Readers respond: Chattanooga needs more homeless beds; Keep Walden’s character and more

Keeping Walden ‘as founders desired’

The purchase of the Totten property in Walden was passed by our town board, 2-1. Shortly after, a petition was circulated, with many points untrue, to stop it.

The purchase resembles the outrage over the grocery store in the recent past. Commercial development versus those wanting to keep Walden’s character “as the founders desired” (a quote to me a few years ago by an official).

Walden, it was stated, has no debt. It actually has a very large and healthy reserve. And land is a wise investment. Two written pledges so far have come forward, and others are coming. This means a quick decision is not necessary. Citizens through meetings, as in McCoy and the land use plan, would have vast input.

The mayor stated staff would be inundated with work and Walden’s tax dollars affected. Later he stated he wants to hire another employee (and replace one), plus raise taxes. So much for that argument. There are many qualified citizens that would volunteer to help.

I moved here because of Walden’s quaint rural qualities and wish to preserve them. This is also a great opportunity to keep Walden “as the founders desired”!

Vicki Love

Walden

City needs more beds for homeless

I read with great interest the article regarding the Chattanooga PD’s email in reference to homeless encampments (5/17). I also know from experience that your photograph of the officer walking through a cleared-out encampment was extremely accurate. The garbage they accumulate is everywhere, and it’s not cheap to clean up.

(IN THE NEWS: Chattanooga Police Department email roils homeless outreach groups)

How do I know? Our church was cited by CPD this spring for an encampment just off our property, and neighbors started to complain. So we got together to remove the garbage at the site, which filled an entire dumpster. Pallets, mattresses, sleeping bags, cans, bottles, garbage everywhere. We cleaned up and cut trees and bushes down so we wouldn’t be cited again and to deter any encampments in the future.

This doesn’t really solve the problem. These people are still sleeping out somewhere else. I believe your paper has pointed out correctly we are glaringly short of shelter capacity. Especially for women. We must address this. Any new shelter should be close to other services, like near the Chatt Foundation. I don’t have all the answers, but I do know we sincerely need to address our shelter capacity in Chattanooga if we want to continue to be a National Park City! We owe it to them and ourselves.

(READ MORE: Times Opinion: This isn’t how Chattanooga should handle homelessness)

Kurt Piepenbrink

Climate movement needs help of us all

So, you are concerned about the climate crisis and aren’t sure what to do about it. Know that you are not alone. Also know that the climate movement needs you, it needs everyone, to do everything we can to address this crisis.

Here are some ideas:

› Learn more about how our world is warming; the causes, consequences and actions that need to be taken to stop it. Start by visiting NASA’s website on climate.

› Talk about it, a lot, with friends, family, neighbors, everybody and anybody.

› Get involved; join a climate group or two. Ask how you can help. You undoubtedly have the skills they need. If you have money to donate, they could benefit from that too.

› Get political; take to the streets, contact elected officials, repeatedly, at all levels of government, and demand that they take action to address this crisis. They were elected to serve the people, and there is no higher service than protecting the world we live in.

› Walk the talk; take steps to reduce your emissions. It is very gratifying.

› Pace yourself; we are in this for the long haul. Have hope.

Ron Sadler