Rantz: We are giving our parks to the homeless and drug dealers

I’m constantly reminded that we Washingtonians love our green space and our open space. Parks offer us a break to enjoy the majesty of our surroundings. Sometimes, the non-traditional parks are meant to give us some space to connect as a community. So why are we so quick to give up our parks to homeless people and drug dealers?

The situation at Artesian Commons Park in Olympia has gotten so bad, the city had to close it. There were frequent acts of violence breaking out and threats against park employees has hit crisis-level. KOMO reports:

Since May of 2014, police were called to the park nearly 1,400 times including 121 times for violence or crimes against people and 154 times for arguments or disorderly disturbances.

This is being driven by the homeless population there. They scare off residents, which then brings drug dealers to the park because they know they won’t deal with much foot traffic likely to call the police. And while Olympia Parks, Arts & Recreation say they’re going to re-strategize on ways to take our parks back, they’re indirectly ceding the park to the very people responsible for the situation we’re in.

Though it’s too dangerous to send park employees, they’ve kept the 24 hour bathroom open. Why? To give the homeless population there an even bigger reason to stay camped out? Now they know they won’t be bothered by the general public or staff.

“That’s definitely a fair perspective,” Olympia Parks Department head Paul Simmons told the Jason Rantz Show. “I would say this bathroom is part of a larger effort by our city to address a growing issue of … people [needing] to use the bathroom, quite frankly, downtown. If they don’t have a place to go, the other option of where it ends up, is less ideal.”

I’m certainly sympathetic to this. It is a well-intentioned move, but I believe it keeps the homeless population in place, which goes against the stated goals of the parks department.

These problems aren’t relegated to Olympia. Seattle has the same problem: the homeless camp out in our parks and push out taxpayers who, not long ago, agreed to funnel even more of our dollars into their upkeep. Denny Park, for example, doesn’t seem very inviting when you have a bunch of homeless people camped out wherever they’d like to. City Hall Park? An absolute disaster. You even had Seattle City Councilmember Mike O’Brien promote the idea that the homeless should camp out wherever they want on our parks, whenever they see fit. Many aren’t even attempting to care for the space, with garbage and needles strewn around.

Do we care about our parks or not? If not, fine. But let’s save on the tax dollars we pour into these green spaces if we’re not going to be able to enjoy the spaces. But if we do care, perhaps we shouldn’t make it easier for the homeless and drug dealers to occupy the space, which ends up pushing out parents looking to walk around with their kids and enjoy a pleasant afternoon. There are resources that allow us to compassionately help the homeless without giving them these parks.

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