- Joe Mabel, Wikipedia
- Tom Douglas in front of Dahlia Bakery during a pre-Thanksgiving food giveaway event
SHARE decided to sell wieners at the park every time Douglas sold his $12-a-plate salmon. âWe want to exercise our free speech rights and raise money toward building shelters,â says Beatrice Friberg of SHARE. âTom Douglas wants to sell salmon and spend the profits on securityâthat is, chasing poor people out. We believe that the only safety issue in this is that of those homeless people who do not have a safe shelter to go to at night.â Calls to Douglasâs corporate office for comment were not returned immediately.
Friberg says that SHARE was denied a permit for a wiener sale twice from the Seattle Parks and Recreation Department. âTheir reason to deny us a permit the first time was that we did not put down an exact date and instead wrote âwhenever Tom Douglas holds a salmon bake,â" she says.
Parks and Recreation spokesperson Joelle Hammerstad says that SHAREâs permit was denied a second time because the department doesnât issue two permits for the same park for the same day. âThey [SHARE] said they want to do events on the same day as Tom Douglas, and then Tom Douglas chose a date,â Hammerstad says. âHe filed an application to serve some food on August 28, and we canât have another event on that date.â Hammerstad says that SHARE is welcome to be there during the Salmon bake. âThe park is open to everyone, no one is excluded from being in the park,â she says. âThey can always file a request for a permit for another dayâwe canât give them a carte blanche yes, but we can review their request.â
SHARE says this is just another example of how the city treats its homeless population. âWe will not be able to exercise our right to free speech whenever Mr Douglas exercises his,â Friberg says. âIt seems that the line between rich and poor has been drawn and that once again, the haves will prevail over the have nots.â
Friberg says that the homeless population was becoming more and more âinvisibleâ in the city. âMayor McGinn has not met with SHARE six months after taking office despite hundreds of petitions and numerous requests,â Friberg says. âWe want to know why.â Aaron Pickus, spokesperson for Mayor Mike McGinnâs office, could not confirm SHARE's story and says he will look into the matter.