During a Friday Zoom teleconference briefing on homelessness, Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson took to task the supporters of Mayor-elect Dave Bronson. She believes their words about the homelessness and vagrancy situation in Anchorage are “divisive.”
“Homelessness is challenging issue. As it can be a polarizing issue. But we also know it is a solvable issue,” Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson said. “During the mayoral campaign we heard a lot of divisive words around homelessness and people experiencing it.”
She brought campaigning into her introduction about the plan she has for solving homelessness in Anchorage.
“We heard a wide range of ideas and proposed proposals for tackling it, some more feasible than others,” she said. “Like with many things, campaigning about homelessness and solving homelessness are two different things,” she said, another shot at the Mayor-elect Bronson. “The good news, is that we know what the solutions are and we are here to talk about a path forward.”
Quinn-Davidson will be acting mayor for 40 more days. But meanwhile, she said the city is on the cusp of “significantly reducing homelessness.” She said her administration has created a plan to hand over to the next administration.
Many supporters of Mayor-elect Bronson have made the distinction between those who fall into homelessness and those who are criminal street elements, sometimes called vagrants, who live the hobo lifestyle. They voted for Bronson because they want their streets and neighborhoods safe again and they lack faith in the current administration’s ability to take the correct actions.
Bronson has a plan to address the homelessness situation in Anchorage, details of which have yet to be released. It’s not clear, nor likely, that he will simply adopt the outgoing acting mayor’s plan.
Any aberrant behavior tolerated today will become normalized tomorrow. To remain civilized, members of a society must behave civilly and act according to acceptable social norms. Do the citizens choose to allow open drug use in the streets? Open defecation on the sidewalks? Sex in front of the school? If not, then these behaviors must be not only banned but legally enforced including PUNISHMENT. No matter how much coddling or money spent, so long as anti-social behavior is tolerated it will continue and increase. The choice is up to the citizens of Anchorage. For me, my business goes elsewhere from this once beautiful city.
That’s okay. We Bronson supporters have some opinions about Quinn-Davidson, too. That’s why we support Bronson.
The acting mayor said, “ campaigning about homelessness and solving homelessness are two different things,” she said, another shot at the Mayor-elect Bronson. “The good news, is that we know what the solutions are and we are here to talk about a path forward.”
Really?? Why are you Now talking like you have the solutions? Why has that path taken this long to implement? Did you get lost? These homeless were there all winter freezing their butts off begging for money. (I have to say, they worked harder for their money than many unemployed) What happened to your hotel conversions to homeless shelters?
Mayor Quinn-Davidson, I think your talking out of the side of your mouth.
Here we go again with the ’empathy’ rhetoric, fronted by Federal monies that is meant for local businesses. The acting Mayor is mirroring Berky, Felix and Dunbar. Hardly original and more accurately plain theivery.
Bronson, who possesses intent based on truth will provide an alternative fitting to the case, not to a platform agenda.
“Our plan for solving homelessness is doing what Seattle and the other west coast cities do.”
Which has solved nothing. Let’s try the opposite and see what happens.
Of course they know how to solve homelessness, they’ve helped create the problem. You can’t help create the problem without knowing how you’ve created it. All you have to do to solve the problem is stop doing what you did to create it, voilà, problem solved!
My man Bronson,, you truely have a huge task ahead of you. You have my total confidence. Good luck, sir.
PEPE_TRUMP, anything which is subsidized continues to grow, including homelessness and poverty. You and Ben Franklin agree that the best thing to do is stop paying for ever more of it.
“But we also know it is a solvable issue.” – Acting Mayor. Oh? Praytell, can you cite your reference for this? Where, exactly, has homelessness been “solved”? Certainly not in cities that enable the problem by pandering to the publicly-funded Big Business it creates.
STEVE-O, I recently came across this quote:
*Give once and you elicit appreciation;
*Give twice and you create anticipation;
*Give three times and you create expectation;
*Give four times and it becomes entitlement;
*Give five times and you establish dependency.
And further from Presbyterian pastor Dr. D. James Kennedy: Dependence is crushing to the soul and deleterious to well-being, and Paul’s teaching points us toward fulfilling our God-given destiny through work.
You choose to destroy the very tax base that is the means to pay for your homeless purchases. You have no sustainable plan, no planning and no experts to advise you that you have sought advice from. You ignore anyone’s opinion who doesn’t mirror yours. What good have you done for our city, show me one area that is improved with your leadership, and I will show you five that you have destroyed. You do not get to take the net down to play tennis, though you have tried that for some time. It’s time for a sanity change. You have strangled business, cost people their jobs and many homeowners their properties. You should be ashamed of your record and the legacy you have left this city. which to be frank, is a blight on our mid-town neighborhoods. While you are out giving away free money, please remember that you were elected to help this city, not destroy it. You have a long way to go to fix the wrongs you have perpetuated upon this city. So if you have any decency left, get out of the way and let our newly elected Mayor heal these wounds.
