RV ENCAMPMENTS: Another West Seattle sweep/remediation

Lifelong WS November 3, 2022 (12:51 pm)

This is so sad. The fact they don’t provide services to people and just force them to leave is so upsetting, and just bad policy. I am so disappointed by the policies of Harrell on housing. We need funding for genuine social safety nets so people don’t end up without stable housing in the first place, and he hasn’t even tried to provide that. If y’all haven’t looked at a lot of the UW’s ongoing research on housing issues, I recommend it, its very illuminating on how these policies do nothing but damage in the short and long terms. People need housing, and we need to provide it.

Hello November 3, 2022 (1:45 pm)

They do provide services and regularly provide updates on how many accept them. The real question is what to do about the people who refuse services. How programs might better appeal to / accommodate them. Also, you should check out some of the social safety net- related items within the mayor’s proposed budget, and if you don’t like what you see, get your comments in.
- socialworker November 3, 2022 (2:20 pm)
  
  Hello the boxchecking action of “providing” services is incredibly misleading. Hand them a card with the number and location of a shelter is considering providing services, even if that shelter does not have any capacity for the individual. Facts like these are often ignored.
  - WSEnvironmentalist November 3, 2022 (3:17 pm)
    
    When an encampment is closed the mis-placed “residents” seem to be able to find/migrate to other areas that they can taint or destroy. Therefore, it seems that if they can find new places to ruin they can find and an address published on a voucher card. Most do not use the cards and/or services because they do not want to follow simple rules of engagement with other humans – they want their freedom to do as choose.
  - Hello November 3, 2022 (3:31 pm)
    
    So, what should they do instead? Better matching with shelter space? Other? Seems like there should be some obvious solutions. Again, many people refuse altogether, and I’m curious on solutions for them as well.
  - Kersti Elisabeth Muul November 3, 2022 (3:47 pm)
    
    They actually give several options. Some people can’t or don’t choose any option and choose to remain un-housed.One reason someone can’t is if they have a wheelchair. There’s not enough room in tiny housing for them to turn around.
- Ber November 4, 2022 (11:42 pm)
  
  I can honestly say the referring to housing is a crock of bs they swept me a few weeks ago showed up a 2 days befor the sweep and said we’ll be back on the day you have to move with a referral to get on a list for a tiny home or shelter because their isn’t any available right now… plus you can’t have a record nor a pet and if your married your sol unless you want to separate which is scary theirs a lot of scary things that happen when you don’t have someone their to keep you safe lord knows the law doesn’t nor does the majority of the population it’s sad really oh and if you go to a shelter you have to be gone during the day and hope you have a bed at night it’s really hard for someone with an illness and mental disorders to go through that every day… mind you the people never showed back up the day of the sweep to help get me into any form of safe housing in return I lost my home cause I was expecting to get help for one cause of the bs the mayor said but they failed and now I’m worse off…
Audifans November 3, 2022 (1:55 pm)

as stated. services are offered and they refuse.
- James November 4, 2022 (10:58 am)
  
  This is so not the case. Tell me you aren’t a social worker without telling me you’re not a social worker. It’s a default name and number card with nothing else and then when they call, there’s only so much shelter and resources. Why would people not rather live in their RV? You guys need to get over how they “look” and other NIMBY Nonsense. Let people live in their cars if they want! US is supposed to be free!
  - WSEnvironmentalist November 5, 2022 (1:01 pm)
    
    Really, James, the US is supposed to be free? Maybe you should take a civics class to learn the definition of “free” in this state and across the country. Free means civil liberties as defined by the US Constitution. It does not mean that you or others get to take advantage of those who abide by laws and pay taxes. The streets, sidewalks, parks, and public spaces are “free” because tax payers fund them. That does not mean that you and others are “free” to destroy them.
WSEnvironmentalist November 3, 2022 (3:10 pm)

