Letter: Homeless should respect others’ rights

Regarding Joshua Wisch’s commentary against City Council Bills 51 and 52 (“Homeless have same rights as rest of us,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Oct. 14): Do I have the right to camp on the seashore without a permit? Do I have a right to block the sidewalk for an extended period? Do I have a right to defecate on the grass in a park?

No to all, of course. Wisch’s attempt to conflate standing on a sidewalk and talking on a phone with the unsanitary and unsafe practices we encounter from the homeless is a false comparison and defeats his argument.

Our citizenry (Lee Cataluna included, whom he also falsely accuses) has compassion but deserves safety, sanitation and mutual respect from those both fortunate and unfortunate.

Jim Newman

Waianae

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