(Image: CHS)
Some neighbors and the area’s Seattle City Council member knew it was coming but nobody else was prepared for a Capitol Hill park to suddenly be fenced off over the Labor Day weekend for a 60-day “rest.”
“We recognize that this park has been impacted by bouts of negative park activity and we will continue to work to ensure that all parks are clean, safe, and welcoming,” a Seattle Parks spokesperson tells CHS about the two-month closure of Seven Hills Park at 16th and Howell.
Seattle Parks says the closure is part of a broader discussion involving the future of Seven Hills and three other area parks.
The unusual shutdown follows a summer of challenges for the public space adjacent the Sanctuary condos developed inside the former First Church of Christ Scientist just north of the lawn area, BBQ pits, eight benches, three picnic tables, and trees that make up the small park.
In August, the city made its latest efforts to sweep campers from the park. Attention on the space included We Heart Seattle and anti-encampment activist Andrea Suarez providing “outreach” at the site.
District 3 representative Joy Hollingsworth has also been reportedly closely involved.
Hollingsworth did not respond to CHS’s inquiry about the fencing and 60-day closure.
Seattle Parks says the shutdown was needed “in order for Seattle Parks and Recreation to assess possible amenity changes and/or upgrades.”
The spokesperson said amenity changes could include “removal of various park elements, adding surrounding park fencing, addition of new amenities such as lighting, garden beds, or new planters.”
“We plan to meet with community to discuss Seven Hills, along with additional parks in Capitol Hill with the goal of developing strategies to support positive park use,” the spokesperson said.
The parks department says another Capitol Hill park that has been challenged by homeless camping and drug use is also being reassessed. 2016-debuted Broadway Hill Park is also being considered for anti-camping modifications as is Tashkent Park on Boylston Ave E.
S. Jackson’s Dr. Blanche Lavizzo Park in the Central District is also part of the new planning process.
The two Capitol Hill parks, and the Central District space remain open to the public.
The closure comes on the fifteenth anniversary of Seven Hills Park. The project debuted in September 2010 around its central art element depicting the “original” seven hills of Seattle. The city acquired the property with funding from the 2000 Pro Parks Levy and King County Conservation Futures tax revenues.
It has faced encampment challenges before. In the winter of 2022, CHS reported on the aftermath of a major sweep that cleared the park of campers as Seven Hills became a flashpoint in Mayor Bruce Harrell’s efforts to step up clearance and shelter outreach work in the city. One immediate outcome of that sweep was the growth of nearby encampments in other nearby parks.
Now, coming up on four years later, Seven Hills Park will be fenced-off and empty as the city tries to sort out next steps.
One rumor — The city is floating adding a playground to the park. Now, where have we heard that one before?
(Image: CHS)
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In four years, Bruce Harrell has not only not solved this problem at this park, but has spent a lot of City resources repeatedly doing the same things that didn’t work over and over again, and now, no one gets to use the park. Thanks Bruce!
As for anti-camping modifications, BRIGHTER LIGHTING DOES NOT FIX ANYTHING. This park is an excellent place to do drugs at night because the lighting is so damn good.
Most parks have “negative park activity” here these days
Are Harrell and Hollingsworth taking stock of the general pulse of the area and voters? They do not want constant sweeps. They want actually affordable housing and mental health facilities, tiny house villages. They want Katie over Bruce. Andrea Suarez is completely out of her mind. Can she stop stealing people’s things or nah?
I am one of those who live abutting a park mentioned. Yes, the community asked for this, they weren’t going to do it and we asked for the the closure and/or rehabilitation of these parks. Joy and Bruce, as well as the D3 police, and the park department met with us and heard our concerns. This is not them entirely this is the result of concerned neighbors and residents of Capitol Hill. We never minded homeless encampments until they turned violent in these parks, there are only so many gunshots, late night out of control fires, people yelling for help, and overdoses that you can deal with until you get truly concerned about the safety of where you live.
So homeless are only a problem when it’s near you, got it. Geeez
That’s not what they said! They said they are tolerant of the encampment but not the violent activity it attracts.
Violent drug addicted vagrants are a problem everywhere.
