The city continues to conduct smaller sweeps and camp clearances around Seattle including a scheduled “remediation” Friday on Nagle Place west of Cal Anderson.
Notices went up about the planned clearance of a few tents near the park earlier this week. The typical City of Seattle process includes placing outreach workers in the area in the days running up to announced clearances to inform encampment residents of shelter and service options. Continue reading
An I-5 camp (Image: City of Seattle)
Local officials say a program to fund removal of encampments from state property along I-5 has successfully cleared three camps in Seattle including one near the base of Capitol Hill at the Olive Way onramp to I-5.
The King County Regional Homelessness Authority announced the latest “successful encampment resolution this week under Gov. Jay Inslee’s Right of Way Safety Initiative and its $144 million in statewide funding for the removals along the busy freeway up and down the state. The KCRHA says the state has already provided $13.8 million in funds for “the first round of encampment work in King County.”
The latest clearance under the program moved 75 people “previously living unsheltered” at I-5 and Dearborn to “shelter, lodging, inpatient treatment, and housing resources,” the KCRHA said, touting its “intensive six-week” process to provide outreach and clear the camp. Continue reading
UPDATE 6:45 PM: A crowd awaited the park tour but the mayor’s office was a no show. We’re checking in to find out more about the situation.
Neighbors credit KOMO reporting with getting the mayor’s attention
Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell’s director of public safety will be among officials joining area residents Friday night for a tour of Seven Hills Park as the city says it is preparing for a “scheduled removal” of tents, belongings, and accumulated refuse from the park atop Capitol Hill.
“The Harrell administration is committed to meeting with communities across the city to learn firsthand about the issues facing Seattle neighborhoods,” mayor’s office spokesperson Jamie Housen tells CHS but did not offer more information on the timing of the tour.
UPDATE 6:45 PM: There was no tour — or, at least, none that CHS or the crowds that assembled at the park around 5:30 PM saw. We’re asking Housen for more information.
A Seattle Parks spokesperson confirmed that a clearance is being planned and said city outreach workers will be increasing their efforts around the park before any sweep. Continue reading
Thanks to a CHS reader for the picture
Tashkent Park is the latest public space around Capitol Hill to cleared of encampments as city officials say they are ramping up clearance efforts as COVID-19 restrictions lift.
Notice of the planned July 1st sweep of the Boylston Ave E location was posted by Seattle Parks last week. We have not received details from the city about how many individuals were camping in the park and if any accepted referral to shelter or services.
In recent sweeps like early June’s clearance of Williams Place Park, the parks department has said public safety concerns and maintenance needs have required the encampments to be cleared.
As with previous clearances, Tashkent Park was closed to the public for maintenance and clean-up following the effort. According to the notice, belongings were not slated to be stored as in past camp clearances. We’ve asked the city for more details. UPDATE: A parks representative said outreach staff “reported that those who were residing onsite opted to take their belongings that they wanted as they moved into shelter.” The rep said the HOPE team visited the park and “indicated that those who were residing at this park said that the remaining belongings were no longer wanted.”
During the months of pandemic, Seattle officials said they were operating under federal CDC guidelines in allowing the camps to form. Continue reading
City crews are at work in Capitol Hill’s tiny Broadway Hill Park after Wednesday morning’s deadline for removing personal property from the public greenspace.
Seattle Parks and the Human Services Department say two people living in the park were referred to shelter at the Executive Hotel Pacific, one of the city-leased in a “shelter surge” effort to move more people out of camps as COVID-19 slows. One of the referrals came Wednesday morning, the city says, while five others “voluntarily relocated out of the park.” Continue reading
So not only did we just get kicked out of cal, they want us out of our new space too. I really can’t catch a fucking break can I? Fuck you “City of Seattle” I’m not doing this shit again y’all just gone have to kill me. pic.twitter.com/2Qq1GgADUh
— zi (@zion_1312) January 7, 2021
Seattle Parks says notices left with homeless campers at Capitol Hill’s Miller Playfield apply to only a portion of the city property and aren’t part of a full sweep of the encampments.
The notices left at encampment sites on the north lawn area require the area to be cleared by January 11th. Continue reading
(Images: Alex Garland for CHS)
Two years ago, Seattle declared a state of emergency for homelessness and plans to boost spending to address the issue by a few million dollars. To mark this declaration and stop homeless sweeps, activists slept overnight in Seattle City Hall and on the plaza after they gave over 100 testimonies against so-called “sweeps” before peacefully wrapping up their camps Thursday morning.
“As many times as I’ve stood up here since June, I’ve stood at homeless camps with friends,” Travis Thompson said, addressing a Seattle City Council budget hearing Wednesday night as the sleep-in got underway. He described what happens when police come in to remove the homeless. “What little stability you have is ruined and we put them closer to death by doing that … This needs to happen right now, people are dying!”
Massive line for public comment at #stopthesweeps city council meeting. @jseattle pic.twitter.com/hhoWm04OD6
— Alex Garland (@AGarlandPhoto) November 1, 2017
At Wednesday night’s budget hearing, both Stop The Sweeps and pro-sweeps group Speak Out Seattle offered ample testimony while people filled the overflow room and rallied outside. As it got dark, others downstairs played in a makeshift band with its own tap dancer. Some said it reminded them of the Occupy movement. People slept in tents, gathered supplies, and huddled around a few heating lamps. Continue reading
