With the Sullivan Arena mass shelter set to close this week and Mayor Bronson's administration continuing to clear encampments, attention is shifting to a Northeast Anchorage campground the city suddenly repurposed as a place for people without shelter.
A sign reading"Lost everything, need cash" on a wagon is near a tent site at the Centennial Campground on Monday.
Now questions are swirling about the campground site’s future, with more than 100 people attending an often-heated emergency meeting on the topic Monday.Speaking to a crowd at the meeting, the Northeast Community Council’s president, George Martinez Jr., lambasted the administration for opening the campground to homeless residents without notice or consultation of the council, calling it a breach of trust and a failure to show the community respect.
The administration is considering options and may seek Assembly approval of an extension of the 14-day emergency use limit, she said. “The administration has asserted this is about fire danger. I don’t believe that’s what the emergency is. The emergency is that they’re closing the Sullivan Arena, and they don’t have enough places to put them. And folks are going to end up here and they’re going to be stuck here for a while,” East Anchorage Assembly member Forrest Dunbar said.On Monday, Centennial Campground was only about half full, with new arrivals showing up via bike and on foot. But more were arriving by the hour.
Steffensen said he’s happy to have a place to be, legally, where he’ll be left alone, unbothered by city workers or police telling him he has to move. On Friday, the city had notified her that unsheltered people would be moving into the campground and offered her a full refund for her reservation.Johnson said she plans to stay at Centennial Campground another week.Serena Garcia, her sister and 4-year-old niece occupied another spot at the campground.