CALIFORNIA DREAMING: Anchorage mayor proposes sending homeless people to Los Angeles this winter.

People experiencing homelessness in Anchorage, Alaska, may be sent to Los Angeles and other U.S. cities with warmer climates this winter amid a shortage of shelters.

Anchorage Mayor Dave Bronson told reporters during a news conference this week that plane tickets would be purchased for unhoused people to be sent to cities where they have families who can care for them or where the climate is warmer.

“Last year was the most deadly year in history for people who were homeless, and now this coming year with this winter, we’re looking at possibly doubling that,” he said, noting that winters are extremely cold in Anchorage. “I have a moral imperative here and that is to save lives, and if that means giving them a few hundred dollars for an airline ticket to go where they want to go, I’m going to do that.”

No funding has been approved yet for the relocation program, which also operated last year, but Bronson didn’t anticipate any problems locating the funds. He said about 11 people took the offers last year.

“I think a ticket this morning to Los Angeles is 286 bucks, it cost us $100 plus or minus a few dollars every day to house someone, and we don’t have a place to put them in a large shelter this winter,” he said. “And remember, the objective, and it’s sad that we had to get to this, but we’re here to save lives, that’s my job.”

Hey, the mayor has said that “Los Angeles is and should remain a Sanctuary City and the LAPD should not be burdened with the federal government’s responsibility to enforce immigration law,” so I’m sure that any new homeless arrivals would be entirely welcome.