FOLLOWUP: City action at SW Brandon encampment area

flimflam September 6, 2022 (4:44 pm)

Oh for crying out loud, get the “structure” out of the greenbelt.

CheeseWS777 September 6, 2022 (5:11 pm)

“Without shelter people die”

Ryan September 6, 2022 (7:31 pm)

… I think there are a lot of reasons why people die… Poor eating, genetics, car crashes, natural causes, also poor decision making… The list is endless… Don’t forget bee stings, shark attacks, lightning strikes and slipping on banana peels. Oh there’s also stories of homeless people offered opportunities to shower, clean up and a meal by generous people that actually turn on those generous people and kill them. Is that what you’re talking about?
- Sweep under rug September 7, 2022 (7:03 am)
  
  Haven’t heard of many such situations with homeless people, but nice fear mongering. I’d be much more concerned about housed neighbors driving around with guns and rage issues, than helping a homeless person.
Frustrated September 6, 2022 (8:02 pm)

This reads as a threat after what happened in North Seattle.

MM September 6, 2022 (5:51 pm)

Where do they tow all these RV’s? To a junk yard? Just wondering if they are destroyed or what? Thanks

Ryan September 6, 2022 (7:27 pm)

I was told today by Seattle parking enforcement they destroy them which is great because it keeps them from getting back out on the street and being used as rentals by slumlords

sweep under rug September 6, 2022 (7:11 pm)

Cool logic of making homeless people more homeless

Question Authority September 6, 2022 (8:36 pm)

One’s choices create each individuals destiny, don’t pass up offers of help when the one thing that matters most is doing your part not to burden others by thinking rules don’t apply to you.
- Sweep under rug September 7, 2022 (7:00 am)
  
  We’ll just have to disagree on these perspectives
- Nana September 7, 2022 (7:46 pm)
  
  My my my,. How nice it is to see that you are so privileged to know how easy it is to avoid personal disasters, death of a spouse, parent, a crippling disease, mental health issues, the loss of a job because a company closed or went bankrupt. Please use a loud speaker from the safety of your home to spill more pearls of uneducated, backwards thinking, self entitled, wisdom to the people who have been caught off guard, or were simply victims of these terrible times and inflation. I feel sure that they could truly benefit from yet another person telling them it’s their own fault, especially if it WASN’T. Why not spend a small amount of YOUR time and effort LEARNING about these people and their individual situations or HELPING them to change their situation ? You are NOT setting ANY good example of brotherly love or even basic human kindness, so please stay far away from all young impressionable minds. They deserve to be taught GOOD values.
  - Sprocket September 8, 2022 (8:02 am)
    
    I totally agree with you! The privileged don’t even realize how they have literally taken 9ver every single neighborhood and driven up the prices so high (even though they are in debt for life) that affordable housing is no where to be found. What they fear and complain about isn’t about homeless people’s choices 🤣🤣 it’s their greed and stupidity that caused so many to be unhoused.
  - April September 8, 2022 (11:08 am)
    
    Agreed!
Spooled September 6, 2022 (8:57 pm)

Sounds like you haven’t had one of these camps near your home yet. They could keep their RV by moving it every three days and not annexing the surrounding area with their junk. Keep it in the vehicle. Keep the vehicle moving around. There used to be a couple of car campers nearby me who kept it low key and had a rotation of places they parked. Not more than a few nights anywhere. Then gone a week or more. Might come back but again not for long. I didn’t like it but it was far more tolerable than a dozen crappy campers and box trucks that could be next door for months/years until enough violence happens that the city finally does something.

Mj September 6, 2022 (8:35 pm)

sweep under rug – the last employment report I heard is that there are 1.7 jobs for every one person seeking employment.

The City provides assistance, this plus ample employment opportunities makes it feasible for anyone wanting to work to get off the streets possible.

