FOLLOWUP: 26th/Juneau encampment posted for sweep next week

| Delridge | West Seattle news

Thanks for the tip. Notices like that one we photographed tonight are posted along SW Juneau in the 25th/26th vicinity, signaling the city’s intent to sweep the area encampment(s) as early as 9 am Monday morning (August 1st). This is the area where 56-year-old Anthony Gonzalez was shot dead in his tent last month. About a week after that, a city rep told us that the encampment would be removed, but wouldn’t say when. The newly posted notices describe the reason for the sweep as that “Materials in this area are an obstruction to the intended use of this property, are in a hazardous location, or present a hazard” and advise that anything left there will be put into storage, accessible for 70 days. Neighbors had circulated photos showing burned debris and what appeared to be fuel containers at the site, after a fire that followed the murder.

StopCuttingDownTrees July 29, 2022 (10:50 pm)

Good on Mayor Harrell for getting the long-neglected job done and sweeping these public health and safety hazards out of our community.

Jenava Sexton July 29, 2022 (10:51 pm)

I wonder if this also includes the area in front of the power station? I walked through there and by the encampment in the woods regularly till the murder, fire, and then witnessing some sketchy vehicle activity by the power station. Now I stay away. And the south entrance to camp long seems to be closed indefinitely. So I walk through the neighborhood and don’t get the use the beautiful green spaces. I’d love to be able to feel safe in my neighborhood green spaces again.

kroberts July 30, 2022 (9:41 am)

If you are talking about 29th and Brandon, across from the south entrance to camp long, I agree, that has become another mess. The 26th and Brandon spot was empty a couple of times in the past couple of weeks, but then becomes repopulated. A string of no parking signs was put along there, but people just piled them up and went back. I’d love to take my dog walking on the trails as well.
- Kyle July 30, 2022 (10:27 am)
  
  Agreed. I worry this spot will get worse once 26th and Juneau gets cleared. Does anyone know if 29th and Brandon will also be cleared?
  - kroberts July 30, 2022 (11:23 am)
    
    I’m always confused on what to call these streets; I believe it’s Juneau from 35th, down the hill and then north around the tiny rotunda, headed towards Delridge, and then turns into Brandon once you hit the big bend in the road. Of course, that’s headed from 35th. So I think the encampment is officially 26th and Brandon, the other is 29th and Brandon. Could definitely be wrong.

Auntie July 30, 2022 (10:40 am)

I’d love to see Lisa Herbold walk the Longfellow Creek trail between Delridge/Graham and Greg Davis park – by herself. How safe would she feel? Not that I expect her to do any such thing to see how the area needs help to keep the trail safe for everyone to walk and enjoy.

flimflam July 30, 2022 (10:51 am)

None of these “camps” should be allowed for even a week – the longer they exist the bigger they get and more time consuming and expensive to remove. I understand these are human beings but the camps are unsafe for everyone involved.

regina walker July 30, 2022 (10:55 am)

The no parking signs along 26th and Brandon were there until last Sunday morning and the area was immediately populated with a new group of campers. I tried contacting someone from the city to find out if they removed the signs or the campers but after the third time that I was transferred with no one answering the number I gave up. The new group of campers and vehicles is way worse than the last. Also concerned about the encampment growing as well as the one on 29th and Brandon. RW

Derek July 30, 2022 (11:58 am)

These sweeps are inhumane!!! I’m so tired of this city treating humans like they are lesser because they are poor.

