The 9 Jan 2017 Walla Walla City Council Workshop @WWPD
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2017 3:17 am
As a few of you might know, the city I live in held a meeting yesterday; I'm actually not 100% certain of the exact title of the city council workgroup/event, but anyway, it's in the paper -- the reason I'm writing this here is the stuff left out of the Union Bulletin.
A WWFD engine in snow chains passing Providence St. Mary's Hospital on 10 Jan 2017
Alfred Diaz was the UB reporter given column space to cover it, and he had already received criticism from my Twitter account this week due to his use of the phrase "unwanted people" in reference to certain homeless individuals in Walla Walla.
Let's just go through the actual events first before discussing opinion.
The parking lot at the Walla Walla Police Department was completely full. People lined the adjacent streets with vehicles. I was a couple minutes late into the building. There was heavy snow cover from an earlier storm.
The meeting started officially at 4pm yesterday afternoon. Ironically another reporter across the valley noted that at exactly 4pm yesterday, the sky was flooded by absolutely brilliant golden sunlight under the cloud horizon. It looked like a beacon of hope. The public conference room at the police station had filled at that time with about 85% of the total attendees, many of whom were volunteers and Christians etc. People of faith.
The citizens were seated largely on the right side of the room and city council was at a pair of tables on the left. Because I was late I stood in the rear for the two hours. Many others after me were also standing and also more chairs were added.
The Mayor of Walla Walla was presiding and City manager Nabiel Shawa was leading the presentations.
The mayor seemed affable and kind. He thanked everyone for attending. He is a short and rotund man reminiscent of Fabletown Mayor Old King Cole from the comic book Fables.
They discussed a future car wash and coffee shop at the intersection of Dalles Military Road and 9th avenue that requires a traffic easement. That went maybe 25 or 30 min including public comment. Reverend Dorothy Knudsen, a homeless advocate in the valley, attempted to make a comment but the mayor and manager informed her unfortunately that comments were closed on the matter.
Around 4:30pm the homeless camp [ GOTR ] at Veterans' Memorial Golf Course was discussed.
Saving
Continued:
County Commissioner Johnson was in attendance and at some point introduced early on. He seemed nice and interested in representing the county’s interests.
Also in attendance was the city attorney. He seemed a bit less nice, well less professional. Lol. Tall guy.
Soon into the city council presentation Mr. Shawa dropped some shocking stinkbombs, and by this I mean the news about wanting the camp moved from Golf Course to an extra inappropriate location in Fort Walla Walla!!
He said of course, the meeting was intended to be informational and not decisive, but people were shocked.
The city manager proposed putting a homeless camp pretty much right into the Audubon area that volunteers recently improved at significant expense. And Walla Wallahas tons and tons of money... anyway, the Audubon people were there and one did eventually explain how unfair it was, later in.
At this point in my notes the word "Stalling" begins to appear in all capitals.
Mr Shawa then went on to say that he was dealing with only the "chronic homeless" as defined by some idiot federal standard. He seemed convinced that this statistical Gerrymandering would reduce the number of people on paper for whom the city is legally obligated to provide help.
Nabiel Shawa said we have only 40 people in Walla Walla meeting the federal standard. Eventually one of the Homeless Alliance members said there are actually about 571 documented homeless people here in varying states of severity.
The city wants the camp to reflect this magic Ali Baba 40 thieves according to Mr Shawas math.
He went on to say that priority 1 was deciding on the new location and gave the reason for the proposed eviction as being, too close to golf course and other high end recreational activities. In yet another swooping act of Gerrymanderesque cruelty, the golf course decided to build a maintenance shed practically on top of the campsite in order to force the move.
He said the next location is expected to stay for 2 to 5 years or more, until "chronic homelessness" is "eradicated".
The date this "new camp" would go up is April 1st 2017. The date was not wasted on me, I noted in my book that it was April Fool's Day. Mr Shawa seemed to be smirking, which made me feel extremely angry with the man.
Save
Continued:
Mr Shawa went on to say, he wanted the homeless to have to break down their sleeping tents every morning and haul them through town like a ball and chain. Many alliance members later countered this, comparing it to torture, saying it is unreasonable and unnecessary.
Shawa then said, the camp would be closed during the day to where people living in it would be forced into the streets and non existent day rooms rather than resting in the camp in a hardened tent.
He proposed hours of 11pm to 7am, leaving not even 8 hours to sleep due to the breakdown and setup rule.
Shawa at this point began using phrases such as "our city". The issue of lockouts was further discussed.
Then Shawa went on to say, that he wanted to make a rule disallowing sitting snd sleeping anywhere on sidewalks and other public property in the city. Also this rule would render sleeping on benches and doorways illegal.
The only day resting would be in the public parks, overcrowding publicly funded areas where children play regularly.
A local charity house was proposed as a day room.
Shawa then advocated creating a new committee to oversee the whole homeless issue although admitting the existence of a qualified committee. I wrote in my notes "scapegoat, more stalling".
He said the next meeting is January 25th 2017, Wednesday.
Shawa returned again to rhetoric involving phases such as "no cost", "our city", "control where these people sleep in our city". These are nearly verbatim quotes.
