No Word from the City about Nickelsville…

We sent a letter to the Mayor and members of the City Council on April 2 requesting a move out date for Nickelsville, it can be found here. We asked that they give us a date by May 13th (today) to give the residents a month’s time to move out by June 13th. To date we have not heard back from anyone other than Councilman Conlin, who said:

Thank you for the message. I appreciate the concerns and problems that you face, and think your suggested remedy makes sense. Encampments are inherently unstable and are not part of getting people back into housing and full participation in the community.
We contacted the mayor’s office last week to request a meeting as a last ditch effort, and he couldn’t fit us in until May 22nd. We replied to the Mayor’s office, with a reminder that the ball is in his court to act at this point, and that we are not waiting for legislative action from City Council any longer. The Mayor has donated thousands of dollars in materials and rat abatement, and has been ignoring the neighborhood pleas for city action. We asked again that he be brave enough politically to stand up for our neighborhood and say no- that one cannot squat illegally on public land anymore, that it is too much to ask of our neighborhoods without due process and public comment. Giving the encampment a move out date is the Mayor’s job, and we are meeting with him on May 22nd  to make sure that he understands that, and to make sure he knows that the neighborhood is serious when we ask for a move out date. If he chooses to continue to ignore this, he will have a difficult time getting through the political season coming up without having to address his non-action. As we stated in our April 2nd letter, we will be taking steps to pursue legal action at this point.
The Real Change Newspaper’s Rosette Royale has just written a great article on the current inaction / stand still, it can be found here.

Nickelsville raised at Super South Seattle Mayor’s Forum

Quoted from the West Seattle Blog report on the event: Should we move Nickelsville, and where? Bruce Harrell is asked first, and he says, “yes.” He says people shouldn’t be living with rats and no water hookups, “we can do better than that.” He has no specific location in mind. Peter Steinbrueck says, “We should not have to endure Nickelsville in the first place … no neighborhood should endure indefinitely those kind of conditions, nor should the people who seek shelter have to endure those kinds of conditions.” Mike McGinn answers next and says it’s a “problem” that people prefer that situation to shelters. “I think we’re going to have to find a way to (change the situation) but I need the City Council to step up, and they haven’t.” (Some in the room boo that answer.)

Rainwise for Highland Park!

The voluntary incentive program, RainWise, is up and running in Highland Park!  RainWise provides up to 100% of the cost of a cistern or rain garden for eligible residents.  To learn more about the program and find out if you’re eligible, visit www.rainwise.seattle.gov.

The Gathering of Neighbors event at Chief Sealth International High School on May 4 will feature RainWise contractors.  This is an excellent opportunity to talk with trained rain garden and cistern installers, look at designs, and get ideas for what you can do on your property.

Also, there will be an event at HPIC on Saturday, June 1st from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. that will feature both RainWise contractors and a walking tour of sustainable yards in the neighborhood and other resources. There will be a poster with more info coming out shortly.

If you have any questions, feel free to call or email  Jo Sullivan,  jo.sullivan@kingcounty.gov, 206-296-8361

April Meeting Agenda

April 24th at the Highland Park Improvement Club on 12th and Holden, we’ll be discussing living with wildilife in the city with a Wildlife Biologist from the USDA. It’s a cool presentation complete with animal pelts and everything- bring your questions. We’ll also hear from Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, who would like to hear from us too:

The Duwamish, Seattle’s only river, has been declared by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a Superfund Site, one of the most hazardous waste sites in the nation, and its health and future is at a critical moment.  On February 28, 2013 the EPA released its proposed cleanup plan for the Duwamish River.  The affected communities and residents of Seattle now have 3 months to provide their comments, input and concerns. This will be our only opportunity to ensure a cleanup that is environmentally sound, socially equitable, and provides A River for All: you, residents of the area, Tribal and subsistence fishermen, fish, wildlife, business and industry. All of us will be affected by how well the EPA cleans up our river. 

Grant Updates

We just found out today that two grants that we put forth for the Neighborhood Park and Street Fund have been selected to move on to the next round of review and feasibility studies! Final award recommendations won’t be made until August, so we’ll have to keep our fingers crossed until then- but this is a hopeful and necessary first step. One proposal is for improved pedestrian access to the new Spraypark under construction now at Highland Park Playground. We proposed better connections north to Thistle, and East to Cloverdale. The second proposal is for an improved pedestrian connection to the Dog Park at Westcrest along Cloverdale, bringing pedestrians into the park where the new sidewalk will end around 7th ave. From here, we proposed a trail or trail stair that leads down to the dogpark, bringing people off the street and blind hill which has been a safety concerns of neighbors there for years. Hopefully Parks will see the need for these two projects to be implemented- thank you for your continued support and ideas.

