Reports are coming in that when Bean’s Cafe handed off the management of the mass care shelter at the Sullivan Arena to the new contractor, 99 Plus 1, Bean’s took all the cots and the yellow containers that the clients used to store their possessions in.
Bean’s also padlocked the porta-potties, and bolt cutters had to be brought in to open them back up, Must Read Alaska has learned. When they were opened up, all the toilet paper was missing. The keys left behind didn’t seem to go to any of the doors, and so 99 Plus 1 had to get the place rekeyed.
In addition, Bean’s Cafe left no drinking water for the clients, and clients told observers that they had not had access to the showers for six days.
The handoff between Bean’s and 99 took place at midnight on Wednesday night, after Bean’s had been in charge of the center since Mayor Ethan Berkowitz commandeered the Sullivan Arena for use as a homeless shelter in March of 2020.
In all, it was a less than ideal handoff with Must Read Alaska observers saying that Bean’s sabotaged the situation, after not winning the bid to continue the management of the facility.
Clients were left without cots, and Bean’s offered to sell each of the cots to the municipality for $100, when they were valued at, perhaps, $30. The cots had been donated to Bean’s by Municipal Light and Power and were not up to weight-bearing standards.
99 Plus 1 was able to get 600 temporary replacement cots from the Emergency Operations Center.
99 Plus 1 has now hired several staff persons beyond the contractual agreement to restore a semblance of order, sanitation, and safety to the place that was in upheaval for the past 24 hours.
