After Democrats blocked former Mayor Dave Bronson’s solution to the homeless and vagrant problem in Anchorage, voters elected a new mayor — Suzanne LaFrance, who had been on the Assembly during the time when Mayor Bronson was attempting to develop a navigation center to get services to the inebriates, drug addicts, and down-and-outers.
With the navigation center blocked by the Assembly, Bronson opened up Centennial Campground for a summer camping area for the growing population of outdoor-living enthusiasts.
Today, as part of our series on Mayor LaFrance’s management of the decline of Anchorage, we take you through the Chester Creek trail and watershed, and the Benson and New Seward Highway rights of way, where vagrant encampments have fouled the land, burning it and moving on to the next unburned area, defecating in the watershed, and leaving litter everywhere in their wake. It’s another of many lawless areas of Anchorage, where criminals have staked their territory and where law enforcement is never seen.
Mayor LaFrance says she plans to spend millions on a pilot project that will set up tiny homes for a couple of dozen people this winter. But in the meantime, the pillaging and fouling of Anchorage goes on.
According to the local media that has written about the tiny home pilot project, the mayor’s special assistant Thea Agnew Bemben said: “This could be unrealistic. But we’re just gonna give it a whirl.”
LaFrance was one of the leaders of the opposition to Mayor Bronson’s navigation center, which was to be located in the area of Elmore Road and Tudor Road, where now the 24 100-foot cabins with no running water are planned.
Click on the links below these photos for previous coverage of the vagrant crisis in LaFrance’s Anchorage.
I have a good question..JUST WHERE does she plan on building that “on a pilot project that will set up tiny homes for a couple of dozen people this winter.
She needs to ship them into into a REMOTE AREA and let them do what they do..Get the blazes “out of downtown, midtown and out into a wilderness where they can do what they do without trashing our neighborhoods..I’m getting sick and tired of this trashy situation.
She should send them to the gulags
They must be near a liquor store and that is why they are here now.
Move them all to a remote area? Like Fire Island? As amusing as that would be, a parasite cannot survive without the host. Sure, these village addicts and inebriates all ‘say’ that they just want to camp out and be free – but they simply can’t survive without guaranteed proximity to the White middle class. Export them and they will always find a way back to sponge off public resources hijacked by our Assembly.
Solving the problem would require cutting off the free food and services. Last thing we need is and army of well-fed panhandlers – force them to spend their booze money on sustenance. Embed undercover police in these camps to document and enforce ASBOs. Treat these offenses like DWI prosecutions – 100% enforcement. Charitable resources wasted on fattening them up should be redirected to the prison system, where inebriates will be forced to go cold turkey, happily away from the rest of us.
Only way to solve this problem is to heavily disincentivize this lifestyle in Anchorage through the sanctioned use of force. Everything else is just ‘asking nicely’.
Great comments and spot on. When I was a kid these people were called bums. Design a reward system and fund it with confiscated money (tax) from the working class and the bums will come.
Yup.
The following laws were all developed after the great depression to deal with the Hoover towns and the hobos.
Vagrancy
Loitering
Littering
Public intoxication
Public urination and excrementation.
ZERO TOLERANCE
Any drugs – jail.
Fine them for the initial violations above.
If they don’t pay the fine – jail.
Repeat offenders – jail.
If we take a hard ass approach to this nonsense I guarantee 90% of this will go away.
Then Anchorage won’t be a sh//hole city.
She sure as s**t is not going to build those tiny houses within 10 miles of her neighborhood. Of that, I am 100% certain.
Government Hill, east end of Harvard, where the old Sourdough Inn (that the Gov destroyed) used to be, would be ideal.
There is a community garden there now, flat, sunny, w/ good drainage.
It is right down the block from Chris Constant, who had much to do w/ growing the system & we can name it after him.
Perfect spot …… oh wait, is there still a liquor store up there?
Never mind.
We need to have a serious conversation regarding caring for the mentally ill and housing them humanely, if against their will, until they can live competently in a sober group home or staffed dorm situation.
The hobos, drunks and junkies need some tough love. One or two SIX MONTH, no short term detox, inpatient program, with job and life skills training. If they fail the second time, they need to be dealt with whenever they violate society’s rules as criminals. First step, ban camping on public land not designated as a campground. Bring back public intoxication laws. Demand that the state fund half of the treatment and enforcement, many of these people come from many other rural communities where they have been banned. Last option, advance them their next permanent fund as a shower, a set of clean clothes and a one way ticket to SFO or Portland.