Your concerns are somewhat mis-placed. Yes, shelter, food and medical should be human rights. However, MOST of the RV encampments are not populated by people who want to utilize services or participate in what seems to be resonable society. Have you lived in close proximatity to RV camps? What about encampments inside the forested areas? Tent encampments? We live on Harbor Ave SW and have suffered through all 3 types of illegally camped homeless groups. The list of continuous crimes along our street is too long for this blog post. The worst scenarios have been two meth lab RVs that caught fire and then blew up – like mushroom clouds – on the street. Then there is odeous smell of human defication along the street and up the hillsides that can be almost unbearable during hot weather. WS residents should not be subjected to nor forced to endure the drugs, filth, trash and lawlessness that you espouse.
- Sue November 3, 2022 (5:44 pm)
  
  Very well stated.
- WS Res November 3, 2022 (7:39 pm)
  
  So when you called for a quote on getting port-a-potties for people to use, how much was it?
  - Suds November 3, 2022 (8:32 pm)
    
    What kind of quotes did you get when YOU called?
    - WS Res November 3, 2022 (10:50 pm)
      
      I’m asking the person who’s concerned about the smell and the environment.
  - The King November 3, 2022 (8:50 pm)
    
    The 7 billion dollar city of Seattle budget for 2022 allocated $194,000,000 to be directed at homelessness. $10,000,000 solely for clean up. Why in the hell should we keep paying these exorbitant taxes if the money just allows mini environmental disasters all over, we move them. Wash, rinse, repeat. Doing the same thing over and over is insanity or intentional. Your elected leaders have failed with no consequences, they know they’ll be voted back in if they just run.
- Josh November 4, 2022 (1:34 pm)
  
  The primary complaints seem to be the garbage/refuse, and drug use.People ask what can be done. Putting some resources into garbage containers and honey buckets would relieve most of the garbage/refuse problem. The drug problem has clearly become an epidemic and as such is a far more complicated problem. I’ve been an RV dweller. By choice, as most of my income at the time went to my son and his mother in Hawaii. I don’t use drugs, and can attest that not all people living in RVs are what people label them to be. Many ARE, though. So I certainly understand where the anger comes from.
  - WSEnvironmentalist November 5, 2022 (1:19 pm)
    
    Josh, you are the exception, not the rule. We used to chat with 2 brothers who were RV dewellers. They both had jobs but could not afford rent and they both kept side arms because they reported that at night, “others” regularly attempted to break into their RVs. They both moved away but I do not know to what location.
T November 3, 2022 (7:55 pm)

We spend plenty on the homeless , and the result is a poke in the eye from the homeless. I believe in a hand up not a hand out! The response we get is they don’t like the rules.They don’t like the facilities. It goes on and on. It should be illegal to sell these RVs and have these derelict vehicles show up on our streets. The state should shutdown the sale immediately.
- BritneyMcDaniel November 4, 2022 (10:18 am)
  
  Agree wholeheartedly, T.There needs to be some accountability from the homeless/unsheltered. And all I hear is excuses. If I had to live in close proximity to one of these encampments, I would not feel safe. Nor would I enjoy the environmental or sanitation/health impacts of these encampments. The answer is certainly multi-layered, indeed. But, excuses about not liking this or that about the facilities offered and/or not wanting to abide by the rules of said facilities, shelters from the people who need assistance and support is simply not a good start.
Clark November 3, 2022 (9:35 pm)

Keep up the good work Mayor Harrell!
shadowtripper November 4, 2022 (11:15 am)

Prior to these illegal encampments being taken down all parties are given information on acquiring assistance and shelter. The fact is: The majority of those that move to another site are never going to agree to living in a shelter or anywhere where drugs and alcohol are not tolerated. Those that want out of this life style do have choices; difficult choices, but none the same choices. Drug rehabilitation and alcohol addiction are free and are the first step in breaking the lifestyle so many of these campers choose. Not to say there aren’t some that end up on the street due to conditions beyond their control. Generally speaking those individuals will have a clear mind free of addiction and use the services offered.Throwing millions of dollars at a problem that continues to get worse is insane. Give a person a fishing pole and teach them to fish or continue to provide the fish and expect changes?

