City should build homeless campground

I frequently shop and eat in downtown Olympia. Two issues need remedy for Olympia to re-establish a vibrant downtown: fix the roads and address the homeless population. The roads are a mess throughout Olympia. Franklin Street is shameful. Enough on that. Fix them. No excuses.

Our downtown homeless population is growing. People sleep in business doorways, beneath rhododendrons, under the overhang at the library. More homeless are using the downtown YMCA lobby and showers. On East Bay Drive, a homeless encampment on private property has left mountains of trash that the property owner had to clean out. Does the city have a plan to reduce homelessness? Doesn’t look like it. Citing the owner of Buck’s on Fifth Ave for installing a gate to protect their property seems to be their plan. Does city staff plan to clean up camps on private property on East Bay Drive?

My suggestion: take some of the $8 million park bond funds and build a campground downtown for the homeless. The infamous isthmus would be a good location. Or renovate that single story building into an open sleeping area with showers and toilets and saftey supervision. City officials have successfully passed a bond for parks. Pass two more for road repairs and safe living arrangements for the homeless. Make downtown Olympia great again.

The Olympian should report on the city’s current street repair and homeless plans. And candidates for City Counsel should express their solutions to these two issues in editorials on this page.

This story was originally published June 9, 2017 at 6:18 PM with the headline "City should build homeless campground."