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The proposed location of the new permanent low barrier shelter in Eastgate has been a hot topic since Fall quarter last year - 2016. Here is the ongoing story and political drama behind it -
Background:
The King County recently launched a regional initiative to essentially help Seattle out with its homeless crisis. Kirkland got Family shelter, Redmond got Youth shelter and Bellevue picked Men's shelter. Now there are already several women, youth, family, men's shelters in Bellevue. The men's shelters (both low barrier and high barrier) are temporary locations and rotate between different properties. Congregations for Homeless (CFH) operates their "high barrier" shelter between churches and their "low barrier" shelter is located in Lincoln Center near Chic-fil-a in Bellevue (some what close to Spring District - this is important point for this story).
A "high barrier" shelter intake criteria is pretty sensible:
1. Must have a current state picture I.D.,
2. Must allow CFH to run a criminal background check.,
3. Anyone with a sex offense crime cannot be a member of the shelter.,
4. Must be willing to be drug- and alcohol-free, and willing to address any addiction issues.
5. Must be willing to work one-on-one with a Case Manager Year-Round Shelter | CFH
A "low barrier" shelter accepts all men rejected by the "high barrier" shelter. They will allow intake irrespective of sex offenses, criminal background, mental and drug disorders, and without ID requirements (no residency checks and no outstanding arrest warrant checks). The "low barrier" follows the Housing First philosophy to ensure that all men can find a shelter. Winter Shelters | CFH
The City of Bellevue (CoB) wants to build a permanent "low barrier" men's shelter so that CFH does not have to keep moving year to year to house the "low barrier" homeless men that is operational only in the winter months. The CoB wants to build it next to Bellevue College, King County Medical Center and Eastgate P&R.
What is near that location?
- Bellevue College (10 min walk)
- Eastgate P&R (5 min walk)
- Residences: Condos, Townhomes 850ft away (Sunset Ridge, Madrona, Harmony)
- 3 Preschools 10 minute walk west, north and south of the location.
- Eastgate Public Health Center
- Wooded vegetation (where a Bellevue College student and mother was raped and killed) Slain mother of 4 was pregnant | The Seattle Times
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The CoB reasons for selecting this site:
- Close to Eastgate P&R transit (to allow homeless men without cars to get to work.)
- Close to Health Center to access medical treatment (FYI: no urgent care, appointment only, no walk-ins and closed on weekends)
- Close to College (to build skills for jobs).
- Right in the middle of Eastgate Transit Oriented Development (TOD)
The CoB reasons for rejecting another - PSE Substation site:
- Too close to Eastlink transit
- Too close to UW GIX
- Too close to Spring District TOD (it is somewhat near - definitely not in the middle of it)
- Close to Overlake Hospital? (FYI: 24/7 Emergency/Urgent care much better than King County Medical Center, right?)
In other words, it looks like Eastgate location was approved for almost the same reasons the other location (near Spring District TOD) was rejected. Curious, right? If you want to explore that rabbit hole - the Spring district developer supported the campaign of half of the current council members and a King county concilmember - all of whom are strongly in favor of Eastgate as opposed to the other location all in the name of "helping the homeless". It is also interesting that the Spring district developer built the Sunset campus next to the Eastgate P&R and that property was sold early last year. There is an appearance of a lot of conflict of interest in this Eastgate project just based on campaign donations, policy directions and building sale facts.
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The Problems and unanswered questions about this location:
1. The national best practice for "low barrier" homeless population siting states that it MUST NOT be near residences - specifically away from our most vulnerable population. The Eastgate site selected is residential and near 3 preschools. In fact, the CFH Exec. Director who lives nearby agrees that this location is residential.
2. The churches that host the shelters have refused to host the "low barrier" shelter due to problems with the "low barrier" type population. The St. Peter's shelter near Crossroads and Intl. Paper shelter saw an increase 220%+ in all crimes in those areas (minor and major combined crimes) - stats were graphed using Bellevue Open Data Source within 1 mile radius of the shelters. In a more industrial area, these types of crimes can be monitored, reported and contained. In the Eastgate location the crime increase has a high probability of affecting kids and other students in colleges and young families nearby.
3. The CFH has had tremendous success with their "high barrier" population who are not "service resistant". The "high barrier" homeless men have to work with a case worker, show improvement and then move into affordable housing. However, their "low barrier" model is different and till date they have not been able to give us any success statistics from their low barrier shelters in operation since 2008! So when CFH is asked if they could change to a high barrier model for the Eastgate location, they said that is not what they want to do at this location. A "high barrier" shelter could exist organically next to the college campus while supporting the homeless faculty and students there while ensuring they feel safe based on the mind set of the clients it attracts.
4. The due diligence report provided by the city to mitigate the increase in crime and problems depend on BPD patrols on campus and P&R, clearing out vegetation, putting lights in trails and parks nearby. This is heavily dependent on funding that has unreliable sources - Federal funding under POTUS Trump facing budget cuts in this area this year that will eventually burden local Bellevue tax payers. When the funding is insufficient, it will be the funding of BPD that will be impacted (they are already unable to patrol other areas in Bellevue) and it will lead to increase in crime around the colleges, preschools and residences due to the nature of the "low barrier" homeless population.
