Saturday, August 06, 2005

They need to close this camp!

Camp fairy tales
Fact or fiction: Camp La Guardia.
Now that the newspaper has everyone believing that Camp La Guardia is such a wonderful rehabilitation facility, let's dissect the news.
As a Chester Town Board member, I attend every monthly Advisory Board meeting. They tell us that they placed 773 homeless men into outside housing. What about the four-plus buses that come and go every day? There are no background checks. If security finds out there is a warrant out for a resident, they have 48 hours to remove him. That is a long time for a sex offender or felon to be free to roam about town.
The article states there are support and resource agencies to prevent problems. The director at the camp only gives me the number of beds available for each program and not how many actually participate in the programs. So how can we know the success rate of each program?
Five percent of the residents end up in Orange County with jobs and housing. Fine, but what about all the day workers who pay no taxes and work when they want? They are taking advantage of Orange County.
VA is to reject criminals and those under the age of 35. The Department of Homeless Services forbids any background checks. How can they explain a Level 3 sex offender, drug dealers and felons?
Sorry, Times Herald-Record, this newspaper is believing in fairy tales.
Cindy Smith
Chester
Bottom line is they need to close this camp!

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