A third grant, through the Neighborhood Street Funds, was selected to move forward in January, and we won’t hear anything more about until July or August. This one is for traffic and pedestrian improvements at the Highland Park Drive / Holden intersection. The entire intersection is oversized and amorphous: it is difficult for drivers to see oncoming traffic coming up the hill, to see where cars are meant to travel, where people are meant to cross, and which way to look for traffic before pulling out onto Highland Park Drive. The Holden/Highland Park Drive intersection is a notoriously frustrating intersection for people commuting out of West Seattle. It is so frustrating for some, that they cut through the neighborhood in an effort to beat the line of backed up traffic. This cut through traffic is usually traveling way too fast on the residential streets. A signal to help traffic flow and define pedestrian crossings would solve the problem. However, this could be an opportunity to create an amazing sense of place and a great gateway for the Highland Park neighborhood if this were to become Seattle’s first roundabout intersection. We’ll update as soon as we know anything, a lot of you have been asking us about this!

What Nickelsville Wants

Posted yesterday, April 4, on their Facebook page:

“Nickelsville wants to move by June 13, 2013. We want Food Lifeline’s dream for the land we are on to come true. Food and Shelter are equally important.”

Their facebook page is called “Nickelsville Works,” and this post goes on to describe more detail about what they want and need from the City to make that happen. 

Nickelsville in the News

Some other news venues are picking up the situation at Nickelsville other than our beloved West Seattle Blog- here are some links to local articles:

HPAC’s letter to Mayor McGinn, his staff, and Seattle City Council regarding Nickelsville

April 2,  2013

To Mayor McGinn, his staff, and members of Seattle City Council,

The Highland Park Action Committee (HPAC) would like to request a move out date for the homeless encampment that calls itself “Nickelsville” at 7116 West Marginal Way at the base of Highland Park Drive. HPAC represents the Highland Park and Riverview Neighborhoods in Southwest Seattle. It has come to our attention that it has been difficult for the residence of Nickelsville to keep order in the camp and the management technique used to try to restore order recently included the “Show of Force Team” removing the Porta Potty Service. As the residence of Nickelsville wrote:

“The reason for this decision (to remove the Porta Potty Service) was our inability at Nickelsville in preventing the overrun of our community by meth dealers and barred, violent former campers. Progress was made yesterday, but the situation is still teetering on the brink.”

A new letter has been released from the encampment stating that things are “returning to stability.”  The intent of their letter was to express dismay with the Seattle Police for not helping them with security. The Seattle Police are in a bind because the entire encampment is squatting illegally, so they cannot enforce one group’s illegal presence there over another group.  The situation at Nickeslville has gotten out of hand, we have noticed a shift in the population from what was originally there, and this has been verified by campers living in Nickelsville. We were surprised, however, at the threatening management technique. As we have continued to hear stories of how the camp is currently being run, we were struck by the realization that there really is no oversight whatsoever for this encampment- it is illegal after all, and we have a lot of concerns with how it’s being managed at this point. The City’s blind eye / hands off approach has not worked for the residents at the encampment, or for the neighborhood. If the City were running the encampment or had any official presence there, they could help get people the services they need. In fact, the existing management is actually intimidating campers into not seeking help or services, and pressuring residents to not call police so as not to create problems for themselves. Since the police were called in for this most recent incident, it has come out that there have been several violent and angry outbursts that have come from barred campers. These are the campers that are now living in our backyard woods, these are the police reports that are very carefully written without the words “Nickelsville” or “encampment.” Between this recent incident, the management techniques that are coming to light, the recent rat infestation reports from the Health Department, and the flooding tendencies the site presents in the winter months, the conditions at Nickelsville warrant a closure.

Nickelsville has been at its current location for almost 2 years as a “self managed” community.  We were asked by Deputy Mayor Smith at a December 7, 2011 Community Meeting if we would like to seek eviction. Although some residents were calling for a forced eviction at that time, we did not feel that we, as a community organization, were comfortable asking for that until there was a place for the residents of Nickelsville to go, and we were told that there were not any.  At that point we felt like legislation was just a few months away and a City Sanctioned Encampment with adequate health and safety measures were within reach. We requested more patrols in the greenbelt as a lot of barred campers were ending up there.  We were told there were not sufficient resources for that, but if we call in with specific locations they would be cleared. The police have advised us not to use the greenbelt for recreation anymore because campsites can be guarded with aggressive dogs, which make it difficult to call in with specific locations in order to get to use our greenbelt again. We have met with Nick Licata twice since that December 2011 community meeting to discuss the Mayor’s Transitional Encampment Interim Use Amendments, drafted in April of 2012.  We understand that Nick Licata has not moved on it for several reason, one being that Share/Wheel and Nickelsville expressed opposition to it at those meetings.

We conducted a survey of our community in August of 2012, 165 people responded. One of the biggest problems that came up was the increase in the number of people living in the greenbelt (such as the barred meth dealers and violent campers Nickelsville alluded to in their letter). The other important piece of the survey was that the majority of people wanted the encampment to move within 6 months. We took the results of that survey, a summary, and all the comments to our meeting with Licata’s office in August of 2012. We sent the results of our survey to Mayor McGinn as well, I just received a reply back from him- 8 months later, it thanked me for my concern.

