Plan to tackle homelessness in Everett hits resistance

EVERETT — The Everett City Council plans to take up three ordinances this week designed to address problems centered on the city’s homeless population.

The plan is meeting some resistance from the public.

One ordinance would ban sitting or lying on sidewalks along Smith Avenue from the Everett Gospel Mission to Everett Station. Another would establish a large alcohol impact area in which certain cheap beverages could not be sold.

A third ordinance would ban panhandling at any street corner with a traffic signal — where traffic is likely to stop on major arterials — or in a median strip.

“This, in my opinion, will hurt the most vulnerable among us,” said Mike LaPointe, the owner of the Firewheel Community Coffeehouse in downtown Everett, testifying to the Council on April 8.

“As far as I’m concerned this proposal will make homelessness illegal,” LaPointe said.

He added that the ordinance would do nothing to address the causes of homelessness.

“When we take the homeless and say, ‘Get the hell out of our city,’ we’re not showing empathy, we’re showing window dressing for people who come here to visit,” he said.

Two other speakers from the Seattle housing advocacy group SAFE (which stands for Standing Against Foreclosure &Eviction) warned the city that the ordinances could face legal challenges, similar to what the city of Burien experienced when it passed similar legislation. The American Civil Liberties Union has also challenged the law.

Jackie Minchew, a former Everett city council candidate, said that while he largely supported the work of the Everett Community Streets Initiative, he found it unsettling that the city’s first steps were more punitive than preventative.

“I didn’t anticipate these sorts of ordinances will be the ones we would enact first,” Minchew said.

The Streets Initiative task force was convened last year by Mayor Ray Stephanson to come up with proposed solutions to the city’s chronic problems with homelessness, addiction, mental illness and public nuisances.

The task force issued its final report in November, listing 63 initiatives to be undertaken by either local government, social service nonprofits, the business community or some combination of groups.

The anti-panhandling ordinance was notable for its inclusion on the list because it drew dissenting votes from two task force members, Alan Dorway of First Presbyterian Church and Megan Dunn of the city’s Human Needs Advisory Committee.

Some of the recommendations of the task force are being implemented elsewhere.

In March, the Everett Police Department, working with the Everett Gospel Mission and other social services groups, cleared out a large perennial homeless encampment under I-5 near the mission.

Several of the people in the encampment — the exact number is not known — were steered into various programs for housing, addiction treatment or to address some other need, and no one was arrested at the time.

However, about 20 people returned to the area to camp out near the mission, even though the sidewalks under the freeway are now fenced off.

While the alcohol impact area would cover much of downtown and the commercial corridors along Broadway and Evergreen Way, some businesses do not support the ordinance.

Gigi Burke, a former city councilwoman whose family owns Crown Distributing Co., a regional distributor for Anheuser-Busch, said alcohol impact areas generally don’t work.

“By eliminating certain packages of product all you’re doing is hurting the retailer,” Burke said.

The problems lie with consumer demand, she said.

She said the industry has been working with the problems with alcohol for decades and they are willing to work with local officials to craft a solution.

“I believe the industry should have been invited to the table on the Streets Initiative group,” Burke said. “They have a lot of programs and resources available.”

When the three ordinances were first introduced at the council’s April 1 meeting, councilwoman Brenda Stonecipher said she feared the ordinances wouldn’t have a long-term impact until the underlying causes were treated.

Both city officials and Streets Initiative task force members have worried that enacting new laws against certain behaviors would simply force the problem to move elsewhere.

As if to emphasize that point, on Monday morning, a woman was injured when a garbage truck picked up the container she was sleeping in behind a north Everett Taco Bell and dumped her into the compactor.

The woman’s male companion was able to climb out onto the roof of the garbage truck as it drove down Broadway, but she was stuck inside. Several pedestrians saw the man and called the driver’s attention to him, said Eric Hicks, Everett’s assistant fire marshal.

The woman had been crushed by the compactor, he said.

Rescue workers were able to free the woman, put her on a backboard and transport her to Providence Regional Medical Center, Hicks said.

The woman’s injuries were not considered life-threatening, but could have been.

In a similar incident in December, a 23-year-old man was found dead at a recycling center. Travis A. Thurman was determined to have died from blunt force injuries before arriving at the recycling plant.

Chris Winters: 425-374-4165; cwinters@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @Chris_At_Herald.

City council meeting

The Everett City Council will consider three ordinances at its Wednesday meeting, which starts at 6:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers, Historic City Hall, 3002 Wetmore Ave.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

Trader Joe’s customers walk in and out of the store on Monday, Nov. 20, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Trader Joe’s opens this week at Everett Mall

It’s a short move from a longtime location, essentially across the street, where parking was often an adventure.

Ian Bramel-Allen enters a guilty plea to second-degree murder during a plea and sentencing hearing on Wednesday, March 6, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Deep remorse’: Man gets 17 years for friend’s fatal stabbing in Edmonds

Ian Bramel-Allen, 44, pleaded guilty Wednesday to second-degree murder for killing Bret Northcutt last year at a WinCo.

Firefighters respond to a small RV and a motorhome fire on Tuesday afternoon in Marysville. (Provided by Snohomish County Fire Distrct 22)
1 injured after RV fire, explosion near Marysville

The cause of the fire in the 11600 block of 81st Avenue NE had not been determined, fire officials said.

Ashton Dedmon appears in court during his sentencing hearing on Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett Navy sailor sentenced to 90 days for fatal hit and run

Ashton Dedmon crashed into Joshua Kollman and drove away. Dedmon, a petty officer on the USS Kidd, reported he had a panic attack.

A kindergarten student works on a computer at Emerson Elementary School on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘¡Una erupción!’: Dual language programs expanding to 10 local schools

A new bill aims to support 10 new programs each year statewide. In Snohomish County, most follow a 90-10 model of Spanish and English.

Logo for news use featuring the Tulalip Indian Reservation in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Woman drives off cliff, dies on Tulalip Reservation

The woman fell 70 to 80 feet after driving off Priest Point Drive NW on Sunday afternoon.

Everett
Boy, 4, survives fall from Everett fourth-story apartment window

The child was being treated at Seattle Children’s. The city has a limited supply of window stops for low-income residents.

People head out to the water at low tide during an unseasonably warm day on Saturday, March 16, 2024, at Lighthouse Park in Mukilteo, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Everett shatters record high temperature by 11 degrees

On Saturday, it hit 73 degrees, breaking the previous record of 62 set in 2007.

Snohomish County Fire District #4 and Snohomish Regional Fire & Rescue respond to a motor vehicle collision for a car and pole. The driver was pronounced dead at the scene, near Triangle Bait & Tackle in Snohomish. (Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office)
Police: Troopers tried to stop driver before deadly crash in Snohomish

The man, 31, was driving at “a high rate of speed” when he crashed into a traffic light pole and died, investigators said.

Alan Dean, who is accused of the 1993 strangulation murder of 15-year-old Bothell girl Melissa Lee, appears in court during opening statements of his trial on Monday, March 18, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
31 years later, trial opens in Bothell teen’s brutal killing

In April 1993, Melissa Lee’s body was found below Edgewater Creek Bridge. It would take 27 years to arrest Alan Dean in her death.

Logo for news use featuring the municipality of Snohomish in Snohomish County, Washington. 220118
Man dies after crashing into pole in Snohomish

Just before 1 a.m., the driver crashed into a traffic light pole at the intersection of 2nd Street and Maple Avenue.

Bodies of two men recovered after falling into Eagle Falls near Index

Two men fell into the falls and did not resurface Saturday, authorities said. After a recovery effort, two bodies were found.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.