 |
Timothy Harris
Executive Director |
Our Day of Action
on homeless
sweeps is
March 13 and
here’s what we
know. We know
that cops last
spring took the
gloves off with
a stepped-up campaign of campsite clearances.
We know that this was intentionally
kept from advocates and, apparently, even
the City Council and CEHKC. We know that
they launched an aggressive media offensive
when they were finally called on the
evidence, and we know that they’ve kept
advocates at an extreme distance as they
work toward their final trespass “policy.”
We know that the sweeps never stopped,
despite a continued absence of established
protocol and a request by City Council to
suspend activity.
But what we don’t know is why. Why has
the City of Seattle taken such an active interest
in homeless campers? Why now? Why so
committed and why so secretive?
There are several possibilities:
The neighborhoods demanded it. The
mayor could no longer forestall the inevitable.
If Nickels didn’t act soon, he could lose the
next election.
It was just the right thing to do. No one
should have to live the way these people do.
The Human Services Department staff knew
that campsite conditions had reached a
crisis point, and presented an aggressive yet
ultimately compassionate action plan to the
mayor.
They had to curb the Asian Heroin Cartel. Don’t laugh. There’s actually some idiot out
there who thinks this is the reason.
Homeless people make downtown living
kind of icky. There’s a boom, and part of the
sales pitch is safety. Visible poverty makes
development dollars nervous.
What do you think? Register your choice
at http://www.apesmaslament.blogspot.com |
