On Wednesday afternoon, my wife and I decided to head up Fourth Plain Boulevard and have a look at the Navigation Center.
We saw two groups of “homeless” hanging out along Grand, one group around a bench and the other around the utilities of a nearby building. Someone was erecting a bright green tent unchallenged, though it was blocking the sidewalk, along with a couple of plastic bags full of “possessions.” There were several cars in the parking lot with people sitting in them. Trash was everywhere, including the inside area where the tables are. There was various trash and light litter around the entire block with no trash crew in sight.
It has been a couple of weeks since the Alpha Project submitted their 44-page report on the Navigation Center. To date, city council members are all doing their best Easter Island statue imitations, without a peep of information or opinion leaking out of City Hall.
The time is long past for the city council to clean up the mess they have helped make. Alpha Project shows a different way that has real hope of reducing the homeless crisis. The council needs to demonstrate that they are at least aware of the problem, and start taking Alpha Project seriously.
