Voters sent a loud and clear message that they want Denver’s urban camping ban to remain firmly in place, crushing Initiative 300 by a margin of 83 percent.
In the May 7 municipal election, Denver voters will decide Initiative 300–the so-called “Right To Survive” measure–which would repeal the city’s urban camping ban, and a whole lot more.
“If voters decide to pass this, our job at Denver Rescue Mission becomes much more difficult.”–Brad Meuli
The troubled souls on streets of Denver, like those in Seattle, need intervention and treatment; not free tents, free needles, and a free place to die in squalor.
Denver voters will not only be voting for or against Initiative 300, but also for a mayor who will have to deal with the city’s growing homeless problem regardless of the outcome of that referendum.
Civic leaders have tended to underplay the effects on homeowners, but the middle class is worth more than a passing mention.
Initiative 300 is a terrible idea that would be unreasonably disruptive of the rest of Denver’s community.
It would usher in the sort of squalid, quasi-permanent encampments on public property that have become a problem for cities such as Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle.
