Anchorage Health Department Said to Be Seeking Militarization of Sullivan Arena
Anchorage Assembly member Meg Zaletel sent an email to other members of the Assembly this morning, and it's a doozy because the email includes references to "drug-sniffing dogs" and the militarization of the Sullivan Arena!
In her email, Zaletel conveyed a list of "issues and concerns" that she had gathered regarding the mass care situation at the Sullivan Arena. She sent the list to the Bronson Administration through the facilitation group with a request for them to be addressed. The email contained her questions and observations, highlighted in bold for easy reference.
Zaletel wrote, among other things, that some of the "issues and concerns" she had learned were that the Anchorage Health Department (AHD) wants to bring in "drug-sniffing dogs" to the Sullivan Arena in addition to uniformed armed security. According to the email, Anchorage Health Department employees have been heard saying that it was time to start incarcerating people for rule infractions and that the contractor had been advised to "militarize this place," which is almost certainly a strong bit of hyperbole but the meaning of which seems clear.
The email reported that during a recent visit to the Sullivan Arena, senior Bronson administration officials were overheard telling clients that they had to earn their place at the shelter and that staying there was a "privilege."
"Mass Care is a FEMA designated response, not a shelter, prison or traditional homeless shelter. The easiest way for us to assist clients into housing and ensure that they are warm and safe is through their utilization of mass care. While the operation may have rules, militarizing the operation, using drug sniffing dogs or telling clients they have to earn their ability to access life-saving shelter and services will dissuade individuals from accessing mass care," Zaletel wrote.
Zaletel also made mention of an Anchorage Daily News article published yesterday that reported a woman went to pick her father up at the Sullivan Arena in October and found him in a "frightening condition." Zaletel said that she wanted to know the "root cause" of the situation and asked the Bronson administration whether it was related to too many clients at the Sullivan Arena or inadequate oversight by the mass care provider.
"We need to figure out where the system broke down and address it immediately," Zaletel said.
Perhaps noteworthy and worth keeping tucked away in your brain is that Shawn Hays, the city's Mass Care Chief, is said to have been fired "abruptly" yesterday, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Hay's firing appears to have been confirmed in Zaletel's email.
At the Young Republican Mayoral Debate in February, David Bronson, then a candidate for Anchorage Mayor, opined on the homelessness situation, stating that "you can take people into custody, you can cite them for other things," and said that once homeless individuals were "in the system," they would then have to decide whether they will get better in a jail cell or some other proven program.
Maybe that proven program is a military program? Yikes!
