Former Seattle mayor: Don’t rely on outside funding to combat homelessness

In 2012, homeless advocates surrounded then Mayor Mike McGinn’s Seattle home in protest.

Why?

McGinn was ordering the Seattle Police Department and other agencies to clear out the infamous Jungle &#8212 a greenbelt along I-5 through downtown Seattle known for unauthorized homeless encampments.

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“In the 2012 time frame the police came to me after reports of gunfire. They had walked through The Jungle and they came back and said, ‘We need to clear it out now. It’s a real public safety issue,'” McGinn told KIRO Radio’s Ron and Don Show.

“Some homeless advocates were very concerned about the homeless being removed from there,” he said. “It was called ‘Occupy the Jungle;’ it was occupy activists and homeless folks who came to the planting strip outside my house to protest the removal of their encampment.”

At the sight of a homeless encampment setting up in front of his house, McGinn went outside and addressed the crowd.

“I got home that evening and I told them we had to proceed. It’s a public safety issue. And it’s a matter of safety for the people who camp there as well,” he said. “And we did, in fact, remove the encampments there.”

But as The Jungle has proved many times, despite being cleared, the homeless population there grew back. It recently claimed headlines after a fatal shooting that killed two, and wounded three as three suspected teenage brothers attempted to collect drug money for their mother.

And that’s just one area where homeless encampments have sprouted up around Seattle. Current Mayor Ed Murray declared the local homeless situation a state of emergency. He has called for federal and state assistance to combat a crisis he notes is a national problem, partially rooted in lack of funding from those sources.

Homelessness was growing before McGinn took office in 2010, and has grown further since his departure at the end of 2013. He noticed the homeless problem the entire time.

“There’s different reasons for homelessness and different responses people need,” he said. “There are people with very severe mental health issues that are often times very resistant to any type of shelter or even organized encampments. There are folks who have substance abuse issues,” he said, further noting that a person under a freeway living in a tent is likely not the mother experiencing homelessness that politicians often refer to.

“There are also people who just don’t want to go into shelters which is one of the reasons why we’re supportive of encampments,” McGinn said.

While the reasons for homelessness vary, there are a few broad things Seattle can do, according to McGinn:

• Dramatically increase shelters in Seattle: “That’s going to take more resources, and it’s probably going to have to be city resources. This is one of the wealthiest times in our city’s history and we are just going to have to step up to the plate … I would also look at converting some of our nighttime shelters into all-day shelters. It’s really hard for someone to transition out of homelessness if they are having to chase around their stuff all day.”

• Don’t rely on outside funding, such as from the state or federal government: “Let’s not rely on the state. Their budget is pretty tight too. They can’t fund education … The reality is this problem is growing and it’s going to require more resources and you can’t just look to the federal government or somebody else to solve it.”

• Police are a factor when it comes to issues such as homelessness and crime; Seattle needs more cops: “Is it time for a Seattle Police Academy where we train them ourselves, our way, to meet our standards? Maybe we can improve recruitment and replace (cops) faster than attrition.”

McGinn notes that in his first year as mayor he had to make $67 million in cuts to the city’s budget. Part of how his administration achieved those cuts were to allow police numbers to fall through attrition.

“And we moved officers from other functions to patrol. That’s what I’d focus on (when looking at police numbers) &#8212 how many officers are on patrol,” he said. “In the last two years of our budget we added 61 more officers. So we added officers when we had the money.”

Current Mayor Ed Murray budgeted to add 100 new officers over attrition in the most recent city budget. McGinn doesn’t know how many more officers have been added or lost since he left office, but he said that crime has risen.

“Crime is higher. Go to SPD’s SeaStat (crime data website) and take a look at the end of the year 2015 numbers. Crime is higher than in 2014. That’s SPD’s numbers,” he said.