Bill Walton has recently made some noise about the homeless in Balboa Park. Good for him. He and I and many others live around the Park and find the Park situation with the homeless intolerable.
As noted in the San Diego Union Tribune article, October 9, 2022, front page, about Bill Walton’s shout out for change, the homeless like Charlie and Eddie and Terrel mentioned in the article, have lived in the Park anywhere from 2 to 10 years. It is unlikely that a shelter or other type of living space space has not been offered to them during this long period of time. Homelessness is so often a chosen way of life. And so often a situation of mental illness playing a significant role.
We can’t change all of San Diego but we should at least focus on Balboa Park, an area very special to all of us. And an area where visitors should not have to deal with the homeless and the mentally ill.
We need to Save the Park.
Please ask your friends and relatives to sign the petition. We need to have action and not permit the continued inaction seen so far. The proof of this is the large population of homeless still considering the Park their home.
Michael Welch
mwelch@allergyandasthma.com