The City Council has officially deferred the vote on Council Bill 118794. This outcome stops the immediate plan for park encampments and forces the city to pursue a different path for public land management. We will continue to monitor all forthcoming proposals to ensure our parks remain accessible to the …
November 12, 2016
Final supporters
We, the undersigned registered voters of the City of Seattle, petition the Seattle City Council to defer a vote on Council Bill 118794 for at least six months to allow time for the following:
- the City to conduct a study of the environmental impacts of allowing homeless encampments in public parks and other public spaces;
- the City's residents and businesses to provide input and alternative proposals that meet the needs of the entire community; and
- to submit Council Bill 118794 to the qualified electors of the City of Seattle for approval or rejection at the next regular election or at a special election in accordance with Article V, Section 1 of the City Charter.
On October 14, 2016, the Seattle City council is planning on enacting Council Bill 118794 which would allow camping in over 5,200 acres of city parks throughout Seattle as well as sidewalks, parking strips and other publicly owned spaces. In addition, the City taxpayers will be required to provide water, sanitation and other services or pay a $250 fine to each homeless person affected (per violation per day).
Homeless people belong in homes, rehab facilities, mental health facilities or other places where they can get the help they need. Not only does the proposed ordinance note help them, this law will lead to the devastation of our parks that we all have a right to use safely. It will also adversely impact protected wetlands, soils and environments. Finally, it will most likely attract more homeless persons from other locations to the City of Seattle, where they will expect to be provided free camping or other suitable housing.
Council member Tim Burgess is the lone council member who has been vocal in his opposition. He calls the bill "irresponsible" and states, "If this legislation is adopted by the City Council it won't move one person [living outside in homelessness] to housing. It won't address drug addiction or mental illness by anyone. And it certainly won't clean up the piles of garbage we see around Seattle left by urban campers. (These piles of garbage are so contaminated and hazardous that we have trouble finding contractors to do the necessary cleanups.)" http://timothyburgess.typepad.com/
Further, as Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times has reported, this plan has already been tried in Portland just this year and failed miserably, leading to an increase in homelessness and encampments with as many as 500 tents taking over city protected greenbelt. http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/...
Yes, we need to provide housing and other services to bring people out of homelessness, but this is not the right legislation. It will only encourage more homeless to come here and exponentially expand our problems with substance abuse and mental illness. Other programs, such as Pathways Homes, is a much better solution.
A majority of the city counsel, at least six, have already indicated they intend to vote for this legislation which was drafted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other homeless activists. This is despite the fact that there has been overwhelming opposition by residents and businesses.
For more information, please check out www.safeseattle.org and on Facebook.
Updates
Reached 10,000 supporters
October 11, 2016
October 11, 2016
I have spent the morning drafting formal requests for the environmental impact reports mentioned in the petition language. My next step involves coordinating with a legal consultant to ensure our formal submission to the City Council meets all charter requirements before the upcoming vote.
Reached 1,000 supporters
October 10, 2016
Reached 100 supporters
October 10, 2016
October 9, 2016
We are approaching the 10,000 signature mark which will serve as the primary evidence when I deliver our formal demand to the City Council. Please distribute this link through your local email lists to ensure we hit that threshold before the upcoming legislative hearing.
October 8, 2016
We are approaching one thousand signatures and need to reach this threshold to establish formal standing for our upcoming request to the City Council. Please distribute this link to your personal networks immediately to ensure we hit this mark before the next legislative session.
7,138 Comments
"We need to do something" is not a reason for doing the wrong thing. The proposed ordinance is not in the interest of Seattle residents who need safe parks, nor does it provide a solution or a step in the right direction for our homeless population.
We need to balance the homeless problem with reasonable expectations for preserving our Parks for their intended uses. Allowing anyone to appropriate parks for their personal space is contrary to the use of parks by all for recreational purposes.
No bill like this should be considered without a clear, concrete and sustainable public safety and public health supportive components. Police enforcement needs to be clear and clean-up programs, especially of hazards and biowaste, must be in place.
I have spent many hours cleaning up the garbage, used needles, and huma waste these people leave when they camp in the green belt next to my property. Please provide safe areas and transitional help for these people and don't trash our nature pockets.
Please learn from what Portland tried as a solution, don't open our parks and green spaces to tents. It failed in Portland, we don't have the money to have another failed program in Seattle. Expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.
