Stop Seattle From Turning Our Parks Into Homeless Encampments

There needs to be a better option than letting people live in parks that tax payers fund in order to have nice outdoor spaces to take their families and enjoy the outdoors. The park rules should apply to EVERYONE, you can't spend the night there. PERIOD. No drugs or alcohol... pretty basic stuff.

Portland just tried this and failed. Why would we want to duplicate it? Build low cost units instead.

We have to have better ways to deal with this problem.

Homeless camps in public parks is not a success in any city I have ever visited. In fact, it is such a bad idea - that the opposite is true in all of the well run cities of the world. Homeless camps are not allowed in Paris, Amsterdam, New York, London or Tokyo. I hope Seattle can not make wasteful mistakes along the path to a solution for the homeless in our city.

Don't make our parks pay for people's problems. We need to solve this problem but don't condemn the park.

Please don't do this to our city!!

We do not support camping in public spaces.

Portland tried it out last year and within 6 months it was a disaster and they had to repeal the law. Allowing homeless to camp in public parks is only going to increase homelessness, crime and litter. This is the wrong way to solve homelessness.

Do better, Seattle City Counsel. I've sat quieter than I care to admit on a few of your other bright ideas for our city. That changes now. Listen to your constituents.

This is an unenforceable ordinance that will end up costing taxpayers greatly while greatly degrading shared public spaces and will do nothing to alleviate homelessness, only institutionalize it. Taxpayers passed a huge parks district measure recently. They were never asked to approve and did not approve open our public parks to camping, which remains against the law. This proposed ordinance is terrible and should not ever be passed.

While I care deeply for the plight of the homeless, this ordinance is flawed, as this petition states, and we need input from the public and a more reasoned ordinance. B. Krieger, resident near I-5, 520, U district, and Burke Gilman Trail encampments.

As a registered voters of the City of Seattle, I petition the Seattle City Council to defer a vote on Council Bill 118794 for at least six months.

Stop the madness !!!

We need to focus the city's resources on providing services and housing to the homeless, and improving inter-agency coordination. NOT dispersing the homeless around the city far from services, and creating a new coordination burden for the city to manage. This is a distraction and a bandaid - let's focus on real solutions!

Tents are not adequate housing for vulnerable people

This is a terrible piece of legislation. Please don't ruin the fabric of our parks and neighborhoods by legally allowing homeless and transient living in our parks. And enacting a $250 day per homeless person effected fine to tax payers? Can you imagine the effect on public safety, property crime and sanitation? I'm in disbelief that this is a piece of legislation that has been actually discussed by our representatives and put into motion as a good idea. Please vote against allowing homeless living in our parks. If this passes I would encourage we flood the park with tents and start camping. It's a terrible idea.

This is perhaps the worst idea I've heard that is proposed as an effort to "help" the homeless. It does not help anyone. I the City wants to make more property available for building affordable housing, then relinquish some parks and greenbelt properties. But putting more people in tents with no supervision, amenities, services, and the attendant responsibilities is simply inviting anarchy from a community of people who don't want to have to live by the rules and laws that govern the rest of the citizens of this city.

The need to address homelessness is urgent but leaving them in our parks is not the answer.

Stop this insanity. I live pay check to pay check. I struggle to pay property taxes but work 3 jobs to do it. I don't pay taxes to support parks so homeless people can ruin them. They can get jobs too! And support themselves.

Dear Seattle City Council: I am a Seattle taxpayer, a voter, and homeowner and I am urging you to vote against 118794. 118794 is not a solution to remedy unsafe conditions and protect the rights of homeless individuals. It will introduce far more problems than it solves and distracts from the real work at hand. Please do not authorize camping in our public spaces and parks. Not only does this not remedy the situation but perpetuates it. I am concerned for my safety and the safety of my 6 year old daughter. My concerns are specifically: 1.) unmedicated, seriously mentally ill people who may have volatile behavior, 2.) drug use and needles in parks, 3.) people living with inadequate facilities and defecation in our parks. These are all serious safety and health concerns. My 6 year old daughter and I go to the arboretum almost daily. When she is on her bicycle she can get about a half mile ahead of me. This proposal would make it unsafe for her and also for me to run alone in the park. Providing homeless people and mentally ill people dignity is an important personal / civic priority of mine. This legislation would do NEITHER. We have paid 260 million dollar affordable housing levy and 62 million this year alone for homelessness. We, including the homeless and mentally ill - deserve a better plan. Please: 1) Vote NO on Council Bill 118794 2) Use the budget process for the 2017-2018 budget to support the Pathways Home Initiative Priority 3) make our city safe and protect our green space for our children. Thank you, Sarah Rafton