5. The current zone for the Eastgate site does not allow a shelter to be built. The Planning Commission that worked on the Eastgate Transit Oriented Development (TOD) for 2 years - did not plan for a shelter and they (and residents) were not informed about this till Fall quarter last year. To force this shelter into the TOD plans, the city would have to do a lot of coding and zoning updates.
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So you may ask what is the solution for the homeless crisis in Seattle and King County?
This is question on everyone's mind who is on fence about opposing the Eastgate Men's shelter. It is easier to say no and complain and much harder to provide a solution to a complex world wide problem. The homeless are living in the malls, libraries, parking lots, and parks in Bellevue and it seems counter productive to say "no" to the shelter and hope that the homeless population will go away.
There are many studies on this topic and there may be solutions for our specific area where we could learn from the mistakes made in Seattle - such as mis-management of millions of dollars, unchecked international investment, increasing rents, and not building sensible affordable housing near transit, others. However, to find that answer, the Bellevue council needs to give themselves and residents some more time - there could be a resident group that works with the city staff and college prof. and students, subject matter experts, and homeless population to figure out a way that could work in Bellevue.
Jumping into this project quickly and hoping that funding is available after the fact will be disastrous for Bellevue and its established neighborhoods. A lot of proponents of the shelter say the Bellevue residents are NIMBYs (not in my backyard) but the truth is the shelters are already here in Bellevue and no one is asking to remove those shelters and services. A majority of Bellevue residents are asking the council to find an appropriate industrial location using known best practices for a specific "low barrier" population - which is clearly not Eastgate.
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Facts NOT disclosed by the city was found by Eastside Resident Council (ERC) - volunteer Bellevue residents - through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) :
In those documents, it was found that our retired Texas attorney, Mayor Stokes, copied/pasted NextDoor.com private neighborhood conversation from a thread and sent it to the City Manager - which is against NextDoor policies. He was called out for this wrong doing at the council meeting (no Seattle Times or other news outlets did not cover this or other things discovered in the FOIA. He said that he was sorry and that he did not read the policy and then continued with his non apology. He not only copied and pasted the thread, he removed specific comments from the really long thread to show that the Bellevue residents were 50/50 proponents/opponents for the Eastgate shelter site. House of Cards could borrow some of this fun political drama for their show.
There are a few council members who are not convinced that Eastgate is the right location and want answers to the open questions before moving forward. Please email the Bellevue council: council@bellevuewa.gov and the President of Bellevue College: president@bellevuecollege.edu with your questions and concerns about this project.
Thank you for reading the story. If you are also against the location of the new Permanent low barrier men's shelter, please consider signing the Petition and discuss with those who may be impacted: https://www.change.org/p/i-am-agains...er-in-eastgate
BTW. the Bellevue Mayor Stokes vocally rejected the 2800+ signatures saying that the people did not understand what the were signing - in front of a reporter! However, that was just his opinion and not that of the rest of the council. The CoB so far has included the signatures and comments from the petition on this matter and through emails.
Thanks for sharing. The Navigation Center in Seattle is less than a block from a high school and will accept sexual predators. Other low barrier housing facilities in the state (including Olympia) do not allow people convicted of sex crimes to reside in low barrier shelters. I called my council persons office and they confirmed that sexual predators would not be turned away and could stay there for up to 60 days. The council person's staff member actually told me she has no children so could not really relate to my concerns.
So, you'd rather they live under a bridge or in woods, also not guaranteed to not be adjacent to schools, daycares, and residences? How is that better? Wherever it is sited, it will face opposition. Better to know where they are, than not, it seems to me.
It is high time Bellevue and the Eastside took responsibility for their homeless, which they have been fobbing off on Seattle way too long.
Something tells me the majority of the Eastside homeless aren't from the Eastside. The same could be said about the homeless downtown.
Just because some random person chooses to dwell in a certain area, doesn't make them that area's responsibility. Seattle is to blame for drawing so many homeless here. It's been way too generous for folks down on their luck. Compassionate yes, but it has attracted more homeless, theft, and crime.
Much of the funding that supports and houses homeless came from Eastside residents. When I first moved here, I used to donate monthly to this cause and now regret it completely. To say that Eastside hasn't taken "responsibility" is a bit shortsighted, IMO.
It's part of the reason they're here and this problem is getting worse.
Donate and support better causes that provide education to locals who can't otherwise afford it. Not to homeless moving here from surrounding states because they've learned they can do heroin legally, enjoy a mild climate, and break in to vehicles.
Something tells me the majority of the Eastside homeless aren't from the Eastside. The same could be said about the homeless downtown.
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Donate and support better causes that provide education to locals who can't otherwise afford it. Not to homeless moving here from surrounding states because they've learned they can do heroin legally, enjoy a mild climate, and break in to vehicles.
So, the homeless are moving to Seattle from surrounding states, but not from Bellevue or the Eastside??? Wake up.
Oh and did you hear Eastside billionaire Paul Allen pledged $30M to provide permanent housing for the homeless? How's that for not taking responsibility?
That'll solve the problem and keep more homeless and crazies moving here, right?
I'm glad the problem is being dispersed away from the urban core.
I give money to local housing providers (for building in the core), and always vote yes in elections. But Seattle shouldn't be carrying the whole load. (And every tent or garbage dump removes another 1% of any compassion I have left.)
The council person's staff member actually told me she has no children so could not really relate to my concerns.
PLEASE tell me you had a clever comeback to that.
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Please sign the petition