Are they near you, Kristy G?
so are you suggesting that we as Capitol Hill residents need to just be quiet and not complain about violent activity occurring at the homeless encampments or any additional crime that occurs adjacent to those camps which negatively impacts all residents?
If your suggestion is that residents should just move, that’s not on the table. It’s financially unfeasible for many people, including condo owners.
I encourage all of us to share well thought out opinions in and from an open-minded-space of “we all live here, and/or would like park visitors to feel welcome here”; so as to be in touch with those up against whatever infirmities, but also defensable–in however we decide as a responsible community–to hold accountability so as to not allow those infirm to be exploited.
reread what he said !- We never minded homeless encampments until they turned violent there are only so many gunshots, late night out of control fires, people yelling for help, and overdoses
Oh please. Virtue signaling is not a good look when it’s based on willful ignorance.
Encampments filled with drug addicts and criminals are a problem all over Seattle. They should never have been allowed to fester this long and attract even more addicts to the city. We need to match services with enforcement of laws. We need to clear all public spaces for the public and not let some d*bags from Florida chose to homestead in a park rather than go to a shelter or back to Florida. Harm reduction drug policy has been a disaster.
And will Katie Wilson improve anything? No.
Everyone is sick and tired of the drug addicts that steal everything that is not nailed down. Sick of literal shit all over the streets, parking strips, tennis courts, bathrooms. Sick of the needles and trash. Sick of finding u-hauls ditched on their streets, cars stolen, packages strewn all over the parks and streets. Sick of the fires. Sick of people getting beaten senseless. Sick of mail and packages getting stole in broad day light. Broadway looks like a third world shithole country. So yeah- a vast majority of people that live on Capitol Hill are sick and tired of this bullshit and if you think that the drug addicts aren’t becoming more hostile and violent then you are blind.
Apparently everyone is not sick of all the things you listed because Capitol Hill residents voted fairly strongly for Katie Wilson and other progressive candidates, who will not be supporting policies to address the issues you and too few others are sick of.
Not what he said
Not at all what they said, you only hear what you want. Geez
Not cool Kristy. Anarchy, violence and filth are not necessities that come with being unhoused. If you are/were unhoused, would you lose all desire or ability to attempt to function! And, if you did, would it not be a good thing for there to be solutions to keep others and yourself from harm(ing)?
The real issue here is the idiotic approaches of our electeds addressing only one side of the problem. These folks need housing and many need additional services/treatment. But even that starts with basic rules like: you don’t have a right to blight, endanger and nuisance and shouldn’t have the right to refuse help that will end/prevent your predicament, so long as you choose to be hosted by the community you reside in. Everyone else pays for all of it in all the ways.
And your solution is what? Or there is no problem at all? Your mental processes are truly baffling.
Hey there, I live across from Seven Hills Park and I’m curious how you got in touch with the Parks Department to give them some feedback?
Something I’ve noticed is that a large draw of this park for people looking to set up encampments is the availability of water in the nearby community garden. I was sitting in that garden when a homeless man from the big encampment that was recently there came into the park to fill up his water jugs. I’m curious if somehow locking access to the water pipes could help reduce activity in this area but I have no idea how to get in touch with anyone from Parks about this because their number is all automated. Any advice, or would you be willing to pass this comment along for me? Thank you.
Locking up faucets will cut down on that. In the alley that I face and share with the block, all of the apartment building and condos with faucets facing the alley have installed faucet locks to prevent trespassers from using their water.
I emailed Joy and she CC’d Parks and Police in her response to me.
You don’t speak for the majority. I’m a Capitol Hill resident who has frequently reported encampments via the FindIt Fix It app since 2022. I recently made multiple reports of the now-cleared encampment that resurfaced in front of the The Bonneville Apartment on Denny and across the street from Goodwill on Belmont. I also reached out to Goodwill and the local businesses, who all have a recollection of the encampment that occurred three years ago and caused major issues to the surrounding blocks emailed, and encouraged them to report it to the city. I discovered that they were all for that newer encampment being removed as they also experienced major issues when the 2022 encampment was around. Within the two weeks of that encampment being established, the Goodwill experienced a break-in, which were recurring incidents during the 10 weeks that 2022 encampment was in existence. Guess what, I also e-mailed our councilwomen and lo and behold the encampment was removed.
