The combination of the busiest emergency department in the state serving as a magnet for recidivist transients from all corners of Northwest Washington, and the recent Compass elimination of their emergency care beds to treat mental health issues has rendered Everett unsafe and even pushed mentally ill patients into the Everett Housing Authority system, where they terrify existing tenants and where there is a 5,000-person waiting list. From drug dealers on bikes to citizens being accosted along nearly all streets from downtown to mid-Evergreen Way (including me), to drug deals going down in front of the Everett Library in plain sight of Snohomish County jail personnel who don’t have jurisdiction to arrest in that location, to businesses like Behar’s Furniture dealing with transients smearing feces all over their doors, Everett has a full-blown public safety crisis that is causing citizens to unilaterally address the problem: like mothers having to “take back” Clark Park with the help of members of the Road Brother bike group on Aug. 20, downtown businesses warehousing mace at the front counter in fear of the unstable and dangerous characters wandering in to demand the use of bathrooms or phones, and Everett firefighters relocating a chronic 911 patient to Marysville.
This epidemic throws the finger at taxpayers and tax-paying businesses. And frankly, I’m grateful for the recent efforts of all groups taking direct action to confront the issue head-on. This crisis is ultimately best addressed through leadership, and I look forward to the city becoming the proactive force that it has been in the past and can be again now. It’s time the city tips the balance in favor of a more proactive stance on public safety in Everett.
Andy Skotdal
Everett
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