On Wednesday June 15th, 45 of your neighbors
turned out for a discussion on the ‘homeless encampments’ that run
up the Meyers Way corridor. The discussion was led by Travis Phelps, a
Public Information Office for the Washington Department of Transportation
(WSDOT). Also invited was a representative of the Seattle Police
Department, but he was called back to his precinct for an emergency meeting
just as he was entering our property, as were all other officers, so none
were able to attend our meeting. Mr. Wiebke of the West Seattle Precinct
was disappointed but had no control. Councilmember Lisa Herbold was in
session and unable to attend. That being said the meeting still went well
and is the beginning of ongoing discussions between all of us, the residents,
and these agencies. We must keep in mind that the problem did not start
yesterday and the solution will not come tomorrow.
My finally getting in
touch with Officer Wiebke gave us the path to speak with the other
agencies. Through a series of phone calls and emails I was finally able
to speak to Dave McCormick at WSDOT. He arranged to send Mr. Phelps in
his place for this first meeting. Mr. McCormick and I have committed to
continuing this discussion surrounding what happens in our backyard. I
thank Mr. McCormick for his willingness to help assuage our fears and answer
our questions ongoing.
Mr. Phelps began his
part by giving us the history of how WSDOT owns property. It all began
with building the highway systems in our state. They bought many acres
and plots of land in anticipation of building the roads, including the
entrances and exits that we use. It was a rich history that most of
us knew little about..
He then went on to
address the issue(s) of homelessness in not just Seattle but throughout the
country. What is happening across Meyers Way sadly takes place
everywhere. We must understand the reasons that people are homeless in
order to find ways to work together in the long term to try to resolve the
societal issue. There is no ‘one brush’ paints all when it comes to the
reasons a person may be homeless. For a very small number the choice may
be deliberate but for the rest it is a matter of circumstance. A person maybe
down on his luck, a family may have a breadwinner who has lost her job and
another person may have come from another country and not been able to
find work or shelter. Without going into great detail, these reasons just
scratch the surface. One way to think about it; there, but for the grace
of God go I. We never know how quickly our circumstance can change and we
are suddenly homeless.
In the many
conversations I’ve have with the residents, a couple of things are common; the
‘fear’ of a homeless person and that all homeless people are ‘criminals’. Fear
is fear, and it is not incorrect. While the homeless often come through our property, in
nearly seven years I have never known of anyone being assaulted by them. And it is just not rationale to believe they
are all criminals. Some are likely to have criminal records, and the Seattle
Police have made a number of arrests recently and taken those individuals into
custody.
The ‘crime’ that is being
committed across Meyers Way is that of trespassing. It simply means they
are on the property without permission. It is a misdemeanor and has to be
weighed by the authorities as to what to do. That brings us back to the
discussion of what is going to happen across Meyers Way and up the hill into
Top Hat.
The property itself is
like a puzzle that all has to work together to final be solved. The
property that belongs to WSDOT starts at the bottom of the hill and continues
to just before the church. Once you cross the imaginary line the next
part of the property that is not occupied, belongs to the City of Seattle.
Just south of the church and continuing around the curve and on up the
hill is now the responsibility of the King County Sheriff. So in just a
short span of less than one mile you have three jurisdictions. You’ve
probably noticed a different speed sign in each section! Adding to this WSDOT must rely on
the Washington State Patrol when they must enter the property for cleanup and
joining them is often the Seattle Police Department and the King County
Sheriff.
The homeless create many
problems in our backyard/neighborhood whichever you want to call it and the
discussion on Wednesday was a great deal about those problems. The who, what,
why, when, where and how are the magic questions.
Who is responsible for the
cleanup? The simple answer is: WSDOT. The more complicated answer is: many others. Keep in mind that there is a
real difference between cleanup and clean out. Cleanup happens ongoing
and clean out is a totally different matter since it is part of the greater
problem in resolving the issue of homelessness.
What
means many things though I think it is safe to
say here in this moment it means…’what is anyone going to do about the mess
across the street’? Again the answer is complicated. Because it goes far
beyond just ‘moving’ them out. They have no place to go. So, removing
them from (kicking them off) this property
without real solutions will do nothing but have them trespassing on another
property. The long-term solution means finding housing for them, but that does
not solve the immediate problem.
Why?
The homeless have been with us since the beginning of time. They
are in every large city and in every small town. Yet, no matter where
they are there we must always remember they are deserving of the
same things in life that we often taken for granted, clothes on our backs, a
roof over our head and food on the table; running water and bathroom
facilities. I am as concerned with why they are homeless as I am with how
do we as a society erase this terrible issue. We cannot simply say “not in my
back yard”, convince someone to move them out of our line of sight and all will
be well. That is not realistic.
When?
Now that is the $64,000 question isn’t it? There actually is no one
answer to this one. The next scheduled cleanup right now is to be around the 3rd week in August. There are many homeless encampments
in the city of Seattle, several others very nearby. Each of which needs
cleaning up, just like ours does. When will the homeless be gone? There
is no real answer to that from WSDOT as the problem is about housing. As
one of the residents stated: in order to begin to solve the problem we must provide what is
necessary and that is ‘housing first’.
Where and How can be combined and includes all of us. Where this is going to be
solved is beyond our living rooms but how is not. We can write our
Mayor and our City Council members telling them of our concerns and
the importance of working toward ‘housing first’ as the most important
way of helping the homeless get back on a better path. I doubt that the
number of homeless that ‘choose’ that deliberately is as large as many
believe. The more of us that write letters, send emails and pick up the
phone to contact those that have the power to impact change the better it will
be for all. The contact information is going to be permanently posted on the
bulletin boards. Use it please. Every voice counts and we can be the
voice for those who cannot speak for themselves.
There were some great questions in this meeting
as well as some wonderful suggestions. I will have some whistles to pass
out at the meeting at the end of the month as well as some red blinking lights
for the dog walkers to attach to their dog leashes. Suggestions were made
about having self-defense classes. As I stated earlier, this is just the
beginning of the discussion on this matter. The next meeting is already
scheduled for July 27th so mark your calendars. WSDOT will be back as well as the Seattle Police Department. In the
meantime write a letter, send an e-mail or make a phone call and ask our powers
that be to work toward ‘housing first’ as quickly as possible.
Diane L Radischat, President
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