Before you label me as some MAGA, I vote blue and will never vote MAGA. I’m just a 27-year-long resident of Seattle who’s also a liberal and has traveled the US to other Democrat led cities to discover that we are truly behind and allow the vagrants to just have a muck of things without any accountability. I also face an ally where I along with my neighbors deal with the worst of the drug addicts and we’re all tired of it. To be told by SJWs to deal with it and that they should be allowed to constantly trespass on property and face no consequences as they vandalize vehicles, smoke fentanyl and meth by residents’ open windows, and steal from their neighbors is a major slap in our faces.
As long as I’m concerned, I’m happy Harrell has beefed up the sweeps over the last 3 years. I’m happy Sawant is out of office b/c when she was in office the “Stop The Sweeps” crew seemed to be well funded with no source of funding that was ever revealed. After she left office, they lost steam, looked completely irrelevant, and acted like entitled kids.
Actually, many people (including me) support sweeps as well as new efforts to actually improve the lives of homeless people by getting them into mental health and addiction treatment facilities. It’s not either/or.
I live in the general area. I do not want tents/camping or drug dealers or drug use in the parks… And I’m definitely not voting for Katie.. Perhaps you should leave your echo chamber every once in a while?
Why can’t people be allowed to hold two thoughts at once, Jeff? It’s the biggest problem we face today, imo. Breaking down every issue into black or white, us vs them, is not working, on the left or the right. I think most of us can both want to help the homeless with clean safe housing, while at the same time wanting our parks and sidewalks clean and safe from the scourge of hardcore drug users and dealers. Is that really too much to ask?
What we want is a dog park.
For you Suarez haters, you should spend a moment to help out her group and see what they really doing.
Some of you react like she is the hero of Freemont, who was returning people’s stolen bike’s with a baseball bat in hand; that is not at all what she is doing.
They are stealing homeless people’s things and harassing the poor. Just fascist bullying. Garbage piles up because homeless don’t get trash services, literally nowhere to put it.
The homeless literally have all the time in the world…and there are garbage cans and/or dumpsters on almost every block. They don’t take care of their garbage because the vast majority of them either don’t care or are have mental/drug problems that make garbage disposal the last of their concerns.
Why waste your breath Luther? I see people pulling everything out of my dumpster looking for some treasure and leaving the contents strewn about the parking lot. They never put anything back in the dumpster. That task is apparently up to me. I see people living in tents surrounded by more crap than any human being could reasonably produce and no effort to responsibly dispose of any of it despite the presence of nearby garbage cans. I see what you see Luther. But people like Kristy see something totally different, not because it is actually in front of them, but because it is how they imagine things to be in order to serve their narrative.
Ah yeah just make up straw men and generalize. Cool.
Illegal to dump on private bins. Hope this helps.
It’s illegal to camp in parks too… also illegal to possess and use illicit drugs…. Do you honestly expect us to believe that these same folks care so much about the dumpster law that it’s the reason they trash the park… Really? Come on…
Ok we get it your homeless and feel like someone here needs to stand up to all of us fascist who want safety and clean streets, for are kids to feel safe, our grandparents able to walk around without being accosted.
Literally no where to put it? like most people find a garbage can, it’s not difficult you just have to put some effort into some things in life.
So we’re supposed to provide trash services who do nothing to add to our community and everything to detract from it? You are sounding like a troll Kristy.
Speak for yourself not everyone wants the parks turning into tent cities with drug use, trash and crime. The homeless should be smart enough to know if they don’t want to get swept don’t pitch your tent in the parks.
The half of Capitol Hill / D3 that’s not a card-carrying DSA member does, in fact, want more sweeps. And not only sweeps, but actual law enforcement doing it’s actual job and putting the drug addicts breaking laws into custody where they belong.
Progressive – Socialist crime enablement is why the problem even got started in the first place.
And now a whole new batch of voters has completely forgotten how bad things got in 2020-2021, and is about to elect another slate of Progressive – Socialists, who will predictably waste money making problems worse. That’s kind of their core competency.
People are tired of the gaslighting Jeff.
