Yesterday, Anchorage Mayor Suzanne LaFrance held a press conference on public safety at the Anchorage Fire Department training center in Airport Heights. She was joined by multiple city officials, including Municipal Manager Becky Windt Pearson, Municipal Attorney Eva Gardner, Police Chief Sean Case, Fire Chief Doug Schrage, and Homeless Coordinator Farina Brown. 

LaFrance opened a 13-minute prepared statement by saying, “Keeping the public safe is my number one responsibility as mayor, and I take this very seriously.”

LaFrance has been mayor for two and a half months. Before running for mayor, she spent six years on the Anchorage Assembly, where she served as chair for two. She is aware of the homelessness and public camping problem in Anchorage, and made solving those problems a centerpiece of her campaign.

Since taking office on July 1, the LaFrance administration has abated at least two large and dangerous camps, including, most notably, the camp at Fairbanks St. and 42nd Avenue by Home Depot. This came after months of public outcry due to a murder and massive disruptions to area businesses. 

The bulk of the people camping on Fairbanks St. and 42nd Avenue moved nine blocks north to 33rd Ave, by Moose’s Tooth. 

In a draft strategy document published yesterday, the LaFrance administration stated that they intend to provide 500 shelter beds over the winter–enough to house every homeless person in Anchorage this winter. However, a consistent problem for those attempting to abate camps and move people into shelter is that many homeless individuals simply refuse to go.

In the Landmine’s latest video about homelessness, “Somehow, This is Still Anchorage,” we were repeatedly told by people camping in the woods or in parks that they would refuse shelter if offered and that the majority of homeless campers would do the same. One individual stated that she had a home, but preferred living in the camps in the woods with her friends.

In Seattle, data shows that about half of homeless individuals refuse shelter when offered.

This begs the question: what is the LaFrance administration’s position on those who choose to camp and live in public spaces and refuse help or shelter?

I asked this question at the press conference. It was clear the question made everyone on the stage uncomfortable. Eventually, Farina Brown, LaFrance’s homeless coordinator, took the question. She stated that, “The policy is being homeless is not illegal.” She then spoke about of all of the available resources, but acknowledged that some people don’t want shelter, and said, “We will honor and respect that.”

Read that last part again. 

I was surprised by the claim that the city would “honor and respect” the choice by campers to refuse shelter and continue to camp in Anchorage’s public spaces.

Brown finished by saying people who choose to camp outside in public areas but engage in criminal activity “will be met with a public safety response.”

Later, I was able to ask a follow-up question. I asked Brown to clarify whether people camping in public areas and not overtly committing crimes are just allowed to stay there. 

Brown responded evasively, stating that she is not a law enforcement officer and that community members who observe crime should call 911 for emergency or 311 for non-emergency.

I was able to chat a bit with Brown after the press conference. I pointed out that municipal code prohibits people from engaging in many of the behaviors that go on in encampments. For reference, Anchorage Municipal Code 25.70.040 – “Prohibited activities generally” states: 

A. Except in areas specifically designated for such use in accordance with law, no person may engage in any of the following activities on municipal land:

1. 1. Camping.
   2. Building fires.
   3. Operating motor vehicles of any kind.
   4. Constructing trails.
   5. Discharging firearms where there is a reasonable likelihood people, domestic animals, or property may be jeopardized.
   6. Shooting into municipal land from beyond its boundaries where there is a reasonable likelihood people, domestic animals, or property may be jeopardized.
   7. Cutting or otherwise damaging live trees, shrubbery, brush or other vegetation.
   8. Removing soil, rocks, gravel or plants of any kind.
   9. Constructing structures of any kind.
   10. Hunting or trapping of game animals.

Brown acknowledged the law, but told me addressing homelessness is a team effort and will require a lot of work. I asked her if she had been to the camps and told her about the drugs, used needles, alcohol, human waste, trash, and stolen goods I have seen. She said she has been to camps. If so, this begs a second set of questions: if the LaFrance administration is aware about what happens in the camps, then why aren’t they enforcing the laws there? Do they have the legal capacity to sanction illegal behavior, including camping itself?

Amanda Moser, LaFrance’s communications manager, was standing close by and recording my conversation with Brown. During the conversation, Moser suggested I talk to Anchorage Police officials to get the answers I was looking for. However, APD does not set policy regarding camp abatements, the mayor does. And it is already obvious to everyone that Anchorage Police do not enforce the laws on the books when it comes to camps in public spaces. APD generally turns a blind eye to the drug usage, theft, violence, and sexual assaults that occur in these camps on a constant basis.

After the press conference, LaFrance sent out a press release ending with, “Part of being at home means feeling secure. Everyone who lives in Anchorage deserves safe streets and trails.”

A lot of people in Anchorage don’t feel safe and secure using our parks and trails, or going to some parts of the city, because they have been overrun with encampments. These camps are illegal and they are dangerous and terrible environments, both for the people in them and for people who just want to use Anchorage’s public spaces.

It’s also worth noting that encampments are overwhelmingly located in middle and lower-income areas, such as Mountain View. A LaFrance administration decision to allow indefinite camping on public land means that Anchorage’s lower-income families will disproportionately bear the burden of losing safe use of public spaces, while Anchorage’s upper-income neighborhoods will remain largely (if not entirely) unaffected. For an administration that has repeatedly emphasized equity, this is a startling policy decision.

Would the administration sanction indefinite camping on public land if the camps were in, say, Rabbit Creek?

Former Anchorage Mayors Dave Bronson and Ethan Berkowitz, and former Acting Mayor Austin Quinn-Davidson, were all hamstrung by a 2018 Ninth Circuit decision, Martin v Boise, that prohibited cities from abating camps unless they had adequate shelter space. The U.S. Supreme Court recently overturned the Boise decision in City of Grants Pass v Johnson, thereby giving cities broad latitude to clear camps from public land regardless of shelter capacity.

However, based on its published materials the LaFrance administration would not even need to rely on the Grants Pass decision: it is openly stating that it intends to have enough shelter capacity for everyone who needs it but will allow individuals to simply reject shelter and continue living indefinitely on public lands anyway.

To the best of my knowledge, the LaFrance administration has never stated this view in public before, despite it being an absolutely central part of how our city responds to homelessness and illegal encampments. Should Anchorage residents expect to have camps in parks and trails indefinitely? Does our city really want to maintain and broadcast a policy that anyone can come to Anchorage, set up a camp in the woods, and just refuse any request to leave?

The nervousness and evasiveness I encountered yesterday suggests that the LaFrance administration is uncomfortable with this topic and is reluctant to make public statements about it. But the public deserves an answer to this basic question: how will the city respond to those who are offered help, and just say no?