A scene from the protest of the World Trade Organization, Seattle, 1999.

When I told one of my friends that I putting something together for the ten-year anniversary of the WTO protest, he said, “has it been ten years already? I still have t-shirts that smell like tear gas.”

What I’ve posted at CoJourn.net is my experience of the day that would be misrepresented by mainstream media and lead to four days of martial law in Seattle.

There are several of my black & white  photos of the protest, and a first-hand account in the form of a letter I wrote to a friend a few days later.

What was your impression of that volatile week? Were you in Seattle? Were you on the streets? What did you think it was about when you saw it on the news?

Please share.

Officers trained in civil disobedience arrive at Nickelsville.

I spent the weekend putting together a photo essay of the past week spent covering Nickelsville. You can see it here, at CoJourn.net.

-SSands

Port police enter Nicklesville to arrest those who have chosen to "make a stand."

There were a few cigarette butts on the ground in the commons area of Nickelsville, late in the morning of Wednesday, September 30. Janice Connelly, of the Women in Black, picked them up. “Don’t you guys have a can,” she asked. “This is not alright.”

They always put their cigarettes, smoked to the filter, in a can. They kept the area clean. And even on the day the port police were to close the camp down, it was still not alright to leave them on the ground.

The procecure to evacuate the homeless camp had been communicated to the residents of Nickelsville on Sunday by Port of Seattle Police Chief, Colleen Wilson. The park would be closed on Tuesday. Any vehicles in the parking lot on Wednesday would be impounded. There would be three warnings to leave before anyone was arrested. And the port police would make the sweep as peaceful as possible.

Wednesday morning the Nickelodeons, as they call themselves, held a meeting. There was a show of hands by those who were going to stay and be arrested.

Ed Mast, a man with a home, who had become a supporter of Nickelsville, asked, ”those of us who aren’t Nickelodeons, can we make a stand and risk getting arrested?” 

“Anyone who can make a stand, is welcome to make a stand,” was the response.

Was he planning on being arrested?

“I can be,” he said. “I’m available to be. I’m not excited about it.”

That afternoon he would be one of the 12 people taken into custody by the port police.

The meeting ended in a prayer for the survival of the camp and the people who lived there, “I pray that we will succeed in what we’re doing. I know we will succeed if we’re together.”

They took their possessions out in bags, sacks, and suitcases. They put them in a van the police had given special permission to be in the parking lot.

They left the tents up. One simple explanation was, “this is Nicklesville.”

This was, in fact, the 9th home of Nickelsville. They’ve moved eight times throughout and around Seattle and adjacent unincorporated areas in the past year.

Nickelsville Organizer, Scott Morrow, speaking at the meeting said they would look for other land. “People have been willing to help,” he said, “but it’s going to be a tough couple of days.”

The few hours left were spent waiting, talking, or sitting in silence.

Photographers and journalists came. City Attorney Candidate Peter Holmes, and City Council Candidate Sally Bagshaw came and spoke one-on-one with several Nickelodeons, in a show of support.

Officials from the port arrived and at 1 p.m. and addressed the residents.

The media was instructed to stand behind a blue line painted on the grass outside the camp.

When everyone who would leave the camp had voluntarily walked out, twelve people remained.

About 35 officers, some trained in civil disobedience, arrived in two rented school buses.

“It looks like an awful lot of officers” Sgt. Tuttle of the port police force said, “and it is a lot.” The large force was in preparation for an anticipated demonstration that never materialized.

After three warnings through the radio of a squad car, informing those left in the camp that they were in violation of illegal trespass in the 2nd degree,the port police entered the camp, and searched the tents. It appeared that everyone waiting to be arrested was waiting out in the open.

There were two to four officers for each. They took their time. “In a process like this, it’s good to slow things down. We have time to make sure the process goes smoothly,” Sgt. Tuttle said.

The officers spoke with those being placed under arrest. They patted them down, and one by one, they were led out of the camp.

Those outside the camp cheered each one and called out each name as they were escorted past.

Corporate Media Officer Charla Skaggs said they would be brought to port owned property to be processed. If anyone had an outstanding warrant they would be remanded to the jurisdiction of the warrant. The rest would be released.

