Thank you for your July 7 article on the Centennial Park homeless camp. I live next to the park and walk my dog there 365 days a year.
I understand the need for homeless services and the choice of Centennial Park, although I feel that the socio-economics of our neighborhood made it an easy choice for our mayor.
One week after starting the relocation, there is a significant increase in garbage throughout the park. Apparently, the bathrooms are unusable and include feces on the walls. Four bears are dead.
When we met with the mayor’s representative on June 27, she proudly proclaimed that the campground had been deemed fire wise. Well, the campers are not limiting their camping to the designated area. Tents have spread throughout the park, to include areas where almost all the standing spruce are dead. Not exactly fire wise, Ms. Chief of Staff. I hope it doesn’t take a large fire, severe physical attacks or worse to do a much better job, Mr. Mayor! When can we expect significant improvement?
— Connie Ernst
Anchorage
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