KWest Seattle November 3, 2022 (1:53 pm)

Let them continue!

MyThruppence November 3, 2022 (2:13 pm)

Public land is not private property. It belongs to ALL OF US, not just SOME OF US. Put your private property on your own private land (or legally leased space). Keep your private property inside your own private vehicle. If these simple expectations are impossible for you to follow, then may I suggest you move to a place where the laws are more amenable to your lifestyle. Best of luck.

Reed November 3, 2022 (4:16 pm)

Agreed, people shouldn’t be allowed to store private property, including single occupancy vehicles, in the public right-of-way without a fee.
- Dad November 4, 2022 (6:41 am)
  
  It is, of course, already illegal to store vehicles on the street. They can only be there temporarily.
- MyThruppence November 4, 2022 (9:45 am)
  
  And they aren’t allowed too for longer than 72 hours, just like the vehicles in question. Also, the ‘fee’ is the vehicle registration, unless in specially zoned areas with increased restrictions, not fewer, and then additional ‘fees’ to cover the zone pass.
- alki_2008 November 4, 2022 (7:15 pm)
  
  By fees, do you mean vehicle registration fees, or property taxes, or other payments into the city’s general fund. I mean, how else are things like the “Levy to Move Seattle” funded so that streets and bicycle infrastructure projects can happen? Would it matter more to you if those RV’s put their propane tanks, generators, pallets, and other refuse in the public areas to obstruct bike lanes and/or to make it difficult for wheelchair-bound pedestrians to pass on the sidewalk?
Chanel November 4, 2022 (5:39 am)

Ok so we DONT refuse services, outreach workers don’t even have space in shelters right now I know this for a fact because I go to all the sweeps and the sweeps are actually twice a week they couldn’t keep up if they wanted to. people are not being offered services because there are no services to offer right now. no shelte, no housing , nothing Bruce Haroll has been displacing all sorts of people with no real reliable solution other than keep moving people around in circles and yes you’re going to keep seeing people in the streets because we aren’t giving a place to park. that’s the solution duh and not everybody in a RV is a criminal and there’s plenty of people that live in houses they commit crimes everyday they’re just done in privat.e unfortunately these people don’t have a place to go because they have been blocked from any existing parking you guys are so far off you have no clue what it’s like to have to pick up everything you own and move and then as soon as you get to the next place you get told to move again when all we want is a parking spot that is in a lot out of your way, away from your business, not in your front yard not on your street but somewhere we can be untill there ARE avalable services!
Question Mark November 4, 2022 (10:33 am)

The reality is, and very plainly, that the advice to, “Put your private property on your own private land (or legally leased space),” doesn’t apply because those who are living in their vehicle have neither.

Neither that prescription nor all the anger about the well-established consequences of homelessness that we now experience in King County are going to solve the problem.
James November 4, 2022 (10:59 am)

You should never be allowed to park cars on streets then

brian November 3, 2022 (3:29 pm)

So they’re sticking with the word “remediation” huh? Same stuff, different mayor. Just utterly reprehensible behavior by the city here.

WSB November 3, 2022 (3:34 pm)

“They” aren’t “sticking” with any word. I haven’t received any information about this from anyone in the city (their homelessness-response spokesperson is working on it) so the words are mine. “Remediation” is what has been used for past similar operations.
- James November 4, 2022 (11:00 am)
  
  Remediation is an Orwellian term. People just really really really hate the poor so much. De facto comments on here that every poor person is some thief and criminal. Hmmm almost like poverty breeds crime. Maybe try ending poverty!
Paul November 3, 2022 (3:53 pm)

I disagree with this. It’s illegal to camp like these people are. They continue to ignore the law. They make a huge mess at the cost of tax payers. They steal. Don’t say they don’t steal because I watch is daily. As a tax payer and a business owner enough of this. People need to follow the law or move on. Seattle has become a mess and it needs to be cleaned up now.
Nate H. November 3, 2022 (4:46 pm)

Just utterly reprehensible behavior by the city here.

