‘Tweeker’ sign leads to something good

A sign proclaiming “open season” on “tweekers,” or addicts, stirred a little controversy last week at the Aztec Lanes in Olympia.

Something good will come of the conflict — which The Olympian reported on after critics filled the bowling alley’s Facebook page with some 40 bad reviews that mentioned the sign.

Local comedian Sam Miller took issue with the business’s less-than-gentle approach to addiction. But he now is going to work with Aztec Lanes owner Dan Brathovd on a July 29 project to help clean up needles and other garbage left on land adjoining the site of the long-time business.

Brathovd has had thefts and vandalism on his property, and he finds discarded injection needles, trash and feces in the neighborhood, which is located near a very large homeless camp.

Similar waste and needle problems have festered in downtown Olympia.

Brathovd says he wasn’t really advocating murdering addicts, but was expressing frustration after a woman sneaked into his building and he later found four needles in a bathroom.

After the news story, Miller asked to meet Brathovd and they talked. Miller apologized for his part in the Facebook attacks, and Brathovd apologized for hurting the feelings of those who have battled addiction.

Their conversation led Miller to initiate the clean-up. The provocative sign came down Tuesday, but Brathovd said it served its purpose — to raise attention.

Miller is organizing on Facebook for the 9 a.m. cleanup on July 29. Brathovd said he plans to join in and lend his parking area for volunteers. Others may bring water for volunteers.

This meeting of minds is a small step, but it is a way people can come together in the face of a public health emergency in our communities. Solving homelessness and drug addiction problems in our communities won’t be easy.

But we hope Miller gets many volunteers who gain an unvarnished look at what Brathovd and other merchants have been dealing with.

In the end, this isn’t Aztec Lanes problem to face alone. This is a community problem requiring a larger strategy to combat addiction and homelessness.

Getting people from opposite sides of a disagreement to work jointly on a project can only have upside.