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The Mayor of Boxville

By Rick Kennedy March 23, 2006

As Mayor Mackie Choice sits with friends on his front porch on a warm March afternoon, he periodically surveys the horizon for danger. The bulldozers could come at any moment, from any direction, to level the entire town. Already they have razed a nearby settlement, and nobody knows what their... More >>>

10 Images

Mackie Choice became mayor of the homeless
community under Interstate 45 Â�not by election, but by
acclaim,Â� as David Timothy, the Soupman, puts it.

Dallas fights a constant battle against homeless camps.
Â�The police come, they tear up everything and theyÂ�re
hoping we leave it like that, but we rebuild as soon as
they walk out,Â� says camp resident Robin Bethea. Â�They
canÂ�t come up with a good plan to get us out of here.Â�
Fences raised to keep out the homeless are easily cut.

Over time, the shacks can grow to impressive size.

Mayor Choice entertains two visitors to the settlement.

When neighbors complain, the bulldozers and Bobcats
roll in, as they did earlier this month at a camp just
blocks from Â�MackÂ�s CampÂ�.

Homeless Czar Mike Rawlings says itÂ�s possible to find a
balanced approach to the problem. Â�You donÂ�t have to
make this SophieÂ�s choice of business versus people,Â� he
says.

Karen Rayzer, Dallas director of environmental health
thinks that with enough encouragement, homeless
people will choose the shelters over the streets. She
summarizes the cityÂ�s approach as, Â�IÂ�m going to help
you get there, but IÂ�m not going to just give it to you.Â�

Meanwhile, mobile meal providers like David Timothy,
the Soupman (bottom right), do just give food to the
homeless. Â�Dallas does tend to treat their homelessÂ�
they coddle them,Â� Rayzer says.

Dallas will get more than $11 million in federal funds for
homeless services this year, but Choice and his
neighbors are convinced that most of it goes to fuel
government bureaucracy. (Note: Choice insisted on being
photographed in clean clothes, and the Dallas Observer
provided them.)

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Rick Kennedy

Dallas fights a constant battle against homeless camps. The police come, they tear up everything and theyre hoping we leave it like that, but we rebuild as soon as they walk out, says camp resident Robin Bethea. They cant come up with a good plan to get us out of here. Fences raised to keep out the homeless are easily cut.

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