Tent City 4, the Eastside’s roving homeless encampment, has been investigating the possibility of a move to Mercer Island. The Mercer Island Clergy Association recently announced that it would issue Tent City 4 an invitation to pitch its tents in the same city where Paul Allen and Seattle Times publisher Frank Blethen reside.

As Dale Sewall, co-senior pastor of the Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, noted, “Our goal is to make this a very positive, interfaith, all-Island experience of hosting Tent City 4.”

The encampment, sponsored by the local homeless advocacy group SHARE/WHEEL, has moved around the Eastside since the spring of 2004, typically staying at each new site for 90 days. It’s currently located in Bellevue, with plans to move to Issaquah in August.

According to Marilyn Jensen, missions coordinator for Mercer Island Presbyterian Church, community response has been mostly favorable. The local faith community is now beginning a process of community education about homelessness. Says Jensen, “People are going to have concerns. Real or perceived, you have to address people’s concerns.”

No specific site on Mercer Island has been chosen yet to host the camp. TC4’s move to Mercer Island is not likely to happen before Spring 2008.

—Ronni Tartlet

Three, two, one

Three people who took part in a rally on June 2 were detained by the downtown Macy’s for an hour according to Rod Palmquist of SLAP (Student Labor Action Project). Palmquist and another UW student, April Nishimura, sat on the floor of the department store in support of women who’ve been sleeping on the floor of Cimatextiles, the only union shop in Guatemala, that is about to be closed. Larry Hildes, one of the legal observers at the protest, was also detained.

Palmquist said a Macy’s security guard grabbed him by the collar. The three were taken on a service elevator to the basement where they were placed in three separate rooms.

The protest included about 50 students from the UW and Seattle University. The protesters feel that brands such as Liz Claiborne and Charter Club should be speaking out against the garment factory shutdown. Palmquist said the three detainees are contemplating legal action. A Macy’s spokesperson didn’t return Real Change’s call.

—R.V. Murphy

The price of politics

So you want to run for City Council? Everyone knows it costs a bundle—posters, flyers and yard signs aren’t cheap. But it’s the filing fee on the front-end that makes Christal Wood mad.

Wood is a former mayoral candidate who’s planning a run this year for Sally Clark’s post on the council. But before she gets there, she’s trying to make a point about what she calls the illegally high cost of city’s candidate filing fees. For Clark’s seat, it’s a whopping $966, which Wood, a law student, says is enough to deter any low-income person from ever running for office.

She’s filed an administrative appeal on the issue that King County Superior Court Judge John Erlick is scheduled to hear on June 22.

—Cydney Gillis