Cleaning UP the City of SEATTLE

Yes, we love a good clean-up! When we arrived to the city of Seattle to do business, there was quite a bit of homeless activity, drug use & deals, also trash around our storefront showroom. Trees in front had clothing, stash spots and other…um, gifts. We got down right away with our own shop, because you see, I’m not the type to settle into a run down spot and accept surroundings as bad. We strive to Improve areas we work in, so, as this was unacceptable to work in, we changed our surroundings.

We did not hesitate and I put fresh new murals up for attraction. Taggers in the area greeted me with compliments & being from the 90’s, this type of street cred is gold. I also told some of them to clean up, get off drugs and call home. I’m a grandma, so I tell youngins’ as best I can, because it takes one line sometimes to get people thinking. They could’ve heard it a million times but maybe mine was the one, who knows.

Things got scary too, since we’ve been in Seattle, we’ve been targeted for theft and assault, but we know the special arts to diffuse this and situations that could have been catastrophic or dangerously worse, were not, with no gun.

Sometimes we have to use other resources and when we went to the SODO business improvement area, we were a little fatigued. I’m not afraid to call out what isn’t ok. That is who I am so when I hit them with complaints, I was expecting ignorance, but got a a response that made me love these guys.

Cam is in charge of City clean-up & he works with law enforcement also. He assured me they would get out there and check out the situation. Now at first I was like, sure buddy, yea. Then I saw him work. He takes the cleanup very seriously got the areas we asked for, and did not dismiss us that we are not in the posh Seattle hot spots. We are in the manufacturing district which could easily get overlooked by their team.

Paul was so hands on, he came to our shop and went over exactly what to do in these situations. He is always available, and anyone who is willing to go knock on tents to see if anyone wants a bed, is a Hero in my eyes. Homeless people are still people and like I said, if one comes off the streets, it’s a WIN.

Jacob is a City planner. He was receptive and listened to our concerns. He always tries to help us. In getting to know him he’s going to make a great leader one day & he is very open to new ideas and creative ventures. Melissa is an event planner and organized this and other events that are bringing the community together they make an excellent team.

We cleaned up graffiti picked up trash & debris and it’s only the beginning. Next clean up, we’ll be there!

The new Mayor Katie Wilson, did not return our emails about our concerns. Which is a Seattle favorite. Her staff must think that by ignoring people, including the homeless, problems will go away while they tax us more for this. Her solutions for this problem are not very realistic, by letting open drug use continue and also pushing them into areas like the viaduct/parking garage where there are daily open fires.

Everyone gets labeled as a mental health case, but as someone who worked with real autism, and disabled mental patients, Overuse of drug use is not the same category and should not be treated the same. The erosion of functioning chemicals in the brain replaced by chemicals in meth, phentanyl, and other hard drugs, possibly mixed with alcohol and prescription meds, is not someone born with these diseases. However, these two categories need around the clock medical attention and care.

City argues compassion must be given by us, and this reminds me of Durkin’s backyard policy which asked homeowners to let homeless live in your backyard. It’s ironic how she, herself, did not. The NOT in my back yard was voted for overwhelmingly. If someone is mentally unstable, it is not safe or wise to do this and they can’t be left to wander the streets because they have lost capacity to safely care for themselves, so whatever they do, needs supervision.

Millions of dollars went into this, yet streets are still rife with drug use and prostitution with no criminal charges as the Mayor prior to Wilson, said he was more concerned with their ‘backstory’ and getting to know them as a person. Hey that’s awesome, Bruce, but they are still dealers and should pay for crimes. Prostitutes are often trafficked and know no other life, so their rehabilitation is unique, but dismissed as a lost cause.

We’re not impressed with any of these Mayors to say the least, but we’ll keep working with those who hold the vision of a better tomorrow. See ya in the next one!

T