I know I’m missing some points. Please tell me what I missed. We deserve representation. We are in this together, and in combining our voices, we are mighty.
Look, the overnight shelter closing wouldn’t be a crisis
If it hadn’t been manufactured behind a mask of niceness.
Because it was SUPPOSED to be fine.
There was SUPPOSED to be a plan.
The planning commission was SUPPOSED to show up
With a “study” in hand.
Democracy is SUPPOSED to benefit everyone in the land,
And Council Members are SUPPOSED to represent interests without access,
And the cops prioritized as “public safety,” are SUPPOSED to serve all residents,
But they just didn’t feel like it.
In a city where cops would rip away blankets,
And tents and belongings the second that we look away and become complacent,
And it’s a whole separate matter that our leadership is harassing,
People just trying to exist who can’t reach the brass ring,
So, to you they’re inconvenient.
They don’t make you any money.
You think of the unhoused as a nuisance and keep them running.
And this is our leadership?
This is who we chose?
Is how you serve “the least of us,” to just send us down the road?
Why does it offend you that people want to stay alive,
Or that they should have a moment of rest not constantly trying to stay out of sight?
Why do you feel they need to be punished further than this plight?
So who’s on this planning commission?
Who do they answer to?
How do they benefit from not doing the job they were chosen to?
The study was ordered, so was it funded, or did the city keep that too?
How many studies just never get done? Who’s following through?
What has been the consequence for their dereliction of duty?
Because they knew that this was coming, and they’re watching it like a movie.
“Hey, government just works really slow”
“It takes time to get anything done you know?”
The city manager has talked to some “people,”
And he says there are some helping organizations,
So this problem’s really not a deep hole.
So, we have to just give him “more time,”
Because things are still in the “works.”
He’s not “at liberty” to say more.
I think it’s time to examine his perks,
Because watching his smirks,
As he puts affluent first,
Shows him to be a jerk.
He had a dead line that he failed to meet,
And there’s no sense of urgency for Lovelanders on the street,
Who you treat with disdain for even having needs:
Reliable food and a place to sleep,
Do you really believe that they don’t deserve so much as a moment’s peace?
They regarded listening to constituents to be a waste of time.
That’s not a public servant. Why wasn’t he fired?
How much rope with this council give,
Four of its members to hang the homeless with?
That rope isn’t the only weapon brought to the chamber.
As I watched I witnessed the most repulsive behavior.
Predators lined up, ready to strike,
At any sign of strife,
From people poised to lose their lives.
And they pat each other on the back like they’re good guys.
They talk in circles with no purpose,
Wearing people down,
Creating a circus.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident- That all men are created equal.”
Do we uphold it?
Does it have any meaning?
Do these words have any bearing on American proceedings?
This is not the land of the free,
Nor the land of the brave,
If monetary disparity,
Makes you more disposable than a slave.
And that’s another loaded issue, but not the reason I’m speaking today.
You know, I’m an atheist, but I still find truth in poetry,
And what was that thing once said about “things done for the least of us,” being done for your king?
Does that mean,
Anything?
It’s gaslighting to say “uh huck, yup we failed.
We didn’t get it done, that’s too bad, but tonight there’s no hail,”
Then resist every effort to solve the problem at hand,
Washing yours clean while you look into the eyes of your fellow man.
Ya’ll tried to adjourn the meeting, and wasted everyone’s time,
While acting like the victims, like people being heard is a crime.
Then you worked hard to muddy the waters,
What were we even here for?
Is the purpose of the meeting still the same as the one we thought we came for?
Then lying about the UDC claiming it has limits that aren’t in it to read.
“Oh, it was something in the language of the process of the renewals.”
And that seems like a reason to engorge the fire with more fuel?
“There’s something written on a form somewhere, so it’s not our fault our hands are tied.”
They lie.
This is not leadership.
It’s failure to act.
It’s willful misconduct that ignores all the facts.
The gross negligence of this city council,
Feeds the pipeline, consuming our households,
And when faced with the fact that real people will die,
You’d rather use every trick to hide,
Than do anything right.
This is not leadership.
This is predation.
Then we lack decorum for being impatient?
Leadership isn’t asking “what’s the least we can do?”
What’s the smallest amount we can give?
Or benefiting from people not being able to live.
We the people means ALL THE PEOPLE
And if you can’t see that, we need to deny your sequel.
Avoiding this doesn’t make anything better.
Why does refusing to help make you feel clever?
Do you feel powerful watching them suffer,
As long as it’s not your sister or brother?
“Not in my back yard” you scream,
“Solving social problems better not require anything from me”
And you treat them like disposable people,
Like an enemy.
How do you look in the mirror?
How do you not feel ashamed?
How can you stand,
That this is your brand?
The trademark behind your name?
So comfortable failing your fellow humans,
You’ve gotten away with this for far too long.
It’s time for something else brewing.
You deflect by saying,
“There are services available,”
Conveniently concealing how to get a voucher for a hotel,
But I bet that in Law School you did real well.
