There’s obviously been a blackout of Denver news over on the Western Slope for the past decade.
How else to explain Grand Junction’s decision to allow daytime only camping for the homeless?
City parks that taxpayers mistakenly thought was theirs to use because they paid for it are instead being used as daytime bedrooms for the homeless.
City councilmembers were convinced by advocates that their homeless residents only sleep during the day because they must stay up all night to protect themselves.
No wonder they can’t find a job, or get mental health treatment, or seek drug counseling if they’re sleeping all day to protect themselves at night.
Perhaps enabling the homeless to sleep all day in city parks isn’t such a good idea after all.
And if you sanction it, they will come.
The council voted in February 5 to 2 to kill a tent ban proposal for daytime camping. Night camping is already forbidden.
Officials say they don’t want to ban camping in the city completely until there’s someplace for the homeless to relocate to.
Apparently, the unhoused resource center staffed by nonprofits and funded with $1 million in taxpayer dollars is not the suitable option as it only houses people during the day.
Now Colorado Public Radio reports that interim housing could also include micro communities and parking areas for folks to live in their vehicles.
City Council Member Randall Reitz said the concept of interim housing is to create a bridge toward more robust goals.
“What we’re missing right now is (having) more interim housing that can be moved around (so) that people have a sanctioned place to live — some sort of a space to live within where they’re not going to be harassed,” Reitz said. “Beyond that, currently, we have a lot of people just living on the streets or on the riverbanks or in parks, and our goal is to move them. Less people living in the parks and in the streets and more people living in places where they can live with some sort of legitimacy.”
Why homelessness seems to be a more prevalent problem in cities with lax laws on camping and sleeping on sidewalks is beyond so many elected officials these days.
If you build it. They will come.