“What’s too much is too much.”
These are the words of a local business owner who is frustrated with the homeless crisis.
He says his restaurant has been the target of many crimes, including arson and vandalism.
That’s why he threatens to take matters into his own hands.
The business owner recently bought a bus to transport the homeless from his restaurant.
But the mayor of San Bernardino begs him for patience.
“They burned them here, brand new furniture that was supposed to be for my restaurant,” said Max Zahir, owner of Celebrities Sports Grill.
Zahir has had enough, he says that in the last two years his business has been the target of arson, theft and vandalism by homeless people.
“I am extremely frustrated because we pay taxes,” Zahir said.
“It’s not my job to take care of homeless people and stop homeless people from burning down my business and trying to kill my customers and employees, and that’s too dangerous and I’m extremely frustrated.
Zahir says he is taking matters into his own hands.
“This is my message to the city of San Bernardino, you have two weeks to take care of these homeless people or I will,” Zahir said in a video posted on social media.
Zahir stated that he will use this bus that he recently purchased to start removing the homeless who frequent the area around his sports grill.
“I will simply offer them transport, free food and all the necessary means to get on the bus voluntarily, and I will take them back to where they came from,” said Zahir.
“We have to do something about it and we are taking steps,” said Mayor Helen Tran.
Tran says the homeless crisis is one of the city’s top priorities and plans are underway to address it, including a new navigation center that will house 200 homeless people while providing services to help with mental illness, substance abuse and employment.
“Make sure everybody’s safe, everybody’s housed and there’s not a lot of disruption in our community,” Tran said.
Tran says that during last year’s count, the number of homeless people increased by 20 percent to approximately 1,300.
She plans to lower those numbers in the coming months, but Zahir is still skeptical.
“Every mayor, every politician made the same promise,” Zahir said.
But Mayor Tran says things are already underway.
On January 26, the city will conduct a new homeless count, and on February 1, it declares the homeless crisis a state of emergency.