Support for the Right to Survive ballot measure going to the public for a vote in May addressing homeless issues has hit a brick wall of homeless advocates who are now advocating against the proposal.
They still want the camping ban gone, just not all the other stuff crammed into the measure.
Groups lining up against Right to Survive include:
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
Catholic Charities of Denver
The Delores Project
Denver Rescue Mission
The Gathering Place
St. Francis Center
The Salvation Army
Urban Peak
Volunteers of America
Ouch.
They say the measure would have unintended consequences, like, institutionalizing homelessness while walking away from the problem.
It certainly does that, and more. It turns law-abiding citizens into criminals if they ask the person camping living in front of their home or business to move along — what a homeless person would consider harassment.
It prevents citizens from interfering with the privacy or property of a homeless person who is interfering with their own privacy and property.
And advocates are right, it does nothing to actually address the problem of homelessness, it’s more like waving the white flag and surrendering to it.
It’s a bad idea, and while advocates claim they don’t “oppose” the measure, they went to great lengths to explain why they aren’t for it, either.