Does Colorado need a “Homeless Bill of Rights”?

I am saddened by the action of the state House Committee on Local Government, which killed the Colorado Right to Rest Act, House Bill 1314, on Wednesday. Solutions to complex social issues are necessarily difficult, requiring a commitment to solving the “underlying causes.” If we, as a society, truly value each person and seek to protect the rights of all, especially the least among us, then we are obligated to work hard at finding real solutions to homelessness.

It’s easy to carry a big stick of intimidation and hide behind “public safety” and “public health concerns” as mantras to control “the problem,” rather than working to forge the public will to develop more permanent and humane solutions for our homeless brothers and sisters. Let’s put our resources toward affordable housing, mental health and addiction programs, job skills training, child care options and not continue to seek short-term solutions in criminalizing, punishing and “moving folks along” to nonexistent options. Rev. Linda C. Gertenbach, Lakewood

The right to rest or sleep on a park bench, in an alley, or under an underpass does not include the right to defecate in the street, urinate in the corner, or leave used needles in the grass. Most arguments for homeless rights tend to focus on individuals, not the literal tons of human waste and trash that must be cleaned up on a weekly basis, paid for by taxpayer dollars.

I can accept a couple sleeping in the alley, but I will never concede to human excrement in the alley. Wayne Tutzauer, Denver

Denver police and city workers clear homeless camps on Lawrence Street on Nov. 15, 2016. A legislative committee on Wednesday killed a bill that sought to create a “Homeless Bill of Rights,” a measure that would override local camping bans in cities...