Auntie July 30, 2022 (12:09 pm)

I agree that we need to do more to help the homeless folks, but being homeless is no excuse for making a huge mess and threatening people who are just walking by. I speak from experience. Not all homeless people are harmless, OK?
Question Authority July 30, 2022 (12:16 pm)

Unhygienic, unsafe, un permited and un healthy encampment’s are nothing to condone and beat your incessant drum about, help is available and civil society requires rules for the good of us all.
wscommuter July 30, 2022 (1:41 pm)

The fallacy in your argument is saying that “this city [is] treating humans like they are lesser because they are poor.” Closing down an unsafe/unsanitary and illegal campsite is not at all about punishing poverty. It is taking action on an unacceptable situation. As is repeatedly pointed out here and in other forums, these camps are inhumane in and of themselves. Allowing people to live this way is terrible and unacceptable. Perhaps you think these camps are acceptable. That is your right. You are in a distinct minority if you think so. We have a long way to go to adequately shelter, feed, treat and care for these folks – tax me more to pay for these things and I’ll gladly pay it. But don’t kid yourself that the squalor, filth and danger inherent in these camps should be tolerated because the inhabitants are “poor.”
- Jethro Marx July 30, 2022 (5:31 pm)
  
  It’s a complex problem, obviously, but homelessness, untreated mental illness, and untreated addiction are basically all symptoms of poverty. Not just lack of cash flow, but lack of health care, lack of supportive and stable family and friends, etc. Those of us with all of that have will always have shelter, and get medical treatment as needed, often at the encouragement of our community/support network/whatever. It is disingenuous to claim that poverty is not the core issue here, from which all the unpleasantness spins off.
  - hj July 30, 2022 (8:07 pm)
    
    It is disingenuous to claim that poverty is not the core issue here, from which all the unpleasantness spins off.
    
    I don’t think anyone here is actually arguing that, and it’s becoming tiresome to see so many conversations about this reduced to this strawman. I think everyone gets that poverty is the root here. At least for myself, I definitely acknowledge that poverty is the root, that we have a serious resource management issue in the city, and that people should not be punished merely for being poor, because the system is set up to keep people in poverty. I want progressive action to increase wages, reduce or eliminate the vast number of “poor taxes”, create better safety nets, provide better public safe spaces more welcoming to anyone who needs them, and so on.But you know what? I also want to be able to feel safe walking in areas that I used to feel safe in. Like, that’s literally it. I don’t want to punish anyone, I don’t want to mess up anyone’s stuff. And I think that it is morally possible to hold both that position and the ones I outlined above. Now before I hear standard canards like “well what’s your solution” or “why haven’t you hosted someone in your home”, I’m not claiming any special intellectual or moral superiority here. I just want demonstrate that wanting certain things does not automatically equate to hating the poor.
Frustrated July 30, 2022 (9:00 pm)

You say this every time, and every time you ignore the replies explaining how unsafe these places can be for everyone, including the people who live there.

StupidInSeattle July 30, 2022 (7:00 pm)

Happy to see this illegal camping cleared out, as well as the previous and closer to our home Andover RV camp. You have to look at these homeless camps for what they become: centers for unsanitary dumping, criminal activity, illegal drugs, and violent assaults. Applaud the change in direction from Mayor Harrell. Also saw no parking signs posted on Harbor Avenue around the RV camp there effective tomorrow.

WSB July 30, 2022 (7:06 pm)

Regarding the no-parking signs, separate from the parade-float timeframe signs we reported yesterday?
- StupidInSeattle July 31, 2022 (1:39 pm)
  
  I think the temporary no parking signs I saw on Harbor Avenue were different from the parade related ones WSB mentioned earlier. They were farther north on Harbor going towards Saltys and time restriction extended into Monday (I think – I paid more attention to start time than stop to avoid a ticket or tow on myself).

kroberts July 31, 2022 (6:49 pm)

We had two bikes stolen from our home last year, and last night someone broke into a shed on our property. There were no instances in the 12 years prior to us living here one year ago. We are not wealthy, we are just barely getting by. We cannot afford to replace these items. I imagine I’ll be attacked for suspecting it’s the growing encampments along 26th and 29th, but it seems timely. As someone stated, “I’m so tired of this city treating humans like they are lesser because they are poor.” Does that give people the right to scope properties and take what they want? I want to be able to feel safe, in my home, without people coming on my property and taking my belongings. I want to feel safe walking my dog through the trails adjacent to my home. Is that too much to ask for?

Sorry, comment time is over.