Senator to Seattle: Clear trespassers or lose state funding

After a 19-year-old sleeping in a tent near the 50th Street off-ramp in the University District was struck and killed by a car that left the freeway, Republican Senator Mark Miloscia says it’s clear the City of Seattle has lost control.

“That is inexcusable that the person’s death occurred, while it could have been prevented,” Miloscia said. “The Seattle City Council is going down a reckless path. A path that will just make homelessness worse.”

Miloscia says the city should handle it like Federal Way — arrest trespassers and force them to move and get them the services they need.

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“The way it’s done in Federal Way and most every other city and county in the state, if you break the law — whether dealing drugs or unauthorized living arrangements — then you come into the criminal justice system,” he said.

Federal Way launched an initiative for cleaning up homelessness through a coalition of departments and faith-based organizations. The city allocated $100,000 over the next two years to create a day center that includes information on human services. The city also began taking inventory on all encampments, banning the ones on public property.

Federal Way Mayor Jim Ferrell says encampments are not a moral or effective solution to fixing what he calls a “public safety risk.” Ferrell, a former King County prosecutor, told KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson in April that the situation can’t be solved by giving people “an out and a tarp.” He said homeless individuals are charged with trespassing on both public and private property and that, if they return and cause problems, will be sent to jail.

Despite the tough stance on homelessness, others have raised concerns with Federal Way’s take on the issue. That includes concerns, according to the Federal Way Mirror, over where people are supposed to go if the city’s resources aren’t enough.

“At some point I think we’re going to deplete our resources,” Council member Lydia Assefa-Dawson told the Federal Way Mirror. “There’s not enough housing out there for people and I really believe that everybody has to be housed, but we can’t do it.”

Miloscia, who is running for state auditor, said he’d audit Seattle’s homeless programs to make sure they’re effective. But he didn’t say how the city would find suitable places for the hundreds of people he wants to move off the streets.

Miloscia plans to push a bill in the next legislative session that would tell Seattle and other local governments that they either clear trespassers from these illegal encampments or lose state funding. Miloscia didn’t specify what kind of state funding the city could lose.

The senator made his announcement in Seattle’s Belltown neighborhood as two men were camping in the plaza behind him.

“Seattle has to start enforcing laws, getting people into treatment or into housing, and stop attracting people [from around the country],” he said. “They actually need to sweep and get back to how it used to be five or six years ago when we had, in fact, less money and the economy was a lot worse.”

This is in reaction to a proposal led by the ACLU and other advocate groups that would give homeless people a right to camp in public spaces unless the city can find them a suitable alternative. The city council voted in favor of moving the proposal through its committees for further discussion recently.

Neighborhood groups, especially in Seattle’s International District, are trying to kill the idea. Some businesses are skeptical of the proposal as well.

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Republican gubernatorial candidate Bill Bryant issued a similar statement Tuesday before the Association for Washington Cities.

“I’m going to announce a zero tolerance for people living in boxes and tents on state land and give local law enforcement the jurisdiction to remove these camps,” Bryant said.

Neither Republican candidates offered a complete, concrete solution, KIRO 7 points out.

Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee’s campaign points to a list of programs and money he’s secured to fight homelessness.

And Democratic State Auditor candidate Pat McCarthy said in a statement that it is “disingenuous to think a performance audit alone can solve this crisis.”

Donna Nelson, a homeless person living in Seattle, told KIRO 7 she hopes the government doesn’t just move those living without shelter.

“[This] is where we have to go right now,” she said.

The city of Seattle is now spending about $50 million a year on its homeless problem. Most of that is spent on emergency shelter beds — a pad on the ground and roof over their head.

Michael Johnson, who lives in a tent under the viaduct, told KIRO 7 that isn’t money well spent.

“Shelters around here have bed bugs. They have been really bad on it lately, I’ve heard,” he said. “I’d just rather have my own blankets, my own tent.”

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