Please email Tim Burgess and the rest of the city council tonight (Tuesday 3/27/

[JoB]

in a surprise move,

Councilman Burgess amended the proposed HD11.1 to D. Policy for Long-term Homeless Encampments which governs tent city encampments within Seattle which previously read:

Support and guide the operation of safe and healthy transitional encampments to allow temporary shelter for those who are homeless

to read

Guide the operation of safe and healthy transitional encampments located on property owned or controlled by religious institutions to allow temporary shelter for those who are homeless.

and it will be on the agenda for a 30 minute public hearing and vote tomorrow.

those who monitor city government expect the public comment and hearing to occur between 10 AM and 11 AM tomorrow morning (Wednesday, March 28, 2012).

This is not just a Nickelsville matter.

It will also prevent tent city 3 from being hosted by private individuals or universities.

It will also prevent the state department of transportation from turning a lenient eye towards homeless encampments on DOT land that are good stewards for the land on which they sit.

This is major shift from a cooperative policy on tent encampments towards a restrictive policy that just meets the state policy allowing encampments on any church property statewide.

And it is happening on the eve of the closing of the winter shelters this weekend which will increase the number of people on the streets seeking shelter.

Please take the time to email Councilman Burgess..

and the rest of the city council to let them know how you feel about this proposed amendment that would limit tent encampments strictly to church property… tonight.

You can find your city council member’s contact information here

http://www.seattle.gov/council/councilcontact.htm

You can also attend the council meeting tomorrow starting at 9:30 AM in council chambers downtown.

the above link will also provide that address.

I plan to be there.

Limiting tent cities to churches is placing an unfair burden on our community’s churches

as well as limiting the educational benefits of Universities hosting tent cities for limited periods of time.

and precludes a path for private individuals and organizations to host safe transitional temporary housing for Seattle’s rapidly growing homeless population.

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[WSB]

Trying to research this – it is on the Planning and Land Use Committee agenda for tomorrow; the meeting starts at 9:30 am. This item does NOT appear to be up for a formal item-specific public hearing, but the council committees take comments on anything before them – note that the public comment period is usually toward the start of the meeting so even though the item is the last thing on the agenda, the public comment may be closer to the meeting’s start at 9:30 am.

Agenda: http://is.gd/3xH6YZ

You’ll find links to the documentation along with that last item. In case that helps. Thanks for the heads-up, JoB, I have been watching the comprehensive plan amendments but would not have heard about the amendment-to-the-amendment if not for your post. – TR

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[JoB]

For those of you who would like some guidance on what to ask for…

this is what i am writing to the city council members..

“I was appalled to find that after months of public comments and careful negotiation,on the eve of that amendment’s appearance before the city council, that Councilman Tim Burgess amended HD11.1 pertaining to the Council Policy for Long-term Homeless Encampments that had voiced support for the support and guidance of temporary transitional encampments to restrict encampments to church property.

This is an abrupt change of policy meriting much more than a 30 minute period for public comment and an unfair burden to place on our community’s churches.

I would ask that you either move to postpone both public comments and a council vote or move to enlarge the period for public comment so that this matter can be given the due consideration it deserves.”

Please feel free to copy and paste all or part of this…

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[JoB]

TR..

it’s covered under item 11.. public hearings..

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[casaboba]

Sneaky is as Sneaky does. Contacted city council tonight via email as advised. Sorry I am not able to attend the meeting. Good luck!

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[feefeelarue]

Job I emailed every member thanks for providing the link! Why are they doing something thats throws yet another wall in the way?

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[JoB]

feefeelarue..

this is just a guess.. but ..

Burgess pandering to his base so he can be the next mayor?

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[charlabob]

Bump…not too late for last minute emails to council.At this point, short and direct can make a difference.

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[kootchman]

Has anyone figured out what his base is? Schizophrenics In Government?

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2011525522_burgess05m.html

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[WSB]

Just watched the hearing via Seattle Channel and am writing a short home-page item; ultimately, Councilmember Burgess withdrew his amendment, and the committee agreed that a “robust discussion” of the city’s policy regarding encampments is needed. I know you will hear more from JoB later; I missed the public-comment section at the start of the meeting, but the video will be available via Seattle Channel online archives later. – TR

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[casaboba]

Good News! Thanks for the update.

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[2krazy4words]

those that want to limit places or require re-locating every 6 months needs to spend a week living in one of these camps!! During our recent ice-storm would have been nice. Who likes having to move every 6 months??!! Haven’t these people been through enough?!

