To the editor:
This is in response to the Aug. 31 editorial, “Homeless have the same rights as the rest of us.”
I could not agree more. I walk downtown Indy almost every work day for exercise and pass through the underpasses that the homeless congregate and live. They have the right to be there just like I do. Do I have the right to urinate, defecate and build mounds of trash? No, and neither do they.
I totally agree that they should not have been moved because they inhibit safe passage. The city of Indianapolis allows South Bend Chocolate to have a seating area outside on Monument Circle.
South Bend Chocolate in turn places a folding sign in what is left of the pedestrian walkway. Talk about a safety issue for safe egress in the event of an emergency. The city doesn’t do anything about that.
The homeless should have been moved due to a public health issue. Anyone that uses an underpass could understand the public health concern in a second. Whoever wrote this column should have seen it firsthand before writing about something they have no knowledge of.
Ron Blankenship
Bargersville
