Some chat options are free -- including Signal, which is probably the most popular / easiest for adoption.  Others, like Threema, entail a subscription, which may present a barrier to broader adoption.

As for SMS options, and those stuck with it...  It's frustrating how un-secure SMS is, and despite being roundly recommended-against by cybersecurity professionals (for use in multi-factor authentication), many banks / credit unions still require it for that, along with some other services important to us in our daily life.  (For the curious -- do some searching for "Passkey", "FIDO2", "Hardware keys", "Yubikey", "Yubico Authenticator", etc. on the web to learn more about secure 2FA options that custodians of your money or medical records, etc. really *should be using -- and that some are rolling-out, if very slowly.)  These SMS options include services like mySudo (anonyome.com), or cloaked (cloaked.com), etc.  There is a charge for these.  It won't be easy (if possible at all) to get the political parties to stop texting your old SMS number no matter what you do -- they are relentless, and don't seem to face any consequences for their harassment (aside from what you mention in your article -- insulting voters -- and whatever consequences for their election outcomes that may entail).  But what you *can do is transition your bank, doctor, various other services, future political donations? to distinct and isolated containers with one of these services, so they're no longer sharing the SMS you get through your phone carrier.

For generations above a certain threshold (who are more dependent on voice calls for most things) -- this is where the improvement probably stops.  There is not a lot more you can do from here, and still have any hope of staying in contact with friends & family who remain committed to using phones in the traditional way.

For generations below a certain threshold (who have little-to-no use for traditional phone calls), I can offer that if you ever get a brand-new phone number -- you have the even better option of never giving it to anyone for any reason -- go 100% mySudo, Cloaked, etc. apps at that point.  When you need to call the parents or make the rare voice call -- schedule it ahead of time...

Regardless of which group you fall into -- these changes take some adjustment.  Getting your contacts to update their address book with your new number is hard enough, as we've all probably experienced at one time or another.  Getting yourself into the habit of doing SMS and/or Voice in this new way is (temporarily) bothersome itself.  If I could make one transitional recommendation here -- experiment first -- small / manageable bites (just your one small circle of friends first...work out whatever speed bumps you encounter...then add more friends & services over time), until you get the knack of the new way of doing it (and decide for yourself at that point if you can commit to it.)  I'll argue that it is worth it, due to the aforementioned security reasons -- and that recovering from Identity theft is the worse option.  But security and usability do have to balance for your day-to-day -- and that balance point will be slightly different for every individual.

... post submission didn't like my copy/paste.  Re-typing here:

For whatever it's worth -- anyone who can stop using SMS will be better-off for it.  Identity theft, privacy (in the civil rights sense of it), etc. are in the scope of concern.  If you can get your family or friend circles onto a secure chat service, you'll be better off.  (It's a big lift if you have folx in your circles that don't want to switch -- but where opportunity presents itself...totally worth it.)  Note that some popular chat apps like Whatsapp, Telegram, etc. are not as private as they claim to be -- so just be aware of that.  Here are some good options:

Chat:
- Signal (signal.org)
- Matrix (matrix.org)
- Threema (threema.com)
- SimpleX (simplex.chat)

You can also look into email aliasing -- especially handy for political messaging, advertising, etc.  (Create them when you need them; delete them when you're done with them -- they simply forward email to your real address.)

- Addy (addy.io)
- ProtonPass (proton.me/pass)
- SimpleLogin (simplelogin.io)

I hope that's helpful...

Everytime I try think about Amps, Watts, Volts, Watt-hours...  Aspirin, somebody, help...  My calculator's busted.

In non-EV-owner terms... (but who might consider buying one at some point)...

If you plug-in to the low-end CoB charger at the park for whatever your stay might be -- 1 hour, e.g. -- What does it cost you, and how many miles are added to your remaining range?

Versus if you use the high-end ones at Freddy's for an hour.

(Is worth it at all?  Are some just a waste of time to use?  Etc.)

Also curious -- what would we be looking at to install adequate solar at Bloedale -- 80 panels?  Is that what... $100k?

I'm familiar with some of the work done with the city and various non-profits on this issue in the past.  I can't claim to know the solution, but I can point out barriers I witnessed and encountered:

1. Satpal Sidhu once said in his opposition to helping the the 100+ folx on the city hall lawn in 2019 or so, that we would just be inviting more to come out of the woods asking for the same help.  He also talked about shanty-towns he's familiar with to illustrate his opposition to any kind of more formal encampment or tiny homes, when folks suggested finding property somewhere, where a more managed approach to encampments could be attempted.  I've never heard him oppose throwing them in jail; but any other form of support he seems to know why it would never work, and diminishes the person suggesting it as not knowing anything themselves.