Then stop doing it, Matt
And you Kristy.
Tiny house villages have been a failure. Most would agree.
How can a house over someone’s head be a failure. Joke response.
Because no one (including the homeless) actually want to live in them.
Crazy idea how about we arrest those breaking the law in this park while leaving it open for law abiding citizens to enjoy?
Good. Keep sweeping and keep capitol hill tent free.
Thanks to all who do something to keep our streets safe from dangerous drug addicts and those who need significant mental health who should be in a facility using involuntary commitment laws.
This has to stop.
Alternative is the trump govt parading the military on the us soil
No
Seattle “progressives” are the most naive “progressives”
And the conservative centrists are demons
I’m willing to bet the majority of people who want safe and clean streets in this city are still Democrats, you sound really naive at best and a citizen in need of involuntary mental health at worst
Yes
first of all, you know the sweeps do nothing but push the camps around the neighborhood right? they leave this park and go to tashkent or broadway. then they get swept from there and go back to seven hills. it’s been happening for YEARS.
second, what “facility” are you talking about that can handle thousands of involuntary commitments? What court is free to handle that process? Again, there is a reality you are not engaging with. There are not enough beds, not enough MHPs (mental health professionals), not enough judges, prosecutors and defenders, not enough room in the jail to hold them while their case is being considered.
The problem is not that there is no system, it is that the system is overburdened and under-resourced.
The problem is that this city needs to bus drug vagrants back to where they came from and institute a camping ban and drug enforcement so they never come here in the first place. Harm reduction and other progressive policies created this problem
Truth to what you say. We need to provide those facilities and services. Tax me for this. But allowing open continual drug use and encampments in the parks? No. Our policies have drawn homeless from all over the country. Let’s stop that.
Where do you get that?
“Our policies have drawn homeless from all over the country.”
It’s the same as Trump immigration garbage. Where’d that come from?
Under resourced? Billions have been spent with no oversight
things are under-resourced. funds have been mismanaged and misappropriated.
THIS IS RIDICULOUS! POOPNG IN PARK, NEEDLES, THEIFT IS ILLEGAL. ENFORCE THE LAW! ALLOWING PEOPLE TO DIE IN THE STREET IS NOT PROGESSIVE, IT IS TRYING FOR STATISTICS FOR FUNDING AND TAX INCREASES AT THE EXPENSE OF EVERYONE.
Do you feel better using all caps or was the key just stuck on or something?
It’s not as bad as it was in 2020/2021, but I think we’re at a point where we need daily park attendants (or something) to ensure that these parks remain open for their designated use.
Broadway Hill Park had a lovely honeymoon period right after it first opened. Now, I’m guessing adjacent residents would prefer no park at all to the current dynamic. Drug users and/or homeless folks get more indefinite use out of it than the average person who just wants to read a book in some green space!
“Attention on the space included We Heart Seattle and anti-encampment activist Andrea Suarez providing “outreach” at the site.”
Why the ” ” marks around the word outreach? That implies that Andrea is not doing real outreach. In fact, she is one of the few NGO workers who are actually making a difference on our streets/parks, by trying on a 1:1 basis to get homeless people to accept help, and by conducting regular cleanups of all the trash in the encampments. She deserves more respect than you are giving her.
Andrea is a plague on Seattle and is a complete fascist
I think you are confusing Andrea with Trump. She helps the homeless do you?
She helps nothing
No she doesn’t. She harasses them and performatively calls it help.
Andrea Suarez and We Heart Seattle has actually helped people get off drugs and out of tents and into apartments.
The Mutual Aid crowd, which you sound like you’re a part of, enables drug addiction and death.
Andrea Suarez is a garbage person pretending to be altruistic.
There you go with that naive Seattle “progressive” talk again
Bruce Harrell (followed by D3 puppy Hollingsworth) has pursued the most irresponsible, anti-community policies the city has ever seen when it comes to encampments, public drug use, and public intoxication. Unfortunately, it will be more of the same with Katie Wilson. Our poor Hill!
I just love the comments here, the residents of Capitol Hill hold views that are so abhorrent it’s, well, it’s amazing.
Really a service this blog does in showing the fantastically offensive views of so many of our neighbors.
