Tim Burgess' City View

Sleeping on the Grass Wrap

The sleep-out protest in front of my home ended Friday morning after three days.  It wasn't a problem for me, but I was uncomfortable that my position in city government brought discomfort and anxiety to my neighbors.  I really regret that imposition. 

No matter what one thinks about the efficacy of this type of protest, nothing about it was pleasant for

Sleeping on the Grass

A group of about 40 people slept in front of my house and my neighbors' houses last night.  They were advocates with the group SHARE/WHEEL, a local nonprofit organization that operates several homeless shelters around the city.  They showed up a little after 7 p.m. last night and left just before 7 a.m. today. (Read this Queen Anne View summary of the protest. And this editorial in today's Seattle Times.)

The campers were protesting what they believe is the city's inadequate funding of their services, especially money for Metro transit passes so those living in their shelters can travel to jobs, job interviews, and other necessary appointments.  Because SHARE is facing a budget shortfall, they have asked for more money.  The city offered to advance $50,000 to SHARE from their 2009 allocation of just over $300,000 on the condition SHARE keep their shelters open through the end of this year.  SHARE's annual subsidy from the city is paid out monthly and there was concern that if the city advanced what would be the equivalent of two monthly payments SHARE would deplete all of its financial resources before the end of December.  SHARE declined to accept the year-end condition.

That's the big picture, but I want to recount what I learned last night and this morning as I spoke with some of those in front of my house. 

Just after 10 o'clock, I ventured outside and spoke with a group of the protesters.  The TV cameras had gone and we were alone.  (Joleen took the above photo on her iPhone from inside our house.) I'm

Facts on Seattle Social Services

There's been a lot of talk recently about how Seattle responds to homelessness and other social service challenges.  My open discussion about street disorder tied to aggressive panhandling has created quite a bit of response, including this thoughtful piece at Crosscut.com today.  Comments received by my office are running nearly 3:1 in favor of some limited restrictions on panhandling as a means of reducing street

AIDS Action Day in Olympia

Washington State Senate chambers in Olympia last Wednesday at the end of AIDS Awareness Day activism.  Left-to-right, me, Councilmember Sally Clark, Attorney General Rob McKenna, Lifelong AIDS Alliance executive director David Richart, Rep. Jeannie Darneille (D-Tacoma), and Sen. Ed Murray (D-Seattle).

Last week I had the privilege of participating in AIDS Awareness Day lobbying in Olympia with my colleague, Sally Clark.  I helped kick off the day with a brief talk to about 200 activists at United Church in Olympia, a couple of blocks from the capitol.  We have made great progress developing treatments for HIV-AIDS, raising awareness of the disease, and safe-guarding privacy and the civil rights for those living with HIV-AIDS.  But, there is much more to do; perhaps most pressing is to make certain that funding for medical and social services remains intact. 

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 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. 

City Budget Passes; More on Youth Violence

The Council voted this afternoon to adopt the 2009 City budget.  This document provides a summary of the various changes the Council made to the Mayor's proposed budget. 

Most significantly, the Council added funding for homeless services, domestic violence and sexual assault prevention, emergency food and nutrition services,library collections (e.g., books, tapes, videos, etc.), and youth violence prevention programs.

Stopping Youth Violence

Last January and February I spoke out about youth violence and gangs in our city.  Several of my colleagues on the Council have done the same.  Since then, I've written extensively on this topic on my blog (www.timburgess.com).  Unfortunately, this situation is spiraling downward.  There was extensive gun violence in the metro area this past weekend. 

The 2009 budget the Council passed today includes revisions to the Mayor's Youth Violence Initiative: adding police officers to select public schools, encouraging more police intervention efforts against gangs, increasing illegal gun interdiction efforts, and adding case management services for frequent offenders.  The budget also continues funding for additional police officers, part of a multi-year effort to increase the size of the police force.

Here are some immediate steps that can save lives and reduce violence in our city.

