At Tuesday, October 17's Olympia City Council meeting, community member Gary Altman expressed frustration with the growing homeless encampment near his 911 Fifth Avenue SE residence.
Altman, who lives in a mixed-used building where his wife, Dr. Rose Bailey, also holds a dental clinic, said he has been having issues with the conditions around the area.
When he returned home from his recent vacation, Altman narrated, he found a tent blocking the sidewalks. Despite his repeated calls to authorities, nothing has been done.
"Finally, on Thursday, an officer says, we will talk to the higher-ups, and there's nothing we can do about it," Altman quoted an officer as saying. He was told that they need an extension of the city policy that the downtown core has to allow it to move people blocking the sidewalk living there.
Altman claimed the issue has escalated with more people setting up tents in the area, which is near the Salvation Army. "All these people are living around my building on sidewalks and blocking them."
After 20 years of living there, Altman said someone broke into and ransacked the dental clinic.
"I need your help," Altman said as he pleaded with the councilmembers to extend the policy implementation in his area to give the police the necessary tools to address this situation.
Housing and Homeless Response Director Darian Lightfoot said her team was aware of the encampments outside the Salvation Army.
Lightfoot enumerated the measures her team has been taking to address the issue, including connecting a few people to temporary housing in the shelter, Unity Commons, or one of the city's tiny home villages.
However, Lightfoot said the capacity is limited at local shelters and villages. She said outreach workers try to find unsheltered people when beds open up based on a coordinated assessment of needs.
"The clean team was out there today and picked up a lot of debris blocking the right of way. We have communicated with the Olympia Police Department," reported Lightfoot.
In addition, the housing director said that her staff is looking at recommending expanding the ordinance referenced by Altman that is existing in downtown.
Lightfoot mentioned that she has been in contact with the Salvation Army.
"Because of the capacity of their congregate shelter and how meals are delivered through their services, this is how they are currently set up,” Lightfoot explained. “To feed folks at the amount they are able to, they have to set up places to eat and the line outside."
According to Lightfoot, the Salvation Army is looking to continue providing their daily and long-term shelter services, as homeless individuals are primarily interested in accessing these types of support. The outdoor eating and waiting areas result from how the Salvation Army is currently set up and resourced to deliver services rather than an attempt to encourage encampments.
Lightfoot explained further that Catholic Community Services also provides food and meals near the encampment. She noted it is a corner with a concentration of services for those experiencing homelessness.
"Many unsheltered people do not have reliable cell phones or addresses, so when they congregate near service providers like the Salvation Army and CCS, outreach workers have a better chance of locating them if a shelter bed becomes available,” Lightfoot said. “These people experiencing homelessness do not have specific addresses. Their presence near service areas helps facilitate placement into housing resources when capacity allows."
When asked about the timeline for considering expanding the satellite ordinance, Lightfoot deferred to City Manager Jay Burney, who stated that staff are working on a timeline to bring a proposal to the city council within the next 30 to 45 days.
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5th street
I support Mr. Altman.
We live in the 1100 block of 5th and everything he says is exactly the case. Multiple tents were blocking the sidewalk completely. Not unusual for the area. It is essentially a homeless encampment. I think I understand why it is there, but it continues and we no longer walk on that street. Lots of trash and a moving encampment, I called and got a response, but it was basically that we are aware of the issue.
We have lived there 4 years and the concentration of homeless services is a concern. Lots of mental health issues. I doubt the issue would be tolerated in other parts of the city.
I am glad the Salvation Army provides services but the encampments, serious trash problems and related issues need some higher focus.
When the Sidewalk office was up the street there was a similar ongoing concern.
Our neighborhood has a singular concentration of homeless services and the result is evident.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 Report this
HarveysMom
I agree with kenhouse and Mr. Altman. Like both of them, I have compassion for the homeless and massive respect for organizations providing services to them, but it is NOT ok for Mr. Altman and his neighbors to be required to tolerate this. It's not just toleration you are asking Mr. Altman. You are asking him to live in harm's way. These are not simply people down on their luck and homeless, there are actual criminals among them. This cannot go on.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 Report this
TheVirtualOne
Agree with all said above and would add that I have experienced the same issues in West Olympia. The problem of homelessness is everywhere, but the city and police have brushed all of the taxpayers off. We no longer have any say in the matter and get zero response from the police, city politicians, and city/county support staff. It’s always the same thing, the brush off response “we are aware of the situation “, then nothing happens. I finally contacted some land owners directly and asked them to take action on vacant parcels where drugs and homeless people were camping. Thankfully, the land owners took action. This is only going to change if we boot the current leaders out of office and get people who will take action to stop the current leadership vacuum. I went to a city in eastern Washington earlier this summer and witnessed this behavior being handled totally differently. Police were responsive and did not allow this behavior to happen.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 Report this
TheVirtualOne
Meant to add one additional point but got logged out. Homelessness is one thing, criminal behavior is another. Each should be dealt with in the appropriate manner.
Tuesday, October 24, 2023 Report this
Ribbieb
Why can't Salvation Army and CCS be engaged to help? They bear some responsibility for this situation. Couldn't they have some of their people visiting the unhoused in this area? They could encourage cleanup and congestion caused by people camping on the street.
Thursday, October 26, 2023 Report this