Tent City

From Freepedia

The term tent city has been used for temporary settlements made of tents, such as the beginning of Anchorage, Alaska. As a proper noun, it now is also used for series of organized encampments of homeless people in the greater Seattle, Washington, USA area.

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Tent City Seattle

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. Contrary to some stereotypes regarding the homeless, many residents of Tent City are employed, but have insufficient income to obtain more permanent housing.

The original Tent City and Tent City 2, both created in the 1990s, were created illegally and opposed by the City of Seattle. After being tolerated for several years, they were eventually forced 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 (by invitation) and setting standards for its operation.

Based on the consent decree Tent City 3 and Tent City 4 were created. Tent City leaders do not allow drug or alcohol use, and evict anyone caught stealing or committing other crimes. Nonetheless, Tent City 3 and Tent City 4 have faced opposition in most communities they move to. This opposition has become less significant over time, the time Tent City is allowed to stay in any given place has been limited to 3 months, and fear of crime has proven unfounded, as none of the neighborhoods that hosted Tent City noticed any increase in crime.

Tent City 4

Tent City 4, the shelter for the homeless people in King County outside of Seattle, 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

May 2004
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 filed a lawsuit, noting, among other things, that it was too close to an environmentally sensitive area. St. Brendans Catholic Church in Bothell invited TC4 to property near the church.
August 2004
Northshore Church of Christ in Woodinville invites 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.
November 2004
Tent City 4 moves to St. John Vianney Catholic Church in Finn Hill near Kirkland.
February 19, 2005
Tent City 4 moves to Kirkland Congregational Church.[1]
May 2005
Move to Lake Washington United Methodist Church.
August 2005
Move to Woodinville Unitarian Universalist Church.

Controversy over Tent City 4

After Tent City 4 found its first home in Bothell, 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

An article in The Woodinville Weekly 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]

See also

"Tent City": Maricopa County Jail Modification, Phoenix, AZ.

This "Tent City" is a modification of the Maricopa County Jail conducted by Sheriff Joe Arpaio upon election to this office. People there are, as in any other county jail, either awaiting trial or are serving short sentences, only that the place is a series of LARGE tents. It was built to ease overcrowding.

External link

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