A modest proposal
Revised letter to the editor, submitted to info@northernexpress.com Monday, July 17, 2023. On Monday, Traverse City Commissioners banned alcohol in forested areas encompassing homeless encampments around the Grand Traverse Commons. Locals may recall another time in history when alcohol was presumably banned within the Commons complex, when it was known as the Traverse City Regional Psychiatric Hospital. The Commons is now host to Left Foot Charley Winery, Pepenero/Ballaro Wine Lounge, Earthen Ales Taproom & Brewery, and several alcohol-serving restaurants. Michigan officials have effectively displaced vulnerable people into the outlying forest and in between boozy parties in the privatized facilities that used to serve those vulnerable people, they have criminalized the consumption of the same substance in the forest where the displaced now precariously reside. A move this bold should not be overlooked. I therefore propose that the discussion and passage of this ordinance be re-ena