No wonder we become saddled with mayors like Harrell.
All of you, each and every one of you incoherent, crypto-conservative fools prattling on about “failed progressive policies” and whatever else the agitprop you consume tells you, are utter disgraces. Abhorrent. Despicable.
I always make sure to vote for every progressive on the ballot in the hopes of countering your awful views and the politicians who represent them.
So when you all vote against Wilson know that my vote for her is, in essence, negating yours.
All of you far left progressives who champion letting the homeless rot in the streets addicted and mentally ill because you want to give them their autonomy and sweeps are cruel. How is that helping them, letting them die from overdoses? And if you think Katie Wilson is going to fix everything and be the white knight in shining armor that accomplishes everything a progressive far left voter could wish for, well you are living in a fantasy world. If you think people who are not Wil;son voters are so awful I would hate to see you have to live in Idaho or somewhere out of your Seattle safe space.
“failed progressive policies”
Please do point out a successful one. Bonus points if you can point out three successful ones.
Are you serious?
Minimum wage
Overtime pay
Weekends
Worker safety laws
Prohibition of child labor
Social security
Medicare
Medicaid
Disability
Unemployment insurance
Civil rights
Women’s suffrage
Reproductive rights
Clean water and clean air acts
Progressive taxation
Anti-trust legislation
Food inspection
Consumer product safety
Limiting corporate influence over elections
Merit based public employment
Public education
How many bonus points do I get?
Focus local maybe?
Successful progressive policies are often assumed to have always existed (i.e. weekends) rather than hard fought victories by progressive activists. For local successes, Seattle has guaranteed sick leave, a minimum wage that adjusts with inflation, minimum wage for gig workers, free youth transit passes, and the Jumpstart tax (even if the current non-progressives in charge of the city siphoned money away from the tax’ original progressive intentions of building affordable housing).
Thanks. Way better than DD15 reply.
Is it a requirement that all progressive residents of Capitol Hill be 100% aligned on views in order to pass the Capitol Hill Progressive Purity test?
I’m not a ‘cryto-conservative fool’. I’ve voted for progressive candidates who have implemented and enacted progressive policies in this city. However, some of those policies haven’t been successful and I’m willing to admit that they have failed instead of just thinking “hey. let’s try it again but with more money and resources which will be diverted from other critical functions”.
You do you and keep on being the irritated neighbor because the general consensus is pragmatism is going to eventually rule the day. Some of us are done watching half naked people pee and poop at bus stops (witnessed just yesterday at MLK and Spring, person waving at passing cars while doing the business).
I agree with you but not enough people are tired of this crap. Katie Wilson our next mayor.
Math and civics not your strong suits much? Firstly, mathematically your vote cannot ‘negate’ any more or less than one of the people here who have no interest in voting for her, in essence or in reality – unless you are claiming to be able to vote multiple times, which I doubt. Secondly voting is how elections work.. the person who gets the most votes will win, whether or not you voted for that person. Knowing ahead of time that someone will vote differently than I will, which will surely happen every election, changes nothing, not my intention to vote or that, cast for the winner or loser, that each vote still counts and is still an expression of the individual’s desires for their leadership.
A homeless vagrant is not an irritated neighbor make
So the temporary solution is to close the park to everyone rather than trespassing those not using it as intended (ie NOT your “home” or a place to camp)?
Also, if they are breaking any rules/laws check for warrants as well.
Where are homeless supposed to camp instead?
They are not supposed to camp! People who are trully homeless work with social workers at DSHS and non-profits to get subsidies, medical, food assistance, assistance finding employment and housing. I work in this system and know that it works. The problem are addicts who don’t want help, they want to continue to use, steal and assault until they die. We don’t want this happening on our door steps. The only way to get them into treatment is to make it uncomfortable for them to continue what they are doing and not provide them with places to camp. That will eventually save their lives. Read today’s article in NYT.
Nowhere.
At your place! If you don’t have ayard, don’t worry, they can camp in your livingroom!
