It is no secret homelessness is getting worse in every town across America! With COVID, it sent more people to the streets. We used to only see homeless in downtown Denver, and "tent cities" around parks and alleys. Then one day I saw someone pushing a grocery cart with their "things" in Aurora. Wow, they have moved into the suburbs I was thinking.
It wasn't long, and all along Parker Road near I-225 there are tents and "encampments" set up.
Mike Coffman was in both the Army and the Marines and served in the Gulf War. He also served in Colorado's State House of Representatives, State Senate, and U.S. House of Representatives, in addition to being elected as Colorado State Treasurer and Secretary of State. He is now our Mayor of Aurora and dedicated to making changes.
At our South Metro Board of REALTORS® this past Friday he was the guest speaker and started out by saying, he never wants to hear --- Buyers don't want to move to Aurora! He then went into the homelessness issue, and shocked us all! He decided to "take vacation" and told his staff -- under no circumstances are they to call him. He went undercover to find out how these people ended up on the streets, and what he could do to correct the issue.
He was rather shocked. Many he ran into had been on the streets for 10+ years, and had no desire to go back to a "normal life". He stayed at shelters and encampments and said the homeless either do one or the other - NOT BOTH. The encampments are pretty tight and don't let in new people often. They take care of their own. He said controlled substances were commonplace.
I have never heard of a government official doing this, and had to applaud him for doing this, but what will fix this issue if they want to stay on the streets and do drugs?
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