Anchorage mayor to solve growing homelessness crisis by offering one-way tickets to warmer climates: ‘I’m not going to be responsible for people freezing to death on the street’

Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson (R) told the Anchorage Daily News on Monday that his administration plans to provide homeless residents free one-way plane tickets to “go where they want to go” ahead of Alaska’s grueling winter temperatures.

City officials estimate that Anchorage is home to more than 750 homeless people.

“We have 40% of the population of the state, and we have 65% of the homeless population in the state. Our taxpayers here can’t keep footing that entire bill. This is a statewide problem. ... If that’s the way it’s going to be, this needs a statewide solution, especially in the funding space,” Bronson stated.

The mayor blamed the city’s growing homelessness population on other Alaskan cities sending their homeless and “problematic people” to Anchorage, forcing the city’s taxpayers to carry a disproportionate burden of a statewide problem.

Eight homeless individuals died in Anchorage last year during the winter months — a record number for the city.

"I’m not going to be responsible for people freezing to death on the street," Bronson stated.

“If something doesn’t happen, we’re going to beat that record this next winter. And so, with that moral impetus for me, we’re going to start giving airline tickets for people to go where they want to go,” he continued. “If they want to go to a warmer climate, it’s far cheaper to give them $600 to get an airline ticket to anywhere, from San Diego, all the way to Seattle, or to Fairbanks where they’ve got family that can take them, or back to the Bush. I have no choice now.”

The city currently has nine smaller shelters that can provide over 600 beds for homeless people. Many homeless residents will be exposed to subzero temperatures this winter without a large, dedicated winter shelter. Anchorage’s Sullivan Arena was previously used as a shelter, but Bronson stated he does not believe the city will use it again this winter.

While the city attempts to find a new winter shelter location, it plans to dedicate funding to the new controversial relocation program.

Bronson claimed that the program would allow individuals to reconnect with family and friends residing in other Alaskan cities and the Lower 48.

“When people approach us and want to go to someplace warm or they want to go to some town where they have family or friends that can take care of them, if they choose to go there, we’ll support that,” Bronson stated during a Tuesday press conference.

Alexis Johnson, the mayor’s homelessness coordinator, told the Anchorage Daily News that she supports expanding the city’s current relocation program.

“The only stipulation for the current program was that they had to have someone on the other end to receive them and offer to house them. Whether that be family or friends. An expansion of this program is being developed that would allow for clients to choose their destination,” Johnson explained.

Assembly Chair Christopher Constant pushed back on the mayor’s plan, claiming that many homeless residents were born in Alaska.

“A good portion of our individuals experiencing homelessness are Alaska’s first people. This is their place. There is no other place,” Constant said.

The city has not announced how it plans to cover the cost of the relocation program.

Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson on homelessness - July 24, 2023youtu.be

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