No one taken into custody had a warrant out, and everyone was “released almost immediately,” according to Skaggs.

The port had offered to provide transportation upon their release. But those arrested had prepared for their own.

Skaggs added that any property left at the site would be tagged and stored. “The residents have been told how to contact our office to claim their belongings.” 

“We have worked very hard to avoid getting to this situation,” she said. The port had held meetings, and worked with the city andcounty to find an alternate place for the people of Nicklesville to live.

The port, she said, has “facilitated those efforts. We don’t want to kick them out. We want to find another location.”

They had even offered port transportation to move the entire camp. But the Nickelodiansrefused to move until they could find a permanent place. Skaggs said churches had offered temporary locations.

At a nearby parking lot, where those who left the camp had gathered, they were waiting for rides to 15 hotel rooms throughout the city, rented for a week by two women and some anonymous donators.

Some port police also provided transportation. Commander Tony Anderson, had room for three in his vehicle. “I think we have some people here who need some special care,” he said.

Teriminal 107 park will be closed until any possible environmental hazards can be evaluated, and the area that used to be Nickelsville can be cleaned and repaired.

Skaggs gives a conservative estimate of the cost of maintenace and other resources spent by the port since July 23, when the camp was established, including the cost of the sweep at about $75,000.

There are more details to this story coming in. Please look for the final version with updates and possible corrections on Monday on the front page of Cojourn.net. I should also have a photo gallery up sometime this weekend.

-Scott Sands

He said there were no conditions for them staying there. From the start, he said that “we’ve made made it clear that they’re there illegally.”

“The port doesn’t have any authority to provide services for the homeless,” he said.

“We do want to be humane,” he added. Since July 23, “we gave them time to find property, or an entity to deal with them.”

“I think that’s compassion.”

“We’ve been fair, we’ve been compassionate, and we’ve given them a deadline.”

He said “there are several church organizations that are willing to take them,” but it is McGraw’s understanding they have been unwilling to accept.

They won’t know how much it will cost to repair the damage to the park until the residents of Nicklesville leave.

“We will have that number and we won’t be shy about sharing it.”

“By state law, it’s illegal for us to allow them to be there. There are no conditions for us to continue with this situation. We have to enforce a deadline, and enforce the law.”

Homeless make their beds on the median in front of Mayor Nickles home.

In front of A half block from Mayor Nickels’ house, in West Seattle, last night, about 40 homeless people, and a few with homes, in support of their cause, laid down mats and plastic and whatever they could make beds out of, and slept side by side on the 6 ft wide median between the sidewalk and the street.

They were protesting the refusal of the city to allot them an additional $50,000 to purchase bus tickets so those staying at shelters with the Seattle Homeless Housing and Resource Effort could get to the city and back to their shelter beds at night.

There have been criticisms of bringing this protest to the Mayor’s home. Some readers of the West Seattle Blog commented that it should be off limits, and that it is victimizing Nickels’ innocent neighbors.

Ron Wilson, facilities coordinator for Bunk House 2 with SHARE, said “I’m against attacking the home, myself. But there are a lot of people who won’t be dry tonight, or warm. Unless you have been in this position, you wouldn’t understand.”

And although Nickels is the outgoing Mayor, the sentiment among the homeless and SHARE is that he is responsible for their situation. They blame him for cutting programs and tring to push the homeless out of the city.

A more serious accusation is that Nickels is responsible for the disappearace of the paperwork that would have allowed representatives of SHARE to speak in front of the City Council to ask for the funding to purchase bus tickets, according to a press release from SHARE.

Steve Friberg, a camp advisor for Tent City 3, and resident, said he was one of the people who signed this paperwork, and that it vanished.

“Those without money use what power is available to them,” said Leslie Petersen, an advocate for Nickelsville, Monday evening. She was leaving the homeless camp to pick up people from shelters downtown, and bring them to the Mayor’s house.

Even though Nickelsville is not a part of SHARE, and they say they do not receive bus tickets from them, several residents there joined in the protest.

I met with them at Nickelsville. Ronald, head of security gave me a ride in the back of his pick up truck. “It’ll probably be more comfortable on this cushion,” he said. I sat in the back with a spare tire, the cushion, and the makings of a bed rumpled in the corner.

