SEATTLE — A few dozen people, business owners and stakeholders in Capitol Hill attended a community safety meeting at Cancer Pathways' Clubhouse at Broadway and Union. They shared their safety concerns and frustrations with Councilmember Joy Hollingsworth.
"To be quite frank, I'm a little embarrassed about what's been going on in the neighborhood as a city official and growing up here," Councilmember Hollingsworth said at the beginning of her remarks. "I get it. I understand it. I walk these streets every day. I take the light rail. I take the bus. I ride my bike through these neighborhoods."
She assured the people she knows what they deal with on a daily basis.
"The crime going on, the graffiti, the cleanliness, the mental health stuff going on, fentanyl that's affected folks, smash and grabs, windows. I could go on and on. I see a lot of head nods in here. I'm sure that's what you all have been experiencing," she said.
Hollingsworth shared how she plans to address the concerns brought to her.
Reopen Cal Anderson Park's Sun Bowl and bathrooms along with asking for Park Rangers to be stationed there.
"I know a lot of you all that have businesses around Cal Anderson have had people coming in your bathrooms. That should be a city thing, bathrooms, " she said.
Hollingsworth said she's going to request park staff keep the bathrooms clean, but admitted it's going to be hard.
"My dad worked at a park for 35 years. He used to clean these parks. It's a different type of cleaning that these folks on the front line have to do. I'm very cognizant of that. They're going back two, three times to clean up the same thing," she said. "My ask to them is that we have a schedule of consistent cleaning at our parks."
Request more police presence in areas where people commit crimes
"There have been police cruisers parked in the middle lane of Pike/Pine which have been really helping, having a car there with the blue lights on. That type of visual sometimes deters things from happening," Councilmember Hollingsworth said. "We're going to request more of that this summer because I know there's a lot of drag racing and people doing donuts."
Address concerns about illegal vendors
"I know that a lot of the restaurants have asked for that. We know there's been extra oil dumped on the street and garbage. We've been asking SDOT and our Joint Enforcement Team (JET) about that enforcement to make sure those corners are clear of that. I drove 2 a.m. up here, surveying the neighborhood, and I saw all the illegal vendors up and down Pike/Pine. I was shocked that was happening," she said.
Recruit more police officers
"The Seattle Police Union contract is going to be really huge on recruiting to get officers attracted to Seattle and to ensure we're recruiting some of the best officers, continuing to boost the morale of our Seattle Police Department, creating relationships with them. I'm constantly visiting the East Precinct to see what's going on," she said.
Cleanliness on Capitol Hill
"It's tricky because you have Seattle Parks Department, that's for parks. Trash on the streets. That's utilities," she said. "For the trash cans, we're trying to introduce with SPU some type of artwork on the trash cans. Usually when you have artwork, people are not inclined to tag it. That's what we're trying to do at Cal Anderson Park in the bathrooms. I would hate for the bathrooms to open and then tagging goes up."
Create an Ambassador Program in Capitol Hill
"The Ambassador Program that's downtown, I think having something like that up here would be phenomenal. I know it's in infancy stages, but we have asks for that out," CM Hollingsworth said. "I think it would help tremendously with the cleanliness on Capitol Hill."
Addressing lighting concerns
"A lot of people have talked about how dark the streets are and lighting in general on Capitol Hill. I think it transforms a neighborhood. I was down in the Rainier Beach neighborhood. They have lighting all along Rainier Beach Community Center. The way it transformed Rainier Avenue South from a little scary to now you have the well-lit neighborhood. It makes a massive difference. These investments really make a big difference with the visual aesthetics and appeal. It also creates a sense of safety as well for people where bad things don't happen in the light."
Hollingsworth admitted these are big projects to tackle, but mentioned her good relationship with Mayor Bruce Harrell and his office as assurance she's doing everything possible to turn these ideas into reality.
The crowd was receptive to the first-term councilmember's plans, but people were eager to ask questions. Crime deterrence and frustration with police response dominated the questions. Jason Lajeunesse, who owns Neumos, shared an example of the issues many businesses face when they call 911.
"On Saturday of this last week, we had a fella who's been trespassed prior. We called the police, said he's threatening the staff, customers, out front stalking the business, people are afraid. Cops came down and they said what do you want us to do," Lajeunesse said. "He's been trespassed. He's back on the property. He's come back several times. We had to physically create a barrier here. Why can't you arrest him?"
Lajeunesse said the officers made the call that King County wouldn't prosecute the man, so they weren't going to bother arresting him. This story didn't surprise Councilmember Hollingsworth.
"A lot of people have said an officer might come and say we can’t arrest them. That’s one of the disconnects. We’re trying to figure out where the gaps are. I do believe we have to start holding people accountable for certain crimes and enforcing the law, " Hollingsworth said. "We're not talking about arresting poverty but holding people accountable for certain actions they're doing on the street is incredibly important in our city."
Despite reluctance from some business owners and their staff, Hollingsworth encouraged people to continue calling 911. She said it will create data that can be used to show why more public safety measures are needed.
The venue where Thursday's community meeting was held highlighted what businesses are up against in Capitol Hill. Michelle Millman, CEO of Cancer Pathways, said they had to install a fence around their property. It's going to cost them more than $10,000, taking away money from their mission.
"We've just started this week to put up a fence to keep my staff safe, people who come here to visit Cancer Pathways for cancer services, I want them to feel safe and to be safe," she said. "What we see is garbage dumped on our property, people sleeping on our porch possibly in crisis with drug paraphernalia, overdosing. Out back where my staff comes in, there's human excrement that we are cleaning up. To see that over and over in the last six months since I've been here. It's heartbreaking. It's heartbreaking for the people in crisis but it's also worrisome for my staff and people coming for cancer support services to see that and feel unsafe."
Millman said there's not an easy fix to these issues, but Thursday's meeting gave her some hope.
"We all have to work together with the city, with police. What can we do together to keep Capitol Hill vibrant, safe, and free of violence," Millman said.