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Timothy Harris
Executive Director |
On Mon. Jan. 28, the Real Change Organizing Project turned out in force to the public hearing on the Mayor’s policy on homeless encampment clearances. We held a rally and speak-out in front of Seattle Center’s Rainier Room during the sign-up period, mobilized about a third of the testimony, and kept a table full of bureaucrats there listening to us for an hour past the scheduled closing time. Only one person supported the Mayor’s plan.
Under normal circumstances, I’d think we had an impact. But when I heard Human Servces head Patricia McInturff on KPLU the next morning, it didn’t sound that way at all. After the two-week public comment period ends on Jan. 31, she said, some adjustments would be made, and in March the Mayor’s staff will unroll their final plan.
Meanwhile, indications are that aggressive campsite clearances will continue as before.
This, to anyone who was there and has any respect for democracy, is a travesty. Testimony was passionate and utterly one-sided. Columbia Legal Services presented the city with a detailed challenge to the plan’s legality. The faith community described the plan as immoral and wrong. The City’s own Human Rights Commission called the Mayor’s policy an assault on human dignity. Homeless people plaintively begged for some recognition of their humanity. Service providers testified that real alternatives to outdoor survival do not exist. The Seattle-King County Coalition on Homelessness declared that any real negotiation must begin with expanded services.
But this Mayor responds to two things: money and power. For poor people and their advocates, there is contempt. This morning, Pat McInturff sounded like she thinks the “community process” is almost over. We’re just getting started. |
