Posted on 07/20/2004 1:28:12 PM PDT by Chad Fairbanks
I really need your help. All it will take is one email.
Last night there was a public meeting of CACHE, the Citizens' Advisory Commission on Homeless Encampments; it's the committee King County set up to hear public concerns and develop suggestions for the handling of tent cities on both public and private property in the county. Though the commission is heavily sympathetic to SHARE/WHEEL and Tent City (appointed by Ron Sims), we still have a chance.
Neighbors of Tent City and concerned homeowners were hopelessly outnumbered at the meeting. SHARE/WHEEL brings its people (advocates and Tent City residents) to each of these meetings, and they all sign up to speak. We do know, however, that those of us who spoke for property owners were able to sway the panel slightly - I know someone on the commission and he said that after the meeting, he spoke with some of his colleagues who are on the fence, and they seem to be beginning to understand that there is more to consider than giving SHARE/WHEEL what they are demanding.
Here is what we know:
1. There have been close to 90 police calls to Tent City 4 in Bothell since it moved in on May 17th.
2. There have been numerous arrests, and several felons found to be living inside the camp.
3. There was a sex offender living in Tent City 3 for weeks who moved to Tent City 4 and lived there nearly one week without detection, next door to three schools.
4. One deranged individual ejected from Tent City 4 jumped a neighbor's fence, and had to be taken into custody at gunpoint by police; he was found to have escaped from a correctional facility and possessed an extensive criminal record.
5. At least one member of Tent City's own security detail was caught smoking methamphetamine inside the camp.
6. A man was arrested for choking his pregnant girlfriend in Tent City 4; a woman who testified last night became pregnant after meeting her boyfriend in a Tent City.
7. Neighbors of Tent City 4 have reported camp members screaming profanity at all hours of the night, having their doors knocked on at all hours, and having seen TC4 residents in various states of undress.
8. The gentleman who owns the new apartments across from the Brickyard site was having trouble getting new renters from the mere NEWS of Tent City 4 possibly moving in. The impact on the surrounding neighborhoods and property if a Tent City is allowed to move onto public land and move there PERMANENTLY (this probably means Bothell, Woodinville, Kirkland, Bellevue, and Maple Valley) will be devasting.
That's a sampling. And yet, we are told that "fear" is an inappropriate response to Tent City.
What was clear from the testimony last night is that SHARE/WHEEL does not only want public land - when they get it, they are hoping to stay "a lot longer" than their typical 90-day stay. Though the majority of them have nothing to do all day, breaking down their tents every ninety days is apparently too much for the community to ask.
I know for a fact that SHARE/WHEEL is seeking multiple permanent Tent City locations in the county, all on the eastside. They can only have one at a time in Seattle, and Seattle has ruled out public land for them. That is why they are trying to spread out here.
Even Seattle - SEATTLE - will not give them multiple sites or public land. They have experience with this group, and they have no doubt developed their reasons over time. Why must WE give in to this?
There is something we can all do, but we have to do it by the close of business on Wednesday. CACHE has extended its deadline for public email testimony. Anyone opposed to this land grab should forward their objections to the following address:
sherry.hamilton@metrokc.gov
Please include in the subject line that your comments are being submitted to "CACHE", and please be sure your mail reaches Ms. Hamilton by the end of the business day on Wednesday, July 21st; if you can include any ideas you have for a creative solution to this problem that will not injure property owners, please do.
This is our chance to speak, and it could be our last one. Whether or not Tent City could land near you, it's important to stop this movement - for the entire eastside.
All it will take is a few moments of your time to contact the county, and let them know that Public Land for Tent Cities is unacceptable. Contact your friends and neighbors, and ask them to comment to the county on this as well.
Thank you so much.
Washington State Activism Ping!
Here ya go!
Can I prevail upon you for a ping list assist? :)
Thank you, Chad - and please, everyone, this issue is a powder-keg, but it's important to be polite to the volunteer commissioners. We know that they are listening, and we appreciate that.
