This report is listed on NADINE along with the mountain of data used to compile it. 20,000 plus pages and 6,000 photos.

Thursday, August 19th, 2010 4:11 am

Killings of homeless people have risen to their highest level in a decade, with 43 killed last year and many more injured in often brutal attacks that are raising concerns among law enforcement officials, rights advocates, and politicians, says the New York Times.  The rise in killings, from 27 in 2008, comes as state and local governments are wrestling with the problem of what to do with the growing number of people forced onto the streets by economic woes. Some states and cities are moving to prosecute violence against the homeless as a hate crime; others are imposing tougher measures to prevent people from living on the streets in the first place.

Cases compiled by the National Coalition for the Homeless showed homeless people doused with gasoline and set on fire, attacked with bottles, metal pipes and baseball bats, and sprayed with pepper spray, often for the sport of it. Because the FBI does not track crimes against the homeless, data from the coalition is considered the most definitive. U.S. Sen. Benjamin Cardin (D-MD) plans to lead a hearing next month on the rising homeless problem, including violence against those living on the streets. Criminologists and others who worked on the study said they believed the rise in fatal attacks has been fueled by a combination of factors, including tough economic times, the popularity of amateur Web videos on “bum fights” and on-line games that glorify and trivialize attacks, an increase in gang initiations involving the homeless, and crackdowns on homeless encampments that have bred hostility.

Links:

NEW YORK TIMES

The Crime Report

Comment: We have been saying that for years!

ANCHORAGE, Alaska
The American Civil Liberties Union of Alaska is proceeding with a lawsuit to prevent further raids of homeless camps in Anchorage.

The ACLU had hoped to reach an agreement with the municipality over the destruction of the camps and disposal of property belonging to the homeless. But the ACLU’s Jeffrey Mittman says no agreement was reached protecting the constitutional rights of the homeless.

The class-action lawsuit was filed with the courts last week on behalf of Dale Engle, a disabled veteran whose camp has been raided numerous times. Police took Engle’s tent and sleeping bag, along with medals and ribbons he was awarded while serving in the Army and National Guard.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.

Guardians of Liberty- 12,227

Activists 3,955

11,622 Anti-P2P IChats Disrupted. 5751  repeat performers. 624 hot tu-chats. 49 Slammer Worm Sites. (Russian and Chinese) 311 Voice/Video Chat Attacks. 806 HVT

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HU produces homeless phobics list on December 20, 2009, which targets fictitious 911 callers. Lies told to bring cops to public places. 479 names, addresses with phone numbers detail the seriousness of their effort.

VFBA to recreate the great Seattle fire using 300 gallons of gasoline because of sweeps.

http://downtownseattle.komonews.com/content/police-vehicles-torched-city-lot

 

Sacramento Shelter conversions completed. Defies permits and land use ordinances.

Shootout between Rangers and Gangs bring on new effort of disarmament by vets in Sac. Recently, darts were brought into Sac were used to collect 39 weapons, various calibers. The darts harmlessly put the victims asleep.

 More reason to challenge the local ten year plan.

Doc

Homelessness in the US

In 2000, 11.3% of the US population, 31.3 million people, lived in poverty. Here’s the most current information on homelessin the US. For ways to help, scroll down.

1. Since 2000, the number of people living in extreme poverty has increased.

2.According to the 2003 report from the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH), Las Vegas, San Francisco, New York City, Los Angeles and Atlanta are the top five ‘meanest’ cities in the US for poor and homeless people to live in; California is the ‘meanest’ state, followed by Florida.

3.Examples?

‘In Milwaukee, a church has been declared a public nuisance for feeding homeless people and allowing them to sleep there.

In Gainesville, police threatened U. of Florida students with arrest if they did not stop serving meals to homeless people in a public park.

In Santa Barbara, it is illegal to lean against the front of a building or a store, and no one can park a motor home on the street in one place for more than two hours.’

4.Families with children are by far the fastest-growing sector of the homeless population.

Children alone compose about 39% of the homeless.

5.In the median state, a minimum-wage worker would have to work 89 hours a week to afford a 2-bedroom apartment at 30% of his or her income, which is the federal definition of affordable housing (National Low Income Housing Coalition, 2001).

6.For the disabled, in 1998, on a national average, someone receiving SSI (Supplemental Security Income) had to spend 69% of their monthly income to rent a 1-bedroom apartment at Fair Market Rent.

7.Loss of single room occupancy housing (SRO) exacerbates the problem. From 1970-mid 80s, an estimated one million SRO units were demolish (Dolbeare, 1996).

New York City lost 87% of its $200 a month or less SRO. Chicago experienced total elimination of cubicle hotels. By 1985, Los Angeles lock more than half its downtown SRO. San Francisco lost 43%, Portland lost 59% and Denver lost 64%. [Data is here: http://www.nationalhomeless.org/causes.html]

8.Approximately 22% of the single adult homeless suffers from some form of severe and persistent mental illness (US Conference of Mayors, 2001). 9.’The relationship between addiction and homelessness is complex and controversial,’ says the NCH.

Rates of alcohol and drug abuse are disproportionately high among the homeless but can’t account for the rise in numbers. However addiction does increase the risk of displacement ‘for the precariously housed.’ 10.What’s called ‘eroding work opportunities’ contributes.

