We welcome the news that the Durango Business Improvement District’s downtown ambassador program will continue through mid-October this year, thanks to additional funds from the city and the Durango Area Tourism Office.
And Manna’s effort to better publicize their meals and other services to those in need via an informative pocket guide is an inspired step in dealing with the issues of homelessness and panhandling.
Less helpful was the sloppy, sensational FOX News article by Joseph Kolb (May 15) that blamed the legalization of marijuana for turning our once idyllic town into a magnet for homeless drug addicts.
Even less so was a recent suggestion that Durango, in league with other small, tourist-oriented towns, solicit and collect sizable donations to mount a well-funded challenge to the American Civil Liberties Union: Go ahead and enforce strict ordinances against loitering and begging in public, some locals advocate. Dare the ACLU, in effect, to sue on behalf of the homeless transients who are ruining what generations of hard-working, business-owning citizens have built downtown.
As should be obvious by now, there is no silver bullet, one-size-fits-all solution to the complexities of the problem. There is not even a solid agreement on just who or what constitutes the problem. A good example:
This week local musician Jeff Solon was entertaining a small crowd and passersby at College and Main by playing his saxophone, basically for the sheer joy of making music on a lovely day.
But true to his roots, Solon had his instrument case open on the bricks, a jar for donations, and some of his CDs available for free, or in exchange for a tip of any size.
As detailed on his personal website, Solon “began his professional music adventure as a street performer, playing his way through Central and South America.”
Thirty years later, the professional musician – who plays regular gigs in the region, has won several awards from the Colorado Council of the Arts, presents school assemblies and workshops, has led three tours to Latin America for the U.S. State Department and teaches jazz studies at Fort Lewis College – was back on a street corner blowin’ jazz on tenor sax.
His improvisations were a perfect addition to the Main Ave. atmosphere, and judging by the bills in the case, much appreciated.
Yet he was also a reminder. It was a young street musician playing guitar for tips who, after being confronted by Durango police acting on complaints by a local business owner, first contacted the ACLU in 2014.
The issue calls for caution, going forward, when deciding what constitutes problem behavior on our city sidewalks and public spaces.
Was that young busker playing just long enough to afford a run to the liquor store? Or was he a talented musician on the first rung on the ladder up?
Was his music objectionable? His guitar out of tune? Or was the problem that he needed a shower and a change of clothes – something a few dollars in the guitar case could fix.
It is another reminder of the dangers of applying blanket solutions to individual cases. There are no shortcuts; this problem is going to take time and patience to remedy.
Solon, by the way, will be playing at many local venues this summer. Visit his website for details (jeffsolon.com).