Entirely justified by the more than reprehensible behaviour enacted by the “campers” every single day. They need help or incarceration, depending on their situation, but they do NOT need to be left alone to live in squalor and filth on our public streets.

Homeless for 10 years November 3, 2022 (4:25 pm)

I unfortunately, have experienced homeless most of my adult life. I can point my finger at all the challenges I faced and say here are the reasons I ended up homeless. I could claim a million reasons why I’ve been chronically homeless. The truth is, I am the cause of me being homeless. I have battled with drug addiction and alcoholism for my entire life. I have real struggles with mental health. Almost anyone you meet at an encampment will tell you the same thing. The truth is, I’m the cause of my homelessness. I spent all my adult life using drugs and drinking. I made the choices that put me outside and kept me outside. And I couldn’t really make lasting changes for the better until I faced my involvement in my situation. Once I accepted my role in my situation, could I make any real progress in improving my life. I’ve been able to get off of drugs and alcohol and stay off them for almost 3 years. I’ve lived in my apartment for almost 2 years. It took a tremendous amount of help to get me here. I had to face my mental health problems. I had to face my PTSD, anxiety/depressive disorder. I had to get help to do that. I now am in treatment for my mental health and memory issues. I’m in treatment for my substance abuse problems. I am making progress. I am by no means cured of my problems, don’t know that I ever will be. What I can say, my life has gotten better. I have help though. I’m in medication assisted drug treatment, I take methadone to combat my heroin addiction. That also helps with treating my alcohol problem. I participate in several programs the city of Seattle and king county offer for folks like me. All of this stuff takes time. It took me living on the streets for 10 years to get the help I now receive. Yes, it has taken me ten years on the street, to get to the place I’m in now. Having my own apartment. Getting treated for mental health and addiction. It has taken 10 years of being passed over and around, passed on to other people and programs all claiming to help. All that help is, being on a never ending spiral of going from one program to another and another and so on. Getting back to the program that claimed to help in the beginning, to end up back in the never ending spiral of being pushed around from program to program, case worker to case worker (I have 13 case workers, all from different places and programs) and getting no where except back outside in a tent. It finally took me researching housing programs that I qualify for to find the housing program I am now in. It finally took me searching for substance abuse programs to get into the one I’m now in. It finally took me searching for mental health treatment and counseling to get into the organization that now provides me with mental health problems and counseling.I had to go and do all the research. I found all the programs I’m in now. Not one case worker out of the 13 I have did anything to get me housed, get me treatment, get all the things I need to be where I am todayIf I can find all the programs I did, anyone can. I just find it interesting that none of the people assigned to me threw whatever program, had anything to do with getting me off the street and into the programs I’m in now. I had to do it allNow that I have, I can actually help folks to get the help that I’ve received. Its a painfully long and arduous process, taking years to accomplish. Having the patients to do it and not give up, to face the times when no one is there and your all alone, cold, hungry and wet. If you can stick with it, not give up. There is actual help. Its hard to find. It is available.

S November 3, 2022 (5:10 pm)

Whack-a-Mole

Mj November 3, 2022 (5:24 pm)

Paul – agreed! It’s past time for accountability and for the City to strictly enforce the SMC.

What makes it even more frustrating is that I see job opportunities being advertised all over the place. Dick’s hamburger recently advertised with $20 per hour starting wage with benefits.