Another council member explained that the Work program has been incredible in other cities with and without pay. Especially effective was a 2 day per week minimum wage labor shuttle program carrying up to 8 people per day and costing the city about $45,000 per year if enacted, not counting the value of the service rendered in return by the homeless employees.
One council member said that local unions didn't want to compete with the homeless labor program. I was very angry then also.
Shawa started really doubletalking. A female council member noticed it and asked him what was up with his sudden "bifurcation", suggesting a forked tongue. I was amazed at her wit and brevity and the coincidence.
Lots of officials talked about work and work ethic. I wondered if they are all salaried and paid to sit there and whine about other people having cash in their pockets.
The Valley Transit center came up, particularly the transit center at Crawford Park. Traditionally this is where the city often feeds the homeless during the day. It's our mini jungle and really not that scary most days. Just day use mostly and people waiting for bus. They used to flood it at night so the poor homeless could not sleep.
The city is going to likely lease the park to the private bus company so that the bus people can semi legally evict "unwanted people" from the formerly friendly and public park. It seems like a very corrupt move and unusually cruel. They need access to the bus line whether other people enjoy it or not!
During the 20 minutes before council opened the matter to public comment, I prayed for God to give me appropriate words to say and tried to raise my hand first. I didn't get it up in time but then the Mayor wanted to hear more from one of the officials.
I ended up getting my hand up first the 2nd time he said open comments.
I introduced myself name only and said I'd lived here only 3 or 4 years, but have been following the issue with great interest due to having witnessed terrible suffering in other cities. I said they have a window of opportunity to prevent a nightmarish situation as in some of those improperly managed cities.
I told them that the city is stalling, sorry I am sure you are all nice people etc but this is an urgent issue. I said the way they stall and shuffle the problem aroundis like Gerrymandering.
I told them, those who are believers know for a fact Christ told us the poor will always be among us and we are to take care of them. I said it seemed there is a lack of faith in city council not only in our local homeless people & other citizens, but also in the money given to that cause.
I said that tithe given in church is given in good faith and that this was no different.
I asked them to make a decision very soon and then finished up with "that is all I've got to say", then recited my address because it was omitted.
Reverend Knudsen got her hand up in time to say, 3rd world countries etc are relying more on modular solar etc than on the existing energy grid, and she suggested that the homeless are better off without the city's ridiculous requirements for plumbing and wiring at Madison Park project, which has not been built yet.
High of 8° F projected later this week in Walla Walla.
P.s. 571 total documented homeless.
40 supposedly meeting federal standard of chronic.
62 cases living outside roughing it in the wild also.
Thank you for reading.
Red Cross performs a blood drive at the Presbyterian church on 1st and Birch st.
A WWFD engine in snow chains passing Providence St. Mary's Hospital on 10 Jan 2017
Alfred Diaz was the UB reporter given column space to cover it, and he had already received criticism from my Twitter account this week due to his use of the phrase "unwanted people" in reference to certain homeless individuals in Walla Walla.
Let's just go through the actual events first before discussing opinion.
The parking lot at the Walla Walla Police Department was completely full. People lined the adjacent streets with vehicles. I was a couple minutes late into the building. There was heavy snow cover from an earlier storm.
The meeting started officially at 4pm yesterday afternoon. Ironically another reporter across the valley noted that at exactly 4pm yesterday, the sky was flooded by absolutely brilliant golden sunlight under the cloud horizon. It looked like a beacon of hope. The public conference room at the police station had filled at that time with about 85% of the total attendees, many of whom were volunteers and Christians etc. People of faith.
The citizens were seated largely on the right side of the room and city council was at a pair of tables on the left. Because I was late I stood in the rear for the two hours. Many others after me were also standing and also more chairs were added.
The Mayor of Walla Walla was presiding and City manager Nabiel Shawa was leading the presentations.
The mayor seemed affable and kind. He thanked everyone for attending. He is a short and rotund man reminiscent of Fabletown Mayor Old King Cole from the comic book Fables.
They discussed a future car wash and coffee shop at the intersection of Dalles Military Road and 9th avenue that requires a traffic easement. That went maybe 25 or 30 min including public comment. Reverend Dorothy Knudsen, a homeless advocate in the valley, attempted to make a comment but the mayor and manager informed her unfortunately that comments were closed on the matter.
Around 4:30pm the homeless camp [ GOTR ] at Veterans' Memorial Golf Course was discussed.
Saving
Continued:
County Commissioner Johnson was in attendance and at some point introduced early on. He seemed nice and interested in representing the county’s interests.
Also in attendance was the city attorney. He seemed a bit less nice, well less professional. Lol. Tall guy.
Soon into the city council presentation Mr. Shawa dropped some shocking stinkbombs, and by this I mean the news about wanting the camp moved from Golf Course to an extra inappropriate location in Fort Walla Walla!!
He said of course, the meeting was intended to be informational and not decisive, but people were shocked.
The city manager proposed putting a homeless camp pretty much right into the Audubon area that volunteers recently improved at significant expense. And Walla Wallahas tons and tons of money... anyway, the Audubon people were there and one did eventually explain how unfair it was, later in.