I understand the unfortunate few homeless people that actually work and had bad luck, that’s fine but the garbage is not right. Especially the majority that are just drug addicts that steal everyday from businesses etc. As a paying homeowner you would be fined by the housing authority !!!!!! It needs to stop! It is bringing rats etc ! There are dumpsters everywhere! If Washington doesn’t do something everyone that actually works and pays taxes will move to a CLEAN state. Also you could pay inmates to pick up the trash that we pay for to keep in jail etc. community service. We could even offer homeless people wages to clean up the garbage to receive food and insurance benefits. The governor needs to stop inability the homeless that are drug addicts!
Hope you Remember Racist Joe Biden’s famous quote "If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you Ain't Black," translation, If You Don’t Vote for Me, ‘You Ain’t Black’, that said, All Black Americans should wake up and challenge the ill-educated anti-American BLM to explain HOW looting and rioting, arson attacks on private businesses , rampant violence and lawlessness protesting, stomping and burning the U.S.A. flag, vandalizing and toppling Civil War statues and monuments, there by Erasing the History of the Pro-slavery, Pro-lynching, Spread Hating, and currently the True Racist Democratic Party which was Proudly Known Historically as The Slaveholding Confederate States of America, stop blacks from murdering each other in record numbers every weekend in Democrat-run cities and states ONLY? Why does BLM believe black lives ONLY matter when they are harmed or killed by a white person, especially a white cop and not by black hoodlum? (Think) Where are the multitude of protesters, mourners, and televised funeral services from BLM for the deaths of Black men, women, children, and cops killed by black thugs across America's major cities? The truth is BLM does not care about blacks as more Black Americans are killed by blacks then by cops. Well, the fact is, All Lives Matter (ALM). It is Sad, Insulting, and Degrading that Black Americans Today after all this Years have Forgotten (Think) who the Real Racists have Been and Continue to be, namely, the Democrats.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Copy link or share directly
The City Council has officially deferred the vote on Council Bill 118794. This outcome stops the immediate plan for park encampments and forces the city to pursue a different path for public land management. We will continue to monitor all forthcoming proposals to ensure our parks remain accessible to the …
November 12, 2016
Final supporters
We, the undersigned registered voters of the City of Seattle, petition the Seattle City Council to defer a vote on Council Bill 118794 for at least six months to allow time for the following:
- the City to conduct a study of the environmental impacts of allowing homeless encampments in public parks and other public spaces;
- the City's residents and businesses to provide input and alternative proposals that meet the needs of the entire community; and
- to submit Council Bill 118794 to the qualified electors of the City of Seattle for approval or rejection at the next regular election or at a special election in accordance with Article V, Section 1 of the City Charter.
On October 14, 2016, the Seattle City council is planning on enacting Council Bill 118794 which would allow camping in over 5,200 acres of city parks throughout Seattle as well as sidewalks, parking strips and other publicly owned spaces. In addition, the City taxpayers will be required to provide water, sanitation and other services or pay a $250 fine to each homeless person affected (per violation per day).
Homeless people belong in homes, rehab facilities, mental health facilities or other places where they can get the help they need. Not only does the proposed ordinance note help them, this law will lead to the devastation of our parks that we all have a right to use safely. It will also adversely impact protected wetlands, soils and environments. Finally, it will most likely attract more homeless persons from other locations to the City of Seattle, where they will expect to be provided free camping or other suitable housing.
Council member Tim Burgess is the lone council member who has been vocal in his opposition. He calls the bill "irresponsible" and states, "If this legislation is adopted by the City Council it won't move one person [living outside in homelessness] to housing. It won't address drug addiction or mental illness by anyone. And it certainly won't clean up the piles of garbage we see around Seattle left by urban campers. (These piles of garbage are so contaminated and hazardous that we have trouble finding contractors to do the necessary cleanups.)" http://timothyburgess.typepad.com/
Further, as Danny Westneat of the Seattle Times has reported, this plan has already been tried in Portland just this year and failed miserably, leading to an increase in homelessness and encampments with as many as 500 tents taking over city protected greenbelt. http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/politics/...
Yes, we need to provide housing and other services to bring people out of homelessness, but this is not the right legislation. It will only encourage more homeless to come here and exponentially expand our problems with substance abuse and mental illness. Other programs, such as Pathways Homes, is a much better solution.
