there is a health issue at Nickelsville

[JoB]

This afternoon Scott Morrow, the person who calls himself merely a consultant at Nickelsville had the portapotties removed.

I was told by a donor who was there at the time and spoke with Scott that Scott told him he was removing the porta-potties until the campers took care of an internal management issue.

I don’t think Scott could have made it any more clear how he perceives his role at Nickelsville.

He controls both the funds and services at Nickelsville and it is apparent that he is quite willing to deprive the campers of both at will.

Unless of course, you believe that the campers voted unanimously to have their portapotties removed. I don’t…

the camp is still there, but as of 7PM this evening there was not a single portapotty at Nickelsville and i was told by a camper that Scott was advising campers to pick up their “litter” by the same means i use to pick up after my dog.

If you are one of the many donors to Nickelsville, please let Scott Morrow know how you feel about his current abuse of the funds you have donated.

You can reach him at scott@nickelsville.org or by phone at 206-450-9136

heck, you don’t have to be a donor to let him know how you feel about this one.

if you feel like being neighborly, the camp could really use large black plastic garbage bags to dispose of their garbage and toilet tissue this weekend.

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[mehud7]

I know you are passionate about Nickelsville and its residents JoB, but this looks like a rule breaking rant. What did you do to address this issue with Scott?

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[Cait]

My hope is that this situation is exempt seeing that he’s not running a “business” that relies on good word of mouth. That said, I hate to blow up this guy’s cell phone with calls, but it seems like it’s warranted. Seems really petty and gross of him…

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[JanS]

this is more than a rant. mehud. This is something we all need to know, and need to tell this person (Scott Morrow) how despicable he is. This is a basic human need. He’s not running a business, and from what I know of him he could care less what JoB thinks. There are usually a hundred or so “campers” in NV, and now they don’t have “bathrooms” to use. Put yourself in their shoes…homeless, living in a tent in a field, and now treated like animals if you have to go to the bathroom. An internal management problem? Oh, please…we are not stupid!

Cait…petty and gross? More like a health hazard…they are not going to pick up after themselves, I’m betting.

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[JoB]

mehud7

thank you for asking.

I and several of the other local residents who spend a fair amount of time at Nickelsville and with Nickelsville campers heard that the camp had been threatened with the removal of the portapotties, donor provided water, the generator and garbage services last sunday.

We individually spoke with both city officials and leaders in the homeless community early this week and with campers to ask them to exert pressure to try to prevent this.

when individually alerted by campers that the portapotties were being removed this morning, we individually verified the facts and attempted to speak with Scott Morrow about what was happening.

i did not personally reach Scott today but i did reach several influential people who had his ear long before the portapotties were removed… and they tell me they spoke with him.

One of the other donors did speak directly with Scott while he was at the camp… and several others have spoken with him since.

I personally called one of our city council members both mid-week and today. they did not return my calls.

i emailed the responsible person at the 501c3 for which Nickelsville is a project. I would have called him but there is no publicly posted phone contact information for Jam for Justice.

He and i have corresponded in the past but he has not yet returned my email.

I stopped by the camp this evening and verified that the portapotties were no longer on the premises and spoke with several campers and with security.

As far as i know, the water donated to camp today has not been removed and the garbage bin was still there. I don not know if the generator is running or if the camp phone still works.

I do know that the campers were stunned and trying to carry on with their tasks.. including security.

The email address and phone number i gave to contact Scott Morrow are not his personal numbers.. they are contacts for Nickelsville.. the same contacts you would use if you wanted to do a project at Nickelsville or report a problem.

I tired to do everything possible to prevent this occurance before during and after the event.

I would not have resorted to a call for a public phone/email campaign if this wasn’t such an urgent issue. In the past, I have worked quietly, slowly and effectively through the channels on more than one issue affecting the people living at Nickelsville.

My hope is that a phone/email campaign will convince Scott that the locals don’t see pulling the portapotties as an acceptable management tool for Nickelsville and he will have them returned asap so the camp can work out it’s difficulties in a more reasonable manner.

it’s the only thing i could think of to do that i had not already done.

btw.. i am not the only one asking others to call/contact Scott Morrow about restoring the portapotties. there are more than one phone trees that were launched this evening in the faith based communities. I volunteered to post on a couple of public forums where the have been conversations about Nickelsville.

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[Kevin]

I just had a cordial conversation with Scott Morrow at 23:20 Friday evening, March 22.

