Brad Trenary is worried about the state of play at Cal Anderson Park. And such worry has inspired him to try toget the attention of Seattle's elected officials.
A 10-year Capitol Hill resident, he and his partner live adjacent to the newly named park. For years the problems of transients who often use the park in a destructive fashion has been an issue. Trenary says the problems of drug use and aggressive behavior, among others, by the homeless and transient population are getting worse, not better.
"We've made a commitment to living in this area. But my neighbors and I are fed up by the level of negative activity in the park. My porch is used as a bathroom and I find beer bottles and hypodermic needles in my garden," Trenary said. "This has become normal, the price for living in an urban environment."
He said the problem has taken a negative turn since the Lincoln Reservoir lidding project began several months ago. With a metal fence placed around the circumference of the reservoir, many of the homeless people who used the park are now hanging out closer to the street, and thus closer to homes.
In addition, Trenary has noticed that the new Shelterhouse, built between the reservoir and the Bobby Morris Playfield and opened in the spring, is being adversely affected by any number of homeless people who use the bathroom as a shooting gallery or a place to sleep during the day.
"I've seen people shooting up between their toes in the Shelterhouse bathroom," he said. "This stuff happens time and time again."
Trenary walks though the park each day on his way to work. He takes several other park walks throughout the day, from morning until midnight, to observe and take note of what he sees. He's tired of coming across groups of homeless teenagers and adults who are abusive and hostile and whose congregation serves to keep people away from the park. He's tired of feeling threatened in his own neighborhood.
"It's just the case that there is an element of people with no connection to where they are. They are not concerned with being part of the community, but end up damaging it," he said.
In one instance, Trenary saw several youths in a vacant house near the park preparing drugs and then shooting up. They saw him but weren't concerned about his presence. He called 911 and learned that the police were not responding to non-emergency calls after 7:30 p.m. It was just shy of 8 in the evening. He finds it ironic that the East Precinct is located one block away from the park's southeast corner.
That lack of response was confirmed to him two weeks ago when he reported that several chronic alcoholics were passed out on the park's sidewalks.
While waiting for a detox van to come pick them up he spoke with a police officer. The officer confirmed that the police were no longer responding to non-emergency calls after 7:30 p.m.
Trenary wonders just what constitutes an emergency situation.
"I couldn't believe it. I was stunned. I would think that people shooting up would clearly be worth a response," he said. "I certainly don't blame the officers. But it's the leadership of the city who are letting the park go."
Trenary, who has 25 years experience as a psychiatric social worker working with drug and alcohol addiction, is sympathetic to the problems faced by homeless youths and chronic alcoholics. He knows that much more social assistance is needed.
But he doesn't feel the park, as a large public amenity and an island of open space in a dense, urban neighborhood, should be taken over by people whose illegal activity discourages use by the larger neighborhood:
"I'm not trying to be a bad guy - my background is in social work. I know that many of these kids are not homeless by choice and have horrible pasts. But it seems this neighborhood has become a place where all sorts of anti-social behavior is tolerated. The thing is, our quality of life is important, too."
And Trenary likes toleration. The diversity and tolerance of the neighborhood is one of the main reasons Trenary chooses to live on Capitol Hill. He said he's proud of where he lives. But the groups of people who cause problems in Cal Anderson Park, he said, are not similarly invested in the neighborhood.
Subscribing to the notion that the squeaky wheel gets the grease, Trenary is working to bring park issues to the attention of elected officials. He sent letters to each city councilmember, and to Mayor Greg Nickles, describing the situation in the park and the amount of illegal activity he regularly sees. The mayor has yet to respond, nor have most councilmembers.
Trenary said he was pleased to receive what he considered to be meaningful responses from councilmembers Peter Steinbrueck and Richard Conlin.
"I'm not interested in focus groups or meeting with low-level city staffers. The neighborhood needs to hear from people who can actually do something about this problem," he said, adding that he's learning by doing just how to be an effective neighborhood activist. "I guess it's my turn."
Trenary also worries what kind of social environment will be inherited when the reservoir has been covered and four additional acres of open space are added to Cal Anderson Park.
He plans on aggressively bringing these issues up. He meets regularly with his neighbors to discuss park safety issues and has found many people of similar mind. He said that the neighborhood is organizing and agrees that the issue needs to be forcefully brought to the attention of city leadership. He's moved to action, he said, because the situation has been getting worse, not better.
Recently Trenary had several family members visit, several of whom had small children. In a telling realization, he became aware that not only did he feel uncomfortable with the children playing in the park, he was unwilling to let them play in his own yard. The realization made him angry.
"We will not concede this park to people who do not have respect for this community," Trenary said.
