Opinion: A Minor Cold That Could Become an “Epidemic”

Dear Editor,

We have a serious problem in the city of Pasadena that is being ignored and this ignorance is causing the minor cold to become an epidemic. And I am not talking about the nasty influenza that is going on; I am talking about the transient issue.

In the past, we have had isolated issue of a transient walking in our café to solicit our patrons. We would simply approach the individual with an offer of cash and lunch and the situation would resolve peacefully. At one point, we had four transient on our payroll. The deal was for them to wait outside; your food and bit cash would follow as long as you do not say a word to our customers.

The past has gone and we have new and more vicious transient walking the ever peaceful Colorado Boulevard. Now days, the transient walks the café as it is Griffith Park with baggage and all and the begging process starts. The noticeable difference is that the new transient is much more demanding, violent and mostly psychologically disturbed rather than being simply homeless.

In the past four weeks, I have had four encounters with the individuals roaming the café, two of which ended peacefully and in two occasions I experienced physical engagement. As a business owner, it should not be my responsibility to manage the transient issue.

In the last episode that resulted in a couple kicks blows below my stomach courtesy of a fine looking and not so dispread individual on a wheelchair that actually used his feet for movement rather than his hands was the turning point for me. At a brief moment in my life, I felt homelessness and I feel for the less fortunate and I have tried to help them as much as I could and I will continue to do so. But getting physically abused on a regular basis is not a sign of kindness but rather a sign of stupidity. We called the police as we followed the transient, he was caught and held for about fourth five minutes, then another two officers came and we were allowed to leave. He was well-known to the police community and we contributed to a never ending cycle. About an hour later, while taking North Lake on my way home, I saw a fire truck and an ambulance hauling the man to the jail, only to spend the night and do it all over again. What a waste of city’s resources. We have to break the cycle.

Regards,

John Jomehri
Lovebirds Café