I think they are especially interested in hearing creative solutions to helping the homeless without injuring others.
At least I pray they are.
Please support Chad on this issue. If there is not adequate opposition, then tent city locations will increase here. It is likely that tent city will also take root in other parts of America.
We MUST prevail in this fight against tent city. It is merely a social agenda and is already a miserable failure. It has brought crime and fear to neighborhoods. If we want to protect our children and other vital interests then tent city MUST be be defeated.
Thanks. You nailed it. DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet has also been working hard on this issue, and deserves a lot of credit and kudos for the large amount of work she has done...
You all aren't going to get much satisfaction out of some squirrelly little advisory commission. Don't you have any elected officials whose feet you can hold to the fire? This is the kind of thing that gets fixed only if elected officials fear losing their exalted positions. Also, lawsuits can help.
Well, this advisory commission is suppose to generate recommendations for the County Council, and ultimately the County Executive. This committe was brought about BECAUSE we held the politicians feet to the fire... and they couldn't stand the heat, so they came up with this committee idea so they could have a 'scapegoat' to point at when they implement the recommendations of the committee...
So the idea here is to get the Committe to present the politicians with the recommendations that WE (the people) want to see enacted.
Know what I'm sayin'? :0)
Sounds like you all are being rolled.
Maybe. They tried to stack the committee, but that may backfire. I guess we'll see.
Good luck! I hope you folks can do something about the deadbeats.
There is ample precedent here in the Portland Metro area on this very subject. Portland City Council set up "Dignity Village" over by our airport over a year ago. It was supposed to be temporary; it is anything but. The site is only about an acre or so, but there is so much crap in one spot, if it ever catches fire, you guys will see the smoke up in Seattle...
Go get 'em!!!
Thanks! By the way, if you want to email the committee and tell them about the 'temporary' Dignity Village, and any issues related to it that you can share, feel free. I mean, the residents of Tent City are not residents of the state, so I don't see why people who are not residents of the state can't comment ;0)
Actually Chad, if you need the backup, have someone go to the Oregonian's website and do a search on Dignity Village. The Oregonian, to the surprize of many, has been on top of this issue from the very beginning. They have a lot of material available on this.
Good hunting!
Thanks. I'm pretty aware of the Dignity Village. Just no first-hand experience ;0)
Please consider writing to the commission about Dignity Village. They are probably studying it, and I think they would welcome remarks from Portland-area residents.
This is not for locals only - Dignity Village gets brought up with a fair amount of regularity at the meetings going on up here.
Well, thanks. [Blush.] But you're doing the heavy on-line lifting, and I really do appreciate that more than you can imagine.
Well, it's all we have at the moment.
This was sprung on one neighborhood with just a few days' notice; when public outrage, a private land-use lawsuit, and Republican opposition kept it from going there (it was public land that our King County Executive promised this homeless group), they moved a few miles north to a private site and gave THAT community a weekend to absorb the idea, before moving in on a Monday morning.
They're trying to get back on that public land, which is in unincorporated King County, smack dab between three very nice bedroom communities - the City of Bothell, the City of Kirkland, and the City of Woodinville.
They want to add the City of Tent. Their residents will include felons, out-of-state transients, the mentally ill and people with severe subtance-abuse problems. The organization running the camp refuses to check for verifiable identification. People are simply admitted, giving a verbal name.
And if they do get that spot (the county spent thousands getting it ready for them), they're going to try to get another bit of public land. And another. And another.
They don't want brick-and-mortar structures, because they're not as ugly and in-your-face. They are also trying to get into the more affluent suburbs of Seattle, because, well...follow the money.
In a nutshell, the Republicans are with us, and the Democrats don't care. Business as usual. Unfortunately, there are fewer Republicans on the King County Council than Democrats, and nothing we can do about that.
Bump!
Bump Bump!!
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