Mr. (Harris) Bucklin’s letter (Herald letters, May 19) is sleight of hand and misdirection. He claims that the city “...decided unanimously that if you don’t have money to spend downtown, you better not get caught there,” presumably in response to the new ordinance that prohibits sitting or lying on sidewalks, curbs and steps. Really? An accurate statement would have been, “If you’re going to panhandle downtown, don’t expect to block entrances and be comfortable while doing so.” I have no problem with that, and no, city officials have NOT “... decided to criminalize the presence of poverty in high tourist areas.” This is not an anti-loitering ordinance, and the amount of money you have in your pocket will have no bearing on whether you’re on a downtown street or not. As far as the assertion that “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,” Mr. Bucklin is very long on generalities and wholly short on specifics. The Durango municipal budget is already short and cutbacks in personnel and services have occurred, and projections are for a worsening shortfall. So the two questions to Mr. Bucklin are: In order to have more of the “wealth in Durango” go to others, how much more should taxes be raised, and what (and how much of) other current, essential services be cut?
Bill Fisher
Durango