The City has been ignoring our repeated pleas for political leadership, and our multiple requests for another neighborhood to take a turn hosting the encampment at a more adequate site that does not present such public health risks. We were happy to do our part to help share the responsibility of homelessness with city for a 6 month period of time. The City has disrespected and taken advantage of our neighborhood for long enough by keeping it here for 2 years now.  The City is turning a blind eye to the huge public health risks at the encampment and to the threatening management techniques used on its residents, allowing for considerable risk to the campers and to the surrounding neighborhoods. The City has set a dangerous precedent of condoning permanent encampments, without due process from neighbors or community members, to be set up over night in any neighborhood in Seattle. Nickelsville has already written that a priority in finding a new site is that it is available for 2 years- the precedent has now been set for them, thanks to this unwillingness to act on the City’s part. We feel completely stunned at the lack of leadership and the lack of respect for our neighborhood from both the City Council and the Mayor’s Office.

HPAC, as representatives of the Highland Park and Riverview neighborhoods are requesting:

1.      a move out date no later than June 13th (1 month after Nickelsville’s May 13th two year anniversary for this site.)  We would like for the encampment to be evacuated prior to the swell in population that occurs in the summer months there.

2.    at least 1 month notice be given to the campers, and that every measure possible be taken to ensure that each person at the encampment is offered shelter or housing.

3.      a commitment to regular sweeps through the greenbelt for the next 8 months with aggressive bag-and-tag operations, and prompt action thereafter to remove any encampments that are reported by the community.

4.      This is the second time that HPAC has had to galvanize against the city- the second time the city as forced our fragile community to spend valuable time and energy that communities like ours don’t have, fighting the city. We would like assurance that you will begin to treat Highland Park and Riverview with the same respect that you would for other neighborhoods in Seattle.

Should we not hear a move out date from the City by the encampment’s 2nd Anniversary (May 13th), we will be forced to take action which will include more media, a lot of emails and visits to your offices from our community, and legal action. This call for a move out date is independent of the Food Lifeline decision which should be made in the next couple of weeks. Our community does not want to see the encampment at its current location through the summer.

Who to share your opinion with about Nickelsville

In light of tonight’s meeting, here is some contact information to start with if you’d like to let some folks know how you feel about Nickelsville in its current location. If you think of it, please  copy me on whatever you send: hpacchair@gmail.com .

Deputy Mayor Darryl Smith: darryl.smith@seattle.gov , 233-7893

Jerry DeGrieck, Senior Policy Advisor at Mayor’s Office: jerry.degrieck@seattle.gov , 684-4029

Nick Licata, Seattle City Council: nick.licata@seattle.gov

Sally Clark, President of Seattle City Council: sally.clark@seattle.gov

I would say Mike McGinn, but it took him 8 months to reply to my last email, so I’m not sure it really matters to write him.

Here is a copy of what I sent as a precursor of a more formal letter to follow at the beginning of April:

I want to give you a heads up that the Highland Park Action Committee met last night, and while we have been very patient with having Nickelsville at the bottom of Highland Park Drive, the consensus in the neighborhood is that we are ready to call for an eviction and ask for a move out date. We have not asked for that yet, but have continued to inform you of our displeasure with having the camp in the same location for 2 years now.

You have set a dangerous precedent for all neighborhoods in Seattle, one I am confident not all neighborhoods will be tolerant of. Organizations such as Scott Morrow’s can now point to Nickelsville and your inaction (and help in some cases), as a justification for squatting illegally on public land for years at a time. We do not want to go through another summer with the encampment at its current location, and look forward to hearing a move out date from you as soon as possible. We understand that Food Lifeline’s interests in the property will end at the end of March, if you can’t figure out how to make that deal happen, you have missed a golden opportunity. Regardless of that opportunity, we would like that property free of an encampment. Should we not hear from you with a move out date, we will be forced to take action which will include media on a local and national level, a lot of emails and visits to your offices from our community, and a lawsuit.

Thank you for your prompt attention, and I am sorry to be so abrupt – we have tried to be kind, we have tried to be tolerant and understanding of both your situation, and that of the homeless, but we are finished. We feel taken advantage of and ignored, we feel disrespected as a community, and are one big group of angry voters. We are working on a more official call for eviction to come to you after Food Lifeline’s “end of March” date for having that deal figured out.

 

 

 

March HPAC Meeting Agenda

HPAC meeting tomorrow night, 3/27. Agenda includes:

  • Nickelsville: in light of this weekend’s events. We’ve surveyed you in the past to make sure we’re representing our neighborhood accurately, we’d like to get a sense how you feel about it at this point, almost 8 months after our last survey.
  • A presentation with a preview of the raingarden designed for HPIC- we need your input!
  • We MIGHT also be having some wildlife experts join us to speak about living with wildlife in the city- I know there were folks concerned with coyotes- now’s your chance to speak with a professional about them. (but I haven’t gotten confirmation on their attendance yet, sorry!)
See you at HPIC (Highland Park Improvement Club) on 12th and Holden:  meeting at 7pm or at 6:45 to help set up.
In lieu of a potluck this month, we will be serving some dessert treats at the meeting.