Dori: Olympia closes Artesian Commons Park to the public, but not to the drug-addicted vagrants?
Aug 25, 2018, 7:55 AM
The City of Olympia has shut down Artesian Commons Park due to the large amount of violence and health emergencies that have taken place there since it opened in 2014. (KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
Artesian Commons Park in Olympia is going to be closed indefinitely because of concerns for staff and public safety. According to a press release, park-goers and park staff have witnessed and been victim to “violent incidents, verbal altercations, nuisance behaviors, and mental health emergencies” since it opened in 2014.
You know what this is? This is the chickens coming home to roost here. The City of Olympia has been so pathetic in dealing with the homeless, drug-addicted vagrants who are on their streets. Olympia has been so accepting of increased violence from Antifa and all these goons running around the city.
What I don’t understand is why the restrooms in Artesian Commons Park will still be kept open. If they’re keeping the bathroom open, are they doing that so the drug addicts will still have a place to shoot up, but so that a park is closed to the public? This doesn’t make sense to me. Why not just arrest the people who are violent? Wouldn’t that be similar than closing down a park that the public seems to enjoy? We’re letting the inmates run the asylum around here. We’re letting the tail wag the dog.
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We should just punish the people who are causing the problems, clean up the parks, and leave them open to the public, instead of letting drug addicts take over the entire region. But again, this is an extension of the extreme liberal “tolerance” of the city government down in Olympia.
I have heard from so many business owners in Olympia who are fed up with the criminals taking over the streets. They’re just honest business people trying to make a living, but they suffer because violence runs rampant. I’ve heard from cops down in Olympia who have had it with the lack of support for law enforcement. The people who have taken over the place are knee-jerk, hateful, and anti-cop, and it’s a tough place to be a police officer.
This is the natural extension of the pathetic, ineffectual lack of leadership from local governments. In Olympia, I’m usually talking about the state government, but in this case I’m talking about the city. They have let this go unchecked for far too long.
Further north, the Seattle City Council has announced that it will enforce noise ordinances in the city, mostly at Alki. The new regulation is that if you can hear a motorcycle or unmuffled car from a certain distance away, they will write you up a citation. You are letting people shoot up heroin in our parks without any punishment. You are letting people pitch tents in our parks without any enforcement. But if someone is riding their Harley at night, you’re going to take a stand against them?
Just like with the park in Olympia, Seattle would rather punish its honest citizens while letting the criminals take over the streets and parks. Now look, I’m okay with noise ordinances. I’m not okay with prioritizing that before we go after the heroin users and illegal campers in our parks. It’s disgusting — it’s absolutely disgusting.
