Finally, the political leadership of Anchorage has done something that should have been done months, if not weeks ago, and established cold weather warming shelters in Anchorage. We have a winter that started with a bang; it wasn’t hard to see they would be needed. The flippant way the shelters were abandoned back in December was nothing short of shameful.
The dirty little secret (though not so secret if you have a business open to the public in Anchorage) is that city leaders were negligent in their responsibilities and foisted this function onto businesses to act as warming stations. Most small businesses do not have staff big enough to handle having folks in who are cold and thirsty, need bathrooms, and, in many cases, have mental issues making communication difficult at best, and taking care of their businesses — like making a living.
Rest assured, the city will be there with its hand out for property taxes, inventory taxes and so on. But I guess we can always call 311 and wait an hour or two for some help if we are lucky. Something has to change, and soon. Maybe businesses that have been functioning as cold-weather warming stations should start billing the municipality for services provided.
— Colleen Hickey
Anchorage
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