According to the NCH, contributing factors to homeless are ‘a steep drop in the number and bargaining power of unionized workers; erosion in the value of the minimum wage; a decline in manufacturing jobs and the corresponding expansion of lower-paying service-sector employment; globalization; and increased nonstandard work, such as temporary and part-time (Mishel, Bernstein, and Schnitt, 1999)’.

Source: National Homeless Organization,HUD, National Coalition for the Homeless, and the Mayors’ Report.

If you would like to help, go here: http://nch.ari.net/local/local.html to find local service providers.

Go here http://www.hud.gov/volunteering/index.cfm to find national and federal volunteer opportunities.

Go here: http://www.hud.gov/organizing/index.cfm to find out about becoming a community organizer.

©Susan Dunn, MA, The EQ Coach’, http://www.susandunn.cc . Susan was formerly the Director of Development for a Homeless Shelter. She resides in San Antonio, TX and writes on various topics. She offers coaching, distance learning and eBooks around emotional intelligence for career, relationships, transitions, retirement and wellness. mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE eZine.

About the author: ©Susan Dunn, MA, The EQ Coach’, http://www.susandunn.cc . Susan was formerly the Director of Development for a Homeless Shelter. She resides in San Antonio, TX and writes on various topics. She offers coaching, distance learning and eBooks around emotional intelligence for career, relationships, transitions, retirement and wellness. mailto:sdunn@susandunn.cc for FREE eZine.

Author: Susan Dunn, MA, Emotional Intelligence Coach

http://foxsanfrancisco.com/889002-Homelessness-in-the-US.html

Five Psycologists arrived this morning in San Jose and will be headed to Sacramento, San Francisco and Arcata after checking both Seattle candidates, Mallahan and Mc Ginn. What are they looking for? Power hungry, sociopaths. The kind that intentionally kill for pleasure. They will begin the assessment of Kevin Johnson, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom and Randy Mendosa, Interim, City Manager of Arcata. This process will take six to eight months and will cost eighty-thousand dollars.

The Homeless Underground urges the homeless not to vote in the current municipal election in either city.

By order of the HU board of Directors-The Executive Director and the Deputy Director are hereby removed from their positions and the game plan have been changed.

Membership Alerts have been sent to 255 key communications points in the United States. They will in turn, contact the 9 million members.

At midnight the command will be temporarily relocated to Crystal Mountain, Wa.

Zero-housing-Zero-shelter and Zero-Governor

This morning’s ruling is just  a start of new trouble. Eight homeless now file a new suit against the state for lack of help. Another group has armed themselves-just this morning. With no other place to turn, homeless are now headed to jail or simply die fighting. A recent deaths in the jungle, a greenbelt in Seattle, now has both advocates and homeless concerned.

By TIM KLASS

ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER SEATTLE –

A federal judge on Thursday refused to block the eviction of Nickelsville, a homeless encampment named for Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez issued his decision on a court computer system. He adds that he’ll give his reasoning in a written order. About 70 residents have been ordered to leave an undeveloped lot owned by the state Transportation Department by 7 p.m. Thursday. Their lawyer, Robert S. Siegel, wrote that without an order blocking the eviction, their constitutional rights would be violated. Siegel and Assistant Attorney General Bryce E. Brown Jr. did not immediately return calls for comment. Nickelsville was established in September. It has moved to a number of sites since then.

SEATTLE PI

Recently, the Governor of Washington-Christine Gregoire referred to “Nickelsville” residents as “mentally ill”. The  “Butt Cricket” always talks out her ass. It is believed that she stopped key legislation that would make tent cities legal in Washington State if hosted by not-for-profit agencies or churches, yet she-herself has no  solution or answers for housing or shelters! “Chirp-Chirp”

Recently, the organizers of Nickelsville filed suit against the state of Washington because the state wouldn’t make appropriate accommodations for them. Numerous attempts over the last year have ended in near tragedy.

Today, the homeless are not any closer to getting housing in Seattle, than they were ten years ago. In 2007, I was arrested for simply trying to sleep on WADOT property by Paula Hammonds.

In 2003, a plan was announced that fed the homeless with false hope-the ten year plan. In 2006, the plan was signed by the coalition, but today, there is no housing. Six years later, the Ten-Year Plan-now referred to as the ten-year debate, will live on in infamy as the Ten-Year Lie. Who should we blame?

Nearly two years ago, the person who promised that plan, Greg Nickels, pushed the homeless out of the city-in fact planned to criminalize those who sleep outside. To perpetuate this, he would first build a new jail.

After careful consideration, I am taking steps see that this doesn’t not happen to me again, or anyone else for that matter.
In one week, I will lead the homeless with several legal injunctions targeting the criminalization and restoration of civil liberties. The purpose of this is to re-establish a much larger Ten Year plan with a much shorter time frame.

Jeff Harwood
National Director,
Homeless Underground

July 22, 2009 at 3:48 pm

Another update just in from a spokesperson for the encampment that calls itself “Nickelsville,” currently set up on state-owned land along the eastern edge of West Seattle (2nd SW/Highland Park Way), and under orders to clear out by Thursday night:

Yesterday Attorneys Robert Siegel and Peggy Herman filed a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in Federal District Court. Judge Richard Martinez said he will issue an order either today or tomorrow. He has decided not to hold a public hearing before issuing his decision.

