Voices

Our view: Let's make them safer

Mayor Dan Sullivan is devoting a lot of attention to one of the city's more visible challenges -- the growing tide of homeless people living on the streets and in the woods. His decision to convene a 36-member "leadership team" to tackle the issue is a helpful start. We hope his austere approach to city budgeting leaves room for substantial city initiatives on this front.

The leadership team's mandate includes hearing ideas and concerns from the public. Here's one message the mayor and his team need to hear:

We want our parks and public spaces back. We want every Anchorage resident, especially children, to feel safe when they go to playgrounds, walk on trails and visit parks.

That's not the case now.

FEELING UNSAFE

A woman sent the Daily News this comment Thursday:

"Last night in the downtown park with access to the coastal trail there were people curled up under trees and a small group loudly and angrily sharing a bottle of vodka. These people were black-out drunk. It was a beautiful fall night, and I opted not to go for a walk on the unlit path because of the new activity in what I would have considered a safe neighborhood the evening before."

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Her experience is not an isolated case. Parents at Tyson Elementary School are understandably concerned that a large homeless camp has sprung up in the nearby woods. Chester Creek greenbelt is rife with illegal campsites.

UNEASY MOMENTS

Thursday afternoon, while Mayor Sullivan's 36-member task force was beginning work at City Hall, it wasn't hard to find uncomfortable moments in nearby parks.

Springer Park, at the 3800 block of Arctic Boulevard, was the site of a quiet drinking party, with eight or nine people clustered around a picnic table. None of them seemed to notice or care that a visitor strolled through the park to check out the sand volleyball courts. But on the far side of the park, a large, imposing man sat on another picnic table, talking to a woman, and he kept a watchful eye on a park visitor, as if to say "What are you doing here?"

Over at Cuddy midtown park, a big expanse of green, with a pond, rolling hills and pleasant pathways, a couple dozen people were enjoying the fine afternoon, while in the amphitheater, a disheveled man and woman were curled in a heap, totally zonked out.

Midtown park is big enough, and the amphitheater sheltered enough from view, that the other park visitors apparently didn't notice or didn't mind. But there were three younger kids playing football nearby. If their parents knew apparently homeless people were hanging out in the same park as their kids, they might have had second thoughts about letting their children play there unsupervised.

NO SHORTAGE OF IDEAS

Thursday, the mayor's new panel talked about many ideas that could help the chronically homeless. Some are already under way, such as more detox beds and a local version of the "Housing First" program, which has proven successful in Seattle. Eliminating waiting lists for drug or alcohol treatment, so addicts can get the help they seek right away, could make a noticeable difference, but the price tag is daunting.

Enforcing zero tolerance for crimes of public disorder, such as public urination or illegal camping, could help steer inebriates off the streets into treatment. But it could also tie up lots of police and court time in a criminal justice system that is already stretched thin.

We don't know what new efforts might make a real difference. Most everyone agrees on the goals: Offer a better life for chronically homeless people and turn our parks and public areas back into places that are safe and welcoming for all. The experts and activists on Mayor Sullivan's task force will offer their ideas -- and then we'll find out if our community cares enough to take meaningful action.

BOTTOM LINE: Neither homeless people nor the public are safe when parks turn into homeless camps.

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