Letters to the Editor

Letter: Support the alcohol tax

With our next mail-in municipal election approaching, Proposition 13 helps to answer a serious public health problem in Anchorage. Public and private costs due to people who “misuse” alcohol have strained the services that respond to public emergencies. Paul Jenkins, in his March 8 Anchorage Daily News comment, spoke as a guy who feels no responsibility for public health and safety in Anchorage when he implied that the public should not have to pay for services if they vote against funding.

Jenkins implied that we should get something for nothing. He disparaged the Assembly for trying to fund the basic services that respond to related crime and homelessness.

Like tobacco, alcohol “misuse” contributes to these secondhand effects so that damage is not confined to “one person” drinking. It affects all of us. Yes, past proposals have failed, but why is that a reason to not vote for it now? As community assistance is cut by the governor and Legislature, costs for core services are shifted to Anchorage residents. I believe that all of us have a responsibility to make Anchorage a better place to live, and voting yes for Proposition 13 is an important way to do it.

— Joan Diamond

Anchorage

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