Cali Mayor: People Choose to Be Homeless

Temecula, California Mayor Maryann Edwards thinks homeless people live on the street by choice. She revealed this belief in the comments section of a blog post about her plan to “eliminate” homelessness by basically criminalizing it and discouraging people from giving money to the poor. “Homeless people panhandling on the off ramps are homeless by choice,” Edwards wrote in the comments section of a post on Nonprofit Quarterly’s website questioning how the Mayor plans to provide housing and services for her leafy city’s 80 homeless people without spending any taxpayer money. “They have rejected all forms of help and have chosen instead to play on the sympathy of generous residents.”