In the front with him were Jim and his wife Jill. They just returned from New Orleans where Jim spent a month looking fruitlessly for a job. They lived at Nicklesville for a month and a half before that. Monday they returned to find that Nickelsville would be shut down by the Port Police on Wednesday.

They met up with others on the lawn of the Admiral Congressional United Church of Christ. A few had signs asking Nickles for change for the bus. They carried the signs to make the sleepover a legal protest.

A police officer pulled up to the church and addressed the crowd, asking for someone who would represent them. There was silence. “Is there any one voice among you,” he asked.

Scott Morrow, a consultant for SHARE2, said he would have to find somebody. A policy of the the organizers for SHARE is that they don’t speak for the homeless. The homeless can speak for themselves.

Morrow approached individuals on the lawn asking them if they had I.D. When he found three who were willing and able to speak with the officer they approached him and, one at a time, they introduced themselves and shook his hand.

“This is a peacefull protest.” they explained. They were going to lay down mats to sleep on. They were not going to disturb anybody.

“Everyone understands this, right?” said Officer Joe Bouffiou, executive protection to the mayor. “Let me explain my position,” he said, “I work for the people.” He added “I’m here to make sure absolutely no one gets hurt.”

There was one other point of concern, which was that none of the mayor’s decorative plants were damaged.

From the church, the protesters walked a few blocks, quietly, in single file, keeping to the sidewalk, until they arrived at Nickles residence, where they laid down their bedding.

News crews from KOMO KING and KIRO arrived and interviewed spokesmen for the protest. Some neighbors could be seen looking out through their windows. Several officers surveyed the scene. An advocate for the homeless had flyers prepared for any of the neighbors who wanted to know what was happening. 

“As long as it’s peaceful, we’re going to let them exercise their rights,” Officer Bouffiou said.

The night passed without incident according to Renee Witt, public information officer for the Seattle police department.

Tonight, those from Nicklesville, who joined in the protest, along with all of its other residents will sleep there for the last time. Tomorrow, they will either be pushed out or arrested.

Some believe Nickelsville is a political stunt. It’s organizers have been accused of using the homeless – as one reader of the West Seattle Blog put it – “as a political football.” The perception seems to be that those who live in Nicklesville are not being helped, that instead of trying to overcome their situation, they would simply rather squat on a public park, trashing it.

I learned about Nickelsville from the West Seattle Blog. I read the comments written on their post. I took notes, and I went there Saturday, September 26, for their one-year anniversary.

The first thing I noticed was the encampment was surrounded by a waist-high, orange fence. It was explained to me the fence served two purposes:

One, it keeps the camp contained. It let people know that they weren’t trying to take over the park.

Second, it is for safety. Even though those living there could step over the fence, no one apparently did. There is only one way in and one way out. Everyone who comes in has to go through the same way and pass security.

There are two residents on security 24 hours a day, according to three seperate people I spoke with about this. “You come in here and someone’s gonna meet you at the desk,”  James Greer said. Greer has been living here since March.

Security is part of the self-governance on Nickelsville. Security staff and the head of security are voted in by the camp. They enforce the rules and regulations of the camp, including their zero-tolerance policies.

Drugs and alcohol are not allowed in the camp. Violence and theft are also prohibited.

One reader of the West Seattle Blog posted a story about a sex offender found to be living at a homeless shelter associated with Seattle Homeless Housing and Resource Effort (SHARE). Accoring to Greer, sex offenders are also on the zero-tolerence policy. Whether a background check is performed or not, I don’t know. It seems more likely that they would only be aware of offenses occuring at the camp. This is something that I will look into.

The result of violating a zero-tolerance rule is the offender is banned for life.

Richard, the man who met me at the entrance of the camp, told me that a while back, “A guy came in, under the influence of alcohol, and threatened to light his tent on fire.”

Security responded and the residents joined in a “show of force,” as they put it. “He’s not allowed back,” Richard said, “if you’re under the influence, you’re permanently barred.”

There is an appeal process, but I was told that evictions are rarely overturned.

“Nicklesville gives people a place to go and be safe,” Richard said.

It seems that an organized camp like this, for many, is preferable to staying in shelters. “Most people carry their whole lives on their backs,” Greer said. When they set it down, sometimes “they turn around and its gone. Here, when you come back, your stuff is still going to be here.”

