I’m hoping for an agreement, which nobody can seem to agree on. The “debate” has now gone full circle, back to the Sullivan Arena as the best place, perhaps, to place Anchorage street people who have come here and are unable to care for themselves. What do we do with such people when it is too cold to live, panhandle or tent camp around town?
Responsibility has been placed by fate on local residents here to care for these people; residents who live here, work and pay taxes. We can’t let street people freeze, or starve, despite where they come from, Alaska or elsewhere. “Blue tickets” are no longer allowed. We can’t just ship them back to where they came from. Some will not be welcome and would just be sent back again — from a place where deportation rules do not apply.
Anchorage is one of many cities in this country where this problem exists. This issue has become a second national pandemic. So, what can be done? The “total” problem defies solution; the only “partial” solution, to me, appears to be found in help from where most, or many, of these street folks come from. Who should pay the bills, or at least a fair share of the cost to help to pay for the problem?
Many street people are of Native descent. Alaska’s regions are divided into numerous Native corporations, as provided in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Is there any concern among Native leaders about how their corporation members are faring and what may or may not be done to help solve part of this vexing problem?
— Dennis Lattery
Chugiak
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