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[WSB]

Also I got a copy of the e-mail from the mayor that was mentioned in the meeting and am adding it (as a PDF, I don’t have it in cut-and-pastable text) to the story.

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[casaboba]

Today’s Seattle City Council meeting ‘Public Comments’ runs first 35 minutes of the meeting link below. Many thoughtful statements each eloquently expressed.

http://www.seattlechannel.org/videos/video.asp?ID=2391211

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[kootchman]

The Avenging Angel … JoB… what was Burgess thinking? You can irritate her, tease her, but don’t get her so riled she pulls out her superpowers! We e-mailed, we called, we left voice messages… good on ya lass.

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[JoB]

casaboba,

thanks for posting the video on this.

watching it on video is a lot more clear than actually being there..

I was struck watching it..

not by how far away the two sides on this issue were

but by how much concern there actually is for the homeless community within the planning committee.

I spent some time with Councilman Burgess following the meeting

and was impresses by the scope of his knowledge of homeless issues.

We had a interesting conversation about how homeless shelters as they are currently run perpetuate homelessness

and agree that more 24 hour shelters with secure storage for personal belongings are a necessary step towards transitioning homeless people back into productive lives.

I still believe that today’s battle over a few words was well worth asking forum members to write to city council members…

those emails and voice messages really added up today and made a difference..

but I can also see that although the willingness to expand beyond historical boundaries concern Councilman Burgess .. he has a basic understanding of the enormity of the need.

I do worry that the need is outpacing current resources and isn’t likely to slow down any time soon.

Reverand Bill Hackett repeated a sobering figure from the school district. Homelessness among schoolchildren has increased 20% in one year.

Please keep those emails going to our City Council Members. It was apparent today that they do make a difference.

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[JoB]

kootch…

i do believe that was a compliment..

at least i plan to take it that way…

thank you

watching that video took any wind i might have had in my sails about a speaking career away

but i did speak from my heart

and that’s all any of us can do

I think you guys deserve far more credit than i

without all of those emails and voice mails i don’t think they would have been listening quite so carefully

thank you

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[miws]

JoB, thanks for taking the time to speak out. You did fine, and looked and sounded natural, and brought up some very good points.

So, you are no longer a speaking in front of the City Council virgin! It truly seems to get easier over time.

It’s always great when residents of NV, the TC’s, etc speak, but I think it’s also a good idea fro the Council to hear the thoughts of the Donors and neighbors. You have the luxury of being able to say exactly what you want, and to not have to read partially scripted comments.

Mike

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[miws]

Wow! Unusual double post! Didn’t seem like I’d clicked “Submit” twice!

Guess it just shows how impressed I was with your comments, Jo! ;-)

Mike

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[casaboba]

JoB, Thank you for your first-hand report back from the city council meeting this morning. Thank you also for your on-going efforts.

I, like many others, continue to be simultaneously saddened and angered to think that EVERY night 3,500 people sleep outside in Seattle.

I cringed when I saw on today’s city council video when Reverend Bill Hackett repeated a sobering figure from the the school district. “Homelessness among school-children has increased 20% in one year.”

We can do better. We Must do better. It is quite clear. We with the economic means MUST speak for those who currently do not. If not us, who?

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[HMC Rich]

Nice Job JoB. Proud of you and others for looking out for others.

Casaboba, Winter break for homeless students is a horrible time for them. I believe they can only stay in shelters for a week, then get booted.

There are a lot of people in the schools that care about these kids, but the reality is they are not being taken care of effectively for a variety of reasons. It is almost criminal that children have to live like this.

We need to speak louder on this.

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[JoB]

HMCRich..

i believe that every school is supposed to have a homeless advocate to help homeless kids…

but my experience is that there is little they can actually do except refer them and their parents back into the social service turn-style that they are already trying to negotiate.

And i need to be clear about this..

the turn-style isn’t created by social service indifference..

though like every job there are some who suffer from burnout…

it is created by a lack of funding for services to refer the homeless to and the lack of paperwork that is a natural result of homelessness.

Over and over I have seen people who are working their way through the system stymied because of the loss or theft of documents necessary for the next step of the process.

the man who I was helping to file his taxes is now auto-filing to gt access to documents because he lost his tax paperwork after an emergency admission to the hospital for pneumonia.

it can become a vicious cycle that wears even the most persistent down

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[JoB]

While looking for something else this morning.. i found this article on Publicola

those who found the coverage of the council manuevering on temporary encampments interesting may find this adds context.

http://publicola.com/2012/03/28/effort-to-limit-citys-support-for-tent-cities-to-churches-fails/

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[Author]

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