L-R: DSA's Kate Joncas, Bill Block, Tim Burgess, Pete Holmes, Dan Satterberg
At a public-safety forum held by the Downtown Seattle Association this morning, City Council member Tim Burgess rolled out a five-point proposal somewhat grandiosely titled “Addressing Street Disorder to Preserve Jobs and Improve Our Quality of Life.”
Number one on the list (which also includes adding more police officers downtown and increasing street outreach and housing capacity) was a ban on so-called aggressive solicitation, which includes not just panhandling but canvassing by nonprofit groups.
Burgess’ proposal would bar panhandlers and canvassers from blocking a person’s path; using gestures or language that cause fear or alarm; asking for money repeatedly after someone has said no; providing services that weren’t requested (a la NYC’s squeegie guys), or soliciting within 15 feet of anyone who is using an ATM or private parking pay station.
This morning, Burgess said he wasn’t aiming to “stop people from asking for assistance or money” or “criminalize homelessness,” but to deal with people he said were “basically street thugs who are preying on our preying, whether because of addiction or because of greed for money.”
In a press release, Burgess pointed to a DSA survey that found that “66 percent [of downtown residents] were concerned about aggressive solicitation.” What Burgess didn’t mention is, according to that survey, aggressive solicitation was a distant third on the list of downtown residents’ top concerns, behind drug dealing (75 percent) and dangerous drunken behavior (69 percent). And only 32 percent of downtown residents said they were “extremely concerned” about aggressive panhandling, compared to 46 percent who were extremely concerned about drugs.
Moreover, although Burgess cited a separate survey finding that 23 percent of Seattle residents “avoid downtown because of fear of crime or personal safety.”
The four-member panel—which also included city attorney Pete Holmes; King County prosecutor Dan Satterberg; and King County Committee to End Homelessness project director Bill Block—also talked about nightlife, low-level drug offenders, and the need for more cops downtown.
Holmes said he is in the process of coming up with new nightlife regulations, working with bar and club owners “who recognize that if they’re seen as having an unsafe industry… that is going to be counterproductive to their bottom line.” Holmes said the policy changes could include a proposal to stagger closing times so that some bars could close as late as 4am, to deal with “the problem of, how do you allocate your resources when demand is [spiking] at the same time all over the city.” A move to stagger hours would have to be approved by the state liquor control board.
Asked what he would do to improve the safety of downtown late at night, Satterberg said, “The concern I have about nightlife is not what happens inside the club, it’s what happens at closing time outside in the parking lot.
“A visible police presence is necessary outside clubs,” Satturburg continued. “People who are up to no good aren’t going to [engage in] criminal conduct if they see a police officer on the street. They’re going to move on.”
