Comments

1

"Now these people are going to get dispersed all over the city again. It makes no sense."

Actually it does. It makes a lot of sense.

2

He said he'd arrived in Seattle "recently"

I thought this didn’t happen? Amazon drove up his rent right?

3

None of the comments included in the article do anything to make the case that this should be allowed to continue and once the navigation team is dissolved per the council's directive having police go in and clear these camps will be the norm.

4

It is time for the “protestors” to go back to live in mommy and daddy’s basement in Alaska and Tacoma and that the park is returned to the residents of Seattle.

5

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WfOAJHhmxTA

Nach Nagalas

6

If the city stops clearing up encampments in public parks as a matter of policy, it doesn't take long before public parks become tent cities. Sorry if you wanted to walk your dog or push your kid on the swings or play soccer. No more public parks for you! The soccer field is somebody's house now.

Portland tried this idea a few years back, where they allowed overnight camping on sidewalks and other public rights of way, while curtailing enforcement of camping laws at other times. The result was permanent tent cities in public spaces. Eventually residents started suing the city over their failure to enforce the law.

It sounds like a compassionate approach until you think it through. There are no shortcuts here -- the answer to the problem of houselessness is to house people. Looking the other way while people squat in public spaces is not a long-term solution. We know this because it has been repeatedly tried and always leads to the same outcome.

7

Rich, no offense, but not sure your 'reporting' adds any value whatsoever. You'd be better off in Portland. Those people would value the words you get paid to write.

11

Repeat daily and arrest the trespassing vandals that are destroying the neighborhood, undermining the BLM movement, and shifting the country to the right. Are they on the payroll of the Trump campaign or just pathetically stupid?

12

'Rodney.... said he'd arrived in Seattle "recently" and didn't have anywhere else to go."

So if we are to take him at his word, there is literally no place else in the country for Rodney to go. But of course, with the exception of Seattle. We'll leave the light on for you!

14

Kinda weird that nobody seems to be able to articulate what those facilities will be used for now that we've done away with that abominable renegade "giving succor to the afflicted" atrocity.

Surely someone can describe the shining beacon that can now be built in the absence of such horrors?

15

@14: It will be used by people using the park as a park, not living in the park using it as a residence.

The afflicted can get the succor at designated homeless facilities.

17

It was used as a community meeting room. It could be reimagined as a cafe incubator space. It should be a safe clean park for everyone. There is a well run soup kitchen across the street. The “protestors” are using the homeless service issue as cover so they can continue their CHOP delusion, do drugs, and feel like their pathetic lives have meaning. Talk about white privilege! Most aren’t from the neighborhood or even Seattle and never had a connection to Cal Anderson Park.

19

@14: Under Mayor Durkan, Seattle has increased the amount it spends on homeless services, exceeding $100M for the first time. (https://mynorthwest.com/1615977/seattle-city-council-budget-2020/?) The tiny operation these "protesters" were illegally running from our public property pales to nothing by comparison. Plus, if you read the article, you'll see this illegal operation was actually attracting homeless persons to the park, exacerbating the very problem the operation was supposedly attending.

Every illegal encampment needs to be swept, every time. Each one is a public health hazard, and we're now in the middle of a global pandemic. There's simply no good reason to surrender our public parks and amenities to exacerbate a public-health problem, especially when we're spending nine figures on helping the homeless.

22

A few questions for "Rodney" - when did you get here? Where did you come from? What services was your home community failing to provide? What was you plan for supporting yourself here?

I am not opposed to helping out our homeless population but part of the solution HAS to be other locales stepping up and doing their part. If people are coming to Seattle because it is the only place they can get services, then we will never get this problem fixed, because we'll attract a continuous flow of homeless here. No one city can or should take up the slack for everyplace else.

23

@2: "I thought this didn’t happen? Amazon drove up his rent right?"

That particular one of the The Stranger's fictional narratives has been under such brutal and persistent assault from reality, for such a long time, that it's finally begun showing a few cracks.


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