I still can’t get pass the article off how much damage the homeless people did to the Sullivan Arena
Wow. Just wow.
Steve O,
Your quote is exactly what happened with the PFD.
Fixing the homeless problem is actually pretty easy. Take a look at the left coast blue cities with the problem and don’t do what they are doing. Take a look at the other cities without the problem and do what they are doing. Easy peasy. Cheers –
Democrats love to take a societal problem, make it massively worse, and then pompously claim that only they know how to fix it.
Predictably, their solutions are always the same…..”give us more, more, more, more money!”
And equally predictably….the endlessly increasing flow of money always makes the issue even worse.
Rinse, repeat…….
How many Democrats take care of the homeless and vagrants with their own donations? Crickets!!!
Democrats only spend YOUR money.
What can Peoples Fraudulently Installed Mayor Quinn Davidson say that any Bronson supporter cares about except possibly, “I’m outta here.”
Tim, the definition of a politician is someone who first sinks the ship, then rocks the overcrowded lifeboat, yet manages to convince the passengers that he is the only one who can save them (by giving him absolute power). They are best dealt with by throwing them overboard to feed the sharks.
Anchorage isn’t solving homelessness problems. They’re wasting money.
Chris’s you mean talking out her back side
She’s a Fake mayor. Trying to push her weight around thinking she’s the boss.
Bronson, throw out all this rhetoric bull. Clean the slate, do what Jesus would do. Throw out the money changers getting a little mad, then tell them to go and sin no more.
Yawn – more standard leftist deflection – placing blame upon those you disagree with, for what it is you are actually doing. The Anchorage assembly led by faux mayor lead the way in division and devisiveness yet accuse Bronson supporters of ‘division and divisiveness’ ? comical if it wasn’t so frustrating.
Homelessness will never go away. Some people can be helped, some can recover, some can turn over the proverbial new leaf. Yes we should help those struggling, but entitlement and spending vast amounts of money on more and more ‘housing’ will solve nothing, and will end up growing the problem. FM (faux mayor) and her team do not get this at all. A mix of misplaced compassion along with the voter base of those government dependent are blinding them to real solutions.
Maybe the homeless can stay at the new building bought for the black caucus. Nothing for all the other colors?
I don’t see these Assembly Members doing anything except using a situation to increase the wealth for a few corrupt non profit executives while they helplessly drive by every homeless person without even a second glance. When is the last time any of these Assembly Members sat down on the street with the homeless when the cameras weren’t on them? never! you have Some Anchorage ministries doing more for the homeless than any Anchorage Assembly nor any their democrat non profits will ever do in its lifetime improving homeless peoples lives.
Quinn-Davidson says homelessness is solvable, well why hasn’t she fixed it yet? Could it be that it is not entirely possible?
Homelessness is being fixed? LOL – that’s why I see them standing and begging at most every intersection from Benson to 3rd Avenue!
Compassion for our fellow man, especially when they are down and out is important to our humanity. At the same time this new Homeless Industrial Complex has been growing over the past 20 years. Beans, Brother Francis and other facilities used to be just safety nets for the homeless. There used to be a stigma about being homeless. This was good. People used to work themselves to the bone NOT to be homeless because it was shameful and uncomfortable. Now? It is too easy to stay homeless thanks to the organizations that support them. There’s no incentive to no longer be homeless. This is the crux of the issue. I’ve been to and volunteered at Beans (and not just during the celebrity holiday months) and other facilities. I’ve seen their demographics and their repeat clientele. It’s shameful that corporations that could help their members do so little since municipal and state agencies and the Homeless Industrial Complex will do it for them. Even more insidious is that funds that are donated to these celebrity organization syphon funds away from youth and educational programs that used to contribute to preventing the very societal issues that create homelessness.
Don’t know anyone who knows anyone who really cares what the hyphenated name, double identity status acting mayor thinks about anything. Five Assembly seats are up for the next election. Time to take control.
This is exactly why we need to break up the muni as we now know it. Eaglexit is key and the path forward. For all the communities that make up Anchorage. There comes a time when the apple is rotten to the core and needs some major dissection. By exiting the muni and downsizing it we will return to better representation and true government for the people. Something we won’t have until Eaglexit happens and other communities follow our lead.
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