On July 15, the Anchorage Assembly narrowly passed an ordinance that criminalized public camping in certain areas of Anchorage. It passed 7-5, with a one vote margin. But the ordinance had an unlikely supporter: Mayor Suzanne LaFrance.
LaFrance introduced the ordinance as a substitute for an ordinance introduced by Assembly members Keith McCormick, Jared Goecker, and Scott Myers in June. Their ordinance aimed to make public camping in Anchorage a class B misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of up to six months in prison and a $2,000 fine.
LaFrance’s substitute, which ultimately passed, narrowed the areas in Anchorage where public camping would be subject to criminal penalties. According to an Alaska Public Media article, LaFrance’s version made it a misdemeanor for “homeless residents to camp on streets, sidewalks, railroad tracks and bridges, and within 200 feet of major trail systems. It also criminalizes camping within 500 feet of schools, playgrounds, child care centers and homeless shelters. Plus, the construction of makeshift ‘hard-walled, hard-roofed, or hard-floored structures’ on public land is criminalized.”…