Dear Mr Mayor,
As a long time constituent ([redacted] area code) I always enjoyed reading your newsletters about the progress you were making and I was DELIGHTED when you were elected. I am very impressed with your progress so far.
I live in the county but this issue affects both of us: you are working on the homeless problem. It is very, very, bad on the bus. In September of this year I witnessed a homeless woman (she was bragging about it after the assault) assault a driver physically. After she was arrested the driver began sobbing, saying "I'm only trying to feed my kids, this is the second time!" She was only in her 20's. I have not seen that driver again. That was the [redacted] bus and it's my primary route as it runs right past my home.
I am a disabled, widow who works at Walmart. I'm just trying to pay my bills and be a taxpaying member of society. I want to be a light bringer and bring joy to those around me. When I ride the [redacted] there are many, many homeless who ride the bus. They bring on dripping bags of garbage, smell terrible, are often intoxicated, and harass people like me who are just trying to get to work. They don't pay, are aggressive and combative with the drivers who are just trying to make a living. Company policy, I am told, states they must pick up anyone who wants to ride regardless of their ability to pay or whether they are a known trouble maker.
I was assaulted on the [redacted] bus back in June - a young man was angry I didn't want to talk and cut off my ponytail with a knife. Metro police, when contacted, were not interested and laughed at me. Even worse, when they asked me "What do you want us to do?" I asked them to put some undercovers on the buses. He laughed at me, said "That's not going to happen" and hung up. He went after me with a knife! I felt more violated by MPD than I did my assailant. As far as I know he was not homeless but it's indicative of the problem.
I turned my assault for good and made some long overdue, positive, life changes. God works all things for good if you let HIm.
But please also work on the bus issue with the homeless. Metro bus wants "nice" people to ride the bus. No one is riding the bus now unless it's a last resort (like me) because the rides are so horrific. My coworkers often ask me about my ride to work and it's often a bad one. Many of them live on [redacted] and might consider riding the bus to work if it were a safer, cleaner, option.
But why are we letting people on the bus we would not allow in our car? To TOUCH our car? It's hypocritical to ask someone like me to endure that (for an hour and a half each way) every day when they don't deal with it themselves.
Thank you for listening. I'm really glad you made it!
Sincerely,
Heather (last name, address, phone number)
I live in the county but this issue affects both of us: you are working on the homeless problem. It is very, very, bad on the bus. In September of this year I witnessed a homeless woman (she was bragging about it after the assault) assault a driver physically. After she was arrested the driver began sobbing, saying "I'm only trying to feed my kids, this is the second time!" She was only in her 20's. I have not seen that driver again. That was the [redacted] bus and it's my primary route as it runs right past my home.
I am a disabled, widow who works at Walmart. I'm just trying to pay my bills and be a taxpaying member of society. I want to be a light bringer and bring joy to those around me. When I ride the [redacted] there are many, many homeless who ride the bus. They bring on dripping bags of garbage, smell terrible, are often intoxicated, and harass people like me who are just trying to get to work. They don't pay, are aggressive and combative with the drivers who are just trying to make a living. Company policy, I am told, states they must pick up anyone who wants to ride regardless of their ability to pay or whether they are a known trouble maker.
I was assaulted on the [redacted] bus back in June - a young man was angry I didn't want to talk and cut off my ponytail with a knife. Metro police, when contacted, were not interested and laughed at me. Even worse, when they asked me "What do you want us to do?" I asked them to put some undercovers on the buses. He laughed at me, said "That's not going to happen" and hung up. He went after me with a knife! I felt more violated by MPD than I did my assailant. As far as I know he was not homeless but it's indicative of the problem.
I turned my assault for good and made some long overdue, positive, life changes. God works all things for good if you let HIm.
But please also work on the bus issue with the homeless. Metro bus wants "nice" people to ride the bus. No one is riding the bus now unless it's a last resort (like me) because the rides are so horrific. My coworkers often ask me about my ride to work and it's often a bad one. Many of them live on [redacted] and might consider riding the bus to work if it were a safer, cleaner, option.
But why are we letting people on the bus we would not allow in our car? To TOUCH our car? It's hypocritical to ask someone like me to endure that (for an hour and a half each way) every day when they don't deal with it themselves.
Thank you for listening. I'm really glad you made it!
Sincerely,
Heather (last name, address, phone number)
He has been very aggressive in confronting the homeless problem and is not afraid to crack some heads, fire people as needed, etc. Just what this city needs. I am sorry I couldn't vote for him (I'm in the county). I figured he would like to know what's really happening on the bus, not what the board is feeding him.
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