Herongrrrl November 3, 2022 (6:23 pm)

Just curious if anyone commenting here has tried to live on $20/hr in Seattle lately. Even studio apartments are going for $1500/month or higher. If you don’t make a living wage, odds are good you can’t afford to relocate to a more affordable area. So then what?
- Neighbor November 3, 2022 (7:03 pm)
  
  I moved to Seattle when I could afford it. Either you have a bunch of stuff you can’t afford to move so you sell it or you pay the pittance it costs to rent a uhaul to a more affordable area. “I guess I will just live in an RV forever” isn’t a reasonable conclusion, or outcome.
  - Josh November 4, 2022 (1:37 pm)
    
    Not for you
- GOTTATRY November 4, 2022 (10:58 am)
  
  Well big thing is you should not be renting a studio while making $20hr… you pay more for the luxury of a private space. I payed $800/month for years to rent rooms while I saved up for a house. Even after I bought a house I had to rent one of those rooms out.
  - Chix November 4, 2022 (7:47 pm)
    
    I have a great apt in the junction and make $20 an hour. Why would some you assume somone who makes that wage can’t afford their own apt???
bill November 3, 2022 (7:59 pm)

Try an experiment MJ: For two weeks wear the same clothes, don’t shower, wash your face, brush your teeth or clean your hair. Present yourself at a Dick’s and ask for a job. Tell us how it goes.
- Resident November 3, 2022 (10:10 pm)
  
  Bill,The difference is I would seek assistance and get clothing, a good shower and clean myself up at the end of my two weeks before my interview at Dicks. There is nothing stopping these people we are talking about from doing the same.

The King November 3, 2022 (5:42 pm)

“You cannot subsidize irresponsibility and expect people to become more responsible”……Dr. Thomas Sowell

Nigel November 3, 2022 (7:26 pm)

West Marginal Place needs the same solution as the roads by Nucor Steel. Please remove the RV encampment and setup striped bike paths and bollards to stop the RV’s from returning. This is the Duwamish Bike Path; it is also the pathway for residents of the Riverside Neighborhood to get to mass transit.

Scarlett November 3, 2022 (7:51 pm)

Everyone is a cop these days. RV’ers are moved out of residential areas and the end up in a drab contaminated industrial area, by the side of the road, and people still aren’t happy. They are occupying public space! Quel horreur! West Seattle creampuffs, you ought to be in the display case at Bakery Nouveau.

Buttercup November 3, 2022 (8:48 pm)

These people are contaminating the watershed that they are perched on. They show no respect for the area or for the environmental issues that are happening there all of those white wetland empty into the Duwamish river which then enters into Puget sound and it needs to be stopped. This area has had several fires in their RVs they’re messy and they’re a problem. There is no accountability shown from the people that are living in these areas, I don’t care if you live in a tent or an RV or in your car but keep the area clean respectful stay within the boundaries of the law and be a good tenant to the land that you’re living on.
Resident November 3, 2022 (10:07 pm)

Why should people be happy about others living in their rvs in public space? Most don’t contribute anything to the neighborhoods and cities they live in. Don’t make the people wanting everyone to contribute the bad guys. We can empathize without normalizing the behavior.
WSEnvironmentalist November 3, 2022 (10:20 pm)

OMG! The RVers are occupying drab public space and West Seattlites are cream puffs because we want them off the street? My guess is Scarlett does not have a driveway or a garage or a small yard or building lobby or any type of space that is at ground level where the RVers and tent campers can attempt to break into her living quarters. Well, they try the front door handle of our house at hours of the night – we can see them because we have a door cam. They are so drugged up that 1) they stole the small trash can by the garage full of our dog’s bagged poop; 2) we have witnessed people running down the middle of the street with no regard for being hit by a car; 3) we have seen items listed on the WSB as stolen being walked up our street in shopping carts so they can be traded to the local RV drug dealer; 4) we have seen people deficate in the park bushes across the street. Yes, these are “public” parks, streets, and sidewalks that are designed to be used by the public at large. They should not be co-opted by occupiers (not LEGAL protests to which I have no objections) who have no regard for the rest of humankind. We all work hard to make something/anything out of our lives and not become discards … except these drug addled homeless miscreants who are throwing themselves away. Go visit Children’s Hospital or Fred Hutchenson and see the pain on the faces of those who would do almost anything to live. Then look at the homeless encampers who will do almost anything to toss their lives and everything and everyone around themselves into the trash.
- Scarlett November 5, 2022 (7:04 am)
  
