Salt Lake City and County politicians need to take a long, careful look at the history of the bills they passed and the bills they voted against, the people they let lobby them and the voices they ignored, and their own conflicts of interest to understand how we got to the situation we witness in the Rio Grande.
Their secret collaboration with the police is not a solution. It adds hostility to an already fragile situation, interferes with the people who live and work in the same area and makes it harder upon release for these people to find the jobs and housing they already had a hard time securing before.
Homeless people are not the ones declaring war on Utah politicians; it is the people writing the law who have created criminals out of people who are trying to survive. People without homes do not need to be arrested and sent to jail; they need health care, addiction treatment, jobs, truly affordable housing and other services that the city and county refuse to prioritize with funding.
If you hold an elective position, you should be dealing with homeless people behind closed doors, not business owners, police and prosecutors.
Brinley Froehlich
Salt Lake City