If Judge Martinez grants the TRO request, Nickelsville will have up to 2 weeks before a second hearing. At a second hearing a permanent order might be granted. If Judge Martinez does not issue a Temporary Restraining Order, at 5:00 PM Thursday Nickelsville and arriving supporters will load-up vehicles and trucks, in which case Nickelsville has asked the State to allow up to 12 PM Friday for people who have chosen to leave to leave, and for people to be given the opportunity to move both their own and Nickelsville community property.

Nickelsville’s residents who commit to stay through the arrival of Police, should this happen, will not be verbally abusive or disrespectful to either those issuing the orders, or those carrying them out.

“It is our opinion that it is both wrong and illegal to remove this community from this permanent site without having another permanent site available. Contrary to some claims, no church or other property owner has offered Nickelsville a site to go to. It is true that a temporary site is not suitable for our community. Our goal is to survive and solve homelessness with this stable, functional alternative, and not suffer continual disruption.”

WEST SEATTLE BLOG

By Doc

Seattle City Councilman Tim Burgess wrote on his blog:

“Most Encampment Dwellers Refuse City Aid The City Council was told this morning that the vast majority of homeless living in encampments refuse offers of aid from city outreach workers. In 2008, 90 outreach visits were made to 17 encampments (three or more tents or other shelters) and 19 to camps (less than three shelters). A total of 320 individuals were contacted by outreach workers and offered assistance; only 106, or 33%, accepted emergency shelter or other assistance. The city adopted new administrative policies designed to help people living in illegal encampments and camps in April 2008. The rules were refined throughout the year in response to public concerns about disposition of personal property and whether those living in the encampments were receiving adequate notice they would be prohibited from staying in the make-shift shelters. Most of the illegal encampments and camps are located in city greenbelt areas, parks, or unused portions of transportation right-of-ways. Complaints about garbage, drug use, crime, and unsanitary conditions prompted the city to become more aggressive is clearing the camps and removing garbage. Over 12 tons of garbage was removed from one encampment site on west Queen Anne last summer. The Council was also told this morning by a representative of the city’s Human Services Department ples that none of those who agreed to accept city assistance were turned away. This has been an important focus for me, making sure all individuals who wanted it could receive emergency shelter beds and other assistance.”

Thanks for your opinion Tim, but, the city has made no effort to provide the quality of life for couples having embedded relationships-that they have come to expect in your world. While the city says that encampments are “illegal” the United States District Court has issued different opinions as far as the disposal of property is concerned is in fact illegal as well in a recent court case involving homeless encampments in Homeless v. City of Fresno in which the city was ordered to pay $6,000 to each homeless person involved in that sweep.

The city of Seattle refuses to do things right. Those persons we have talked to, don’t want shelter’s because of many threats that they face inside: Lice, HEP-C, Tuberculosis, MERSA, Scabies, Necrotic Facitious, Psychotic head games and abuse from staff member’s like Salvation Army for example.

Do the world a favor: Get a clue! Have one of staff member’s stay in your emergency shelter at City Hall!

Most homeless prefer the privacy of the own tents not sleeping elbow to elbow in a 40-100 man shelter! Nor will any couple agree to stay in your couples shelters if they care about their loved ones.

Now that the city’s 10 year housing plan has dead ended, perhaps you need to explore the obvious-our cheaper housing plan and stop arresting those for their choices.

Welcome to Infoshop News
Sunday, December 28 2008 @ 08:04 PM CST

Opening of Seattle’s first public squat
Sunday, December 28 2008 @ 04:45 AM CST
Contributed by: Anonymous
Views: 165
Housing On January 1st, 2009, a new squat will be opening up in Seattle. A rally of homeless residents from the U-District’s Tent City, which the community simply calls “Nickelsville” after Seattle’s Mayor Greg Nickels, will have live music and speakers giving talks on the need for free housing for the homeless and impoverished.

At 12:30 in the afternoon, residents and supporters of Nickelsville will gather to discuss their situation, and at 2:30 all will march to the house we intend on expropriating. As a group we will clean up the house, stuff it full of food and goodies, and secure it for our own use.

The rally is being held on the corner of 15th and 45th at the Tent City at 12:30 in the afternoon on Jan. 1st. Please bring signs pertaining to housing rights, squatting, anti-capitalism, and direct action. Bring noise makers and bring friends!

For contact info in the Seattle area please call:
(206) 850 9626
or email:
team_victory_will_win@yahoo.com

-John

INFO SHOP

KUOW News

12/03/2008
The tent city known as Nickelsville will likely move to a new church in Seattle’s University District as early as next week. But the camp will continue to run without authorization from the city. KUOW’s Sara Lerner reports.

UNIVERSITY CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH LEADERS APPLIED FOR PERMITS TUESDAY TO TEMPORARILY HOST THE HOMELESS CAMP. IT’S KNOWN AS NICKELSVILLE BECAUSE CAMP ORGANIZERS NAMED IT SUCH AS A CRITICISM TO THE MAYOR’S POLICIES ON HOMELESSNESS. REVEREND JIM WHITE IS ALSO CRITICAL OF THE CITY. HE DOESN’T KNOW IF THE PERMITS WILL BE GRANTED, BUT HE SAYS THEY OUGHT TO BE.

