By Erica C. Barnett
Dozens of RVs and other vehicles had mostly disappeared from the SoDo street where they’ve been parked for more than two years on Tuesday, after a last-minute push to get everybody out before city workers showed up at 9am to clear the area. By 9:30, as the heat rose into the 80s, the street was cordoned off with “Street Closed” sawhorse placards and a few eco-blocks—heavy concrete blocks businesses use to prevent people from parking on public streets—had already appeared.
A spokesman for Mayor Bruce Harrell’s office, Jamie Housen, said that between July 8 and this morning, 20 people living in their vehicles at the site had accepted offers of shelter, which means a shelter bed was available and they said they were willing to go. The city does not ensure that people who get referrals to shelter actually get there, and although Seattle does pay for Lyft rides, that practice is problematic, making underpaid rideshare drivers responsible for people who may be in crisis.
Anti-sweeps advocates called on Harrell to postpone the removal until after this week’s anticipated heat wave (as I write this, it’s 93 degrees), but Housen said the “RV remediation,” along with an encampment removal near Woodland Park later this week, is actually in the best interest of the unsheltered people being displaced.
“Someone displaced today is an elderly person with congestive heart failure who needs more care than any available shelter can provide. That person should get the health care and shelter they need, and it shouldn’t take a pandemic sweep to get it.”—Alison Eisinger, Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness
“This week, the City will complete two RV remediations and one encampment removal, with the aim of addressing the public health and safety concerns at those sites while helping those experiencing homelessness get indoors, into shelter, and out of the heat,” Housen said. “No additional encampment resolutions will be conducted during the elevated heat event, but shelter referrals to get people into cool and safe places will continue.”
But most of the people living along 3rd Avenue S. just moved elsewhere; according to a staffer for City Councilmember Tammy Morales, whose district (D2) includes SoDo, they included at least two people with major medical needs—one with congestive heart failure and one with terminal cancer—that can’t be accommodated in a traditional shelter.
In a statement, Morales called Tuesday’s sweep a sign of the “continued failure of our city response to addressing the root causes of homelessness” and noted that despite the efforts of service providers, “there were not enough shelter options to move people into today despite the extensive outreach that took place this month.”
According to an internal presentation by Harrell’s office earlier this year, there are, on average, between two and five shelter beds available each night across the city, a number that is similar to previous estimates from the Human Services Department and shelter and service providers.
Alison EIsinger, director of the Seattle/King County Coalition on Homelessness, said it was irresponsible to displace dozens of people in the middle of a pandemic and during a heat wave. “High temperatures make it worse for people on the ground, and make it harder for staff to bring water, cooling supplies, and health care to people they can no longer locate. That’s not just bad policy, that’s wasteful, cruel, and ineffective policy,” Eisinger said
Responding to the Harrell Administration’s comment that shutting down a longtime RV encampment would get people “out of the heat,” Eisinger added, “I just learned that someone displaced today is an elderly person with congestive heart failure who needs more care than any available shelter can provide. That person should get the health care and shelter they need, and it shouldn’t take a pandemic sweep to get it.”
In her statement, Morales said that despite repeated requests, Harrell’s office has not provided them with information about encampment removals in advance.
People who need to escape the heat, including people experiencing homelessness, can go to community centers, libraries, and malls during the day; for housed people, the city suggests “moving to where it’s cooler to sleep more comfortably” and taking a cooling shower.
I had my own business and home until 8 years ago I had a major stroke and lost everything because of not being able to work.i am now also living in my RV (I also does run and drives) on the streets in seattle . Fortunately I have anticipated the sweeps and relocated before the city showed up. But I’m not sure that i won’t get swept in the future especially for the fact that the city has never publicly provided any info about the “remediation” to come. Seattle does not care the circumstances of why we’re homeless . They only want things cleaned up and the pat on the shoulder for giving out referrals for shelter. A referral does not guarantee a person will be sheltered but taking someone’s rv and only shelter does not make any sense to me . They say it is in our best interest by forcing us into the elements that we had already overcome by having an rv to live in. If they want clean then clean up any garbage or whatever but the rv is not garbage it a home that in my mind is just being stolen legally by the city. If the city really wanted to help us in rvs they would actually have these safelots to park that they speak of but never have . You know this damn rv is all I have in this world and it is my only shelter from the elements . I wonder how they would feel if the tables were turned and someone said I don’t like the color you painted your house or the choice of landscaping the city officials chose for their home and so we just without a heads up came and bulldozed over their house and scooped it up into a dumpster ? Maybe the city’s actions might change and a real solution to the problem would finally come to work out for everyone involved… I am disabled and can only afford very little that I can hopefully survive on during a month and I’m doing everything possible to fix my situation and it’s tough and slow going but at least I’m am trying .Also being homeless in my rv also does not make me a criminal or a drug addict either .but I’m constantly stereotyped to that category and looked upon as a lover by the more fortunate. If I had never had the stroke I would be living in the house right next door to all those rude and disrespecting jerks and most likely still making over $100,000 a year and happy. Life just ain’t fair and sometimes you get knocked down but what really matters is what you do about improving yourself and situation no matter how long or what it takes to get there .So only upon my failure to do so will give you the right to look down your nose at me !
Have the best day ever
These removals had been planned for months. Could the city have stopped all removals for a few days? Yes. But what’s called a heatwave here is mild compared to the rest of the country. We didn’t break 95 deg. And if your not in the middle of the airport tarmac the temp is 5 to 10 deg lower. The city checked on the people and offered them cool shelters and more. And driving an RV is not a terrible punishment. People purposely drive them for months on long pleasure trips.
Yes. Last autumn I went looking around in Ballard, trying to figure out the eco-block situation, and there’s an RV lot there, for example. I don’t really understand what it’s like to be homeless in an RV, specifically how that affects one’s relationship with employment; so I don’t have any way of guessing how many RV residents can afford to pay that kind of rent. (That person with congestive heart failure should be getting disability money, but would that be enough to pay it?)
Seattle’s heartlessness knows no bounds. Sadly, I fear those who created such an abomination will not feel an ounce of remorse for their actions.
Instead of calling them “eco-blocks” you can say “or, as advocates call them, NIMBY blocks”
Or you could call them – “save my business” blocks.
City owned rights of way are NOT “back yards.” Call them NIMROWs, although the “my” implies ownership that doesn’t exist.
Does city code allow homeless RV residents to park on private property and maybe pay rent?