They have not been “banned”.
That is an Alaskan urban legend & is not true.
They come here to drink.
They come from DRY communities where alcohol (not people) has been banned.
It’s already against the law to camp on public parks.
It’s already against the law to be publicly intoxicated.
We don’t need ANY new laws.
Enforce the existing laws on the books – ZERO TOLERANCE – and most of this sh// goes away.
Nope, spend more money and put them up in hotel rooms at our costs without expecting any change from the “clients” is the order of the day. Tiny homes without running water won’t fix the homeless situation. Where in the heck are they supposed to answer nature’s call? Right outside their free cabin?
Free is not cutting it since they don’t have skin in the game and thus no responsibility for their actions. OMG, don’t tell me the City is thinking of combining these cabins with the Portland Loos (Anchorage Goes) that was voted down in 2024 proposition by voters. Now that would be literally flushing money down the proverbial toilet.
The tiny homes at Central Lutheran have a stand alone bathroom.
WE DESEWRVE WHAT WE VOTE IN. BLAME THE IDIOT CLASS
I HOPE IT GETS A WHOLE LOT WORSE BEFORE ANY PRACTICAL SOLUTION IS PUT INTO PLAY
WE HAD GOOD SOLUTIONS WITH MAOR BRONSON VERY GOOD SOLUTIUONS LAFERANCE AND MANY OTHERS ARE JUST AS STUPID AS THEY COME. REMEMEBER TO RELECT LAFRANCE AS WELL.
So agree with you! The Mayor and Assembly have ABSOLUTE NO SOLUTION!
Democrats are by their nature, very jealous……envious people. Mayor Bronson had some interesting and innovative ideas about how to deal with the homeless in Anchorage. Unfortunately, the liberal Democrats can’t get onboard the ideas coming from their ideological opposites. This is why Democrats create their own problems for themselves. They don’t think outside the box for realistic solutions. Their solution is to throw money at the problem. And that’s the primary difference between Democrats and Republicans. D’s: costly and failed complex, committee-driven, feel-good resolution.
R’s: integrated innovation through logical outcome-based resolution with cost-benefit analysis as the guiding principle.
Devilcrats don’t have the capacity to create. They can only copy, destroy and deceive.
As always the 3rd grade level insults about people that aren’t you. I can easily say the same about the GOP. Lying is all you have. All day every day lying. Crap like Putin is awesome and Ukraine attacked him or Jan 6 never happened after the world watched it live on TV. Anyone that disagrees with the lying is a democrat or whatever. Most of you can’t read at your age level but you know everything somehow. History won’t be kind to you.
Take another Covid booster shot Ray, you’ll be better.
For the children and seniors, of course!
On the subject of lying, I suggest you buy a copy of Jake Tapper’s new book, “Down and Dirty”. It doesn’t begin to do the subject justice.
Subsidize it and they will come.
Democrats destroy everything they touch. Every major Democrat run city is befouled by crime. In California the liberals allowed 14,000 homes to be burned down. Key managers, and the Democrat mayor were woke, and incompetent. Fire hydrants did not work. Fire engines were broken. Water reservoirs sat empty. Brush was allowed to grow to dangerous levels. Then the moron Democrats were surprised that fire came with the Santa Anna winds- winds which have blown hot and dry through history. Then these morons asked for $34 billion from the rest of us for a bailout. They should not get a penny.
In St Louis, another Democrat run hell hole, (four murders the other day) the top emergency manager didn’t bother to alert residents about a tornado through the tornado sirens and five people were killed, and over one billion in damage was documented.
Anchorage used to be a great city. I miss those days before the Democrats took over and destroyed it.
When all else fails blame democrats right? Everything is totally perfect with the GOP in charge? Unfortunately you can’t back that up with facts. GOP has been in control of my legislature for over 12 years and the homeless population just keeps growing. They never even speak about during the budget process like right now. The Democrats keep sticking to this “housing first” mantra even though it’s been a complete failure without addiction treatment. Neither side has shown us regular folks any answers to the problem at all just lip service. I’ve seen the GOP destroy plenty in my lifetime and you sound like a Fox news sound bite. Blame everyone but yourself, everyone who isn’t you is a democrat etc etc etc. You offer nothing but insults, there’s not one solution in that line of insults. Republicans have nothing but. Hurting others and cruelty is your mantra apparently. Let’s throw everyone we don’t like in prison is your only solution? Paying people wages that will allow them to afford rent is horrible right? Let’s cut taxes for billionaires with a dozen luxury homes, it’ll trickle down right? Let’s slash every support network and start a trade war that just stopped residential construction! Tariffs will help! I could easily come right back with insults and lies. I don’t belong to any political tribes because it breeds ignorance and self righteousness and doesn’t work. You know how to denigrate others yippee. Something to be proud of.
