22 Replies to "Potential protest campout at mayor's North Admiral home tonight"

• Bill September 28, 2009 (2:01 pm)

  Seems kinda rude, I think the home should be off limits.

• Bill September 28, 2009 (2:02 pm)

  One reason I don’t take the bus is it stinks, literally. Just sayin. I’d rather ride my bike.

• Michael September 28, 2009 (2:12 pm)

  Yes, personal attacks should be off-limits, and are the main reason I can’t get behind “homeless advocacy” groups.
  .
  The “Nickelsville” people have been doing this as well, expanding it to officials who they simply want to “experience homelessness.”
  .
  And LOL @ “leaves with no other choice.” No, they had no better grandstanding method.

• mama o'four September 28, 2009 (2:32 pm)

  How about Nickelsville moving to California Place Park? THAT would be something else! Close enough to Mr. Nickels’ house!And the fear of some neighbors that “changing the park would bring vagrants” would be fullfilled. LOL
  But seriously, his private residence should be off limits.

• homesweethome September 28, 2009 (2:36 pm)

  certainly the tone of their release doesn’t make me want to help them – and since he is the outgoing mayor what good does this protest do? nothing.

• Not ok September 28, 2009 (2:38 pm)

  The home is your safe haven. They should not be allowed to do this to anyone. Besides there are plenty of people who work for a living and can’t afford small things like the bus. There are alot of services for the homeless and if it is not in the budget for this oh well. Get over and find another way.

• Jesilyn September 28, 2009 (2:40 pm)

  As long as you are not camping on his private property, I suppose I see no problem with it. However, I do think other methods may get more community sympathy to the cause than this one, and when dealing with grassroots activism, community perception of your group can make or break you with the politicians. I’ve learned this first hand through my own activism when I was younger. Overall, it seems a risky move, but good luck towards getting the 50k approved.

• Meghan September 28, 2009 (2:41 pm)

  I think this would be a big mistake. It smacks of harassment, would victimize the politicians’ innocent neighbors, and will likely make people less sympathetic (like me and every single person in the group of 6 I just mentioned it to) to their cause. We need more civility and debate in our society, not strong armed tactics and harassment.

• barbara September 28, 2009 (2:54 pm)

  The Mayor’s residence and those of Council members should be totally off limits. If people can’t get to the shelters, how are they going to get to the Mayor’s house? Just asking. If they persist, I hope the weather is truly awful. This is just wrong.

• nate September 28, 2009 (3:26 pm)

  Is it really legal for a group of people to sleep on the sidewalk in front of anyone’s house? If there was someone sleeping on the sidewalk in front of my house, then I’d certainly call the police. And I’d expect that the police removed the “camper”.

  Quoting the release:
  “Having been ignored, this leaves us with no other choice but to close down our shelters due to lack of transportation”

  Am I understanding this correct? They’re closing their shelters because the city isn’t giving them free bus tickets? Where did they get the money to open the shelters? Donations? Government grants? If I had given them money (I didn’t) then I’d demand that they keep the shelter open until that money runs out. Are they going to return the money that they’ve received for the purpose of sheltering the homeless? Closing down a shelter due to lack of funding is one thing, but this is just a publicity stunt.

  All we can say is LAME!!!

• barking up the wrong tree September 28, 2009 (3:32 pm)

  Shouldn’t this protest be directed at McGinn or Mallahan since Nickels won’t even be our Mayor for much longer.

• wseye September 28, 2009 (3:41 pm)

  I’m not so worried for our soon to be retired Mayor, but his neighbors don’t deserve the intrusion. Not acceptable behavior.

• Walk a mile in their shoes September 28, 2009 (7:51 pm)

  These people do not have the sort of power that allows them to exert influence in nice, polite ways that offend no one. They are HOMELESS, hello. They are poor. I admire their creative use of the limited avenues available to them.

• Mike September 28, 2009 (8:02 pm)

  Better options than camping out in North Admiral.

  Get a job and be fed by the Feds, join http://www.peacecorps.gov/

  Take a bus to Moses Lake and work on a farm, lots of farmers looking for hard working individuals and it’s incredibly cheap to live over there, hell… you might even get free food and a pickup to use.

  Janitorial work, yes, do what my in-laws had to do after fighting a war on the side of the USA in South East Asia. Freedom is a great thing, janitorial work is not below anyone and it pays.

  The one Nicklesville person that stopped to talk to me while I changed a tire on my bike mentioned her and her husband moved here from Alabama. They just like to smoke pot and drink beer (her words, not mine). She said she really liked the friendly environment we provide in Seattle. She was a decent enough person but had no intention of finding a job, they like the lifestyle according to her.

  I’m sure there are people that really do need help, but there’s a large group that ruin it for them in Nicklesville.

• WSB September 28, 2009 (8:04 pm)

  FYI, we’re out monitoring what happens, or doesn’t happen here, and I’m about to launch a new report; about a dozen people have gathered in California Place Park (mentioned in early comments here!), which is several blocks from the mayor’s house – TR

• charlabob September 28, 2009 (8:12 pm)

  There were 6 police cars in the vicinity of the mayor’s house when we came home. And a couple more on Admiral. As far as I could tell, there were only uniformed and plain-clothes police — about 15 minutes ago.

• WSB September 28, 2009 (8:13 pm)

  Yeah, Patrick’s over at Calif. Place Park after a Twitter tipster let us know it appeared people were gathering there. Just started the running commentary:
  https://westseattleblog.com/blog/?p=21089

• The Dissenter September 29, 2009 (12:27 am)

  I agree with you, Walk a Mile. While I agree that being in front of his house seems a little invasive, they aren’t really hurting anyone while making their statement. The economy is rough, believe me- I am college educated and have been unepmloyed for a year. Homelessness really could happen to anyone right now. They are using their resources creatively. I hope they get the funding they need.