WHITE: “I would think that the city would just love it to help us meet the needs of the people. Goodness gracious we save the taxpayers thousands and thousands of dollars because we protect the people and the rules that are in place in the encampement. I just think it’s a win win for the city if they wanna help us make that win possible.”

ALCOHOL, DRUGS, AND FIGHTING ARE PROHIBITED FOR CAMP RESIDENTS. WHITE SAYS THOSE RESTRICTIONS KEEP THIS HOMELESS POPULATION OFF THE STREETS, AND THEY PROTECT THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITY. BRYAN STEVENS IS WITH SEATTLE’S DEPARTMENT OF PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT. HE SAYS HE GETS ALL THAT. BUT THERE’S MORE TO THE STORY.

STEVENS: “I understand that providing shelter for homeless is a great thing but the reality is we’ve got folks and other businesses in the area that you’ve got to think about. And camping in the city is illegal. So if we’re going to allow it, we have to maek sure the impacts of that are mitigated properly.”

BY THAT, HE MEANS KEEPING THE CAMP CLEAN AND QUIET. STEVENS DOESN’T SAY THE CITY WOULD DENY THE PERMITS. BUT THIS TYPE OF TEMPORARY PERMIT HAS NEVER BEEN GRANTED IN SEATTLE. AND STEVENS SAYS THE CHURCH WHERE THE HOMELESS CAMP IS NOW, UNIVERSITY CHRISTIAN, MAY FACE STEEP FINES FOR HOSTING THE CAMP ILLEGALLY. THOSE FINES CAN GO AS HIGH AS FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS PER DAY – AND THE CAMP’S ALREADY BEEN THERE FOR TWO MONTHS.

EVEN IF THE CITY WERE TO GRANT THE PERMITS, IT WOULD TAKE WEEKS. AND THE HOMELESS CAMP IS SLATED TO MOVE AS EARLY AS NEXT WEEK. DESPITE THEIR DIFFERENCES, CONGREGATION CHURCH LEADERS SAY THE CITY WAS HELPFUL AND PROVIDED ASSISTANCE AS THEY PREPARED THE PERMIT APPLICATIONS.

FOR KUOW NEWS, I’M SARA LERNER.

KUOW NEWS

Seattle Community Council Federation

Consider this contrast: (a) The City is getting ready to pass an ordinance for “incentive zoning,” a catch phrase for giving developers bonuses in height and bulk in building apartments and condos in exchange for providing some “affordable” (i.e. middle income) housing units; and (b) the Mayor is moving to oust the homeless encampment (Nickelsville) at the parking lot of University Christian Church. Read on!

Incentive Zoning: John Fox of the Seattle Displacement Coalition explained the proposal:
Developers would get greater density for apartments and condos if the developer agrees to lease 10-20% of the new units — the exact figures have yet to be set — at rents or sell condos at prices “affordable” for households earning 80% of area median income (“AMI”). Alternatively, the developer could “buy bulk” by paying between $15 and $18.94 per square foot for bonus square footage into a housing fund; commercial developers would pay an additional $ 3.25 per square foot toward childcare facilities.
The City calculates that the bonuses would increase a developer’s return on investment by 15-20% for high-rise buildings and 1-2% with mid-rise structures. The program would use rent reporting — no occupancy qualifications — so that wealthier people could (experience shows they will) compete for the units. The “affordable units” need not be on site nor do the “buy bulk” replacements have to be in the neighborhood. The proposal was worked up a task force comprised of developers, save for one member. The City Council held a public hearing at 9:00 A.M., well attended by the developers and their employees. No more are planned. The AMI is now set at $81,400; 80% would be $65,120. . The formula multiplies gross pre-tax income by 30% and divides by 12 for a monthly rent. A developer could then charge $1384 for a 2 bedroom unit; $1230 for a one bedroom; and $1076 monthly for a studio unit. In fact, over 90% of the apartment units advertised in a free monthly apartment rental publication rent at less than those figures. 79% of the work force gross less than $ 65,120 annually ($32.56 per hour for a 2000 hours work year (50 weeks x 40 hours per week). 51.3% earn less than $ 42,200 annually ($21.10.
per hour). The $42,200 wage earner would have to pay over 30% of his pre–tax income to rent even a studio unit. Seattle’s 2020 growth targets are already being exceeded in almost all neighborhoods.
The City claims “incentive zoning” won’t increase “height and/or density limits in any neighborhood.” However, common sense shouts out that the new buildings will be taller and bigger by the amount of the bonuses; that people will experience bigger and bulkier buildings on the ground; and that over a short time, those super-sized structures will set the standard for the neighborhood. It’s de facto, haphazard up-zoning.
The Seattle Chamber of Commerce urged the City Council to cut the malarkey and do a direct up-zoning.

