Tent City
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Tent City is the name common to a series of organized shanty towns of homeless people in the greater Seattle, Washington, USA area. Homeless people have long resorted to seeking shelter in tent groups, but these communities are one of the first known to be organized by a sponsoring organization (a partnership between the Seattle Housing and Resource Effort and Women's Housing Equality and Enhancement League, often referred to by the combined acronym SHARE/WHEEL), and, even more notably, are one of the first in a major U.S. city to be largely accepted by local governments.
The original Tent City and Tent City 2, both created in the 1990s, were created illegally and opposed by the City of Seattle. City officials tolerated their presence longer than many cities would have, but eventually forced both to be shut down. In March of 2002, as a result of a legal battle, city attorney Mark Sidran signed a court ordered consent decree with SHARE allowing Tent City only on private land and setting standards for its operation.
Tent City leaders do not allow drug or alcohol use, and evict anyone caught stealing or committing other crimes. Bothell Police Chief Forrest Conover has said that there was no increase in crime during the time Tent City 4 was located there. Nonetheless, fears of crime are almost always cited by those who oppose Tent City 4, and several residents of Tent City 4 were evicted after it was discovered they had felony warrants for their arrest.
Contrary to some stereotypes regarding the homeless, many residents of Tent City are employed, but have insufficient income to obtain more permanent housing.
Tent City 3 and Tent City 4 have faced opposition in most communities they move to.
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Tent City 4
Tent City 4, the attempt to provide shelter for the homeless living outside of Seattle, has been embroiled in controversy since its creation in May of 2004. Tent City 4 was the first to locate outside of Seattle, originally settling on church property in the suburb of Bothell. The encampment has since been relocated twice.
The encampment provides shelter for up to 100 people. Families are not allowed in Tent City 4, although there is a provision for emergency situations. Couples, single men, and single women each stay in a separate area to make people feel safer. Portable toilets and Dumpsters are provided to address sanitation concerns. All residents are given background checks. To address safety concerns, there is only one entry/exit to the camp, which is guarded at all times.
History
Tent City 4 originally settled on church property in the suburb of Bothell, after opposition to an initial arrangement that would have had the camp located on a county-owned wetlands. After considerable opposition to this plan, St. Brendans Catholic Church invited the camp to locate on property across the street from the church.
In August of 2004, Northshore Church of Christ in Woodinville invited Tent City 4 to relocate to its property. In response to public complaints, the Woodinville City council proposed moving to a different site, an undeveloped plot of park property, for 40 days while they pursued permits to stay for an additional 60 days. The site was seen as preferable due to its location in an industrial, rather than residential, area.
In November of 2004, Tent City 4 moved to St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Finn Hill near Kirkland, where it met expected protest from neighbors. The site is exclusively residential, has no evening or weekend bus service, and is within blocks of 3 public schools.
On February 19, 2005 Tent City 4 moved to Kirkland Congregational Church.[1] (http://www.eastsidecares.org/news/)
Controversy over Tent City 4
Tent City 4 initially had a rocky start in Bothell. King County Executive Ron Sims initially arranged to site it on a county-owned wetlands adjoining a park-and-ride lot near Interstate 405 and N.E. 160th Street, but opposition King County Communities For Fair Process (http://tentcitysolutions.com) filed a lawsuit, noting, among other things, that it was too close to an environmentally sensitive area. With the high probability of defeat in Court, and with no notice, TC4 was located across the street from St. Brendans Catholic Church in Bothell.
As a result another lawsuit was filed and intense negotiations took place over certain issues related to the camp. Central to the issue was the proximity to four schools and the resulting financial damage they incurred. The main sticking points include the city of Bothell's desire to require the encampment's residents to provide identification for warrant and sex-offender checks, and the church to either hire private security or pay overtime to the Bothell Police, and to provide liability insurance of at least $1 million. A judge at a hearing about the issue refused to order these conditions, but they may be part of permit requirements once they've been finalized, and ordered Share/Wheel to obtain permits for their Encampments.
As a result of public pressure King County Councilmember Carolyn Edmonds proposed a citizens' commission be formed to study the siting issues, but King County Council member Kathy Lambert insisted that they must first determine if tent cities are even needed and offered amendments to rewrite the ordinance. On June 1, 2004, the council voted to create the King County Citizens' Advisory Commission on Homelessness and Encampments to recommend policies and guidelines for dealing with homelessness. Some people claim Ron Sims stacked the commission with Homeless advocates, and that caused the report ended up representing the views of special interest groups and not the citizens as intended. A dissenting report was also submitted. Information on the Commission work can be found at: CACHE (http://tentcitysolutions.com/Default.aspx?tabid=248)
An article in The Woodinville Weekly (http://www.nwnews.com/editions/2004/040906/features1.htm) quotes Tent City 4 residents who criticise SHARE/WHEEL'S operation of the encampments, alleging that some expensive, high technology donations have been sold at auction to raise funds.
The King County Council heard public testimony on February 7, 2005 on two pieces of amended legislation addressing the issue of homeless encampments in King County. Further council action is scheduled for February 22, 2004.[2] (http://www.metrokc.gov/dchs/csd/Housing/TentCity.htm)
External link
- The Citizens’ Advisory Commission on Homeless Encampments' official site (http://www.metrokc.gov/dchs/CACHE/)
- Seattle University hosting Tent City 3 (http://www.seattleu.edu/tentcity/)
- St. John Mary Vianney Tent City page (http://www.sjvkirkland.org/tentCity.htm)