Sweep under rug September 7, 2022 (8:38 am)

‘makes it feasible for anyone wanting to work to get off the streets possible’

And anyone from an average white American middle class upbringing should be as successful as Bill Gates, it’s feasible, all the opportunities are there,

Also, sugar plum fairies are real
- Pants September 7, 2022 (10:06 am)
  
  Look, unless you are coming with solutions here, I’d keep your comments to yourself. You call it “swept under the rug,” I call inhumane. Its INHUMANE to let people live in their RVs without clean water, without trash service or a working toilet. We cannot get them help without disrupting their living situation. If you have a suggestion for a better solution, I recommend you place it here. I should also mention that this is AGAINST THE LAW. Why is it that these laws don’t apply to people living in their RVs?
  - WestSeattleBadTakes September 7, 2022 (11:33 am)
    
    So let’s give them a house.
    - Spicy Eight Piece September 7, 2022 (6:24 pm)
      
      Well if we are giving houses away then I would like to be on that list too please. Do I need to buy an RV and park it on public property in order to qualify? Free stuff is cool, but of course it isn’t free. Someone somewhere pays.
  - Cozy September 8, 2022 (9:17 am)
    
    Speaking up to try to help increase awareness, understanding, and empathy on the issues of homelessness, and correcting misinformation, is essential to the conversation and finding solutions.
    
    Many of us have already shared numerous suggestions for better solutions, but some of you choose not to listen or acknowledge these.
    
    From my perspective, what is inhumane, is entrenching people deeper in their trauma and homelessness, by adding to their difficulties, causing more hurt with generalizations and unfair accusations, treating them all as criminals and drug addicts who you don’t want to have to look at or share a neighborhood with, taking away their current sense of place and home, destroying their belongings, and making it illegal for people to exist who currently have no where else to be.
    
    We don’t want to just allow these issues to remain, abandon people in these circumstances, or permit illegal activities, but we do want improved systems and resources for helping people.
    
    What is humane is recognizing these people are just like you and me in many ways, and are in need, and looking for ways to help them compassionately, and providing real pathways out of homelessness while trying not to cause them further difficulty and harm.
    
    Meeting people better at where they are at, with respect and compassion to the individual and their stories, empathetic community support, and housing first… that is humane.
    
    Why shouldn’t these people be held to the same laws?… some of the laws are difficult if not impossible to uphold in their circumstances. If they don’t have or don’t know of a more legal place to park their vehicle/home, for example. Or if someone is living in the bushes and doesn’t have trash service or a vehicle or money to bring trash to the dump. They are experiencing real constraints which are putting them outside of the laws.
    
    How can you hold people who are without basic needs of housing being met and suffering to the same expectation as someone who is not experiencing all of that hardship? It doesn’t make sense. If we want to improve things, if we want these people to be following all the laws, maybe we can better help them get back to a place in life where they can.
Ice September 7, 2022 (1:51 pm)

You’re taking the engineer approach and not seeing anything but theoretical and incomplete numbers that don’t fully tell a story. There are numerous barriers to getting jobs on the current market besides not simply wanting one. For example, because of background checks and legal requirements, it’s harder to have a job than it has ever been. A good friend of mine recently got in legal hot water due to what I would consider extremely bad luck, and until his trial is finished, he is unemployable. It’s really easy to say ‘he shouldn’t have done whatever he did’ but the reality still stands that he cannot be gainfully employed and would be homeless without familial support. If you’re living in an RV, there are certainly numerous barriers that stop you from being gainfully employed besides your attitude towards work.
- Nonstop Handouts September 7, 2022 (8:35 pm)
  
  Bulls–t. There are plenty of jobs that don’t require extensive bg checks. There are programs such as farestart, choose 180, many others. Plus there are jobs that just don’t care about things like that. While you were under a rock there have been labor shortages everywhere.
Kersti Elisabeth Muul September 7, 2022 (3:56 pm)

Get a clue. Not everyone is suited for these 1.7 jobs. And to work you need an address, and a phone and……..
- Byron James September 8, 2022 (10:53 pm)
  
  You’ll be hard pressed to find a homeless person that doesn’t have a phone. They’re available for free. All you need is a mailing address. You don’t have to live there. There are a number of low cost or free options.You don’t need to have a bank account either.

