From Craig Winsberg

Blanchardville

To the Editor: 

Tent cities, not so long ago, we’re largely associated with impoverished third world nations. No large American city would allow tents on any sidewalk without a permit. Today, many cities across the land allow encampments in parks and along city sidewalks. Substance abuse, violence, prostitution, typhus and other diseases, rotting garbage, discarded needles and human waste are just some of the destructive elements that accompany these settlements.

Left unchecked, this will lead to more shuttered small businesses, exodus of residents and families with children, fewer tourists and shoppers and a shrinking tax base.

As these illegal encampments continue to grow, they attract vagrants, derelicts and drifters from around the country. Local authorities try to justify their new hellscape by placing blame on an unjust society and they seek a vast expansion of government services to provide solutions.

We cannot know who is destitute and homeless just because they live downtown in a tent.  Some have money and income and some have a place to go, but cannot show up inebriated. 

As the most prosperous nation on Earth, we do have an obligation to provide shelter to anyone in need. Government agencies and NGO’s should provide inexpensive open bay housing for those with no alternative. Arrive sober in the evening, eat, shower, sleep, get clean clothes, make your bed and out the door. Any truly homeless person should be grateful for this arrangement. 

And, we must reverse the current trend by gradually sweeping everything off the city sidewalks. Public intoxication must be grounds for arrest, as in the past. Repeat offenders should be processed and repeat offenders get sixty days at a work farm where they can sober up and develop healthy routines to begin on a new path. We will save the lives of many who cannot get off drugs and alcohol without help. By allowing these awful dystopian scenes, we help perpetuate a vicious cycle. The status quo does not represent any real compassion and is a stain on society.