LICTON SPRINGS COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Directors Present: Jan Brucker, Tom Meyer, Liz Kearns, Kay Mesirow, and Ellen Beck.

Tent City 3 Offshoot in Licton Springs Park. Over the weekend of Saturday and Sunday, October 11 and 12, an offshoot of Tent City 3 moved into Licton Springs Park. The Tent City folks are scheduled to be at SPU January 1^st. Kathleen Braden told us that SPU is talking to the City about the possibility of moving Tent City earlier because of their present problem of no place to be.

Liz Kearns reported that neighbors have called the Mayor’s office and other City offices but have been unable to reach anyone. Messages have been left, but there have been no calls returned. This is very upsetting. The Tent City 3 offshoot group did not go through the established processes. No one knew they would camp at Licton Springs Park. This has raised concerns. Isn’t it illegal to camp overnight in a City park?

Discussion followed. The Sharewheel organization assists the Tent City groups. There has apparently been a rupture in the Tent City 3 group. There is a neighbor who has been harassing the group. That neighbor has been reported to the police by the Tent City group.

The Tent City 3 offshoot group has been served with an eviction notice that requires them to be gone by 2:00 p.m. on October 16, 2014. We need to have a contingency plan on what steps we should take if, in fact, the group does not leave the Park.¹

Concern was voiced for the people of Tent City. Jan suggested needing to find a permanent location, i.e., the lawn bowling clubhouse (which has a kitchen and bathrooms) at Lower Woodland or a barrack at Fort Lawton. Carlos Sanabria stated that we need to be careful and sensitive in our communications with the City.

We would like a response from the City to safety concerns. Is there a stepped up security plan if the tents are allowed to remain encamped in a City park illegally? Jan will craft a letter and send it to Ellen Beck to forward to everyone at our meeting to comment on. We need to suggest sensible, tactful actions. If the group is allowed to remain, what remediation does our neighborhood receive? It was suggested that Christa Dumpys and Thomas Whittemore (both with the DON) might have suggestions for us.

We are owed a safety plan if the Tent City 3 offshoot is still camped in the Park when the community holds its traditional Halloween in the Park for young children.

Parking Zone. A neighbor on Densmore wants information about an RPZ. It was suggested that information could be obtained from Thomas Whittemore.

Transit Difficulties. The ballot transportation measure was discussed. Jan noted that our transit problems began in the 1990’s when King County and Metro were merged and in response Sound Transit was formed, resulting in an unfair allocation of transportation income and costs. Our local transit has suffered as a result.

Wilson Pacific Site. Jan stated that she had no new information about Wilson Pacific. Liz Kearns stated that the group that moved for the Historic Preservation was a native group. That group also wants the school to be named after Robert Eaglestaff. The designation will slow things down, but the schools will be built.

Northwest District Council. Tom Meyer reported that Scott Kubly, Director of Transportation was at the last meeting. He previously worked in D.C. and in Chicago. He has promoted and worked with Bike Share Co. to install stations with bikes in those cities and now in Seattle. Discussion followed. What is the City receiving for the installation of these bike stands on City sidewalks? This all happened quite suddenly. Was there open bidding in connection with installation of a bike share program in Seattle?

1 Following our meeting, Kathleen Braden stopped by the Park. The tents were being taken down and stuff was being loaded into vehicles. Kathleen talked to their leader, Tony, who said that because they would be evicted tomorrow, they are leaving tonight. Tony will return tomorrow to make such everything is in order. He didn’t know where they were going, but they were not rejoining the main Tent City 3 group.