  Yes, Creampuff, maybe you should look on the bright side. They have relocated to a an area that is likely a Superfund site – created no doubt by “responsible” people – and are no longer an eyesore and as much a disturbance in your neighborhood. This is the society we now live in and the solution is not incarcerating everyone or rounding them up and forcing them into shelters. A pandemic and now surging inflation isn’t helping, either.
  - WSEnvironmentalist November 7, 2022 (8:15 pm)
    
    Scarlett, the area is not “likely a Superfund site” it IS as Superfund site designated in 1998. It was mitigated through 2002 by the use of private and federal funds, and continues to be cleaned up by Boeing and Lockheed. Maybe you are too young to or ill advised to comment on environmental issues regarding the Duwamish, Port and the SW side of Elliot Bay. But, don’t feel bad. The former SDOT Director also had no understanding of Superfund sites which is why he suggested, on the advice of the contractor who just completed the repairs of the WS Bridge with its major flaws, that the WA State EPA and the US EPA would fast track a permit to remove the bridge and build a new bridge. Prime Directive of a Superfund site is DO NOT distrub the mitigation so that carcinogens and deadly chemicals are stirred up and rise to the surface to poison ALL of West and South Seattle.

Stephen November 3, 2022 (8:48 pm)

I support the sweeps.

Ryan November 3, 2022 (8:54 pm)

I have to say the city is doing a good job enforcing the rules. While many people will say this is just perpetuating a cycle, perhaps this will move people from an expensive city to some other county that is not as expensive to live in.Just a thought I would love to live in Beverly Hills or have a home in Sun Valley but I can’t afford it and I don’t just go set up an RV in town and squat there

MyThruppence November 4, 2022 (9:51 am)

Amen.
James November 4, 2022 (11:12 am)

Why not though? Land is land. I mean seriously. Why is some land more valuable than others? It’s just fake values based on a capitalist’s assessment. These shouldn’t be real things. We shouldn’t have mini-feudalism.
- MyThruppence November 4, 2022 (12:43 pm)
  
  Because law. Sorry. Maybe the next utopia over won’t have such encumbrances??
StuckInWestSeattle November 4, 2022 (12:53 pm)

i remember a radio show where they were talking to a bunch of the RV dwellers who came from Arizona and other states because they let you live in your RV on the roads. The majority of these folks are not even local I believe. They should be required to park the RVs in sepcific lots for them with water, electricity and sewer and pay for this. The free rides need to stop and neighborhoods should not be saddled with the crime and nasty stuff that comes with these like garbage, urine and poop etc. I would love to see rules put in place outlawing living in a RV on city streets. Send them elsewhere. Its nice to see some effort to get them gone like you said. But it needs more than sweeps. Seattle has to keep them from camping on our streets. My 2c.

RW November 4, 2022 (3:32 am)

This looks like the same RV encampment I passed on my way to/from work during the summer season. While I feel for homeless people, this particular situation went from bad-to-worse with the amount of trash, junk, old pallets, and garbage surrounding the RV growing by leaps and bound. They later expanded their “base area” by erecting tarped-over areas. From what could be seen whenever the RV side door was opened during hot weather, the interior looked filthy. Eventually, another RV parked nearby and repeated the pattern. This was all a mere few feet from the roadway. It was unsafe, unsightly, and unsanitary, and who knows what type of activity was going on there. I’m glad to see it gone. As noted, these are not the type of people who are merely down on their luck, and they refuse to accept help from social services.

sgs November 4, 2022 (8:20 am)

The back and forth conversation either condemning or excusing is exhausting. The city of Seattle has budgeted around $30 million (give or take $10 million) this year to fund solutions for the crisis. That’s just this year, and not including past years’ funding. If that doesn’t have results in helping people get into stable housing, then we are not understanding or facing the issue effectively. $2.5M to expand mobile mental and behavioral health crisis services should make a dent in the mental health crisis. Side note comparisons: Climate change funding for the city of Seattle 2022 (Green new deal) is at $16 million. Powerball cash payout $750 million……..Out of whack.