Guns are readily available to juveniles, and they are using them to kill! This problem of illegal guns must be addressed.   It is a regional problem that demands a regional and state solution.  More

Stop Youth Violence

(Updated, Sunday, November 23, 2008) Tragically, another one of our children has been killed by gunfire.  He is Daiquan L. Jones, shot dead at a shopping mall just south of Seattle. Daiquan is the sixth young man this year to be gunned down this year. 

Here's the roster of Seattle children deaths this year—

Daiquan L. Jones, age 16, killed by gunfire on November 22, 2008 at Westfield Southcenter Shopping Mall. 

Quincy Coleman, age 15, killed by gunfire on October 31, 2008 near Garfield High School.

Pierre LaPoint, age 16, killed by gunfire on August 5, 2008 along Rainier Avenue South.

Perry Henderson, age 18, killed by gunfire on January 26, 2008 in the far south end of the city.

De’Che Morrison, age 14, killed by gunfire on January 11, 2008 on South Rose Street.

Allen Joplin, age 17, killed by gunfire on January 3, 2008 in Belltown.

We must stop this violence that rips at our city’s soul.  Fortunately, there are specific steps we can take to make a huge difference.  Other cities have done it and so can we.

Pink Tents Vs. Long-Term Solutions

A handful of council members gathered around a television set yesterday afternoon and watched as Seattle police and other city workers dismantled the so-called "Nickelsville" tent city near the First Avenue South Bridge.  From what we saw on TV it seems the journalist who wrote that the police seemed "bored" got it right. 

But, the larger, public policy question wasn't answered by the pink tent city.  What to do about the continuing, and some say growing, problem of homelessness? 

As a city, we spend about $40 million a year on the problem of homelessness.  Some of this money comes from the federal government and is "passed through" the city bureaucracy, nonetheless it represents a significant investment.

We don't have to make this effort; it's discretionary on our part. No one is forcing us to deal with homelessness, and one could even argue that other expenditures—like police and fire services—are actually more important and certainly not discretionary. But this debate misses the point.  Caring for the homeless and seeking long-term solutions is part of Seattle's soul. It's an expression of who we are as a people, a measure of our values. 

But are we doing enough? Are we doing the right thing? 

I've been thinking about these questions a lot lately, especially as we enter the fall budget decision period and as we begin to consider the renewal of the housing levy scheduled for next year.  I'm still processing, and I certainly don't have answers just yet, but I am beginning to think we need to realign or refocus our efforts.

The 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness is primarily focused on long-term, capital-intensive solutions.  That's good.  We need more low-income and workforce permanent housing.  Our emergency shelter programs are fairly well-developed and effective, although I believe we need a greater number of emergency shelter beds.  (The city has recently opened additional emergency shelter beds and there are plans to do even more.) 

The area where we might need to do more is short-term, transition housing, not emergency shelter and not permanent housing, but the "in between" housing needs of individuals.  Some call it "housing on demand" or "housing first" strategies.  I'm hoping the city can explore many more partnerships with apartment owners and others who can, on very short notice, offer housing for six months, a year, or even a longer.  The stability of having your "own" place cannot be denied.  Having an apartment—even just a room—to call your own is a powerful first step toward self-sufficiency.  I believe programs that can truly offer "housing on demand" are urgently needed. I hope to spark some discussion on this topic in the coming weeks and months. 

Now, about mental health treatment on demand, or drug treatment on demand . . . those are topics for another day. 

Safer Streets Initiative Advances

The Council-generated 12-point Safer Streets Initiative (SSI) is moving along with passage this week by the King County Council's budget committee of funding recommendations for two special pilot projects we have proposed to address particularly urgent needs.  County Councilmember Bob Ferguson has been especially helpful with his support and guidance in navigating the County process. (Seattle's resolution to the   County Council supporting these projects is here.)

One project will create a joint police-mental health professional crisis intervention response team to respond to certain incidents where the combined power and expertise of the team is needed (SSI Step #1). Modeled on similar units in San Diego, Los Angeles, and Vancouver, B. C., this special unit would be created in partnership with King County and would be primarily available to respond in Seattle's West Precinct (downtown core) where approximately 125 to 130 incidents occur each week involving   individuals with mental health issues. This project would use $500,000 in county mental health and drug dependency funds over two years.       

