Camp Hope closes
The last residents of what officials say was Washington state’s largest homeless encampment moved out on June 8, allowing authorities to close the camp.
Camp Hope, located outside Spokane on property controlled by the Washington State Department of Transportation, was a sprawling encampment that, at its height, housed as many as 600 people experiencing homelessness. Its existence caused friction among the state, city and county that resulted in lawsuits attempting to force the state’s hand to close the camp faster because of the impact on the housed community.
Because Camp Hope was on WSDOT property, the state put in resources through Gov. Jay Inslee’s Right of Way initiative, which is meant to move people out of dangerous locations, particularly when they are proximate to roadways.
Over the course of months, outreach workers met with Camp Hope residents in an attempt to get them housing and other resources. It was a slow process, ultimately taking nearly nine months to resolve. However, as Carl Segerstrom of RANGE Media reported on June 9, the last residents moved into a motel on June 8. They’ll stay there for a few days while they wait for their apartment to be ready.
In a press release, Inslee celebrated the closure, saying that the situation at Camp Hope laid bare the “scale and complexity of our housing and homelessness efforts in Spokane and across the state.”
“This work requires collaboration with local governments and community partners,” Inslee said.
Fallout
A failed attempt to give Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison the ability to prosecute misdemeanor drug crimes devolved into a flurry of warring public statements on June 6, with proponents of the legislation claiming the City Council had “legalized” drugs while detractors accused Davison of misrepresenting the issue to the public.
The ordinance in question would have given Davison the authority to prosecute drug possession and public consumption, both of which are now gross misdemeanors under Washington state law. Failing that, prosecution falls to the county Prosecuting Attorney’s Office. Prosecuting Attorney Leesa Manion had previously told the city that she would require more resources and a formal agreement to make that happen.
“Seattle will now be the only municipality in the State of Washington where it is legal to use hard drugs in public,” Davison wrote in a statement.
Councilmember Lisa Herbold responded, calling the statement “an inexcusable mischaracterization of the law.” She also quoted a section of the Washington State Bar Rules of Professional Conduct where it states that it is professional misconduct when an attorney engages “in conduct involving dishonesty, fraud, deceit, or misrepresentation.”
He found out
Former President Donald J. Trump was scheduled to be arraigned in a federal courthouse in Miami on June 13 over 37 counts related to more than 100 classified documents that he did not return, NBC reported.
This is the second time that the former president has made history, first for being impeached twice by Congress and now for being indicted at all, let alone twice. The first indictment was for 34 counts of falsifying business records related to his 2016 election, specifically the alleged payments of hush money to adult film star Stormy Daniels. One of Trump’s previous attorneys, Michael Cohen, has already served a prison sentence for the same payments.
The documents saga has played out over the course of more than a year. According to the New York Times, the first batch of documents was recovered by the National Archives in January 2022. However, the indictment from Special Counsel Jack Smith alleged an extensive effort to conceal boxes of documents, including some stored in a Mar-a-Lago bathroom.
The former president said that he would plead not guilty in advance of his arraignment.
City Hall Park reopens
June 13 also marked the reopening of City Hall Park, which has been fenced off from the public for more than a year after a large homeless encampment was cleared.
The reopening follows a negotiation between the city of Seattle and King County over ownership of the park. The space belongs to the city, but it is adjacent to the King County Courthouse and offices used by the King County Executive and Council.
King County Executive Dow Constantine and former Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan agreed to transfer ownership of the park to the county in exchange for various properties sprinkled throughout the city of Seattle. However, Mayor Bruce Harrell and Constantine decided on a different arrangement that involved retaining the park with the city. Harrell secured funding to reactivate the park in the most recent budget, although the amount was ultimately cut.
Elections equity
King County Elections will provide ballots in Russian and Somali for the first time for the August primary. In previous years, Elections has made materials available in Chinese, English, Korean, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Voters who want translated ballots, voting materials, customer service, correspondence and voter education can opt in with their preferred language when they register to vote online. They can also update their preferred language online, by email or via phone at (206) 296-8683.
“Our commitment to language access is about more than words on paper,” said King County Director of Elections Julie Wise in a release. “Being able to vote in your preferred language is fundamental to being able to fully participate in our democracy.”
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Ashley Archibald was the editor of Real Change through July 2023, and is now a communication specialist for Purpose. Dignity. Action.
Read more of the June 14-20, 2023 issue.