The pacific Ocean other perhaps more appropriately, the landfill for all I care.
this actually angers the “stop the sweeps” folks
I would humbly remind everyone that if Katie “Stop the Sweeps” Wilson is elected, we will likely return to 2020-2021’s full park encampments all over Capitol Hill, with drug use and crime remaining at all-time highs, while the homeless-industrial complex grifts still more money from our already overspent tax resources.
Your article does not address the significant decline Seven Hills Park has experienced over the past five years. The park has become a gathering place for individuals dealing with mental health crises, substance abuse, and criminal activities, creating serious safety concerns for our residential neighborhood.
The park area now regularly experiences drug dealing and use, excessive littering, property damage, intimidating behavior, sex trafficking, vehicle theft, and gun violence. These issues have resulted in at least two overdose deaths and one fatal assault, along with numerous threatening incidents that have fundamentally altered our neighborhood’s character.
The situation escalates rapidly—temporary encampments can grow from one to ten structures within days. Seven Hills Park’s location between two 7-Eleven stores and several halfway houses makes it particularly attractive for drug sales and exploitation of vulnerable individuals.
Current conditions have rendered the park unusable for families. All grills have been removed after being used to cook drugs and burn materials. Children and elderly residents in our community, which includes two preschools and senior housing, have been particularly affected by these deteriorating conditions.
As a senior resident living directly across from the park, I joined our neighborhood watch group in response to escalating safety concerns. I have personally been attacked, removed an intruder from my bedroom window, and defended a neighbor when someone under the influence stripped naked and threw rocks at their home. My neighbors’ five-year-old child has been traumatized by ongoing criminal activity that has affected our sense of security.
The city’s approach of periodic sweeps provides only temporary relief, as displaced individuals simply relocate before returning once park services leave.
While a fence is not a comprehensive solution to these complex social issues, it provides necessary time for reflection and assessment while interrupting the continuing cycle of abuse and immediately improving neighborhood safety.
Thanks for this.
Thanks for bringing these to our attention. Please e-mail this to CW Hollingsworth, CW Nelson, Mayor Harrell and maybe the local media.
I was there Either Aug 15, 16 ish and went tent to tent engaging with everyone offering candy paydays and my card with a focus on anyone who was ready for treatment. Several people were interested and took my card and thanked me for coming out. Lots of codependency (couples, pets, groups ) traveling as a group from sweep to sweep. Mostly they came from the prior cal anderson sweep. Everyone is in deep addition. One man told me / woman told me he has a tiny house but it’s “too far” and admitted he needs to be in town to “lick” new term for stealing all day and have access to the black markets where he trades stolen items for cash to support his addiction. He told me they stayed in the tiny house the night before but still kept the tent at the park or operate out of. There were several who had tiny homes and “had not moved in yet”. Lots of familiar faces some cranky some open to speak out and give insights to the situation. One man Tony the “lead” said that the pathway out for these people is to crack down harder on the dealers (longer jail time) and simply make it harder to get high and be stuck in the cycle of addition. I did report my outreach efforts to Joy and Choe also was there doing some documenting which can be found on X.
thank you for sharing this perspective
Boots on the ground :)
Andrea: Thank you SO much for the work that you do!!
You are welcome! We just got a call from Tony this evening and he asked me to arrange detox and long term treatment ! We don’t have “office hours”
Thank you. On tiny houses, are they helpful or not? They seemed like a good idea to me but both homeless
services and, in your comment, the homeless folks themselves are not fans?
LIHI just kicked 17 people out of the interbay village for not engaging with case management. It’s just a revolving door for most. We need intervention for the remaining folks suffering in deep addiction and untreated mental illness. They can stabilize in a facility like fairfax, ITUHA, Providence, Lakeside Milam, Valley Cities, Allola, Smokey Point, Hope and Chance and the list goes on….. THEN housing. For this population in the wackamole cycle of sweeps-
The problem with tiny houses, or any “housing first” model, is that they do not provide any effective addiction/mental health services, so these problems continue, untreated.
We do not ask for this so stop doing it
Don’t presume to speak for anyone but yourself Kristy.
Keep up your good work Andrea.
That sounds very entitled, Kristy G.
Broken record… You add nothing to the discussion.
You don’t speak for me. I applaud what Andrea has been doing.
Thank you for everything that you’ve been doing for this county over the last 5 years.