• D Kramer September 29, 2009 (9:42 am)

  I am formally of tent city 4 and I refused to do this protest because I didn’t agree with it from what was conveyed to me about the city wanting some kind of guarantee if it gave money.

  It is invasive to crash out at the mayors home.

  I find it a violation as well of one’s privacy when the media is pre-invited in mass to ensure lots of press. One had to choose to either participate in this protest or depart for the duration of the protest. It wasn’t painted out as something you can do or not do. They are getting so desperate to try to get the needed bus fare that civil rights even among their own kind seem marginal.

  But you guys need to know – Many of the people at the tent city 4 had or even have some kind of job. Some were barely hanging on before a cut back or lay off or injury or personal crisis. Some point blank can’t work due to disability. Some work for pathetic wages – Low wages that ensure that the local companies maintain their hefty profits.

  Sure some – a few –don’t want to work or do much in life- but by far I assure you most of the people at least at TC 4 are trying to get back up on their own feet in their own way. Some are trying to live on about $700 a month disability – some on less than $350 a month GAU. Some have nothing.

  I have personally helped several people who were job hunting find interview outfits from the donations, I will always remember the day just two weeks ago when I helped a woman get a pair of woman’s black pants – black shoes and men’s white cotton shirt so she could go to her very first day of work at the old peoples home. It really touched my heart. I wish who ever the kind people were who donated these clothes could have been there to see what a difference their gifts made in a homeless woman’s life just one day later! No middle man – just a person giving a gift that directly helped a homeless person go to work ~~Wow – amazing – thank you wonderful eastside people~!

  There is a real need for the bus passes and for addional monies for the budget. While the means are kind of objectionable –the need is actually very very real. Maybe trying to go the normal route for so long the Share people felt was useless. They have a few extremists I do admit.

  I suggest the following off the wall solution:
  Metro – King county and Share come together for a creative win -win solution to the bus ticket crisis.

  Right now Share is violating the potential freedom of religion of its members by its forced church attendance at the churches of its ( Share’s) choice with credit only given to 2-3 person each week for each selected church. The community credit period is every 2 weeks. It is an unneeded stress on the share members and seems a mere power play the way it is implemented.

  Not to mention that – Attendance of religious based services should not be required of any organization that is receiving any kind of state funding –of any kind. It is a violation of the seperation of church and state.

  Why not let faith and God be a personal choice as God and America intended and use community credit perdiod to really make a difference in the community!

  Everyone who rides the buses sees clearly they seem to be hardly cleaning the inside of the buses for quite some time now. This creates a poor image of Seattle – can spread illness ( esp during Flu season) and encourages a feeling of depression on the buses.

  What if Metro – City County and Share all got together on board for a project to help make a difference in this! What if Share provided a certain number of volunteers 1-2 times a week that Metro could use to help really clean the inside those buses for a few hours each week? Sure they might take a lot longer than regular workers – but shit they can’t do any worse than the dirty buses we all ride in now!

  What if Metro in exchange agreed to give deep discount to Share for volunteer work given and the city picked up the little bill left and they gave a majority of the Share residents in the system over 2 weeks an Orcas bus pass instead of just 2 bus tickets a day. And the city could give 1 month worth of bus ticket money asap with understanding the volunteer thing has to be running in a month.. I think such a notion might go over very well with a foundation such as the Bill and Melinda gates foundation as well if the city refuses to help out with costs associated with setting such a thing up.

  Imagine a world for the homeless person trying to get on their feet – where they didn’t have to juggle do they use their bus pass to go to a medical appt – to attend a share meeting or go to church or to take a shower at the wellness center or to look for a job – imagine a world where they could get it all done!

  The more that homeless people can get done to rebuild their lives – to find jobs – to get their health in order – and to build social networks in their lives –the quicker they can be more able to fully participate in society.

  And for those who have disabilities -I suggest the city or share step up to help these parties get set up for the handicapped passes and get them then set up with Orcas disabled pass pronto – the cost savings would be immense. Every disabled person you don’t have to give daily passes to saves Share money!

  Share could also use similar notion maybe using volunteers in some kind of barter exchange for credit maybe toward printing, pest control, and other potentially needed services. Then maybe they could abolish their forced “donations” of an item with receipt valued at least at $25 each month or $30 gift card from each tent city resident during the summer months where they charge people to stay in their free shelters. They say they use these donations to fund their Fall Harvest.

  I suspect if they let the community know of the need for items to go to Fall Harvest auction and if they let their amazing homeless artists actually make items and art to donate willingly – they could have the most amazing auction ever!! Some of the people at the tent cities have incredible artistics skills!

  Tough times just mean getting more creative with ones resources. Lets all work together to get more done for everyone! The city is not the enemy – The homeless are not the enemy.

• Jane Taylor September 29, 2009 (11:30 am)

  Wow, just absolutely beautiful, truthful and creative. Thank you, thank you for such a reasoned look at this problem and at very doable solutions. Share and Metro are you listening?

• ugh September 29, 2009 (12:57 pm)

  SHARE and Nickelsville are operated by Scott Morrow. They are one in the same. Peggy Hotes is a board member of SHARE and has been camping in solidarity at SHARE’s Tent Cities on and off since 2004. She is also a member of Veterans for Peace which is being used as a front for Nickelsville as a way to get around a consent decree with the City of Seattle that only allows for one tent City at a time.

  Thank you “D Kramer” for taking the time to post what is clearly a very well thought out alternative to what is going on now.

• Douglas Tooley September 29, 2009 (2:21 pm)

  Nimbys vs. Nimfys?

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