Dealing with the homeless is truly the biggest problem facing the Assembly and Municipality of Anchorage, although I think part of the issue is really personal and political agendas. Many folks are angry that we can’t use our parks, (which we pay taxes to support), because of tents, people and their indiscriminate disposal of human waste, piles of trash and drug paraphernalia found there — a hazard to people and pets.
If piles of trash were not left in the encampments, I think that many people would be more sympathetic to their plight.
That aside, I think that the relocation of the homeless from Cuddy Park is a travesty. They were allegedly told by folks when they left the Sullivan to go to Cuddy Park, which they did as well as the nearby National Archives site.
Now, they are told to leave as there will be a concert in the park with thousands of attendees.
It seems to me that the Municipality and, particularly Parks and Recreation, would have known about the concert early on. They could have marked the area off-limits to campers and saved all the grief and complaining.
Prioritizing a concert over the homeless folks does give me uncomfortable feelings. Is the Municipality prioritizing one group of people over another? It smells bad to me. Are concert- goers more important than the homeless?
— Thom Eley
Anchorage
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