Seattle Refuses to Remove Homeless Encampment on Middle School Grounds Before Semester Begins

Kira Davis reporting for RedState

A popular but idiotic Democrat response to the growing homeless problem on the West coast has been to designate public spaces as “camping zones” for the homeless. The idea seems to be that if they have a specific place to pitch their tents and do all the other things known to plague homeless encampments they will not crowd sidewalks or bother pedestrians.

It’s an insane idea on its face, but for some reason, the Seattle municipal government decided to take the perplexing step of allowing one of those public spaces to be a middle school. Perhaps throughout pandemic closures it seemed fine, but as Seattle. prepares to return to in-person learning next week, the city has announced its refusal to clear out the encampment to ensure the safety of students at Broadview Thomson K-8 school.

Parents and activists have been working since July to have the encampment removed in preparation for the return of students, but have been stymied every step of the way by bureaucrats on the city council and the school board, according to The Post Millennial.

Since the first day back, the encampment has grown and the Seattle School Board refuses to have it removed. Seattle School Board President Chandra Hampson threatened volunteers with trespassing who were distributing leaflets to returning parents regarding the encampment on campus and school officials’ refusal to address it.

City officials and school board members have declined to meet with the group of neighbors, parents and employees who are seeking to address the encampments. In emails sent by neighbors and employees to The Post Millennial, Hampson and Director Zachary DeWolf demanded Mayor Jenny Durkan not allow the encampments to be removed from school grounds.

School board members and homeless lobbyists have claimed the encampment poses no risk to students, even though violent assaults and drug use have been recorded at the encampment. 

You’ll notice a chainlink fence in these videos. That was the board’s only response to questions about the safety of children going back to school.

A fence between an encampment that almost assuredly hosts at least a few sex offenders (encampments are often populated by released offenders who can’t secure housing that follows sex offender registration guidelines) and a property that will welcome hundreds of children almost every day of the week…that’s it.

These are the same bureaucrats who scream day and night about the necessity of masks and vaccines for the “safety” of our children in schools, but have no care for the open drug use, public nudity, sexual assaults and unsanitary conditions of a HOMELESS ENCAMPMENT mere feet from the front door of a middle school.

One problem Broadview Thomson K-8 School may be encountering is homeless activist Mike Mathias, who has been spearheading the resistance to clearing homeless encampments for the safety of children. Mathias’ only. qualifications seem to be that he was once homeless himself, but other than that he seems to be devoid of any real understanding of public service.

Mathias previously told The Ari Hoffman Show on Talk Radio 570 KVI, that he will not be receiving any money for his efforts and that he turned down funding. However, that claim ran contrary to Seattle Public Schools, which told parents and neighbors that the district is giving $5,000 for Mathias to begin his work.

Donations have also been coming into the fledgling organization and SPS officials said more money may be allocated. His only claim of experience or qualifications of the job was being previously homeless himself.

Neighbors have called him a “grifter,” equating him to just a new face in the corrupt Seattle “homeless industrial complex.”

The Post Millennial reports that one elementary campus has already been cleared of an encampment following reports of criminal activity.

The encampment at Meany Middle School was cleared by the City of Seattle last week. The custodian and safety and security specialist had “dangerous interactions” with campers who living just outside the building. One teacher claimed one of the campers pulled a knife on the custodian and campers had allegedly broken into the school and taken electronics from a classroom.

It seems inconceivable that any adult would think it’s a good idea to allow children to walk through, by or next to an encampment full of human waste, drug paraphernalia and potentially mentally ill people every single day just to get to the school their parents are taxed so dearly for.

Once again, students and law-abiding citizens are placed last as bureaucrats shift money between their own causes and use the crisis to score political points.