2. Michael "this is a national problem" Lilliquist -- I've never heard a solution from -- unless it's "come join the bystanders, waiting for someone else to solve the problem".  I don't get the same father-knows-best vibes from him that I did from Satpal, which I appreciate, but it hasn't lead to any better outcomes.  At least he has the courage to engage with it a little -- of his colleagues on the council -- I have no idea with they think -- safe space for them, perhaps.  To be fair, none of them are without compassion, for all that's shown to be worth -- and all of them will get yelled-at without mercy by one sector of our community or another, no matter what they do.  That's not a justification for inaction; but I'm not just going to critize here -- that's a tough situation.

3. Surplus property -- the city and county has a bunch of it.  But try to use any of it, and neighbors come out of the woodwork proclaiming their compassion for the homeless, just don't put them near our house.  At some point, 'what about the children' gets thrown around.  Even successful initiatives like tiny homes struggle to find space.

4. The "soul saving" lighthouse mission isn't in this for community good.  I've got zero respect for their motives; taking advantage of people in their most desperate moments to push their religious agenda.  They do, as far as I know, have a function where they don't prostelitize -- maybe the overnight beds -- but I've heard from friends who have worked there or supported their programs that the do prostelitize in the programs.  They don't seem to be as transparent on this question as a local taxpayer whose city is funding them might prefer.  Maybe the city isn't paying for the religious part of it -- who knows.   No really, does anyone know?  The city gives them a ton of money, and I think they have wealthy supporters as well.  Also, there are lower legal barriers & requirements for religious groups to offer this kind of thing than non-religious -- god only knows why.  Starts to seem like the city is all to happy to let the church take over here.  

5. Public misconceptions about homeless folx -- starting with us-and-them / pathologizing -- there must be something wrong with them kind of thinking -- makes it all to easy to stereo-type them as drug-users, and to support non-solutions like throwing them in jail; and makes it all-to-difficult to recognize and address actual issues.  There are studies showing the cost of jail per night; versus the cost of housing someone that evaluates recidivism rates, etc. that tend to disfavor jail as a solution, and yet...  Even putting-up more porta-potties seems beyond us -- with all of the health-related concerns with human waste that directly impact all of us...  we're still inclined toward punishment over problem-solving -- no toilet for you!

6. Dignity isn't respected as much as property.  What is the last count -- 850 or so people living on the street or in the woods, etc.  2 or 3 bathrooms they can use.  Their stuff can be stolen if they're not monitoring or protecting it; or thrown away if the cops clear them out -- everything is temporary and destined for theft or loss.  Safety comes in groups, and with weapons (sticks, sometimes knives, etc.)  I was taking a morning walk a year or two ago -- walking past the parking garage, there was a voice on a loutspeaker somewhere, harassing a person who might have been homeless who was attempting to sit near the public bathrooms -- it wasn't a professional 'move along' even, but disrespectful tone and language.  I think they were watching them remotely from a mounted camera there.  Sometime prior to that, we learned of cops luring a mentally ill person known to say something repeatedly they thought was funny ("oh yeah", or something like that) into a cop car with $5, to ultimately drop them off at Sherries where their off-duty buddies were eating, as a prank.  The 3 cops did it.  The supervisor knew they were doing it.  Was this person respected?  Absolutely now -- he was objectified and dehumanized -- by cops.  Was he capabable of consent?  Arguably, no -- the paper reported a bit on some of the mental issues he struggled with.  If he wasn't capable of consent to be used in their prank, then was he kidnapped by the cops?  The chief wrote them a reprimand in disappearing ink.  The next chief stood in front of a camera and told the city that this doesn't reflect the BPD.  I don't believe those officers were let go.  I have often wondered if they have since been promoted.  Whatever the case -- I think these cops didn't see a human being with dignity when they pulled their "prank", while they were busy not-reflecting the BPD.  This isn't one bad act, or one bad apple -- these are people from our community, who we hired and empowered, and paid.  They do reflect BPD -- and they reflect us too.

I can airmchair it as well as the next person -- but truth be told, I don't know the solution.  I think a lot of folks are frustrated, afraid, punitive, authoritarian, humanistic, compassionate, etc. -- all of the good and bad things we can be.  Involuntary hospitalization might help with addiction issues for some -- civil liberties can make that difficult, and shouldn't be taken lightly, but it's not impossible.  We might consider how we could lower the bar for support agencies that are not religious, in order to better leverage the willing labor and skills we have in our community that could and would help if they weren't legally probited from doing so -- and perhaps offer an alternative to the church for those in need who would be more responsive to that.  Work with neighboring counties needs to coincide with anything done locally (this is not a concession that nothing should be done locally until something is done nationally).  As for the jail or "sweeping" strategies we use -- you can't punish or bully the homelessness out of someone any better than you can pray it away, and it's expensive besides.