November 2 marked the passage of two years since then-Mayor of Seattle Ed Murray declared a state of emergency for the homelessness crisis in Seattle. On Nov. 1, member groups from the Housing For All Coalition (HFAC) brought together a crowd of hundreds that packed the hall at the city council budget meeting; staged speakers and performers outside City Hall, and camped out on the sidewalk overnight in a show of solidarity with unhoused neighbors.
The people of Seattle demand action from City Council
Hundreds of people lined up to get into chambers and to get numbers so they could speak. Individuals got one minute; if you were with a group, the group got a total of three minutes. Chambers reached capacity while hundreds were still standing in line. Some went into the overflow room and watched the hearing projected on closed circuit TV, while still others remained standing in line in hopes that they would eventually be allowed into the City Hall chambers. At various points in the evening, the chants of those standing on the stairs and lobby of City Hall could be heard resounding: “Stop the Sweeps! Stop the Sweeps!” Others went outside the building and joined the rally outside on City Hall Plaza, where at least a dozen tents were ready for the overnight campout.
Testimony showed the creativity of the people. One group of high school students, four young women of color from the Center School, read an original poem about gentrification together, with a refrain recited in
unison: “We deserve better!” and “Seattle, I need you to help me!”
Got Green, an environmental justice organization, testified as a group in support of the Housing for All Coalition demands, linking the need for housing to the city’s climate change goals.
Dan Dietrich, a resident of Tent City 3, called for the doubling of the city’s number of sanctioned encampments such as Tent City 3. “Respect the privacy of homeless people. Homeless people and homeless advocates need to be part of the solution.” He strongly supported the HOMES tax which would tax Seattle corporations with over $5 million revenue/year at a rate of $100 a year per each full time employee. This would raise $24 million for permanent affordable housing and rental assistance; low barrier and 24 hour shelters and increased tiny house and sanctioned encampments; expansion of the LEAD program (Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion) a pre-booking diversion program that is now well-loved in the Belltown neighborhood.
City reneges, but Nickelsville campers honor commitments
Audell Hanna, a resident of Nickelsville Ballard, another sanctioned camp, explained that NVB must move by Nov. 15- and the city has not yet found a new location for the camp. “As part of the agreement, we agreed to move by Nov. 15, and honoring our word is important to us.” NVB would like to split into two sites, she explained, so as to serve more people in the “growing homeless population.” She echoed the call of support for the Housing for All Coalition demands, (https://www.housingforallseattle.org/platform/) which include the immediate creation of affordable housing sufficient to meet the growing need in the city, barely one fourth of which is met by the city’s current proposal.
Victims of capitalist priorities
Anitra Freeman of WHEEL and Women in Black also testified. Women in Black stand vigil for all homeless people who die on the streets in Seattle. She linked the increased numbers of deaths in Seattle, 66 so far this year, to the increase in sweeps. “People have committed suicide after repeated sweeps. People are not getting into housing because the lovely people on the navigation teams don’t have the resources. People don’t get into housing because the housing doesn’t freaking exist! What would we do if we really treated this as an emergency? We would tax the companies that are part of the problem! Let’s git ’er done!”
Travis Thompson explained how sweeps are traumatizing. “What does it take to stop sweeping people like they are garbage?”
Addressing a group white t-shirted “Speak out Seattle” members support continued sweeps under the guise of “loving the homeless,” Casey Jaywork said “I wanted to let you know, with the greatest respect, that thereason I’m here testifying like this is because your policies will kill my friends.”
Rising rents force people into the streets
The outrageous increase in the average rent in Seattle has had an undeniable role to play in driving the homelessness crisis. The gains made during the victorious Fight for $15 have been eclipsed by the ballooning cost of housing, and this has had a predictable effect on the number of homeless people in the city. While luxury apartments and condominiums are being built at an astonishing rate, the number of people sleeping in shelters or in the street has risen apace. This is not an inevitable state of affairs, and the people of Seattle are raising their voices together to demand that none of their neighbors go homeless in a city with so many empty homes.