Nickelsville Homeless encampment: When Mayor Nickels evicted “Nickelsville” on a street end, the University Christian Church offered to host it for several months in its parking lot at NE 50th St and 15th Avenue NE. The encampment houses about 100 people in individual blue, green, and pink tents. Its rules forbid alcohol and drug use and disorderly conduct; it supplies its own Sanicans; and volunteers provide security. Residents sleep in sleeping bags over air mattresses on the ground. Some residents work seasonally, some are unskilled, depending on casual labor, some are transients, and some suffer with mental illness that renders them unemployable. The Mayor ordered the encampment closed by Halloween; he cites an agreement with a sponsor of another encampment several years ago that only one such site would be permitted at any one time. Another sponsor is hosting one elsewhere.
Motion passed to write to the Mayor urging the City to seek a declaratory judgment before evicting this encampment. The Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000 (RLUIPA) sets a high standard that a government must meet before impinging on the exercise of religious liberty. Helping the homeless is part of the church’s religious mission. The City would therefore have to prove that it has a compelling interest in, and no less restrictive alternative to, closing the encampment; and if it fails, the City may be liable for damages and attorney’s fees.

New $220,000,000 Jail? Real Change is urging the City Council to reconsider spending 4½ million dollars to plan for a new seven-acre municipal jail. It urges the City to invest in mental health and drug rehab services, diversion programs, home detention, group rehab houses, and other alternatives to lock-ups.
Motion passed to support Real Change’s request and broaden the study to consider alternatives to detention and thereby reduce the size of the facility, cut the annual cost of jailing people, and get better results.
[Moderators Note: In recent days the movement to re-examine the need for a new jail is gathering steam. Here’s what the City Council, The King County Prosecutor, the City Attorney and the local media have very recently said:

Tim Burgess, Chair, Public Safety, Human Services & Education Committee said: (11/11/08)
The Council is also very likely to order a study of jail capacity needs in the future, including a review of the City's very successful jail diversion efforts that have led to a 40% reduction in jail bookings over the past 10 years. The Council wants to study additional alternatives to jail for low-level criminal behavior, such as minor drug offenses. I toured the region's jails this summer as part of my work on jail expansion plans and found two types of individuals incarcerated who didn't belong there—persons with mental health challenges and low-level drug offenders. Both of these groups deserve treatment services instead of jail.

Councilmember Nick Licata, a member of Tim’s Public Safety Committee says: (11/10/08)
DOES SEATTLE NEED TO BUILD A NEW JAIL?
In last week’s Council Budget Committee of the Whole, I presented a proposal that would help the City determine whether we truly need to build a new jail. I believe we need to examine the inevitability of needing a new seven-acre facility, estimated at $110 million to build and about $19 million a year to operate and proposed to a) either be sited in a Seattle neighborhood and operated by the City or b) sited in King County suburban city and jointly operated .

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD (11/10/08):
With the city's budget turning shaky, the last thing to spend money on should be a new jail. It's not a priority when people are hurting.
The Seattle City Council is weighing a good step toward investigating the necessity of a new jail. The council could withhold millions in facility funding for 2009 and 2010 until the city studies whether it might avert the need with new policies and programs on drug arrests.
Duty, not enthusiasm, has driven Mayor Greg Nickels' work on a jail. A mayoral adviser welcomed the idea of studying whether most drug offenders could be diverted -- safely and efficiently -- to social services before being jailed. A key would be King County funding enough services through a new mental health and substance abuse sales tax. The county and city have to make tough budget choices. If public safety can be preserved without a new jail, everyone will be happier.

The Stranger - Culture Clash by Dominic Holden (11/13/08):
In a testy letter to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, [City Attorney] Carr chastised the P-I’s editorial board for suggesting that city leaders should consider “shift[ing resources] from the prosecution of low-level drug crimes into recovery programs” to handle the city’s free-falling budget. That strategy, popular among Seattle progressives and several local lawmakers, saves money and has been shown to be more effective than incarceration.
King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg is diverting about 2,300 low-level drug cases away from prosecution and jail to help shave roughly $4 million from his budget, Satterberg, in contrast, has proposed sending thousands of drug-possession cases from King County Superior Court to the lower county district court, where, he says, most defendants “will not get jail.” Because those defendants would no longer be eligible for drug court, a division of King County Superior Court, Satterberg’s approach is actually more lax than the one advocated by the P-I’s editorial board.

The Stranger – In The Hall by Erica C. Barnett (11/13/08):
The council may also hold off on spending the $82 million the mayor has requested to widen Mercer Street in South Lake Union, cut funding for pedestrian-safety programs, and put planning for a new city jail on hold until the council can determine whether changing the city’s approach to drug crimes could make a new jail unnecessary.
In addition, 36th District Representative Mary Lou Dickerson, who came to our aid during the Northwest Hospital Incinerator battle more than a decade ago, and who represents the area that includes the proposed Interbay jail site, as well as the nearby Magnolia Community Club and the Queen Anne Community Council, both noted powerhouse community groups with plenty of clout, has expressed an interest in a legislative investigation of the proposed jail financing and siting scheme.

All said, it appears that what was proposed as an inevitable seven-acre blight in some unfortunate Seattle neighborhood may not get past the initial planning stage.]

Air Pollution: Motion passed to approve the letters in our September newsletter to government officials. These letters follow up recent studies pointing to higher risks of cancer due to airborne pollutants.

