“Nickelsville” encampment in West Seattle plans “open house”

(WSB photo by Christopher Boffoli)
Though the Port of Seattle has said they expect the homeless encampment that calls itself “Nickelsville” to be off port property (T-107 Park in West Seattle) by September 30th, organizers have announced an “open house” for just a few days before that: 3 pm September 26th. It’s in a statement published on their website last week; that’ll be a year to the day after police swept through their original location (also in West Seattle, on city-owned land; WSB coverage here). Port spokesperson Charla Skaggs tells WSB the deadline for them to clear out remains Sept. 30th, and says trespass notices restating that date were put up August 25th. The Nickelsville online update also mentions the death of an encampment resident; Skaggs says the cause of death remains under investigation, with a report expected from the Medical Examiner in about two weeks.

jiggers September 8, 2009 (4:55 pm)

Ok…Here’s your chance for all you homeless haters out here to get down there and to know these folks, and I know there are a ton of you here that post quite frequently. They are trying to reach out to the community. Don’t be an elitist. But yeah….. I know most of you here don’t have any guts or actually the passive-aggressive type.

WSM September 8, 2009 (5:41 pm)

Tell them to change their name.

charlabob September 8, 2009 (6:03 pm)

I’m not one of the homeless haters (nor am I the Charla who’s spokescritter for the port :-) but I’ll be there. Will you be there,Jiggers?

seeds of compassion September 8, 2009 (6:15 pm)

Well, I wish they each were having a “house warming”. But I don’t see any reason why the good neighbors who are going to stop by can’t arrive bearing “gifts” anyway. What items do they have the most need for right now, as the season is changing?

P.Dieter September 8, 2009 (7:38 pm)

I already brought them some fresh salmon a couple times, nice folks, tough times.

What? September 8, 2009 (8:54 pm)

Reports of Nichelsville always make me a little worried for their safety. There have been blog post here at WSB by people who intend to set attack dogs on them, harass them, intimidate them, beat them up and other violent threats.
I have met residents from Nichelsville many times and they are people. I worry about their safety when attention is brought to them. I really wish the media would leave them alone. Many homeless haters say they are going to be violent and use the law as a way to justify that violence. I’m not sure how much protection the Seattle P.D. will give them. I hope they will be O.K.

proudpugetridger September 8, 2009 (9:52 pm)

It’s nearly time for these folks to move along, I hope they’re working hard to find alternative sleeping areas as the deadline approaches. I’m confident the Port of Seattle will do the right thing and follow-thru with the eviction process, as promised.
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We get our neighborhood back…hurray!
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Best of luck to the homeless folks, I honestly wish them well.

squidburger September 9, 2009 (10:52 am)

I wish they would be allowed to stay there. It’s a spot that seems ideal in so many ways. I don’t mind them in the neighborhood.

ProudPugetRidger September 9, 2009 (1:08 pm)

Of course you don’t mind them being in the neighborhood Squidburger…you don’t live here!
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Invite ’em up to your neighborhood park if you wish.

What? September 9, 2009 (1:27 pm)

How do you KNOW squidburger doesn’t live in the area? Unless you are in the ONE house next door to the longhouse?

troy September 9, 2009 (2:58 pm)

hope they are all supporting the housing levy this fall. There is absolutely no reason for people to be living outside in tents. http://www.yesforhomes.org

ProudPugetRidger September 9, 2009 (3:08 pm)

Interesting. Have you even been in the area??
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If there were only “ONE house” (there are several, along with multiple business BTW), is it OK to dump this on that single house?
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I wonder how you’d feel if it were your house…

Hypocricy!

What September 9, 2009 (5:21 pm)

I am in the area often. Just because I ask if you were in the house, how is that dumping on the house? There is only one house next door to the longhouse.
How is it hypocricy if I ask?
Yes, there ARE homeless in my neighborhood. Yes there are homeless in the park and the church parking lot near my home. I don’t get all bent up about property values. Yes, there are homeless in my area. I feel it doesn’t really dramatically change my life. I do try to help the homeless. I don’t freak out What do you do to help?

seeds of compassion September 9, 2009 (9:01 pm)

If I were one of the seven or eights homes on Puget Way, I would not be worried about a homeless camp at T107 affecting my property values. What I MIGHT be more worried about is whether the DPD’s project to regrade a slope to remove toxic, contaminated soil in my neighborhood was going to affect my property values. THEN, if I was REALLY smart, which I am most days, I would have the soil in my own vegetable garden and backyard tested , hoping every second that the contamination was removed completely before the houses were built and any kids and animals were running around. Few scenarios say for certain deflated
property values like toxic soil ProudPugetRidger.

The site for cleanup is how far from you? You might want to think about that and where you are putting your energy.

Harmless homeless people who are NOT criminals and who have been accepted as
benign by the businesses across the sreet from T107 are not your problem. Soil contamination might be.