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According to Scott – the decision to remove the porta potties was made because the camp currently is home to two meth dealers, and that the residents are not doing what Scott expects, to evict the meth dealers.

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Scott maintains this was not his decision alone, but rather, came from the Central Committee Meeting.

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Scott “hinted” that the porta potties might return once the meth dealers are evicted. In the meantime – 50 – 100 innocent folks are being punished for the actions of two.

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I asked Scott if this was fair to the current camp population, and he was rather non committal. I asked him why have they not involved law enforcement, and Scott’s answer was that law enforcement does not want to deal with it.

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I’ll give Scott credit for being cordial on the phone, but this is totally unfair to the rest of the camp residents, and I told him so.

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I hope this addresses the point brought up by mehud7 regarding this being a proper rant.

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I see this as potentially the beginning of the end of Nicklesville.

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[JanS]

I do, too, Kevin. Let’s hope it also puts an end to Scott Morrow overseeing a homeless camp. The guy needs to go sell insurance or something :(

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[4th of Eight]

All 4 local television stations would LOVE to cover this, you know they have been down there for multiple stories, especially when it comes to the hardship of staying there. Give them all a call and e-mail. They will be done there asking questions by tomorrow nights broadcast. That one of the good reasons for media.

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[4th of Eight]

All 4 local television stations would LOVE to cover this, you know they have been down there for multiple stories, especially when it comes to the hardship of staying there. Give them all a call and e-mail. They will be done there asking questions by tomorrow nights broadcast. That one of the good reasons for media.

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[Cait]

My question is why does he think that the meth dealers have any direct correlation with the toilets… are they using the facilities to MAKE meth somehow? Or to do it? Then I could kind of understand not wanting to give them an unintentional safe haven, but I somehow doubt that’s the case.

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[4th of Eight]

Kevin, just saw yours, I think we typed at the same time. That is so sad AND angering about all being punished. Going potty in the cold windy night is even more de-humanizing. Would the other campers take a stand now and shun/revolt against the 2 meth heads? I know that no small kids are down there now, but what about the one teen? Is that not enough jurisdiction for SPD?? Thankyou for your phone call Kevin.. you are always a compassionate person!

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[JoB]

Kevin..

the problem with holding the camp accountable to evict anyone is that the camp has no legal right to do so.

Nickelsville is an illegal encampment on public property and when the police were called in the last two “show of force” incidents by the alleged drug dealers being evicted, the police upheld their right to choose when and if they left.

i was told that the individuals in question made agreements with the camp to leave and have broken those agreements.

in the meantime, campers without legal recourse to meet an illogical demand have had their portapotties removed.

as to the decision supposedly made in the central committee meeting… you might ask yourself.. would you decide to remove the bathrooms from where you lived to force yourself to remove unwanted guests you couldn’t legally remove if you had no other place to go?

i wouldn’t.

one has to wonder exactly what was decided at that meeting… and what kind of pressure was put on the participants to make them make such a rash decision.

even if you believe Scott that the responsibility for this rash decision rests with the campers…

removing the portapotties is still a basic health and safety issue

and never should have been on the table in the first place.

tonight it is a health and safety issue for the campers at Nickelsville,

but if left unresolved this will become a health and safety issue for our community.

Nickelsville is in a mostly empty containment pond that is part of our drainage system.

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[JoB]

thank you to all of you who called or emailed Scott last night..

even those who copied the emails or reported their conversations to me :)

i don’t know if there was any resolution overnight and won’t until i get up and moving in that direction.

i will let you now what i know as soon as i know it.

in the meantime i am told repeatedly that scott is quite civil to people who call.

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[miws]

I just sent my e-mail to Scott.

Was going to do it last night, but was so angry about this, that anything I sent him would have probably been heavily laden with F-Bombs, personal attacks, and insults.

If not for how cruel, inhumane, and unsanitary this is, Scott’s doing this, would merely be stupid, as has been mentioned above, the police are unable, by law, to back up Camp Security and Arbitration on evicting people, and/or dealing with in Camp illegal activity, as technically the Camp is not legally occupying the site.

Kevin, thanks for talking to Scott, and reporting back. But, I dunno. I don’t think I’d give the guy credit for anything.

He’s quite adept at dealing with such communications, and in being a spinmeister—much as the corporate, or political ones we see all the time, smoothing over any controversies they are a big part of.