At this point in my notes the word "Stalling" begins to appear in all capitals.
Mr Shawa then went on to say that he was dealing with only the "chronic homeless" as defined by some idiot federal standard. He seemed convinced that this statistical Gerrymandering would reduce the number of people on paper for whom the city is legally obligated to provide help.
Nabiel Shawa said we have only 40 people in Walla Walla meeting the federal standard. Eventually one of the Homeless Alliance members said there are actually about 571 documented homeless people here in varying states of severity.
The city wants the camp to reflect this magic Ali Baba 40 thieves according to Mr Shawas math.
He went on to say that priority 1 was deciding on the new location and gave the reason for the proposed eviction as being, too close to golf course and other high end recreational activities. In yet another swooping act of Gerrymanderesque cruelty, the golf course decided to build a maintenance shed practically on top of the campsite in order to force the move.
He said the next location is expected to stay for 2 to 5 years or more, until "chronic homelessness" is "eradicated".
The date this "new camp" would go up is April 1st 2017. The date was not wasted on me, I noted in my book that it was April Fool's Day. Mr Shawa seemed to be smirking, which made me feel extremely angry with the man.
Save
Continued:
Mr Shawa went on to say, he wanted the homeless to have to break down their sleeping tents every morning and haul them through town like a ball and chain. Many alliance members later countered this, comparing it to torture, saying it is unreasonable and unnecessary.
Shawa then said, the camp would be closed during the day to where people living in it would be forced into the streets and non existent day rooms rather than resting in the camp in a hardened tent.
He proposed hours of 11pm to 7am, leaving not even 8 hours to sleep due to the breakdown and setup rule.
Shawa at this point began using phrases such as "our city". The issue of lockouts was further discussed.
Then Shawa went on to say, that he wanted to make a rule disallowing sitting snd sleeping anywhere on sidewalks and other public property in the city. Also this rule would render sleeping on benches and doorways illegal.
The only day resting would be in the public parks, overcrowding publicly funded areas where children play regularly.
A local charity house was proposed as a day room.
Shawa then advocated creating a new committee to oversee the whole homeless issue although admitting the existence of a qualified committee. I wrote in my notes "scapegoat, more stalling".
He said the next meeting is January 25th 2017, Wednesday.
Shawa returned again to rhetoric involving phases such as "no cost", "our city", "control where these people sleep in our city". These are nearly verbatim quotes.
Another council member explained that the Work program has been incredible in other cities with and without pay. Especially effective was a 2 day per week minimum wage labor shuttle program carrying up to 8 people per day and costing the city about $45,000 per year if enacted, not counting the value of the service rendered in return by the homeless employees.
One council member said that local unions didn't want to compete with the homeless labor program. I was very angry then also.
Shawa started really doubletalking. A female council member noticed it and asked him what was up with his sudden "bifurcation", suggesting a forked tongue. I was amazed at her wit and brevity and the coincidence.
Lots of officials talked about work and work ethic. I wondered if they are all salaried and paid to sit there and whine about other people having cash in their pockets.
The Valley Transit center came up, particularly the transit center at Crawford Park. Traditionally this is where the city often feeds the homeless during the day. It's our mini jungle and really not that scary most days. Just day use mostly and people waiting for bus. They used to flood it at night so the poor homeless could not sleep.
The city is going to likely lease the park to the private bus company so that the bus people can semi legally evict "unwanted people" from the formerly friendly and public park. It seems like a very corrupt move and unusually cruel. They need access to the bus line whether other people enjoy it or not!
During the 20 minutes before council opened the matter to public comment, I prayed for God to give me appropriate words to say and tried to raise my hand first. I didn't get it up in time but then the Mayor wanted to hear more from one of the officials.
I ended up getting my hand up first the 2nd time he said open comments.
I introduced myself name only and said I'd lived here only 3 or 4 years, but have been following the issue with great interest due to having witnessed terrible suffering in other cities. I said they have a window of opportunity to prevent a nightmarish situation as in some of those improperly managed cities.
I told them that the city is stalling, sorry I am sure you are all nice people etc but this is an urgent issue. I said the way they stall and shuffle the problem aroundis like Gerrymandering.
I told them, those who are believers know for a fact Christ told us the poor will always be among us and we are to take care of them. I said it seemed there is a lack of faith in city council not only in our local homeless people & other citizens, but also in the money given to that cause.
I said that tithe given in church is given in good faith and that this was no different.
I asked them to make a decision very soon and then finished up with "that is all I've got to say", then recited my address because it was omitted.
Reverend Knudsen got her hand up in time to say, 3rd world countries etc are relying more on modular solar etc than on the existing energy grid, and she suggested that the homeless are better off without the city's ridiculous requirements for plumbing and wiring at Madison Park project, which has not been built yet.
High of 8° F projected later this week in Walla Walla.
P.s. 571 total documented homeless.
40 supposedly meeting federal standard of chronic.
62 cases living outside roughing it in the wild also.
Thank you for reading.
Red Cross performs a blood drive at the Presbyterian church on 1st and Birch st.