According to Richard there used to be 150 people at the camp. Now there’s about 70. He attributes it to people “moving, people getting jobs.”

Of the 70-something people living there now, Richard said there are 30 to 35 who work. And there are “more still looking for places to work and to live.”

Raymond, the head of security, was laid off from three jobs. He recently found out that he has bipolar disorder. “I thought I just had an attitude problem,” he said. To make money, these days, he uses his pick-up truck to gather scrap metal from automotive shops, and he sells it to scrap yards. He gets seven cents a pound for steel.

On Wednesday the Port Police will sweep Nickelsille.

“Let me ask you a hypothetical question,” Raymond said “Let’s say they shut us down. Do you think there are enough shelter beds for 80 people?”

One place where many homeless people go is the West Duwamish Greenbelt, a place they call the jungle. They say it’s a dangerous place where people can go to hide from police. There are drug dealers there, and murderers. “Homeless people have died there,” Greer said. “They should cut that all down.”

Last Monday, the Women in Black, a group of women dedicated to mourning the deaths of homeless people held a vigil there for six who died between June and August: Two commited suicide, two were murdered, and two were hit by cars – possibly while crossing from one camp to another.

Nickelsville “is about saving lives,” Greer said.

No one has told me what they’re going to do when the port police come. I don’t know how many will stay and be arrested. I don’t know where anyone is planning on going. I do know that I will be there to see what happens.

This will come after their one-year celebration of living there.

In addition, Seattle Housing and Resource Effort will run out bus tickets on Sunday, September 29. They give these tickets to the homeless so they can return to their shelters and camps at the end of the day.

According to an anonymous source, SHARE was supposed to address Seattle City Council to ask for an additional $50,000 in funding to continue the bus ticket program, but the paperwork they filled out somehow disappeared, so they were never able to make their request.

Share “desperately need[s] drivers to help them reach the homes the local politicians whose sidewalks they will be
sleeping in front of until this problem is solved,” is written at NickelsvilleSeattle.org.

So here’s my plan for the week:

Saturday – Attend the Nickelsville “birthday party.”

Monday – Cover the sidewalk sleep-over.

Wednesday – Cover the port police sweep at Nickelsville.

And in between I’ll be conducting as many interviews as I can to fill in the story.

I’ll be blogging on all of this as it happens. Look for updates Saturday night or Sunday morning; Tuesday afternoon; and Wednesday night. If I can adhere to an optimistic schedule, a complete, final piece will be up Thursday evening or Friday sometime.

I’ve read through the responses to the sweep, on WestSeattleBlog.com. I’ll be using these for questions to ask, in order to give a better understanding of the situation.

If you have any thoughts, questions, or information, please comment below.

If you were a participant in Park(ing) Day and see some photos in the gallery that you like, I would be happy to send you a few in full size and water-mark-free.

The gallery took me an insanely long time to edit, write, and build; which didn’t leave me time to write the full story that I had intended.

To everyone who was left out, I appologize. This was my first concert as a one-man band, and I missed a few notes.

Overall, this was a pretty good run for my first week reporting in this style. It was time-consuming, but I love the work. There are some improvements I need to make, and I’ll be using this week to fix up the site, organize the blog, and do some other things to make the process go more smoothly.

But I’ll be back next Monday with something juicy.

Many thanks fo everyone for the access, interviews, and links they gave me over the course of my first week.

-SSands

Keith Harris poses with a book in his impromptu back yard.

Music from a shopping cart.

Web Crowell hands out soda made in his 100 year old soda fountain.

Jen Powers, president of the Capitol Hill Community Council speaks with City Council Candidate Mike O'Brien about community issues.

Forrest Baum is looking for confessions.

Today’s the day, and now’s the time to enjoy the one-day park at Pine and Belmont.

If your in the area, Office Nomads, is providing a free WiFi signal.

Forrest Baum has a recorder in a tent where you can make annonymous confessions that he will play on his internet radio show at hollowearthradio.com

Seattle Arts & Lectures has cookies, tea, books, and activities such as removing lines from books to make poems, and painting good quotes on white boards.

There’s also ping pong, a giant connect 4, cornhole, and other games to play.