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Starting a new thread on this Mercer Island meeting, where Island residents are testifying for a bill that would ban people from sleeping in public, including in cars or RVs.
A speaker unmutes herself and a guy in the background is yelling that the person on the other end of the line has a perfect driving record but "if you live in a Black neighborhood, you're gonna pay a higher premium!"
The next speaker delivers testimony from state Sen. Lisa Wellman, who requests a 90-day delay on the legislation, and accuses proponents of "blatant discrimination" by suggesting that all people experiencing homelessness are committing crimes.
A woman says she moved to Mercer Island because it's "beautiful" and "safe" and the ordinance will ensure that it stays that way. She, too, had an experience with a family member who was addicted and reached the conclusion that only tough love works because of that.
"Many homeless people are mentally ill, drug addicted, or nonconformists," she says. "As taxpayers, we have rules and laws we must follow. We can't make exceptions for the homeless."
"We pick up after our dogs. Who will pick up for the homeless?" she says. "Will the parks be safer for the kids if se allow the homeless to pitch a tent and not follow any rules?"
"If we don't pass this ordinance, the homeless will come, and they will come from other cities and states," she says. Just a note here: Encampments are already banned in Mercer Island parks; this legislation would expand that to ALL public spaces.
A woman who moved to Mercer Island in 2019 "to have my children grow up here" urges the council to "keep our home safe, clean, and respected" by banning people from living unsheltered everywhere on the island.
She lived in Santa Monica and never felt safe, especially once light rail allowed homeless people easier access to her home. "That's an issue that we're going to soon be. dealing with on Mercer Island."
She says she had the "Santa Monica police homeless line on speed dial" and had to "peek out the door every time we left" because her family was so afraid of homeless people. This could happen to Mercer Island too, she says, "when the light rail comes."
(There's a Santa Monica "police homeless line"?)
The next speaker says she's not a "pro-camper," and notes that that's a weird term, then adds that the ordinance doesn't really define "available" shelter. "I don't even know if this ordinance is really legal" since there are no shelters at all on Mercer Island.
As I reported, the four options Mercer Island has defined as appropriate places to send unsheltered people are all off the island: One for women, one for women with children, one for single men, and one for youth.
She notes that people have good reasons for not wanting to go to specific shelters, including lack of current sobriety, experiences of violence and theft in shelter, fear of COVID, or not wanting to split up their family.
The next speaker picks up on this thread, noting that people with sensory processing issues, histories of PTSD or abuse, or mental illness that causes delusions choose not to stay in crowded, overwhelming congregate shelters for valid reasons.
This speaker, who worked at the Harborview psych ward, says the other side is promoting a false narrative that people choose to be homeless and addicted to drugs rather than "accepting" whatever shelter is on offer.
Next speaker: "We need to be actively anti-racist and I'm particularly worried about the ordinance's prohibition against seeping in cars that will be used to harass people of color on the island."
People who work but don't live on the island, such as gardeners and personal trainers, could be targeted for simply napping in their cars—in addition to already being pulled over far more often for driving while Black or brown, she continues.
The next speaker says "let's not make perfect the enemy of good," and urges the council to pass the bill tonight. He says the majority of "the community" supports the "protections" provided by the law, which would ban sleeping outdoors or in a vehicle.
