Seattle ‘community engagement’ meeting felt more like a sales pitch

Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan proudly declared the importance of listening to the community as she implements her new plan to tackle homelessness in Seattle. But she wasn’t at the South Lake Union meeting to discuss a tiny home village.

RELATED: Astonishing dishonesty as city installs encampment

The Human Services Department had representatives present. It didn’t feel like we were heard. It felt like we were offered a sales pitch on a product few in that meeting wanted.

The event space at 415 Westlake was completely full. The side door, propped open for a breeze, brought in the unpleasant odor of the nearby trash bins. It would foreshadow the sales pitch we heard.

We weren’t there to be listened to. We spoke, but it felt like it fell on deaf ears. What we got was a group of well-intentioned city officials who want desperately to enact Mayor Durkan’s plans, even if we don’t think it’s right.

Leading up to the meeting, multiple city officials acknowledge they botched the outreach, giving the impression the encampment — rumored to be low-barrier — was an inevitability. On flyers handed out to businesses as recently as Memorial Day weekend, the encampment was listed as a certainty, even before the community meeting was held. The permit for the village has already been filed and the city dragged their feet even confirming the May 31 meeting was to take place.

And maybe that’s part of why it felt like no one heard what we had to say. The crowd, passionate but civil, was overwhelmingly against the idea of the encampment, particularly if it is low-barrier.

We heard from a sexual assault survivor who fears for her safety. It’s a concern intensified after an encampment resident allegedly brutally raped a woman in Ballard.

They’re struggling to answer questions about crime around encampments. Not answering directly. Won’t say what the impact is on the neighborhood. pic.twitter.com/cOYLEfYrZN

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) June 1, 2018

We heard from a renter who saved enough money to move away from another encampment in Licton Springs — the encampment is reportedly plagued with crime and drugs — only to find herself forced to live near another one.

We heard from a man who lives in Ballard and has experienced the “skyrocketing” property crime from homelessness. He owns a business a block away from a proposed encampment and is concerned that the crime he sees at home will be seen at work.

There weren’t many fireworks during the meeting, just incredibly passionate people who don’t want to turn South Lake Union into what the city turned Ballard into. But, for a moment, sparks did fly.

“People have the right to live wherever they want to live,” said a homeless activist.

That didn’t go over so well, for obvious reasons. But it does sometimes feel like that’s official Seattle policy.

Councilmember Mike O’Brien, for example, doesn’t care if you live in your broken down RV or are camped out in a park we spend millions of dollars on (so long, of course, if it’s not in front of his house).

Now Durkan is considering bringing a low-barrier encampment to a neighborhood where people live to escape the crime and drugs of other Seattle neighborhoods.

They asked two Tiny Home village residents to share their stories. They came here homeless. Woman asked why they came here homeless and @SeaNeighborhood rep(?) shut the question down.

— (((Jason Rantz))) on KTTH Radio (@jasonrantz) June 1, 2018

One question I’m still unclear on: there’s a promise of community engagement from this mayor. What’s that mean? Talking to us or listening to us?

The mayor has the chance to actually listen to us and the position the neighborhood has taken is clear: we do not want a low-barrier encampment in South Lake Union.

Mayor Durkan: will you listen to us?

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