Let me preface these remarks by qualifying my perspective. My name is chance martin, I work for the Coalition on Homelessness San Francisco where I edit the STREET SHEET - the oldest street newspaper on the west coast. I've been a homeless advocate/activist for about 10 years, except unlike Mr. Hayes - who maintains that he voluntarily chose to live among "the homeless" - I became homeless when I lost my small business behind disability in 1988. Perhaps the reason why Hayes can so casually objectify homeless people by labeling them as "the homeless" is because he sees them as separate from himself. And labeling, after all, is the first step in disempowering any group of people. Self-appointed leaders like Hayes invariably predicate their "leadership" on their success at disempowering their followers.

That being said, allow me to state that Ted Hayes is the most tireless, most shameless self-promoter that I've ever met in all my years of homeless advocacy. Do a search on Dogpile for "Ted Hayes" and you'll see what I mean. Hayes has carved out a niche for himself by making statements in the corporate media that pander to the "quality of life" crowd, and frequently at the direct expense of the civil rights of the same homeless people he claims to represent.

I first met Hayes at at statewide civil rights organizing conference in L.A. several years ago. Or, more correctly, I met Hayes and his entourage, including an attractive European videographer who shooting a documentary NOT about homelessness, but about Ted Hayes. It seems he was using the conference as a backdrop for his latest vehicle for self-aggrandizement.

At first I was puzzled, because Hayes' remarks were so far off-topic from the workshop's discussions that I was starting to mistake him for another drug causality. Then I realized that he wasn't even speaking with US, and that all of his comments were solely for the benefit of the camera. As this became clear, I dismissed Hayes as an aberration, paid scant attention to his theatrical posturings, and said silent thanks that homeless advocacy in San Francisco hadn't yet "gone Hollywood."

Thankfully, Hayes stayed pretty much off my radar until very recently, when we received an invitation to send a "delegation" to his "National Homeless Convention" at Dome Village. The stated purpose of this gathering was to gather input for a "National Homeless Plan." I had my reservations, but since we were sending a group to participate in the protests anyway, and especially since we spent a great deal of time last year developing an action plan to end homelessness in San Francisco

(which can be viewed at http://aspin.asu.edu/hpn/archives/Oct99/0310.html),

we thought we'd check it out.

I spoke to some folks at Dome Village by phone, and asked for a draft of the document they were working from so we could be prepared to participate. They faxed a program and agenda, and pretty sketchy ones at that. Not to be deterred, I checked out Dome Village's url, and what I found there was disturbing, to put it mildly.

The two most clearly articulated components of Hayes' plan were: 1) the plan's basic intent was to create an even greater role for corporate interests by inviting them to become stakeholders in the creation of a domestic "Marshall Plan" (the post WWII U.S. policy that opened war-torn Europe to exploitation by corporate interests and laid the foundation for the present European economic union), and 2) installing none other than Ted Hayes as national "homeless czar," heading a Presidential Commission for "the Homeless." Can you say "grandiosity?" Can you say "lack of insight?" Seems like Mr. Hayes is one ambitious man.

Also disturbing was that the url's content changed almost daily. This presented a problem for me because I had been asked to critique Hayes' Plan for an interview with a Los Angeles micropower radio station through LA IMC. Ultimately, I decided not to take Ted Hayes to task for solidarity's sake (and since we were going to participate in his convention) and spoke instead about the plan we developed, and about the National Civil Rights Organizing Project we're working on. That is my first regret.

A couple of us stopped by Dome Village Monday (after we missed the start of the U'wa demo) to see if we should find parking and bring the other ten folks in our group to Hayes

Not intending to berate your personal assessment of Ted Hayes, my comment is a simple one. In the face of warfare being directed toward the homeless population in general, what are you accomplishing by focusing on what you feel to be the negative aspects of one of our most respected soldiers? Think about it. Showing personal humility while directly approaching Mr. Hayes with your concerns would have been more in line with the respect and diplomacy needed to foster a sense of love and compassion for our homeless family. Think of the level of discretion used in family matters vs. public matters and you will understand my point. One in the struggle.

peace,

Thomas

From New York Is this the future that California promises?

After the dust of D2KLA has cleared, I see there's a glaring lack of context to my article. I wrote the piece in anger after media puppet Ted Hayes led a group of innocent homeless people to serve as a barrier between cops and protesters after LAPD pulled the plug on the RATM concert. That's where he led them moments before the cops started firing.

If there was anything like justice in this world, Hayes would have been charged. He's dangerous, and he's lucky nobody got killed. I wonder if we will be able to say the same the next time...

I must say Ted Hayes National Homeless Plan scared me a lot too when i first read it, However when someone like Ted Hayes has a plan like this...then I want to hear about it from the horse's mouth...... I have spent a couple of months in Ted's company and have listened to him first hand on all sorts of topics.

Ted is probably one of the most misunderstood men living today. Unfortunately, people are only hearing this modern day Gandhi in sound bytes....believe me that this man truly cares and it comes from the heart.

He understands the situation better than most and just because he doesn't follow POPULAR belief then we think we have the right to scorn him.

One day you will see where this man is coming from. Hopefully he will get a chance to truly talk about his plan and explain it in depth to everyone....it is no Marshall Plan.

I really do not know who you are "ch@nce", but the article you wrote was ridiculous. All that your article contained were complaints about Ted Hayes the person. The plan that Ted Hayes has to end homelessness was hardly addressed. Isn't that what is important? I met with Ted and he is genuinely concerned about the homeless, and he was not at all the person you portrayed him to be. It is clear to me that you do not like and feel threatened but Ted Hayes. Because of that, even if he had the best plan in the world for finally ending the homelessness problem you would let your feeling get in the way. Present your solution to end the problem before you tear apart someone because you do not agree with them.

Chance

Do you have a plan?

As a business person, why should I pay my tax dollars to a national homeless program that only making the social service providers rich while homelessness is getting worse. The Homeless providers are like ERON. They are fleecing middle class Americans.

At least Ted Hayes is thinking out side the box and I think that makes people uncomfortaable.

The homeless providers do not want to end homlessness because they would be homeless.

Let me guess: Hayes treats you like a genuine "A-lister" if you post some disparaging comment to my article some years after I posted it. Too bad indymedia wipes its logs, or I'd bet the comments originated from IP addresses in Dignity village.

I can only hope y'all can continue to convince yourselves it's worthwhile to suffer such a delusional solipsist.

Although I do not agree with most of these peolpe on these boards, i just like the occasional debate, I have spent time with Ted Hayes off the record while we were in DC.

He is a truly gifted man who sees the truth of things. This jealousy you have is not benefiting your movement at all.