Despite being a longtime friend of political columnist Bob Roegner and a longtime critic of Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell, I feel obliged to come to the mayor’s defense on the issue of homelessness.

In a recent column, Roegner accused the mayor of criminalizing homeliness instead of showing compassion. Nevermind that Roegner was unable to show any examples of his own acts of compassion toward the homeless, his accusations of criminalization are totally without merit.

As one of the few remaining business owners in Federal Way, we, not Roegner, are the ones who pay the price of homelessness. It is our businesses that bear the brunt of the lawlessness of the homeless. We are the ones whose businesses are being vandalized, trespassed, littered and otherwise harmed by the homeless.

One can be certain that if Roegner were to come home to a homeless camp in his front yard, to homeless blocking the entrance to his home, homeless vandalizing his property and/or leaving behind human waste, he would be the first to call the police.

The mayor’s decision to enforce the law is not a lack of compassion, but a desperate attempt to keep what few businesses Federal Way has left. True to his background as a prosecutor, the mayor is protecting the rights of law-abiding citizens.

Contrary to Roegner’s assertions, the mayor has not criminalized homelessness, but rather has been one of the few mayors in our region with the courage to enforce the law. After all, nothing in local, state or federal laws gives a person an exemption for being homeless. This is not to say we should throw the homeless in jail, nor is it saying that we shouldn’t invest in solutions for homelessness (not to be confused with handouts), but rather that the law-abiding citizens and business owners in Federal Way should not have their rights trampled so that Roegner can sleep at night.

For once, I stand firmly behind the mayor and I thank him sincerely for having the courage to protect the rights of law-abiding citizens, however unpopular it may be with people like Roegner who are far removed from the lawlessness of the homeless.

However, out of respect for Roegner’s pleas for compassion, the next time a homeless individual is breaking the law in a way that is violating my rights, instead of asking the mayor to enforce the law, I’ll buy them an Uber ride to Roegner’s house.

Matthew Jarvis, Issaquah (business owner on 13th Place South in Federal Way)