Each service requires the ability to get to it,
And has hoops to jump through before they can let you in,
And limitations just below what actually might help.
So you just blame them, for not helping themselves.
“Why couldn’t they just get a job,” you say,
While they’re walking all day ,
With no place to stay,
And having to hear you argue about how much more punishment they should take.
You’re not just failing,
You are failing THEM.
You are failing children, and women, and men,
And nonbinary people who exist,
Whether you like it or not,
And you took an oath, so do your job.
If you don’t know anyone who’s unfairly unhoused,
Then you enjoy a terrifying amount of privilege and clout.
If THIS doesn’t touch you, even a little bit,
Then YOU are the predator, and we’re prey where we sit.
It’s time to follow the money.
It’s time to ask for audits
It’s time to refuse to accept the stonewalling
Because there’s far too high a cost
IYKYK,
And if you don’t you don’t,
I’ll never not be homeless, no matter where I go.
Even though I’m finally living in a purchased home,
It’s fickle, and I know it, and I’ll never not know.
I realized every lie I’d been told, about the bootstrap myth,
And it’s a slap in the face when gaslighting falls from politician lips.
I can’t remember who asked “Why don’t you take them in?
Why don’t you let them in your house?”
Where the hell has that guy been?
I can’t count how many couches I’ve slept on, or garages or floors,
And there’s been countless times I’ve taken someone else in too, of course.
That’s how we’ve always survived.
How do you not know that?
It shows you don’t know how any of this works
No wonder it’s gotten so bad.
I felt more a part of community, standing outside on this lawn,
Than in these council chambers where you shout over our Mayor for decorum.
It’s unconscionable to think,
Of this lack of transparency,
This lack of accountability,
In blocking upward mobility.
My Dudes, you’re killing me.
You shouldn’t have to have a doctorate to figure out ,
What a meeting’s about,
Or retain a lawyer, to be heard in a system that’s so turned around.
You shouldn’t have to be a genius, to interpret what’s on a ballot
Or the purpose of a meeting, when your life hangs in the balance.
And you blame the voters as your scapegoat,
For not lining your pockets with taxes.
This process is not meant for only elites,
But that’s become its praxis.
I get that funds are low,
So let’s look at priorities,
How much does it cost to have huge rocks hauled to a beach?
Or build a downtown with no public bathrooms?
Or keep schools with no A/C?
And that shiny downtown where there’s nowhere to pee,
Another measure aimed at the homeless you see,
Is killing the businesses you claimed that it would help,
Didn’t COVID already put them through hell?
And the response from the city “Well we put up some signs,
That should be enough for these businesses to thrive.”
Do you even hear your words, when they hit your ears from outside?
And I noticed the GROUP building you bought.
Who’s pockets did that pad?
Who all was involved?
I'm going to need more transparency,
I'm sorry, what was the cost?
There’s money and you’re still spending it.
The truth is you just don’t care about this!
Stop blaming the homeless.
That’s not what you’re elected to do.
You’re elected to lead, and solve problems
But you prefer hatred to spew.
But you got too greedy.
No wonder you were so defensive at the meeting.
Your isms are showing through,
When you walk into the room.
What you don’t value shows in everything you do.
Have you ever wondered what being unhoused does to the “RIGHT” to vote ?
If you think that makes us disposable, change your name to chode.
Do you have any idea what it costs to be homeless?
There are so many studies that talk about this.
This ignorance, is willful belligerence.
How many times did “the 11th hour” fall from your mouths,
After you’ve blocked every attempt to get this figured out,
All for a chance to point fingers,
All for a chance to shift blame,
All for a chance to weaponize the script,
Do you feel like you’re winning a game?
And after years of choosing the problem,
You blame us for being upset?
If we show any emotion,
Your “decorum” needs aren’t met.
And I’m with Gen Z,
Making threats doesn’t help.
It only makes it easier to push us to the back of the shelf.
I want the council member’s kids to be safe,
And I want MINE to be safe too.
People with nowhere to go,
I want their kids safe too.
Why don't you?
You accuse of media seeking,
Well, what else will you respond to?
You’re certainly not going to do what’s right,
Without the media in the room.
I still can’t believe you tried to get rid of the ACLU.
I looked up the rules, and I’m happy to donate my time for them any time I might need to.
But, you showed us what you’re afraid of,
As you tried so desperately to fight it.
Eventually your plan was going to crack,
And it was going to let the light in.
And now the world is watching,
To see what you will do.
Maybe you should quit acting like you’re the only ones in the room.
If hearing what constituents have to say,
Makes you feel beat up,
And you seek to silence them,
The world will see that it’s too much.
You haven’t “run the gauntlet.”
This is the reaper come round,
And if you're having big emotions,
It’s because of what’s about to come out.
In a world where the biggest bully wins,
You won’t get away with it,
These are my friends.
Operation **Reclaim** Loveland 
What do you think?