Budget priorities:
(a) The Mayor over estimated revenues and left it to the City Council to make cuts. One proposed cut would chop $300,000 for support of the City’s senior centers. The economic downturn has especially hurt seniors, who must stretch their fixed incomes further and senior centers are more vital for them for meals, companionship, and helping each other.
(b) The Central Area Seniors have no lease for their center and need to get money to fix it up, but granting agencies won’t consider their application until it gets a lease.
Motion passed to write letters opposing the budget cut (a) above, and ask for a lease and assistance to the Central Area Seniors.
(c) The City needs therapeutic pools for seniors and others afflicted with a variety of ailments. Children’s’ Hospital has the only warm water therapy pool in Seattle and it is over-subscribed. The City’s population over age 60 is now 15.6% of the population and will soon reach 20.4%. Moreover, the City needs more swimming pools for the general public. A growing percentage of Seattle youth never learn to swim. Private pools have long waiting lists, and the current public pools are crowded.
Motion passed authoring letters to appropriate government officials to ask that the next parks levy include therapeutic pools; that the City assess opening the former Officers’ pool at Magnuson Park; and that it consider adding pools in the next parks levy.

Magnuson Park: The City Council passed ordinances authorizing long-term sweetheart leases at Sand Point and an amendment to its overlay ordinance to authorize the non-park uses. It is also negotiating with the Federal government to release the restriction of uses to park purposes. It is also seeking to change the ground rules to allow it to tear down buildings within the historic district and construct new faux buildings that would expand their footprint. Although the City had promised the United States in its environmental process preliminary to the acquisition that it would create a Sand Point Historic District, and represented that it was doing so, the City never followed through. Developers see this lapse as an opportunity and are moving in.
Motion passed to write to appropriate officials at the federal and state level nominating the district for designation, and to the City and its Landmarks Board for establishing a historic district; to urge the City to comply with the Landmarks Ordinance as if the district had been established as promised and represented; and to express dismay at the lapse.

University Village Expansion: University Village shopping center will expand by 26% and add a 900 space parking garage. Incredibly, DPD determined that it has no significant environmental impact. Moreover, it relied traffic studies done for the Children’s Hospital expansion, which were inadequate.

Neighborhood blogs: The Seattle Channel has the video of the recent City Club/Library meeting on neighborhood blogs, a nascent but potent influential phenomena. Seattle is well represented; See The West Seattle blog, Pinehurst Community Blog, Miller Park Neighborhood Association blog, Capitol Hill Seattle, Central District News are outstanding examples of good neighborhood blogs. See the list of neighborhood blogs and websites (sometimes it’s hard to tell them apart) on the Federation blog

Noise ordinance appeal: Chris Leman presented his appeal on the amendments to the City noise ordinance that permit public works construction to exceed nighttime noise limits. The City determined that this would have no significant environmental impact. Chris called two witnesses: Dr. Ted Lane and the former mayor of Burien, an acoustical engineer. The City sought to block their testimony on procedural grounds and partially succeeded. The City Attorney’s office has been a stickler on the rules, pouncing on the slightest deviation. Briefs are due soon.
[Editors Note: the Assistant City Attorney later moved to strike Chris' brief because it was filed one minute late! The motion was denied.]

Mercer Mess: Motion passed to send a letter of appreciation to Senator Mary Lou Dickerson (D-36) for opposing use of state money for the Mayor/Vulcan Development $220,000,000 proposal for a two-way Mercer Street, that would actually increase travel time through this corridor.

Save the Trees: Motion passed to send a comment letter to the City’s Department of Community Development opposing the issuance of a permit on application #3009549 to cut a grove of trees on the Ingraham High School Campus. Last August, the Superior Court had issued a temporary injunction, and the School District then withdrew its application. The School district has now filed a new application very similar to the earlier one. There are alternate locations on the 28-acre site for the construction.

Goodwill site redevelopment: The hearing examiner made findings and recommendations in accord with the City’s presentation and failed to discuss major points made by the community. The community will appeal to the City Council. The developer is asking for vacation of two acres of City streets and will pay eight million dollars in street vacation fees, but wants the City to apply all the money for project mitigation that the developer is required to do.
Motion passed to authorize two sets of letters:
(a) a letter to appropriate City officials to oppose applying the street vacation fees for mitigation. The developer on its own should pay those costs. There are other very important needs in the area that the money should be spent on. The developer’s proposal in essence lets it get the street vacation for free.
(b) a letter to the City Council asking it not to accept the Hearing Examiner’s recommendation. The Hearing Examiner did not follow all the criteria for a rezone. The Hearing Examiner picked out the portions of the record that support the City’s presentation, but did not cite the record as a whole.
Residential Parking Zones. Motion passed to oppose imposing RPZs where they’re not wanted by local residents and businesses.

Seattle Federation

More like Chicken Insignificant! Posted by Homeless Against Nickels

Ramona

While the Snohomish recently flooded it’s banks, 7 homeless encampments are believed to have been washed away, sponsored by the meanness campaign and eight year attrition of Sociopath Greg Nickels. The encampments just discovered last week by HU ground crews using infra red. Participants were identified from arrest videos and still photograph by the ground crew. 19 people made up the encampment.

Anyone surfing the This Way Up, Seattle, Washington, website has seen the recent dissing of Sociopath Greg Nickels in the Give A Hoot recently launched by Doc now gets a revitalized boost as Real Change News launches their effort to oust to do the same. Read on…

A City Hall reform effort is brewing.

A breakfast meeting the other morning sponsored by Real Change sounded a lot like a rally to dump Mayor Greg Nickels and, for that matter, much of the Seattle City Council.