Ray, my hypothesis is backed by facts. My hypothesis is that every major city run by Democrats is a disaster.
Here’s a fact:
The 10 US cities with the highest homicide rates are, in order, St. Louis, MO; New Orleans, LA; Baltimore, MD; Detroit, MI; Washington, DC; Atlanta, GA; Indianapolis, IN; Memphis, TN; Chicago, IL; and Cleveland, OH.
Guess what Ray? All these cities are run by Democrats.
Democrats destroy. It was a Democrat that ordered the use of atomic bombs on Hiroshima, and Nagasaki.
It was a Democrat that ordered Americans of Japanese ancestry to be arrested and detained in camps.
It was Democrats who founded the KKK.
It was Democrats who fought against civil rights in the South.
And it is Democrats who want street drugs legalized. Guess what Ray, we now have drug addicts all over Anchorage.
Can you connect the dots, Ray?
16,000 homes burned in LA as of last count … Unreal.
These burnt structures were not reported on much after the fires were over.
A National DISGRACE … imo, but the good news is LA will continue to vote Dem.
EVERYTHING that (D)ems touch turns to crap.
The Assembly and Mayor have let Anchorage decline considerably more than anything Bronson could have imagined.
This is the worst-case-scenario that will be the end of what was once a wonderful city to grow up in.
Unless the population realizes what is happening, they will continue to vote for these problematic psychos.
If you are still a democrat….you are the problem.
“problematic psychos” ain’t it the truth.
Campbell Creek trail is also experiencing this plight. Garbage, needles, human waste and violence. Monday evening we had to call APD to come to the aid of a black out, drunk woman being abused by 2 males behind our fence on the side of the trail. “Camps” full of garbage and stolen items popping up everywhere .
Pack them up and move them to LaFrance backyard, Can’t blame the voters cause they were lied to, Anchorage Politicians are trash
Once again, reminding everyone that the Assembly has to borrow money for vital police and firefighting equipment (see last election bond initiatives), as well as schools and road equipment, but they always, ALWAYS have money available for the vagrants. Talk to your local assembly representative and they will tell you that “a lot of people” want them to take care of the homeless.
.
Well, if that is the case, perhaps they should have the public vote on bonds for the homeless. See what percentage of the public actually wants to support the vagrants. Somehow, I think it will be one of the few bonds that fail.
If you go up Kootenay Pass in southeastern British Columbia, there is a park where travelers can rest and have a picnic. In that park there was a sign that read, “Do Not Feed the Animals. They will become dependent on people for food.”
We have a friend who likes to feed the racoons. Now, several times a day, racoons cover their patio.
Another friend of mind had a farmhouse with an attic that they never used. In the evening, the bats would fly out of there.
We can learn a lot from nature regarding why we shouldn’t treat living things in such a way that make life an adventure into dependency.
Free fentanyl. Cost efficient. Self-correcting.
Anchorage. From All-America City to Trashiest City. Under the Democrat’s watch.
After all, Anchorage started as a tent city. They’re just getting back to their roots, complete with the attendant filth and mayhem. Maybe civilization just doesn’t suit Anchorage residents, as they keep electing the rulers that promote this lifestyle.
Local governance is inept and clueless on how to solve homelessness. The problems will only worseness as long as voters continue to vote political leftist losers. They have no commonsense management successes they can point to. Other states don’t tolerate this human depravity. Florida for one and there are others. Alaska and Anchorage in particular have no plan to sort these people out and identify those that are truly beyond the ability to survive without community help. At least Bronson had a plan. A large percent of the homeless are very tough. They survive sub-zero temperatures sleeping in doorways, providing self-shelter from dumpsters and other discards. Please voters WAKEUP.
Bronson failed mostly because several members of the Assembly (Constant, Rivera, and the like) were overheard stating that, ‘while they agreed with his plans to resolve the problem, they refuse to let him have a win.’ I believe that was reported in these pages. If not, it was something shared by my conservative friend who is married to a long-time Alaska Demo who ‘floats among the elite.’ Either way, I don’t question the veracity that this was a source of the dysfunction in which the general public believes the Bronson administration wallowed.