Perhaps realizing what a public relations nightmare it would have been, city officials did not execute a midnight eviction of a homeless encampment at 1010 South Dearborn Street over the weekend, as some residents of the camp had feared.
Residents at the camp, formerly known as Nickelsville, recently severed ties with the nonprofit organization Nickelsville and its organizer Scott Morrow, resulting in a loss of permission to stay on the private land where they're currently camped. The result: Residents received a notice that as of Saturday at 12:01 a.m., they'd be trespassing on the lot.
In response, residents and local activists hunkered down Friday night, prepared to "occupy" the spot. But police did not force them off the land. That could change by the end of this week.
City sources say case workers will first attempt to find people living in the encampment spots in shelters or other encampments before clearing the site and returning it to its private owner. Outreach is expected to begin early this week, meaning a "cleanup" could occur by the end of this week or early next week. If residents refuse to leave, they could be arrested for trespassing. The mayor's office and police department are not yet offering a specific timeline for the clearing. (The camp posted on its Facebook page around 11:30 on Friday night that 25 cops were "parked around the corner"; a Seattle Police Department spokesperson told me only, "I'm not sure that's accurate.")
The camp had been overseen by the nonprofit Nickelsville and the Low Income Housing Institute. The Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd had an agreement with the private landowner to allow the camp to exist. (This is a different process than the city-sanctioned encampments, which are explicitly permitted and supported by the city.) When residents cut ties with Nickelsville, they also lost support from LIHI and the church. Then, the property owner, church, and LIHI sent a letter to the mayor and city council Friday urging them to clear the lot.
In a statement, mayoral spokesperson Viet Shelton said the mayor is "deeply concerned and troubled" by reports from LIHI about alleged drug use in the camp and is "committed to working with [LIHI] to provide assistance, outreach and services to those who will take it. The city will then determine what next steps are necessary to restore the property to the owner.”
(UPDATE: In an email to the mayor and city council, David Delgado, an organizer who was fired by Scott Morrow but has since been voted back into a leadership role by the residents at the Dearborn camp, disputes LIHI's claims about drug use and violence in the camp. "I can assure you the encampment is still following a zero tolerance policy for drugs, alcohol, and violence within the camp," Delgado writes.)
The ordeal underscores the complexities of the "self-governance" model tent encampments follow, in which residents vote on some decisions, but are still at the mercy of the nonprofits that oversee them and help pay the bills. This has come up before, including a 2013 controversy over requirements that encampment residents participate in political meetings and protests or face being kicked out. The camp also voted to cut ties with Morrow around this time last year, but then reinstated him.
On Thursday, the city issued a permit for a new tent encampment in Othello, where some residents from Dearborn may be able to move. But that camp will be run by LIHI, one of the organizations Dearborn residents severed ties with, meaning some of those residents may hesitate to go there.
Instead, residents hope to find another nonprofit to negotiate a new deal with the property owner and oversee their camp so they'll be allowed to stay on site. The question now is whether they can secure an organization and a new agreement in time. In the meantime, residents say they're in need of food, water, dog food, and gasoline.
