street roots
3
July 5, 2013
Right 2 Dream Too considers move to a new Old Town site
Judge to rule on city's
motion to dismiss
nonprofit's suit against
fines for Fourth and
Burnside operation
BY JOANNE ZUHL
S T A F F W R IT E R
ight 2 Dream Too, the homeless way
station at the corner of Fourth
Avenue and Burnside, will square off
with city attorneys next week for perhaps
the final round in their 20-month standoff.
On July 11, a motion to dismiss by the city
will be considered in circuit court, and if
granted, could signal another legal dead-end
for R2DToo, which is trying to find a more
permanent site for people experiencing
homelessness.
But Right 2 Dream Too isn’t waiting for
any favors from the city, which hasn’t
budged on its course to fine the
controversial camp out of existence.
Organizers with R2DToo are in
preliminary talks with Central City Concern
about possibly occupying CCC’s Medford
Building at Glisan Street and Fifth Avenue
in Old Town. The building had housed
Kramer.
Transition Projects Inc., which relocated to
On Tuesday, Kramer and Mubarak met
the Bud Clark Commons in 2011. Transition
with City Commissioner Amanda Fritz to
Projects used the Medford Building as
talk about waiving the fines and dismissing
temporary housing and support services for
the ones already accrued. In the recent
people experiencing homelessness.
bureau assignments from Mayor Charlie
Ibrahim Mubarak, the spokesman for the
Hales, Fritz assumed authority over the
nonprofit R2DToo, said this week that an
Bureau of Development Services which is
“undisclosed group” of Chinatown
the agency fining R2DToo.
businessmen has made an offer on the
It’s the policy of the city to not comment
building on R2DToo’s behalf. It is one of
on pending litigation, but Mubarak said the
several sites the group is considering for a
meeting went well.
new home, according to Mubarak.
Mubarak says any decision on relocating
However, any location the group settles
R2DToo would be made by the nonprofit’s
on will have to have a long-term lease,
seven-member board of directors.
ideally five years, says Mubarak, who added
The Medford Building is not entirely
that the TPI building might be available for
empty. The first floor houses the VOA
only six months.
Treatment Center along with an expanse of
“We have been and continue to look for
space formerly used as winger shelter with
alternative locations that meet the needs of
a capacity for 95. The upper floors are
that population, which include
single-residency apartments, nearly all
transportation and having access to social
occupied. R2DToo regularly shelters about
services,” says R2DToo attorney Mark
60 people at night, with that number
R
swelling to 90 to 100 during the winter,
Mubarak says.
If a deal is reached, it would the biggest
breakthrough to date for the camp that has
battled the city and local business pressures
to continue operating.
Since October 2011, R2DToo has leased
the property from owners Michael Wright
and Daniel Cossette for $1 a year. In recent
months, a “for sale” sign has been
prominently displayed on the lot. In
December, the organization has sued the
city seeking to suspend the citation process
that has levied more than $21,700 in fines
on the camp for code violations. The fine
goes up $1,500 every month, according to
Kramer. While the fines technically fall on
the property owners’ responsibility, they are
directed at R2DToo.
The city has fined the site under two code
violations. The first being that the fence
around the property - constructed from
used doors - exceeded the 6-foot limit, a
situation that was recently corrected. The
second violation comes because the city
categorizes R2DToo as a recreational
campground, subject to certain city
requirements. The organization maintains
this is an emergency shelter operation for
people experiencing homelessness, and is
allowed under state statute.
The city has moved to have the case
dismissed on technical grounds, and if the
circuit court judge grants the city’s motion,
the case could simply die for lack of money
or administrative options to move forward.
Kramer, who is donating his time to the
case as a member of the National Lawyers
Guild, said that if the case dies, the group
could appeal or try for an administrative
hearing, although deadlines have passed and
appeals are costly. But Kramer stays
optimistic.
“Things can happen,” Kramer says.
“There could be some type of waiver. Where
there’s a will there’s a way.”
Razing the stakes: Seattle homeless community is moving on
BY AARON BURKHALTER
S TA FF REPORTER
, cattle’s Nickelsville, a tented
.community similar to Right 2 Dream
^Too, was alive and growing.
On a recent Wednesday, 27 teens rolled
up their T-shirt sleeves in the warm sun
and built raised platforms for tents.
They pulled up blackberry vines and
spread bark along pathways that bisect
the 10-acre homeless encampment in West
Seattle that is home to 125 people.
The youth group, all members of the
First Church of the Nazarene in Lewiston,
Idaho, had traveled to Nickelsville for
their annual mission trip.
While they sought to build up
Nickelsville, Seattle city leaders were on a
mission to bring the tents down. Just two
days earlier, seven of the nine members of
the Seattle City Council had signed a
letter to Mayor Mike McGinn imploring
him to close the camp by Sept. 1 and
move the residents to more stable, indoor
housing.
How that will happen isn’t clear.
“I don’t think there is a single master
solution for every person there (at
Nickelsville),” said Council President Sally
Clark. “I don’t envision that everybody
goes to the same shelter; I don’t envision
that everybody goes to a tent city at a
church.”
Clark and the city council pledged
$500,000 from the city’s general fund to
help. Now it’s on the Seattle Human
Services Department to work out the
The city council has promised to
provide outreach to the Nickelodeons,
who have a wide range of needs. Some
camp residents are open to outreach,
others want to continue camping outside.
Most are skeptical the city will provide
anything other than hotel vouchers and
Nickelsville has languished on city-
owned property between West Marginal
Way and Highland Park Way, without
access to water or electricity, for the past
two years. Camp residents rely on
portable toilets and bottled drinking water
and travel off-site to take a shower.
Neighbors complained the camp
suffered from lax security, and residents of
Nickelsville complained the Seattle Police
Department wasn’t doing enough to help
them keep the camp safe.
Two legal claims forced the Seattle City
Council to act. A neighborhood group
asked the courts to decide if the camp is
illegal. A private property owner whose
land abuts the camp filed a $1.65 million
claim, alleging that the camp’s presence
has decreased the value of his property.
Seven of the Seattle City Council-
members took the first decisive action in
the May 10 letter ordering McGinn to
evict the Nickelodeons.
Councilmembers Clark, Richard Conlin
and Jean Godden told Real Change News
they are confident that $500,000 and a
concerted effort by the Human Services
Department will be enough to relocate the
residents of Nickelsville to more
permanent housing.
Councilmember Mike O’Brien is
concerned Nickelodeons would be
scattered to greenbeits and under
highways and bridges.
“If $500,000 could house 100 people,”
O’Brien said, “we would have solved the
homelessness problem a long time ago.”
A number of camp residents agree.
Trace De Garmo questioned whether
the city could offer anything better than a
mat on the floor in an emergency shelter.
“I’d want to know if it’s something
actually sustainable,” De Garmo said. “Is
it something that’s going to be actually
moving me forward?”
Many who show up at Nickelsville in
Seattle or Tent City 3 come at the
recommendation of another shelter or
service, said Jarvis Capucion, a resident at
Tent City 3.
Sometimes, the tent cities are full, too,
he said to the Seattle City Council’s
Housing, Human Services, Health and
Culture Committee June 12.
“I am ashamed to tell another homeless
person, T’m sorry, you can’t stay here;
we’re full,’” Capucion said.
Lisa Patterson brought her 14-year-old
daughter to Nickelsville after she couldn’t
find anyplace else to live. She’s already on
waiting lists for family housing, she said.
While she waited, Nickelsville provided
Patterson and her daughter a place to
stay, but gave her more than that, she
added.
“I’ve got support now; friends,”
Patterson said.
Seattle, Wash.