Durango’s City Council decided unanimously that if you don’t have money to spend downtown, you better not get caught there. This is a shame and an affront to the very notion of “public space.”
Public space means you have a right to exist there regardless of the money in your pocket. Durango ranks as one of the wealthiest cities of its size in the nation, and instead of rolling up our sleeves and tackling the issue of poverty in our community, city officials have decided to criminalize the presence of poverty in high tourist areas.
We need bold, progressive measures to ensure everyone here has access to health care, including for mental health. We need to reign in and control what landlords can charge for rent and we need to invest in social services.
There is enough wealth in Durango to ensure no one has to sleep on the street. It’s up to us to demand more of it go toward the public good.
Being poor and in public is not a crime. Refusing to face the truth about our values is.
Harris Bucklin
Durango
