Dorrance Collins’ recent letter was interesting in that his/her fawning support of Mayor Dave Bronson’s policy regarding how to deal with our homeless problems was not surprising. In it, Collins said that “the Anchorage Assembly voted that they would not pay for” Bronson’s “proposed navigation center and homeless shelter,” and in that, Collins is correct. However, Collins did not attempt to say why the Assembly did this, so I’d like to point out what I think was one of the primary reasons for it: The mayor did not propose how to fund it. After costing the city millions on a no-bid contract on the project for one of his associates, as well as buying a building that not only does not meet city code and may be dangerous for anyone to occupy during our winter months, he has us paying thousands of dollars to store it somewhere until we either bring it here or sell it.
So, as a senior citizen and disabled veteran who admittedly has taken advantage of the generous provisions in local tax law that respect people who have reached this point in my life, I must ask Collins what proposal they have for not only funding the completion of the building, but also where the funding will come from to staff and run it. The mayor has not done this, so maybe he can be enlightened regarding this. It might also be instructive for all of us for Collins to tell us how much more in property taxes they are willing to pay to get this all done. I am willing to pay more to help with it, but is Collins?
I also hope that no one is ever affected by the mayor’s proposal to fund some of the center with money set aside for fire suppression, and sincerely hope that Collins does not have to write another letter someday about the fact that his/her house burned because the city did not take fire suppression seriously.
— Jim O’Toole
Anchorage
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