An unfunded proposal by Anchorage’s mayor to pay for airplane tickets to hotter climates for homeless individuals who would in any other case be pressured to winter exterior within the bitter chilly has induced a stir in Alaska’s greatest metropolis.
Final yr, eight individuals — a document for the town — died of publicity in Anchorage and the closure of a big area earlier this yr that served as a makeshift metropolis shelter is certain to exacerbate the disaster in a spot the place winter temperatures recurrently dip beneath zero.
“When individuals method us and need to go to someplace heat or they need to go to some city the place they’ve household or buddies that may deal with them, in the event that they select to go there, we’ll assist that,” Mayor Dave Bronson mentioned at a Tuesday information convention.
If this system strikes ahead, individuals can select to relocate to the Decrease 48 or some other place in Alaska the place it may be hotter or the place they’ve kin.
With the pandemic, officers configured the roughly 6,000-seat Sullivan Area to be a mass-care facility.
It has served greater than 500 homeless individuals within the winters till metropolis officers determined to return it to its authentic goal internet hosting live shows and hockey video games.
Whereas some smaller shelters have opened, there is no such thing as a massive care facility within the metropolis and homeless companies are restricted. 9 different smaller shelters present 614 beds for the homeless.
Bronson’s sudden proclamation comes at a time of political rigidity over the homelessness disaster between the Republican mayor and the liberal-leaning Anchorage Meeting.
Bronson in 2021 had proposed constructing a shelter and navigation middle on the town’s east facet, however the Anchorage Meeting whittled the capability to solely 150 beds. Development was then placed on maintain when the Bronson administration awarded the contract with out approval from the Meeting, which is scheduled to resolve subsequent month if it would proceed.
The dearth of shelter area this winter may depart an estimated 750 unhoused residents within the chilly.
“I’ve an ethical crucial right here, and that’s to save lots of lives,” Bronson mentioned. “And if which means giving them just a few hundred {dollars} for an airline ticket to go the place they need to go, I’m going to try this.”
Anchorage Meeting Chair Christopher Fixed didn’t instantly return a electronic mail from The Related Press on Tuesday. Nevertheless, he advised the Anchorage Each day Information there have been no formal discussions with the Bronson administration to fund the relocation program.
“ portion of our people experiencing homelessness are Alaska’s first individuals. That is their place. There isn’t a different place,” he mentioned.
Bronson mentioned a funding supply has not been recognized, and he’s put Alexis Johnson, the town’s homeless director, in control of arising with a plan for this system. She didn’t instantly return an electronic mail in search of remark. Bronson mentioned it received’t be tough to manage this system.
“Somebody says, ‘I need to go to Los Angeles or San Diego or Seattle or Kansas,’ it’s not our enterprise,” he mentioned of their supposed vacation spot. “My job is to verify they don’t die on Anchorage streets.”
A one-way ticket to Los Angeles price $289 on Tuesday, which Bronson mentioned was less expensive than the $100 or so it prices to accommodate somebody each day.
When requested if he was merely pushing Anchorage’s issues onto another person, Bronson mentioned Alaska’s largest metropolis has 40% of the state’s inhabitants however 65% of the homeless inhabitants.
“The taxpayers to whom I’m accountable to can’t hold footing the complete invoice,” he mentioned. “We’d like a statewide resolution to a statewide drawback.”
The Alaska Legislature didn’t fund a $25 million request from Anchorage to buy and function a shelter.
A variety of cities by the US, together with San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Oregon, have additionally provided bus or airplane tickets to homeless residents.
Supply hyperlink
