Don Garza - Downtown Los Angeles
General Jeff was interviewed on CNN about his role in Skid Row Downtown-- now he is LAs only homeless public official..whereas we thought he was the Mayor of Skid Row...
For those who may not be aware, Jeff Page , also known as General Jeff, will be appearing on CNN sometime early this year on a story that was done specifically about General Jeff and his role as the Skid Row Resident Representative on the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council. In the short amount of time he has been living in skid row General Jeff has accomplished much to make the neighborhood a better place.
Just a short note for those out there who are projecting their own feelings onto me and how I should feel about all of this because you may operate that way... I am not jealous nor envious nor resentful. You see , I had my opportunity to run for that seat that I helped to create during the foundation process of the Downtown Los Angeles Neighborhood Council. At that time skid row residents were not participating in the larger arena of community building within Downtown. I felt it was important that I work with the larger Downtown Community to create a venue where the disenfranchised of skid row could hash out the issues and solve the problems plaguing the community and the only people capable of handling those issues would be those who actually reside in skid row. Leslie Taplin , Micheal Gagan , Michael Pfeifffer , Quathryn Brehm, and myself were called idealists at that time. I am always going to participate in the democratic process no matter what , thus it was important that we create a place and a seat that would allow someone and others in skid row to participate ...that is what that was created for. I did not help create the seat for myself. I was accused by a local newspaper editor of being crazy because he felt that most people do things in their own self-interest. I suppose not running for the seat which could have handily become mine ;to him was somehow acting not within the bounds of human nature. What he and many others fail to realize is that any decisions made about the skid row community are a matter of life and death and self-aggrandizement can not play a role in representing the community and working with the community. The other dilemma was that as there are many people in skid row who have drug and alcohol problems , felonies and misdemeanors and I had none of these , there was no way I could identify with many in the skid row community, many people there resent those of us who do not have those problems and the non-profits , for the most part, don't like you because they can not use these types of things against you to destroy your credibility , thus it was important that naturally the community would eventually find the right person for the job..
We now have this with General Jeff and, it is becoming quite stimulating as I have watched this community become so energized from within and realizing that no one can empower them, but are reminded that all they have to do is grab on to the autonomy that already resides within themselves. The problem for a long time was the message that was sent to the residents by the huge non-profits that they were helpless , hopeless etc,every pamphlet indicates this and this was where my agitation became a problem.
Before General Jeff it was up to me to agitate and that meant telling it like it was . It was about publicly attacking stereotypes put out by local Downtown Newspapers , publicly chastising the non-profit entities and shining a light onto all the dirt..It was me and that was it. The non-profits did everything that they could to hold on to their efforts at claiming to be the voice of those they claimed had no voice...thus I have pretty much alienated many...Many in the non-profit sector listened to me and knew that I wasn't there to harm them but expose those things they could not...and I have been thanked many times by them , shocking me whenever it indeed happened. So many who have taken it in the shins from Don Garza during the breaking the stereotyping phase , the Central City East Blogger , now have moved on to a new way of thinking, there has been a paradigm shift in the way that residents and homeless people are treated.. To be honest the Internet helped a lot in these endeavors...
Back to those who would wish to project their petty personality traits onto myself...you wish....what has transpired is exactly what community building is all about and I am happier everyday that I feel useless and not needed...why? because that is what I aspired to do....a community with power and not having Don Garza speaking for them... I have always believed that we can speak for ourselves and we know what we want..Bud Hayes, one of the previous Executive Directors of SRO Housing Corporation , confirmed this for me when he said to be a good case manager you need to know that the client knows what they need and want more than you do. This is true for the residents of skid row... To be free is what we all strive for...but freedom comes with choices . General Jeff came with his gifts, skills , talents , and his abilities , he did the work in the community , the seat was there. We as a community convinced him to run and Jeff Page has leveraged that seat in such a way that has made many founders of the neighborhood council very happy....not jealous and not resentful...happy..... (I personally think they are jealous of me because I choose to actually do the selfless behavior and they only claim to while raking in 6 figure salaries or are just doing things in skid row to exploit the situation for their own self-aggrandizement. So they project their pettiness onto me...) I have won...The same people who pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America hypocritically simply do not understand it and would never understand my statement about winning. The constitution and it's belief in the 1st amendment is what I based all of this effort on The Universe in all it's glory does and has rewarded me with no longer having diabetes and able to exercise vigorously now. God in his infinite wisdom always balances out the equation, in physics we understand this very well...those in recovery circles understand that miracles happen..
When we all stood together as a Downtown Community , when the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment and their Commissioners wanted to remove skid row from within our boundaries and we walked out of the certification process and the famous words of Michael Gagan ..we kindly request to withdraw our application.. was rebuffed,, we all walked out as a group yelling at them , that we were not satisfied and the commissioners came back and left skid row within our boundaries on the condition that if we were disenfranchised skid row could come back as a community and petition to create their own neighborhood council....this was the first time we stood together, rich and poor , all ethnicity, homeless and housed , nonprofit and resident , stating that we wanted things to change and the only way for that to happen was together and seeing each other in the same rooms and working beyond our stereotypes of each other and breaking down barriers...it is happening...so where there are those who see that I must be jealous , I don't see where I should be jealous , I should be very satisfied at this outcome.....This CNN story is the icing on the cake... Many wondered why I stood by Mayor Hahn , knowing Antonio Villaraigosa would beat him , because Mayor James Hahn supported the Neighborhood Council Movement and I saw this as the only way to save lives in skid row...now Antonio Villaraigosa has shown his unflinching resolve to help us solve the problems in skid row and has an ally in Jeff Page and Myself....but make no mistake , my first priority will always be the lives of the weakest in society and it matters not who it is whom I will expose if they are strong and take advantage or do harm to the weakest in society , it will be said..
So now I am content , I rest , work out , work on my adonis indexed body, live diabetes free and maybe find a job or create my own business and know when I die I did not leave this earth going down like a punk or full of regrets....I was on my death bed before ,been there , done that , don't want no regrets.
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