do have an extensive education in biology and medicine and I have “examined” almost every one that lives here at one time or another and they are dying from Aspergillosis, aflatoxin exposure and are suffering from every other illness these molds would lead one to expect. Every resident here over a year shows symptoms. Young people in their 30s suddenly need inhalers within only a few months of arriving. This is a motel built in 1967. The public archives show, from that time until the present, zero work permits and absolutely no maintenance. This can be readily seen in the county archives and even “Zillow.com” etc. I had the water lab tested and it shows enormous amounts of lead and pesticides in it and is totally non potable. None of the rooms have windows and once coronavirus came and we were ordered to shelter at home, the death rate ticked higher. I have been here 32 months. My poor dog who means everything in the world to me will be dead by January and I have maybe a year. I came here in perfect health. And no one mentioned lead or mold to me upon signing the lease. We were told nothing. If they had only mentioned these things, with my knowledge of such things I would have lived for the chance to be hit by that proverbial bus or whatever life would have brought.
I say all this because medically, what is happening here, is not waiting to be established. It is a known thing by myself (who had to collect data to come to the understanding of it) and by local government, the VA, HUD, the property owner and the firm that manages the property who were privileged enough to sit at the table, assembled to get out of under the pressure the feds had them under. For starters, the county’s road maintenance funding was cut when it was discovered the money sent here to house the homeless was missing. This, in itself, has been devastating. They had to come up with something and by this i mean something besides paying. They let the homeless pay because no one would notice. They didn’t count on a bum with an MD showing up. But so far, they needn’t worry although I know they did.
I became homeless because of a financial crime. My brain is intact. I didn’t drink myself here or pay the entry fee with a history of drug abuse. But I am trusted no further than the least trustworthy among us the moment one learns of my address, that I was homeless recently. I have tried so many agencies and so on and nothing happens. First, they find the story unbelievable. Second, I am here. And, the logic goes, if I had any credibility or were sane, I wouldn’t be. Some agencies have called and asked local government and management here if what I say is true. They then call me back and say, “we find no evidence that these things are happening” when I have every scrap of paper and photos and videos that support all of it. You would not believe what I have. Some believe it instantly and can do nothing mostly because they’re afraid. Most of these are local professionals and one is a regular expert on TV and has been on several shows of the home maintenance and improvement variety. I asked for his help. He was muttering under his breath as I detailed the matter. I asked him if he could help me with some testing. He refused. He said, “This will make national news over night if it gets out.” almost as if to himself. I asked why not and he just wouldn’t. He said the testing was too expensive for me. When I told him I had the money, he thought of something else. For some reason he didn’t want the publicity he thought would come. Maybe his Hollywood years were enough.
I realize this isn’t the place for a discussion or the help I need. I came because I was desperate after failing to get something done that, were I behind my desk in my former home, would have been but a memory by the time I posted here.
I thank all of you for your time and for putting up with me.
There is an apocryphal story… at least to me. I don’t know if it is true. During WW2 the world came finally to suspect that something terrible was going on in the concentration camps and the International Red Cross was asked to instigate. Plans were made and the Germans were told when to expect them. They wanted unfettered access to Auschwitz. The SS went to the barracks and asked for volunteers to attend a “party” outside the main gate. They were told they would be watched and what the consequences would be for saying anything to the Red Cross examiners outside of what they had just heard were the things the SS wanted the Red Cross to hear. For their trouble, the volunteers would be given clothes like those they used to wear and they were promised food like they have seldom, if ever, had before. It says a lot about the atmosphere there and what these people suffered that using this approach, the SS got everyone they needed. They didn’t lie. The food, the clothes and the chance, if just for a tiny moment, to enjoy something again… it was enough for some to take this deal. As the party went on, Red Cross Investigators, each with an SS escort, greeted inmates and recorded their comments and what they saw.
One inmate, palmed a note to one of the investigators as his escort looked on. The investigator took his time and when it was opportune, slipped the note into a pocket. The Red Cross left that afternoon without even entering the camp. “The rumors are obviously untrue. We should bother these people no more.”
On the road back, the investigator pulled the tiny note out and began to read the plea for help and some of the details of what horrors were underway just beyond the gates. The driver turned and asked, “What is that?”. The investigator crumpled the note and tossed it out his window. He explained that, “Some people, no matter what you do for them, still don’t appreciate what they have.”
I heard this some 35 years ago. I had forgotten it. Now I think of it almost every day.
I appreciate the help and will try anything you might suggest. They can’t get away with it. It threatens the very idea of America. At least for me it does.
I apologize for the lengthy reply. Quincy, I hope you can find in this reply a response to your post that follows.