A majority of the city counsel, at least six, have already indicated they intend to vote for this legislation which was drafted by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and other homeless activists. This is despite the fact that there has been overwhelming opposition by residents and businesses.
For more information, please check out www.safeseattle.org and on Facebook.
Updates
Reached 10,000 supporters
October 11, 2016
October 11, 2016
I have spent the morning drafting formal requests for the environmental impact reports mentioned in the petition language. My next step involves coordinating with a legal consultant to ensure our formal submission to the City Council meets all charter requirements before the upcoming vote.
Reached 1,000 supporters
October 10, 2016
Reached 100 supporters
October 10, 2016
October 9, 2016
We are approaching the 10,000 signature mark which will serve as the primary evidence when I deliver our formal demand to the City Council. Please distribute this link through your local email lists to ensure we hit that threshold before the upcoming legislative hearing.
October 8, 2016
We are approaching one thousand signatures and need to reach this threshold to establish formal standing for our upcoming request to the City Council. Please distribute this link to your personal networks immediately to ensure we hit this mark before the next legislative session.
7,138 Comments
This will affect middle and low income residents, all tax payers, of Seattle who use the parks regularly as a safe and open area to recreate, unwind and enjoy a green landscape. For some this is the only recreation area available to their families.
"We need to do something" is not a reason for doing the wrong thing. The proposed ordinance is not in the interest of Seattle residents who need safe parks, nor does it provide a solution or a step in the right direction for our homeless population.
We need to balance the homeless problem with reasonable expectations for preserving our Parks for their intended uses. Allowing anyone to appropriate parks for their personal space is contrary to the use of parks by all for recreational purposes.
No bill like this should be considered without a clear, concrete and sustainable public safety and public health supportive components. Police enforcement needs to be clear and clean-up programs, especially of hazards and biowaste, must be in place.
I have spent many hours cleaning up the garbage, used needles, and huma waste these people leave when they camp in the green belt next to my property. Please provide safe areas and transitional help for these people and don't trash our nature pockets.
Please learn from what Portland tried as a solution, don't open our parks and green spaces to tents. It failed in Portland, we don't have the money to have another failed program in Seattle. Expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.
I understand the unfortunate few homeless people that actually work and had bad luck, that’s fine but the garbage is not right. Especially the majority that are just drug addicts that steal everyday from businesses etc. As a paying homeowner you would be fined by the housing authority !!!!!! It needs to stop! It is bringing rats etc ! There are dumpsters everywhere! If Washington doesn’t do something everyone that actually works and pays taxes will move to a CLEAN state. Also you could pay inmates to pick up the trash that we pay for to keep in jail etc. community service. We could even offer homeless people wages to clean up the garbage to receive food and insurance benefits. The governor needs to stop inability the homeless that are drug addicts!
Hope you Remember Racist Joe Biden’s famous quote "If you have a problem figuring out whether you're for me or Trump, then you Ain't Black," translation, If You Don’t Vote for Me, ‘You Ain’t Black’, that said, All Black Americans should wake up and challenge the ill-educated anti-American BLM to explain HOW looting and rioting, arson attacks on private businesses , rampant violence and lawlessness protesting, stomping and burning the U.S.A. flag, vandalizing and toppling Civil War statues and monuments, there by Erasing the History of the Pro-slavery, Pro-lynching, Spread Hating, and currently the True Racist Democratic Party which was Proudly Known Historically as The Slaveholding Confederate States of America, stop blacks from murdering each other in record numbers every weekend in Democrat-run cities and states ONLY? Why does BLM believe black lives ONLY matter when they are harmed or killed by a white person, especially a white cop and not by black hoodlum? (Think) Where are the multitude of protesters, mourners, and televised funeral services from BLM for the deaths of Black men, women, children, and cops killed by black thugs across America's major cities? The truth is BLM does not care about blacks as more Black Americans are killed by blacks then by cops. Well, the fact is, All Lives Matter (ALM). It is Sad, Insulting, and Degrading that Black Americans Today after all this Years have Forgotten (Think) who the Real Racists have Been and Continue to be, namely, the Democrats.
Share Petition
Don't stop at signing, share the petition link with friends to multiply our impact
Petitions like this
Other petitions you might want to support
Scan to share
Anyone who scans this can sign the petition.
This will affect middle and low income residents, all tax payers, of Seattle who use the parks regularly as a safe and open area to recreate, unwind and enjoy a green landscape. For some this is the only recreation area available to their families.