Frustrations over the changing face of their neighborhood brought together community members in Seattle's Ballard area Saturday. Organizers say they're concerned about an increase in illegal camping and drug use that they are seeing near their homes.
About 25 people attended the event, including Samantha, who asked not to have her last name used. The mother of three said changes in recent years had left her afraid to take her kids to a nearby park.
"We came here almost daily" she said.
Samantha said a few years ago they started noticing drug paraphernalia laying around the park and then started seeing open drug use.
"Every summer it's gotten worse and worse" she said. Then she pointed to a nearby truck where two mean could be seen passing back and forth what appeared to be a pipe "you can see two gentleman doing drugs right now in the car right there."
These frustrations were echoed by several people at the meeting inside the Ballard Library. The group decided to try to get organized and pinpoint some priorities that they can ask police to focus on.
Issues like drug use, illegal dumping and illegal camping were high on the list. Now, organizers plan to ask the city and the mayor's office to work with them, pinpointing what laws can be enforced when they see illegal activity in their neighborhood.
Angie Gerrald says she's reached out to the police several times and feels like her concerns have not been addressed. She believes police have been told not to enforce violations by homeless people.
"I see it as a public safety crisis," she said.
Seattle Police could not be reached for comment Saturday but released crime statistics for the area that show minor increases in burglaries and theft in some parts of Ballard.
Gerrald and several others said they believe many crimes are not being reported and the numbers may not show the true situation.
"There's just flagrant public dumping, multitudes of stolen shopping carts, open drug use," she said.
There seemed to be some comfort at the meeting in the feeling that they are not alone in their concerns but some like Samantha say they're not sure how long they can wait for a turnaround.
"I'm hopeful," she said, but quickly added "my family will probably be moving soon, to be honest."
Organizers say they invited police representatives and the mayor's office to the event but did not get a response from either.