The second project (SSI Step #2) would create safe housing and full, 24-7 specialized care services for children involved in street prostitution who want to escape that experience. The need for this type of housing and care services became clear when a city-funded study of child prostitution in Seattle/King County revealed that as many as 300-500 children may be involved. This project would use $960,000 in county funding. Read The Seattle Times' editorial this morning.

Mayor Nickels has announced that his 2009-2010 budget proposal will return police officers to some middle schools in the city's south end (SSI Step #8), a move strongly supported by the school district.       

The Mayor's budget is also expected to maintain the city's commitment to hire additional police officers through 2012 (SSI Step #5).

The SSI also calls for more "assertive" policing, especially focused on open-air drug markets, social disorder, and other quality-of-life street crime (SSI   Step #6). There is no doubt an expression of Council intent is needed on this issue, especially when many question whether or not the Council will provide the political and policy support police officers doing their jobs on the street will be watching for.   

Assertive policing is based on the premise that cops matter, that crime can be prevented and social disorder decreased when officers are present and engaged in proactive problem solving. Assertive policing has been successfully used in other U.S. cities.

If you doubt this approach to policing, read this article in The Seattle Times on how emphasis patrols (presence) and proactive policing has cleaned up the notorious Pike-Pine corridor downtown or this article on special police and prosecutor focus on high impact juvenile offenders.       

Read more about SSI here.

Hope: Morning, Noon and Night

I had a great day today! 

The day started at Lake Washington Girls Middle School near 18th and East Cherry Street where I had a discussion with a class of 8th graders about public corruption, ethics in government, character, and American campaign tactics.  Wow!  Those girls were impressive.  Their questions were focused and cut right to the heart of the issues.  They invited me as an elected officials after reading Robert Penn Warren's All The King's Men, a novel loosely based on Gov. Huey Long of Louisiana.   

The girls were from across Seattle.  Engaging with them was a measure of hope—they were bright, very aware of contemporary issues and problems, and well read. The last question of our hour together was right off the front page of the morning newspaper:  "What do you think of the government taking over AIG?"  I admitted I didn't know enough to answer.

At Noon I met with a group of business leaders, large and small businesses affiliated with the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.  I introduced them to the Council-generated Safer Streets Initiative, then answered questions on a wide range of topics; from street crime, to taxes, to the competitive economic climate in Seattle compared to other cities in the region, social services and homelessness, and police staffing.  These leaders care deeply about our city and are engaged to make a difference.

Tonight, I joined over a hundred south Seattle residents in a Rainier Valley church to hear Mayor Nickels describe his youth violence initiative.  A poignant moment came near the end of the Mayor's remarks when he recited the names of the four teenage boys murdered in Seattle earlier this year and asked us to observe a moment of silence in their memory.

Community leaders, members of Youth180, police commanders, including the Chief of Police, parents, church leaders, and school officials crammed into the church to, as police Director John Hayes said, "get positive about our kids and crime in our streets."  The meeting is another in a series being held across the south end of Seattle to address youth violence, crime in general, and neighborhood feelings that street crime is getting out of control in some areas.  My colleague, Councilmember Sally Clark also attended.

It struck me that the kids I met in the morning and the kids I met at night were very similar in so many ways: smart, motivated, wanting to do the right thing, excited about their future.  Yes, they might attend different schools and face different economic challenges, but they all had aspirations, they all had hopes and dreams. 

The people in Rainier Valley are like those in my neighborhood or in Ballard or West Seattle.  They are worried about their children, about the direction of our city, and about their neighborhood.  They yearn to know that their kids will be safe and have opportunities to succeed.  And by showing up tonight they were demonstrating their commitment to work for a better city.  Hope was the operative word tonight.

Tonight also reminded me that what happens in Rainier Valley (or any neighborhood) has a direct impact on me and you.  We may be a city of different neighborhoods--one of our strengths--but when it comes to our children and their futures we are one city.  And I think we get that.  That's the hope I'm clinging to.