The Grinch in Fairfax County
Comments (5)
Wednesday, November 29, 2006 | 01:04 PM ET
By Henry Champ
Fairfax County is a prosperous suburb of Washington located across the Potomac River in northern Virginia.
The folks that live there — and I know many of them personally — like to quote studies and surveys that call Fairfax the fastest-growing, or the happiest, or the best-governed county in the U.S.
Automobiles there may well have more bumper stickers that say "My child is an honour student" than anywhere else on earth. I'm sure you know the kind of place we're talking about.
Fairfax County also has about 2,000 homeless people.
Winter is coming and these people rely on a loose-knit group of shelters operated by local churches, not on the kindness of the county administration. This network operates about three dozen centres, many in church basements, to provide hot meals and shelter during the cold months.
But that charity is now being threatened. The Fairfax County government has announced strict new rules for food being served at shelters and other community centres, rules that are angering some congregations and requiring them to rethink their good intentions.
Hidden agenda
The tuna casseroles, brownies, sandwiches and home-made stews that volunteers prepare, either at home or in church kitchens, must now be approved by county inspectors.
What's more, the facilities at the churches must include commercial refrigerators, a three-compartment sink to wash, rinse and sanitize dishes. There must be separate handwashing sinks, among other requirements
Fairfax churches often take turns staffing shelters. The Burke United Methodist Church, for example, is to open its shelter between Dec.17th and Dec. 23rd.
Fifty volunteers had been planning to cook beef stew, pork loin and other nutritious meals at the church and, as has been the tradition over many years, the congregation was expected to bring in plates of brownies, jellies and homemade bread.
No way, says Fairfax's civic leaders.
Over the years, Methodists may have been criticized on issues of theology, but this is the first time their pot roasts have been challenged.
The county says its crackdown on home-cooked meals is aimed at preventing food poisoning among the homeless.
No one can remember such an incident and as one food provider told reporters, "We're very aware that a number of homeless people eat out of dumpsters. Mom's pot roast has got to be healthier than that."
There are many who say the food is not the real issue but rather that these churches allow the homeless to bed down out of the cold. If you don't feed them, the theory is, they will go somewhere else.
And good riddance. Wouldn't want the homeless mixing with the honour students, would we?
UPDATE: Read the update
More Pelosi
Recently I wrote about Nancy Pelosi, the San Fancisco congresswoman who is to be the Democratic Speaker of the House in the next session and her plans for new ethical rules.
These included tightening the regulations regarding lobbyists, holding House representatives to tougher oversight requirements, and creating a new watchdog office.
Several people, commenting on that earlier column, correctly observed that what a politician says coming into office often does not measure up in performance.
I promised to watch.
Pelosi made a decision yesterday not to have Alcee Hastings, a ranking Democrat, become chairman of the House intelligence committee.
Earlier in his career, Hastings was impeached as a federal judge, but he subsequently won election to Congress. He is the senior Democrat on the committee and under normal circumstances could have expected to gain the chair.
Hastings not only had the seniority, but also the strong backing of the congressional Black caucus of which he is a member. This group lobbied hard for Hastings but Pelosi said no. In her view, Hastings had baggage and was a liability.
Seniority is a key right on Capitol Hill, not generally to be toyed with by incoming Speakers. Score one for Pelosi.
It does not guarantee real reform but it is promising and we will continue to watch.
And on Iraq
Nothing more important in the Capitol right now than Iraq.
Yesterday, Robert Gates, the president's replacement for former defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld, submitted written testimony prior to his confirmation hearings, which are to begin next week.
Two thoughts leap out.
On troop withdrawal, he says, "leaving Iraq in chaos would have dangerous consequences both in the region and globally for years to come."
On formal talks with Syria and Iran, he notes that "even in the worst days of the Cold War the U.S. maintained a dialogue with the Soviet Union and China and I believe those channels of communication helped us manage many potentially difficult situations."
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Henry Champ is CBC Newsworld's correspondent in Washington, D.C., delivering Canadian viewers the latest developments in the U.S. political arena. Recently, he has been a leading Canadian voice on coverage of the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq and the growing concerns over the Canada-U.S. relationship.
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Comments (5)
Brian
From most of these comments, you'd think Fairfax was the only city in North America to have a homeless problem; or if another city has a problem, that they have it all figured out.
It's really easy for people to judge another city's, or county's actions, without applying the same criteria to their own cities, towns, provinces, or states. I understand the attitude of the county administrators in Fairfax is cold (thats an understatement), but to think that homeless people don't recieve chilly, downright mean-spirited, callous and indifferent attitudes anywhere else is ridiculous. I'm sure there are a lot of people who help and volunteer (I pack food hampers for charity from time to time), but how many times have I have ignored a homeless person on the street, thinking its not my problem? Too many to count. How many times has everyone else reading this done the same thing? My guess is as much as I have.
I know this sounds cynical, but I do believe its the truth. The fact that every city, province and state has any kind of homeless problem means that we have all failed, and collectively, we are no better than the county administrators and bureaucrats in Fairfax. I try and help as much as I can, but sometimes when I can't, it's easier to ignore the problem and forget about it for a while. I hope I haven't offended anybody, and I apologize in advance if I have. Sometimes the truth hurts.
Posted December 4, 2006 11:57 AM
Dwight Williams
Heaven help us if the homeless and the honour students mix. For then, the homeless might yet become honour students, too...if they weren't already thus before becoming homeless to begin with.
And we can't have that happening, now, can we? Society might truly improve...
Posted November 29, 2006 09:40 PM
Dale kennedy
If food prepared at home needs to be inspected before being feed to the homeless (who are viewed as somewhat less than human by many of those who are more fortunate - and not just in Fairfax County), then shouldn't that same food be inspected before being feed to the "honor students" of those families? Which would mean, of course, that ALL food prepared in ALL homes - whether for the homeless or family members - should be inspected before being served, period. That would create millions of new jobs. Maybe the homeless could be trained and employed to do the home-cooked food inspections! Better yet, maybe the homeless should be elected to run this planet. Odds are it would be a vast improvement over the current situation in most of our countries.
Posted November 29, 2006 09:24 PM
Joe
The primary issue here is that Virginia, like New Jersey, employes authoritarian bureaucrats, who actually believe that they know what is best for the masses of civilians they are supposed to serve.
Whether or not this action drives the homeless out of Fairfax is not at issue. The issue is the interferance of government where it does not belong.
Posted November 29, 2006 06:40 PM
Jim
The commentary is a little misleading. THese are not new rules. Also it is not "civic leaders" making the decision. The decision to enforce rules already on the books came from the County health department officials. THat said it's still ridiculous. I'm sure that public pressure will cause elected officials to make a change. The most irritating part of the blog though is implying that we in Fairfax don't want homeless people mixing with honor students. To imply that kind of callousness when it's obvious that many in the community have been trying to care for the homeless is irresponsible.
Posted November 29, 2006 02:11 PM