Dori: I’m going to build a street office in Seattle
Apr 9, 2018, 6:12 PM
Dori plans to build an office out of tarps and wood pallets on the sidewalk to see if Seattle will show him the same treatment as it shows the city's homeless. (MyNorthwest)
(MyNorthwest)
I’m testing out one of the most brilliant ideas of my career right outside the KIRO Radio studios on Tuesday morning.
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Across the street from Seattle Center, a group of homeless people have built a “mansion” of wood pallets, tarps, and tents. Melissa Burns, a resident of the tent mansion, told KIRO 7 that she and her “roommates” would rather live on the street so that they don’t have to pay rent.
The City of Seattle has said that it won’t do anything about the encampment because, with 400 camps around town, it has to prioritize.
So now we get to my brilliant idea — I need an office where I’m separate from the rest of the newsroom, like the one I used to have. The sidewalk in front of the building would be a perfect office. On Tuesday morning, I’m going to build an office on the sidewalk.
I want to see if the City of Seattle will treat me the same way that they treat the squatters in front of the Seattle Center. Why shouldn’t I get peace and quiet, too? Why shouldn’t I get my solace? I could rent some office space across the street, but like Melissa Burns said to Q13 FOX, ‘Why pay rent if you don’t have to pay rent?'”
Dori’s street office
It’s an experiment — let’s see if the City of Seattle will leave my satellite street office alone. I’m actually using the sidewalk to generate revenues; adding value to our tax revenues that we provide to the city. Are they going to come down on me? Is the city really going to treat me differently?
There are 400 unauthorized encampments around the city — what would it matter if I become number 401?
I’m very excited about this idea. It can even spread — we can make it look like an open-air market in a third-world country. I will encourage people to come sell their wares. I’m even going to go to Costco in Shoreline and buy regular, sugary Coke — then I’m going to sell it tax-free out of my shanty. This is going to be wonderful.
I’m not the handiest person in the world, but I guarantee you my listeners are. If you have some serious building skills and can provide the material, join our work party to help build me a street office Tuesday morning outside of KIRO studios in Eastlake. Send us an email with your contact information if you plan to be part of the project.
