Quote of the Day

Everyone’s always caught up on the bigger parts of the government’s spending that use up our tax dollars and provide not a whole lot in return. So it’s easy to forget about how expensive the little things can be when added up…like Kenny Walters, San Francisco town drunk.

San Francisco has paid at least $150,000 for Kenny Walters in the past year. He isn’t employed, has an arrest record as long as his hair, and can often be found passed out in a doorway on Haight Street.

Kenny Walters’ job is to get drunk.

He’s certainly not alone. “Chronic inebriants” are a grim and disturbing fact of life in San Francisco. They also cost the city millions.

Walters, who was decked out in a red, long-sleeve Spider-Man shirt, isn’t homeless or broke. The 41-year-old happily shared his story with me. He sat up, pushed his blond bangs off his face, and blinked his striking blue eyes until his surroundings came into focus.

“I do get caught for drinking out here every day,” he said affably. “I wish I had another beer right now.”

He said he gets $953 a month in Supplemental Security Income for disabled and aged citizens and pays $650 a month for a hotel room in the Tenderloin under the city’s Care Not Cash program.

Walters is usually too intoxicated to walk, which makes him ineligible for a sobering center. But regardless of where he goes, Walters isn’t bothered about the expense.

“Doesn’t cost me a thing,” he said cheerfully.

[via]

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