I have no doubt, about the assertion above, that the Central Committee played a part in this as well. Possibly a big part.

But, the thing is, Scott can heavily influence the CC’s decisions—-to attain his desired result, by raising his voice, asking questions such as “Well, would you rather….”, and even stomping out of the room.

People on the Central Committee, most of whom are still Homeless, and reside at NV, or one of the SHARE Tent Cities or Shelters, may feel compelled to vote in Scott’s favor, for fear of being barred.

Thanks to all that have called/e-mailed Scott regarding this.

Mike

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[PangolinPie]

This is insane; those poor people. Do they still need garbage bags? I can stop and get some on my errands today. I hate to ask, but would some buckets also be useful? Ugh, so sorry for those folks. Please let us know what else can be done to help.

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[Jiggers]

I tried to warn you about that guy several years ago, but nobody like listen to me. Not my problem. Don’t let the wool be pulled over your eyeballs. He’s a shuyster. Oooppps too late for that.

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[JoB]

PangolinPie

yes, i am pretty sure they still need garbage bags..

i hope they won’t need the buckets..

Jiggers..

but i did listen to you… far more than you knew.

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[JanS]

I wrote to Mr. Morrow last night, got a response back this morning. Seems the porta potties will be re-installed this afternoon, per the “Central Committee”. Why do I dislike that name? It conjures up for me things of the past, something in Soviet Russia, maybe – lol. Anyway, that’s what I was told. I hope it’s true.

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[JoB]

A huge thanks to everyone who helped Mr Morrow see that removing the porta-potties was not an acceptable camp management tactic.

i too hope they are back in place this afternoon.

amazing work by that central committee.. considering that they don’t meet again till Wednesday :)

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[WSB]

We are in the area right now and see four portapotties on the north side with a HoneyBucket truck parked on the road. Taking a picture for posterity’s sake – I was prepared to escalate this to the front page if we hadn’t seen evidence of restroom facilities but guess that’s not necessary now – TR

(added – my shot thru the windshield, from parking lot across the street)

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[miws]

Thanks for the update, and for the intent to Front Page this issue. TR.

I received a reply from Scott as well, including likely the same message from the Central Committee, that Jan received.

Thanks again to all that helped out on this.

Mike

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[adelle1016]

This is to report that JoB just drove past NV and the porta potties are BACK !!!!

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[WSB]

I just added a pic to post above. We probably passed JoB on the road :)

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[DBP]

OK, let’s see if I got this straight so far . . .

According to reports from people knowledgeable about the camp, there are meth users/dealers at Nickelsville. (Haven’t seen this with my eyes, but it’s not like I’m looking.)

There are also severely mentally ill people and other vulnerable people at camp. (Have seen this.)

And then of course . . . there are the children. (Have seen this.)

* * * * * * * *

OK . . . so apparently Mr. Morrow wanted to get the alleged meth users/dealers out of Nickelsville.

But . . . the majority of campers did not agree with Mr. Morrow’s plan. Also, according to Jo and at least two other people here, Mr. Morrow does not have the moral right to remove porta-potties (that his organization is paying for) in order to deal with “internal management issues” like meth.

According to Jo (#12), even the police have “upheld [the campers’] right to choose when and if [alleged meth users/dealers] left.”

* * * * * * * * * *

So we’ve got children and other vulnerable people in the camp.

And meth users.

And the meth users can stay until such time as they’re “voted out.”

Am I right so far?

Have I misquoted anyone or misstated any facts?

Just trying to unnerstand . . .

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[miws]

….according to Jo and at least two other people here, Mr. Morrow does not have the moral right to remove porta-potties (that his organization is paying for)….

David, neither SHARE, the organization that Morrow is, or is not affiliated with, nor he, pay for the port-a-potties and dumpster.

That money, is specifically donated to Nickelsville, and last I knew, Peggy H was in charge of making the payments.

And the meth users can stay until such time as they’re “voted out.”

Please reread these two paragraphs from my post #14, to better understand that.

But, the thing is, Scott can heavily influence the CC’s decisions—-to attain his desired result, by raising his voice, asking questions such as “Well, would you rather….”, and even stomping out of the room.

People on the Central Committee, most of whom are still Homeless, and reside at NV, or one of the SHARE Tent Cities or Shelters, may feel compelled to vote in Scott’s favor, for fear of being barred.

Mike

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