Crystal November 4, 2022 (9:21 am)

Do not understand all the grumbling about living wage in Seattle. I am living in warm housing in West Seattle on a take-home of just over $13 an hour. One just has to research area costs and be reasonable with spending habits.

sgs November 4, 2022 (9:26 am)

From the city of Seattle Council News and Updates on the one year budget (2022) to fund solutions to the homelessness crisis:

$15.4M in new investments in homelessness services that the new Regional Homelessness Authority will administer
$1.5M in Vehicle Residency Outreach and Safe Lots
$5M to leverage community & county partnerships to create a high acuity shelter
Protecting over $10M for tiny house village short-term housing solutions
$9.3M for cleaning up litter and garbage across the city
An additional $2.5M to expand mobile mental and behavioral health crisis services
About $35 million this year (not including the garbage pick up). Compare that with $16 million for city climate change funding (Green New Deal).
Including past years’ funding, it would appear from the financial side we are providing resources to result in some level of success in getting people into sustainable housing.
This is not an anti-council post intended to start an anti-council conversation. Intended to raise the question of evaluating whether and how the funding is having a result…..or not.

Phil November 4, 2022 (10:04 am)

Why not just enforce vehicle laws…”any vehicle operated on public streets must be registered and insured and in safe operating order”I live on Social Security which is less than a $1000 a month and in no way could I afford Seattle rents,so I live in my van. I wouldn’t even think about trying to live in something that wasn’t insured, licensed,and in reasonable running order.As a homeless person I am totally embarrassed by this kind of behavior for it makes those of us that follow the law and live quietly so as not to bother or upset the neighborhood look bad.

Paul Irvin November 4, 2022 (6:47 pm)

All of this advanced talk about the way of handling the homeless. If you pay attention everyones speaking from their own perspective. Homelessness is a lose of purpose. I find it hard to swallow that the ones dealing with it everyday can’t see it. Everything your neighborhood is going through, the crime, fortification, the accumulation of trash and all of the things that you see. These are the byproducts of Homelessness. Homelessness is the symptom of the lose of purpose. The lose of purpose is the rut everyone of these people share. How do you deal with this? If you want homelessness to end then you must stop throwing money at the symptoms and help people find purpose. I am not so narrow minded as to say a socialists view of this is needed NO! The problem is our society and No one is willing to admit it. We have moved away from the precepts that made our country great. The politicians have twisted their words to squeeze what political support they want. Groups of terrorists who would never have shown their heads have been given rise to where it has even affected no,infected the school system country wide. We are creating the culture of homelessness

Rob B Taylor November 4, 2022 (7:10 pm)

Yes, not all RV dwellers are criminals, or addicts. A lot of them are just trying to live to fight another day. However, there are a LOT of them that are out there shoplifting, car prowling, abusing and selling narcotics, engaging in violent behavior, and creating environmental problems by improper waste disposal. Those that are engaging in such antisocial behavior are screwing things up for everyone else who’s in the same situation. There are no easy answers here. Unfortunately I was trying to ring the bell on this 15 years ago, but everyone at the time couldn’t be bothered. Now they’re out there saying “what happened?” I’ll tell you what happened, civic apathy. It’s like going to the dentist for a cavity. Instead of taking the dentists advice filling the cavity immediately they waited until it started to really hurt, and by that point a filling isn’t a viable solution, you need a root canal. No matter how we try and fix this tragic situation, it’s going to be painful, and it’s going to anger one group or another. You can’t please everyone, and eventually the city is going to have to live by that, because all this NIMBY stuff happening when the city finds spots they can actually move these folks too is just making the issue worse.