PDiddy September 6, 2022 (9:05 pm)

Please clean out the RVs that setup shop next to the college on 16th ave sw, They showed up after they cleared the one off delridge and they are multiplying fast.

Puget resident September 7, 2022 (5:25 pm)

I totally agree. I know people who work for the city if seattle and have been told to use the Find it Fix it app. Must be diligent with the reporting and also to note that it is an RV encampment so they can also setup any needed assistance for those in the encampment. I know it’s been growing as I drive by it everyday. There has always been one RV there before the rest moved in… even that original RV didn’t want anything to do with this new group and has left a while ago.. I don’t have issues with one or two… but this new group just sets up shop with belongings spread out on the curb.
Paul September 7, 2022 (5:59 pm)

+1 ^ I have written multiple leaders in the city about the filth and unsafe living conditions only to be met with the standard line stating that we should be empathetic and compassionate. We have, these things only last so long and then there is a breaking point. If you want people living on the streets, change the laws and make it legal. If not enforce the laws and (sometimes forcibly) get these folks into services.

ltfd September 6, 2022 (9:35 pm)

Sweep early, sweep often.

Joan September 7, 2022 (8:06 am)

So glad. Can we have our park back now? As mentioned above, there has been outreach and efforts to assist these people. It can’t go on forever. It’s not healthy for them, it’s not healthy for our environments, and in some cases, it harbors criminal activity. Nuff said.

Pants September 7, 2022 (10:09 am)

Thank you Joan. It’s not healthy for anyone – People, environment or animals.Can you imagine how much plastic and non-biodegradable stuff these folks have polluted the Earth with?
- Cozy September 8, 2022 (9:29 am)
  
  Agree with the concerns for the environment. But, a couple of thoughts for consideration.
  
  Most homelessness folks do not have the resources to be buying/consuming a lot. Therefore, they may actually be generating less trash than housed neighbors, though their trash is more unsightly and not being disposed of appropriately.
  
  Also, some of these homeless folks end up taking on things that housed neighbors have thrown out in the trash or left for free on the curb, so who’s trash is it really?
  
  If we are so concerned about the environment (and the inhumanity of these folks conditions) why aren’t more of us rolling up our sleeves and going out to these areas and offering to help clean up? And at the same time, reaching out to city leaders, expressing our concerns and suggestions for what is needed.

tim September 7, 2022 (8:07 am)

I like our new mayor. At least some laws are starting to get enforced.

Snowskier September 7, 2022 (8:58 am)

Keep up the sweeps. They’re offering help all the time but if the folks will continue to decline, they can go elsewhere. The neighbors deserve their neighborhood back and the animals want their forest back. Find a campsite if that’s how you want to live, not a public park.

marcus September 7, 2022 (9:13 am)

totally agree with these sweeps. lets help these people but lets also apply the law and set boundaries to their behavior. Seattle is just starting to re-emerge. we are a compasionate city. I thought I read that Seattle spends over 100 million on homeless issues. Not sure where how all that money is used and I sure wish I could see an accounting. Mostly because when people live in RVs or camps impacting neighborhoods and the environment then just how can these funds be justified. I am tax payer like everyone else who owns or rents or buys in Seattle. How of my tax dollars is actually being spent on homeless and what is the sucess rate. there needs to be accountablity.

937 September 7, 2022 (7:16 pm)

And here is the grift ladies and gentlemen…

How any more outfits are there like the “King County Regional Homelessness Authority”

How many more salaries (Executive or otherwise) can city, county and state pay with YOUR hard earned tax dollars – while solving little to NO problems?

Bougie city folk….”We pay our taxes so we can turn a blind eye to human travesty”

“Accountability? What’s THAT??”

Cranky September 7, 2022 (11:17 am)

good. glad to see it.

Auntie September 7, 2022 (7:46 pm)

I just noticed today that a couple of the vehicles that were swept from the north side of the CityLight power station at 26th & Juneau have just moved barely around the corner to the east side of the power station. Why would CityLight let them do that?