Good luck with that, really hope you have some left in your karma bank.

proudpugetridger September 9, 2009 (10:16 pm)

Wow, this is getting personal.

I’m not sure that any of us have EVER brough property values into the discussion–neither in our community discussions or in speaking with the Port of Seattle.
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Our concerns have always been centered around our family’s safety. The criminal hitory of at least 2 of the encampment dwellers, along with our concerns about the possibility of registered sex offenders’ presence has been the center of our concerns.
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Thank you for the reminder about our soil issues.
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Have a great day.

seeds of compassion September 9, 2009 (11:11 pm)

Sorry that I have a good memory, ProudPugetRidger, but I remember one of your comments you wrote soon after the camp showed up. Your words were, to paraphrase only in part, that the homeless camp affected your “property values”.

So, there you go. You said it. Your words.
Again, good luck with the soil mitigation.

Been here... September 10, 2009 (7:16 am)

Sorry pugetridger, but I too remember two comments that you brought up property values. It was something along the lines of you wouldn’t be able to sell your house if you wanted to because the homeless are in the area. They effect your property values.
I don’t mean to get personal and I am sorry if it comes off that way.
Reading the above post, you sure have a quite a list of crimes listed up there. It feels like you give the homeless more illegal tags then the organized gangs. Just asking, not challenging, Have you met any of the people in the camp?

What? September 10, 2009 (7:52 am)

I too didn’t mean to get personal. Homeless issues are very much the main cause that I am very passionate about. I do work with a lot of low income, and homeless families. I know far too many homeless children. I’m not talking just teens. I’m talking 3-12.
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I get so upset when I see how much of society gets not just dismissive, but hateful; the moment a family drops below the last indicating poverty line. Many people at the food bank told me that when they lost the house, they lost their friends with it.
Homeless clients have also told me that they feel like society sees homelessness as a morality measure. (If the homeless lived “Correctly” God wouldn’t have punished them.)
Lots of extremely ugly crimes against the homeless go unreported, un-helped, unnoticed.
With this economy, I fear there are more to come.

ProudPugetRidger September 10, 2009 (12:42 pm)

I’ve been racking my brain trying to remember what context I may have raised the issue of Nickelsville’s impact on our home values. The only time I can recall even thinking about it is after Scott Moreau informed me that he’s working toward a “permanant 1000-person short-term homless facility” on that site. In that event, it is inarguable that our property values would be impacted significantly. In any case, the WSB is not for forum for those comments and I sincerely appologize for overstepping these debate/discussion parameters.
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I have, on 2 occasions, stopped and spoken directly to the encampment’s residents.
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The business owners have NOT accepted this as “benign”. Please feel free to check with any/all of them.
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The majority of my strong opinion and lack of perceived compassion is based on 2 observations:
1) the residents clearly appear to be able-bodied souls that are lacking in sufficient motivation to pull themselves out the ranks of homelessness. The homeless groups that are of more traditional appearance often struggle with mental illness and/or substance abuse issues. Nickelsville will not help those needy people at all. Who gets to judge where our love and support is to be placed.
2) There is clearly some history of criminal and aggressive activity amongst the encampment dwellers.
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We have laws and zoning requirements that are in place to protect us against this type of activity. The encampment people are, by everyone’s observations, breaking those laws and zoning requirements. Rules are rules.
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If you truly wish to help these folks I’d suggest focusing all your efforts on helping them figure out where they’ll squat next, the Port of Seattle has promised that the 30th is the end of their patience. Please don’t assume you can choose another lower middle class neighborhood simply because they lack the resources to protect what the’ve worked hard for again.
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I wish you all peace and happiness.

Just one raging granney September 10, 2009 (6:16 pm)

Sorry????
Not all homeless are mentally ill. Not all homeless are drug addicts. The lady I met at my Church’s tent city is a battered woman escaping a life threatening situation. The battered woman’s shelter is full too.
When she CAN get hired, she want’s to. But who’s going to hire a woman who’s missing teeth? People assume she lost her teeth to drugs, not her husband’s fist. Who’s going to hire a woman who looks like she’s a punching bag? Would you? Sad to say, but If I didn’t know her, I might not. It’s human nature. But sometimes people need a pause in the action and need to hit the restart button. Not all homeless fit the stereotype, but that doesn’t mean all homeless are lazy slackers.

jiggers September 11, 2009 (3:59 pm)

Exactly just one raging granney… Homeless people are ‘Stereotyped” either as: Mentally ill,alcoholic, or whetever because majority of them are that. There are those as we call’ The hidden homeless” who work and keep themsleves clean and hidden from public view. And there are a ton of them around sleeping in their cars or couch surfing at a friends place for a night or two which is better than sleeping in doorways or under a bush or tree in a park. I guess it is what it is because people who are doing well will never believe that it can happen to them. Just remember, if you talk bad about other people and down ride on them, what comes around goes around. God works in mysterious ways.

Sorry, comment time is over.