homeless encampments

The Never-Ending Cycle Another mega sweep in the books under Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson. Wednesday morning, crews cleared out dozens of drug addicts near the Ballard Fred Meyer store and Burke-Gilman Trail. As expected, only a few people got apartments or tiny houses. The rest rejected shelter options being offered and moved down the block to start the fourth iteration of this encampment. Most stunning of all, I saw a young Asian American woman looking totally out of place. Spotting anyone from this racial group in one of the city’s drug dens is a rare occurrence. I tried to help. But the guys surrounding her made sure she stayed. Does anyone recognize her? What is going on here?

City Plays Whack-A-Mole Homeless outreach workers say encampment sweeps are rapidly picking up across Seattle under Mayor Katie Wilson. The latest one happened Wednesday morning near 6th Ave & Yesler Way in downtown. It’s unclear how many people chose to take services or shelter options. But by all accounts, it’s turning into another game of Whack-A-Mole as Wilson remains under enormous pressure to clear everyone out before the FIFA World Cup later this year. Meanwhile, notice how far-left activist group Stop The Sweeps Seattle is nowhere to be found. They were a constant thorn in the side of former Mayor Bruce Harrell and criticized him for using the same encampment removal methods as Wilson. But when it comes to comrade Read More ›

I went to the Ballard homeless encampment that has been dominating Seattle headlines, and what I found there was not clarity or compassion colliding with cruelty, but a system quietly failing almost everyone involved. Business owners and nearby residents are frustrated and exhausted. They’ve watched the encampment grow while public spaces deteriorate and safety concerns mount. On the other side, homeless advocates are fiercely defending the right of people to remain where they are, arguing that sweeps only deepen trauma and solve nothing. Caught in the middle is a city trying to signal change under new leadership, while offering very little evidence that real change is actually happening. This encampment was scheduled to be swept, but Mayor Katie Wilson halted Read More ›

Zero Solutions Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is getting hammered after another disruptive sweep under her new administration. But the criticism isn’t coming from her comrades with far-left activist group Stop the Sweeps Seattle. Homeless drug addicts say her promise to do things differently from the previous administration hasn’t materialized. The vast majority of the people living at the MLK Jr. Way encampment rejected services and shelter options Wednesday morning, then fled into the deep woods. We Heart Seattle’s Andrea Suarez calls them the “service resistant.” And right now, Mayor Wilson has offered zero solutions to address this group causing the most harm to themselves and the community.

Same Ol’ Same Ol’ Start the sweeps Seattle! Even after Mayor Katie Wilson promised to handle the homeless drug crisis differently, the city is quietly clearing out drug encampments and it’s still a game of Whack-a-mole. The vast majority of people at Wednesday morning’s sweep along Martin Luther King Jr Way rejected shelter options and headed right down the block to set up tents. That’s because they wanted to do their drugs. Difference is, far-left activist group Stop The Sweeps Seattle is surprisingly quiet about the encampment removals under the mayor. Double Standard? Wilson used to lead the Transit Riders Union. This activist group is heavily aligned with Stop the Sweeps. Which is likely why they are going easy on Read More ›

Welcome, Soccer Fans Lumen Field in Seattle’s SODO neighborhood hosted several Club World Cup matches this week. Instead of a clean and welcoming city, soccer fans heading to the stadium were treated to dozens of RV’s, tent encampments, and open-air drug use. From 3rd Ave to Utah Ave, these are the same vehicles cleared dozens of times by Mayor Bruce Harrell’s administration. After nearly four years in office, Harrell remains clueless on how to handle this unending street crisis. Sweeps aren’t working because all the campers are allowed to come right back. Taxpayers should be furious at the cost and the lack of proper enforcement. The current plan is not working.