Why dont the police arrest people committing crimes in the parks instead of fencing off the park for everyone?
Because they are largely misdemeanor crimes and they will be out in a few days max.
Possessing fentanyl with intent to deliver is a felony in washington, but simple possession is a state misdemeanor. Regardless of what happens after arrest, why arent those committing crimes arrested to begin with? POC get arrested for much less, so why are people smoking opiates held to a different set of laws?
Why are people so obtuse about this? It costs 220k a year per person to jail them in Seattle. That’s mainly why.
That’s what there is drug court … you get arrested then get an ankle monitor and you stay in court ordered treatment and recovery housing which can be very therapeutic—- nobody wants people to be jailed … but it’s jail or treatment ——
this should be the way
Seattle has spent $1 Billion of taxpayer dollars on solving homelessness in the last 10 years but with not much success. Why cant some of that money go towards the expensive costs of jail?
because DESC, LIHI, and KCRHA want that money and then more…
Ask Deputy Tiffany Washington that —- she is a part of the problem blocking SPD or influencing the stand down for officers to arrest for loitering and vandalism in parks.
I live right by this park, and closing it down helps no one. We need to do something to help people on the street, for sure, but sweeps aren’t it. 1. They don’t work, as evidenced by new encampments sprouting up. 2. During sweeps, people living in the parks often lose meds, documents, or other necessities for their life. This makes it harder to get off the street and into housing, but I guess if you don’t have to look at them, huh? 3. They don’t give people a better place to stay.
At this point I wish the city would just build some low income housing on the lot or something.
I think there’s room for reasonable people to have differences of opinion on whether homelessness can be fixed purely by adding more housing, public restrooms, and supportive services, or whether people need to be forced to seek treatment, but sweeps are just the dumbest. Cruel without fixing the problem.
I am all for forcing the fentanyl flowers into treatment. Get them off the streets, somewhere without access to drugs, give them counseling, and a chance of getting clean. The progs will say “but you cannot do that, they have the right to make their own choices”, or something about self-determination or body autonomy. The fact of the matter is that people in the throes of addiction do not have self-determination, or any autonomy for that matter. Their addiction is calling the shots, making the decisions.
Well that’s fascism and that starts and ends with “force”
Yada yada yada. You do go on.
They are so far beyond “making their own choices.” Their drugs make their choices.
Correct
We shouldn’t allow our public parks to be overrun with activity that prevents other people from enjoying them. (with of course the caveat that some parks can have a more more narrow specialized use: nude beaches, soccer fields, dog parks, etc).
We also shouldn’t just push people around playing a cruel game whack-a-mole with big societal issues and pat ourselves on the back.
Reject the notion that we can’t solve big challenges, or that the only way to do it is through cruelty or pretending it’s not a problem.
Maybe if you don’t want to live in a city and deal with everything that entails then you shouldn’t live in a city. Stop trying to turn everywhere into suburbia, not everything needs to be clean and family friendly all the time. Life is not and never will be the perfect spotless yuppie paradise that you crave. If you want peace and quiet and absolute safety and you don’t want to have look at poor people move to a suburb,
Stop the gaslighting already- living in a city absolutely does not mean having to deal with constant filth, crime and the destruction of public spaces. This is not normal, never has been normal, particularly not here and should never become normal. Poor people do not equal addicts living in the park and it’s an insult to suggest it.
Oh Jesus. The same old shit. Life in the big city? Did you come from nowhere and now this seems kind of exciting? Most of us are just trying to live here without open drug use, the fentanyl fold, and constant theft.
I guess we found the King of the EdgeLords here, Sir Dirty Hippie. Parties all night and sleeps all day, and just loves the trash and filth. Throwing his Big Mama pizza paper plate in the gutter every night cements control over his domain. Winter is coming, and there’s no avoiding the zombies, so if you can’t deal, he orders you to go live in the suburbs.
TIL a “clean” city is something to disdain. I’m sure Daniel Burnham is spinning in his grave at such odd revelations.
I agree with you but do not diss Big Mama pizza. Mmmm–mmmm!