By Ted Van Dyk

The opening skirmish in the 2009 Seattle mayoral and City Council campaigns will take place Monday, Nov. 17, when the council considers alternative proposals regarding allocation of money to Mayor Greg Nickels’ (and Vulcan’s) favorite Mercer Corridor Project, which would reconfigure streets near Vulcan’s South Lake Union project to suit the developer’s plans.

Proposal 1 is sponsored by City Councilwoman Jan Drago, Vulcan’s point person within the council. It would authorize spending $30 million in 2009 without getting, beforehand, financial and economic information the council, in a May ordinance, requested as a condition for allowing Nickels to proceed with the project. A council majority reiterated that position in a Sept. 30 letter.

Drago’s proposal would let property acquisition take place to expand rights of way in the corridor — without the ordinance’s provisos having been met.

Proposal 2, by City Councilman Nick Licata, would not release the $30 million unless or until the conditions of the ordinance are met and a council review is made of the mayor’s progress in closing a present $100 million funding gap for the Mercer project and work on Spokane Street.

Licata wants a revised finance plan for both projects; a schedule of anticipated revenues and expenditures; updated cost estimates; further value engineering analysis; an update on anticipated grant and partner funding; and a contingency plan identifying funding sources if there is a revenue shortfall. He also wants a completed environmental review for the Mercer Project. None of this basic information, Licata asserts, has been provided to the council.

Monday’s meeting of the council Budget Committee is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. With a number of neighborhood and Democratic groups supporting Licata’s position, it promises to be well-attended.

Anyone parachuting in from the outside world would say the outcome is a slam dunk. What Licata wants is what any responsible City Council would want before making such a decision. But not so fast. Until now, a council majority has pretty much capitulated to the Nickels and Vulcan agendas.

Nickels may not recognize it, but it is a lose-lose proposition for him.

If the Drago proposal is defeated, it will hearten Nickels’ critics and provide evidence that Nickels no longer can roll the council on behalf of developer/campaign-contributor interests who provide his base of support. If the Drago proposal is adopted, it will further energize Nickels critics and move them further on their path toward backing a mayor/council reform slate next year.
Groups rally ahead of the meeting

The Wednesday morning annual Real Change breakfast had aspects of a Dump Nickels rally. Homeless advocates showed film footage in which they alleged that Nickels was lying outright both about the amount of present available housing for the homeless and the nature of the Nickelsville tent city encampment now situated in the University District. The people at Nickelsville were not really homeless, Nickels alleged on a giant TV screen at the breakfast, but really activists posing as homeless. They went home to their own beds at night. Nickelsville residents attested that they had no homes or beds of their own. The mayor’s proposal for a multimllion-dollar new city jail also came under fire. The present jail’s population, it was asserted, has shrunk rather than risen in recent years.

A call went out for attendance at the city council session by all at the breakfast who could get there. (At the time, the budget meeting was scheduled for Friday. It has since been rescheduled for Monday.) In the background, former council member Peter Steinbrueck and several prospective 2009 City Council candidates were talking political strategy for next year’s election. Steinbrueck has been coy about running for mayor but can only have been encouraged by recent polling showing both Licata and him beating the mayor in one-on-one matchups. City Council member Tom Rasmussen also attended the Real Change breakfast but was not a part of the off-to-the-side discussions about real change at City Hall.

Steinbrueck, Licata, and former state Supreme Court Justice Phil Talmadge all have been approached by disaffected community groups to consider runs for mayor. Since the present council, with the exception of Licata, has been so tied to the mayor, discussion has included the option of putting together a full slate of mayoral/council candidates for 2009, as was done in the 1970s when reform forces pushed out a council perceived as complacent and ineffective. Putting such a slate together would not necessarily be easy. For political effectiveness, it would have to have just the right balance of neighborhood, racial, ethnic, and other constituencies. Competence would have to be its common denominator.

A Nickels defeat would not be facilitated by multiple opposition candidates. Crosscut Publisher David Brewster related yesterday that developer Greg Smith, until now a Nickels ally, was contemplating a mayoral candidacy. It remains to be seen if Smith could generate support among Seattle political activists who tend to see Nickels-allied developers as a part of the problem rather than a solution. Smith will need to make his plans for change quite specific.

Challenger Al Runte, a little known former University of Washington faculty member without any political money, drew 32 percent of the vote in the last mayoral election, in 2005. That 32 percent could be seen as a vote for anyone Not Nickels. A better known challenger, with a respectable campaign war chest — it need not match Nickels’ — would not have a difficult ladder to climb to attract another 18 percent of the voting electorate.

The Displacement Coalition joins the battle

In advance of the Monday budget meeting, the Seattle Displacement Coalition, led by John Fox, issued a breakdown of Nickels’ financial support for Vulcan’s South Lake Union development.

The City of Seattle 2009 budget, the Coalition’s document alleges, contains $129 million for Vulcan’s South Lake Union plans, with five-year Capital Improvement Plan costs topping $862 million. (The numbers come from city documents.) The Mercer Corridor’s full phase-one costs, the document asserts, now total $230 million, including the $30 million on the table Monday.

The Coalition’s statement closed by echoing the Real Change breakfast call for support of the Licata plan and defeat of Drago’s.

