The hot-pink tents and residents of Nickelsville were moved late Wednesday night, Oct. 8, to new digs to the east of the Daybreak Star Indian Cultural Center in Discovery Park.
The residents of the tent city did so without getting permission from the United Indians of All Tribes Foundation, which manages the 20-acre property, said UIATF executive director Marty Bluewater.
The rationale, according to several residents of the homeless encampment, was that they would be moving onto federal or tribal land, which meant they didn't need city or county permission.
The assumption was wrong, said Bluewater, who noted that the UIATF has a 99-year lease with Seattle Parks and Recreation to occupy the land.
Members of the American-Indian organization are sympathetic to the homeless group's plight, he said. But that sympathy only goes so far. "The camp itself is in violation of any number of rules above and beyond the lease," Bluewater explained. "We're kind of caught in the middle."
The UIATF first called the mayor's office and the parks department about the encampment. "The second thing we did was meet with a spokesman from the group," he said. "But they do have a good track record from where they were before as being good neighbors."
Be that as it may, the Magnolia Community Club was highly critical of the homeless group moving into the park.
"The Magnolia Community Club has a long history of opposing illegal encampments in Discovery Park, which is city property. This current pink city is no different," wrote past community club president Vic Barry in an e-mail to the News.
"The city needs to come up with a comprehensive policy to address the homeless issue before it adversely affects Seattle neighborhoods and not just afterwards," he added.
The parks department responded quickly the day after the camp was set up by posting a 72-hour notice to vacate the property, said spokeswoman Dewey Potter. The department was going to schedule a cleanup of the area after the Sunday deadline, she said, and the UITAF had staff monitoring the camp, Bluewater said.
The encampment was still in place as of the deadline on Sunday afternoon because the deadline had been extended twice - first to Monday afternoon this week and then to noon on Wednesday, Oct. 8, said Nickelsville resident Andy Kunda.
The deadline was extended to Wednesday to give lawyers from the city and the encampment a chance to meet, he said.
In the meantime, the city has also posted a second notice indicating that each resident of the encampment is facing a $150-a-day fine for the first 10 days they're illegally camped on park property and a $500-a-day fine after that.
Also named as facing the same fines are SHARE/WHEEL; Veterans for Peace, Greater Seattle Chapter; ROOTS, aka Rising out of the Shadows; and the Interfaith Task Force on Homelessness. Kunda found that to be puzzling. Only the veterans group has been involved with Nickelsville, he said.
Lawyers for the homeless group have what they think is something that could get Nickelsville off the hook in Discovery Park, Kunda said. The UIATF lease allows temporary encampments of three or more people on its leased property, he said of a provision most commonly used during the organization's yearly powwow celebration.
"What makes us any different than other groups like the Boy Scouts?" Kunda asked. "That's what I don't understand."
Staff reporter Russ Zabel can be reached at rzabel@nwlink.com or 461-1309.[[In-content Ad]]
