Letters for Sept. 11

Tough love remedy

In her latest column, full of “facts” and opinions cherry picked from a single source (“Homelessness is not an identity,” Sept. 5), Sue Lani Madsen boldly states that “absence of an address” is not a root cause of homelessness. Who could argue with that, or find the logic in it? It’s equally true that total lack of hair is not a root cause of baldness.

She claims that untreated mental illness and addiction are the root causes of homelessness in at least three out of four cases, and that the remedy lies in tough love – withholding shelter until they get themselves headed straight.

She leaves a lot of questions unasked and unanswered.

What about all the mentally ill and addicted folks who are currently housed? Will they soon be adding themselves to the homeless count?

Does it occur to Madsen that some of the homeless perhaps became mentally ill after being ejected from society and being treated as criminals, or started taking drugs to help them get through the night sleeping on the cold, hard ground?

And how large is the remaining fourth, especially those people – hundreds per year in Spokane – evicted for failure to pay steadily rising rents in a “marketplace” manipulated by distant corporate landlords? Does Madsen have a tough love remedy for those folks and their children?

Michael Schneider

Spokane

Spokane leaves for greener pastures

Why do soft-on-crime Kitty Klitzke and leftist City Council members need to host roundtable discussions on whether or not to enforce Prop 1 that 74% of voters approved? I’m certain the 74% already discussed illegal street tenants. How many more businesses and law-abiding residents need to flee Spokane, Kitty?

The Northwest Boulevard Safeway permanently closed the west entrance years ago. And now the North Foothills Yokes has an SPD officer posted near the check stands.

“We have a lot of thefts here” said the cashier when asked. How is that sustainable?

Meanwhile five vehicles on our block have gunshot dings and shot out windows. I reported my two to crime check. And, “Nothing SPD can do.”

So, Spokane leaves for greener pastures and we make more greenhouse gases to get there. Brilliant Kitty.

Mike Reno

Spokane

Compassionate Addiction Treatment in Chief Garry Park

The efforts to keep Compassionate Addiction Treatment out of Chief Garry Park, along with many social media posts recently have made me very worried about the safety of our houseless neighbors.

A recent video of a woman walking erratically downtown was posted to Reddit with a caption decrying the use of “more resources.” The comments posted were absolutely vile. For example: “They need to disappear.” It is clear that the poster and a lot of commenters do not believe houseless people are worthy of basic human dignity.

The camping ban that Spokane voters approved last November essentially makes it illegal to be homeless within 60% of the city. Maybe the plan is for homeless folks to line their jackets with the tickets they get for illegal camping to survive the winter. Homeless people need homes. This does not sit well with people who feel homelessness is deserved because of poor decision making. What people who feel like this fail to recognize is that they had different choices; not that they made better choices.

No one can get clean while unhoused, and staying clean after becoming homeless is extremely difficult. Programs that use “housing first” models not only work, they cost less than the current fiscally irresponsible plan of policing, arresting and incarcerating people.

The wealthy property owners who oppose relocating Compassionate Addiction Treatment in Chief Garry Park neighborhood are only looking to protect their capital, not our kids. Public housing is public safety.

Jakki Adams

Spokane

What will Brown do about closures?

Yet another well-loved downtown restaurant will be closing its doors due to crime and drug use in the area. It’s evident this is not high on mayor Brown’s agenda. She seems more focused on making public appearances and attending celebrations. She’s done nothing to address the problem since taking office. Now, with a new police chief, will it be the same crap as usual? Let’s watch and see.

Rory French

Spokane