It’s not that it’s more taxation without representation, we pay for the use of parks, clean streets, safety, what do you and yours pay or put back into your city? Besides nihilistic behavior?
Sweeps don’t solve problems. They just push people around. Everyone acknowledges the homelessness crisis and knows it isn’t improving. We’ve been pushing sweeps for years without results. That means we need to take a new approach. Something that focuses on getting people off the streets altogether. We need more shelters desperately. Shelter beds have decreased over the past few years, while the unhoused population only rises.
I agree with you on your major points but sweeps make Seattle less welcoming to the transient drug crowd so I think we should continue. Even more importantly hard hit on big drug dealers, who seem to have gone unchecked for years.
Hey Andrea when we rejected your candidacy on the ballot that meant “we don’t want you here.” Stop coming to our neighborhood for your photo ops in the guise of helping people. I know you’re going to read this comment because you’re a petty narcissist. Go to therapy.
You, are so NOT helping the situation or contributing to the conversation, other than congratulate your navel and promote a sense of helplessness. Think before you speak, or maybe just be a better person.
The only people that I see hating her are those from “stop the sweeps” and people who were/are staffed with LIHI, DESC, and KCRHA. Which of these best describe you?
Also, Andrea has done more with regards to helping neighborhoods address vagrant drug addicts since the pandemic than the orgs who’ve been abusing tax payer dollars.
I am constantly told that ‘affordability’ is the issue. If that is true, then the homeless do not belong here. They belong in a more affordable city, and must be sent there; immediately and permanently.
The only way that this is an affordability issue is that it is actually true that unlike 30 years ago, it’s no longer possible for a bunch of addicts to manage to collectively scrape enough together each month to rent a squat in a crappy building anymore and vacant buildings that no one cares if move into after you sink even lower are pretty much non existent. That doesn’t make it not a substance abuse problem first and foremost…
and yes, we are all aware that not all ‘homeless’ people are substance abusers – that it encompasses a wide variety of people who for some reason or another don’t currently have a fixed address- but the ones we all know we are talking about – the chronically unsheltered really are – at a rate of about 90% suffering from substance abuse, uncontrolled mental health issues or both.
The city needs to make being homeless as difficult and annoying as possible for these vagrants. And no, I’m not talking about the homeless who are legitimately down on their luck and who need and actually want help and to better their situation. I’m talking about the druggie vagrants who don’t want help, don’t want to better their situation,and want to be allowed to camp and lounge and shoot up wherever they please.
We need constant sweeps of these vagrants. Never let them have a moment of peace and keep them constantly on the move. Don’t let encampments get setup. Tear them down asap. For people who use drugs in public and refuse services, arrest their asses and force them into treatment. For those who came here from other parts, send their asses on a one way bus or train ticket to back where they came from so their hometowns or family can deal with them. The citizens and taxpayers of Seattle and WA state should not have to spend our tax money on problems sent to us from elsewhere.
It needs to be as annoying and difficult as possible to be a homeless druggie in Seattle so maybe some of them will just pack up and leave. For those who are continually contacted by outreach teams and who constantly refuse services, arrest them for trespassing in our public space and doing drugs in public.
We are spending way too much money on offering service to these scumbags, along with all the resources we are wasting by constantly cleaning up their messes, and enough is enough.
These people have no interest in participating in society and being a law abiding citizen, and so it’s time they are dealt with.
well said
There is a large, filthy homeless camp at Federal Ave E & E Mercer (across from Lowell Elementary) which has been there since May. There are often several, passed out drug addicts there. In spite of multiple FiFi reports, it is still there and growing. I have been told that it will be swept in the next 1-2 weeks, but why has it taken this long? The “Unified Care Team” has some kind of “matrix” which prioritizes camps for removal, but it’s difficult to understand why this camp has not been prioritized and swept weeks ago. I think the “matrix” needs to be improved.
Anyone want to bet that upgrades won’t include proper and adequate restrooms and recycling/garbage/compost bins?
Our electeds and many of their (our) city departments are so clueless on many basic but meaningful quality-of-life solutions.
It’s a less than one square block neighborhood green space, not a big destination park or sports fields…. it really doesn’t need restrooms or compost bins… (though I’m sure the pea patch adjacent already has one)