There is an old political rule applying to executive elected officials at all levels: Those who seek third terms usually are defeated. Even the most popular governors, mayors, county executives, and others with executive responsibility invariably lose majority support by the end of their second terms. The usual advice to such officials: Don’t try for a third term.

Will Nickels heed that advice? Is he hoping for an Obama administration appointment to rescue him from his mayorship? Or will he keep collecting political money toward a third-term candidacy and, then, declare it?

City Council members with any knowledge of political precedent will begin taking their distance from a mayor in such historic jeopardy. Their votes Monday on the Mercer Project will be telling.

CROSSCUT

Current budget cuts may screw the homeless, but may impair sweeps and camping ordinances, says a Boston legal group heading the stop the sweeps campaign. Oddly, this legal group is conservatively republican and will make an announcement real soon.

Sponsored legal attacks on Mass Transit may be forthcoming. Watch this story.

Buses left Chicago, Nashville, New York yesterday at 12 pm central time. 22 buses with 44 passengers each to HU staging areas in 5 states as the major portion of Operation Inundation began in support for Nickelsville. There are twenty-nine staging areas in six states and volunteers driving Vans, SUV’s and large cars will transport those to Seattle.

This Response is posted on TWUSEA Website:

Press Release
For Immediate Release
Issued: 17 OCTOBER, 2008.
Released: 18 OCTOBER, 2008.

SUBJECT: NICKELSVILLE AND APPLICATION OF THE CONSENT DECREE; NULLABLITY OF THE CONSENT DECREE FOR THE LACK OF GOOD FAITH BY THE CITY.

FACTS OBTAINED BY THE HOMELESS UNDERGROUND; THIS WAY UP, SEATTLE AND THE VETERANS FOR A BETTER AMERICA.

WE RECOGNIZE THE FOLLOWING FACTS OF RECORD:

1. THE CITY ENTERED IN AN AGREEMENT BY AND BETWEEN SHARE AND WHEEL TO ALLOW THE DEVELOPMENT OF TENT CITY 3 IN A LAWSUIT FILED BY PROPONENTS SUPPORTING THE FORMATION OF TENT CITIES FOR THE HOMELESS BY ATTORNEYS FOR EL CENTRO DE LA RAZA V. CITY OF SEATTLE FOR SHARE WHEEL.

2. THAT SINCE THE ORDAINMENT OF THAT UNION, THE UNION HAS BECOME TAINTED BY THE CITY OF SEATTLE WHOM FREQUENTLY, CONSISTENTLY AND VEHEMENTLY VIOLATED THE GOOD FAITH CLAUSES BY PROMULGATING ATTACKS ON THE HOMELESS AT LARGE, THROUGH THE APPLICATION OF LAWS THAT SPECIFICALLY TARGET HOMELESS FOR ARREST; THEIR FAILING TO RECOGNIZE THE GUARANTEES OF CIVIL LIBERTIES OF VETERANS AND AMERICANS UNDER THEIR CHARGE; AND, FAILING TO PROTECT AMERICA’S MOST VULNERABLE THROUGH CONTINUED SUPPORT OF SHARE WHEEL IN THEIR CONTINUING EFFORTS BY REDUCING AND DIMINISHING FUNDS FOR THAT AGENCY AND WHILE PROMOTING OTHER AGENCIES.

3. THE ADMINISTRATION OF AN ATTRITION CAMPAIGN THAT SOLELY TARGETED SHARE WHEEL, IT’S HOMELESS PARTICIPANTS AS A FORM OF MEANNESS BY THE CHIEF CITY ADMINISTRATOR, MAYOR OF SEATTLE, GREG NICKELS WHOM HAS DEMONSTRATED CONTEMPT FOR THE HOMELESS AT LARGE FOR THE LAST EIGHT YEARS.

4. THE FAILURE OF CITY TO DEVELOP SHELTERS, ADEQUATE OUTREACH, EDUCATION FOR THOSE WHO HAVE FAILED TO RECOGNIZE THE NECESSITY FOR THOSE SERVICES.

5. INCONSISTENCY AS TO RECOGNIZE THE VALIDITY AND NECESSITY OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF TENT CITIES PRIMA-FACIE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHELTERS WHICH SAVES THE CITY OF SEATTLE MILLIONS OF DOLLARS ANNUALLY.

6. THE MAYOR OF SEATTLE ABUSED HIS POWERS OF OFFICE AS THE VICE PRESIDENT OF THE U.S. MAYORS COUNCIL IN ACCELERATING, CONSPIRING TO, URGING OTHER CITIES TO ENGAGE IN THE DIMINUTION OF SHELTER DEVELOPMENT, TENT ENCAMPMENT SWEEPS FOR THE PURPOSE OF PROMOTING THE NEEDS OF OTHER IN THE CITY(S) IN KING COUNTY, WASHINGTON STATE AND THE UNITED STATES.

WE DEMAND THE RESIGNATION OF THE MAYOR OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE, DEPUTY MAYOR OF SEATTLE, HUMAN SERVICES DIRECTOR AND THE DEPUTY HUMAN SERVICES DIRECTOR IMMEDIATELY.

SIGNED

TWUSEA BOARD OF DIRECTORS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE NATIONAL HOMELESS UNDERGROUND
AEGIAN BOARD FOR VETERANS FOR A BETTER AMERICA