Letters to the Editor

Publicly funded social assistance without requirement is irresponsible and leads to fraud. There are huge dangerous degrees affecting entire localities between assisting transients: those without intention, aimless, and opportunistic; and community homelessness. To require people seeking shelter in Saratoga to identify themselves should be considered basic. Other requirements such as past or present residence in Saratoga County or neighboring Counties without their own shelters, and a 3 day time limit for those in true emergency without the preceding criteria, are not unreasonable and should be considered. A person should be able to identify themselves and be identifiable even without a license or social security card; and anybody anywhere can currently input an individual’s name into any internet search engine and receive without cost a list of that individual’s past residences and even personal associations. Because there is no easy remedy for our current situation, shouldn’t make Saratoga Springs dumbfounded into acceptance of the untenable considering our ready access to wealth and resource. We should expect more of ourselves and each other, low barriers to anything lead to complacency and contempt. Facilitating someone’s addiction with resource or location or allowing people to domicile outdoors and thereby become public health risks is not generosity, permitting someone to slowly commit suicide in public does not clear those around them from responsibility, even begging and panhandling should not be considered a right of self determination unless you believe poverty to be a human right. Poverty is fraud profound; the measure of disparity in wealth, access, and resource, within any community, is the measure of active fraud within that community.

– Daniel Fuentes