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Submitted by Sarah on Wed, 02/07/2007 - 11:28am.
This post is all my own individual opinion and experience, I'm not speaking for anyone else or any group.
» I spent a little time this morning talking with folks at Camp Quixote, the tent city downtown. I want to thank them for their gracious welcome, smiles, courtesy, and dedication to helping create healthy community. Also for informing me right away that by stepping on the property I'd increased my chances of being cited or arrested. I came away with a lot to think on and a Poor People's Union button and membership. I encourage everyone to keep up with the news here through OlyBlog and also to go talk with people at the camp. My initial questions to the City:
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OlyBlog.net OlyBlog is devoted to citizen journalism, including hyperlocal news and discussion specifically about Olympia, Washington. If you care about this community and are tired of corporate media, then this is the place for you. If you'd like to contribute, please register for an account. Here is a list of local news beats that need to be covered. You can post your news as a personal blog entry, and it will be reviewed (and possibly edited) for promotion to the front page. Once you've established a record of responsible blogging, you can become an autonomous user. You can also send news via email. All members of OlyBlog agree to abide by our comment and fair use policies. If you are frustrated about something said in a comment thread, go here. Now playing at: 
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I especially agree with
Submitted by OperaGirl on Wed, 02/07/2007 - 11:43am.I especially agree with question number two!
“Tell me, what is it you plan on doing with your one wild and precious life?” ~ Mary Oliver
I don't know why the camp is called Quioxte
Submitted by OlyCop on Wed, 02/07/2007 - 6:34pm.Being a Jethro Tull fan, it seems more appropriate to call it camp Aqualung. That song is about a homeless guy, and lead singer of Jethro Tull, Ian Anderson, is supporter of homeless issues (and global warming issues). This way they (camp attendees) even have a song, and a good one too!
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so." President Ronald Reagan
RE: "global warming issues.."
Submitted by bubbaz (not verified) on Thu, 02/08/2007 - 2:52am.Id sure hate to be "Thick as a Brick" on that issue..
That'd be a horrible idea
Submitted by Merwyn Haskett on Thu, 02/08/2007 - 8:34am.I don't know Merwyn
Submitted by OlyCop on Sat, 02/10/2007 - 7:39pm.We have a good sized group of convicted sex offenders living in Thurston County that are registered as "transient"(homeless). And given the Lynch rape, and his homeless status, it's not completely off the mark.
So you don't take issue with the second verse, "Snot running down his nose, greasy fingers smearing shabby clothes"?
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so." President Ronald Reagan
I used to have respect for
Submitted by Rob Richards on Sat, 02/10/2007 - 12:27pm.ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS
Personal Attack FYI
Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Tue, 02/13/2007 - 7:28am.Believe what you will
Submitted by DrewHendricks on Sun, 02/11/2007 - 3:13pm.As for our own security issues, I can tell you that we took and take care of our own, and on top of all that we also have to watch out for you and your allies. All we have asked for is to be left alone. Instead your guys woke us up at 5AM to kick us off of a piece of land which is OURS, when you knew that we already had a new spot to move to by 7PM the day your cops woke us up. Your people acted as if they trying to save face, use the plan they had rehearsed, and be able to tell the rest of the city that they were effective and needed. They were only effective in making your department look vindictive and exclusionary. And you wonder why people will not trust you to solve their issues.
I don't know what to say,
Submitted by Ehver Green on Mon, 02/12/2007 - 10:36am.I don't know what to say, this is laughable.
It certainly is laughable
Submitted by jlw on Mon, 02/12/2007 - 11:18am.I have to agree with Steve Hall
Submitted by OlyCop on Thu, 02/08/2007 - 2:48am.the tactics of this group is more like extortion, than negotiations. If they wanted to mobilize the public that isn't in their pocket already, this wasn't the way to do it.
I was talking with my 20 year old son about the camp. We were enroute to the Electric Rose to see about his first tat. I told him about the camp and the issues. His first comment was, "wouldn't their time be better used to get a job?" As they say from the mouths of babes.
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so." President Ronald Reagan
Jobs
Submitted by Sarah on Wed, 02/07/2007 - 7:03pm.Oh and you know me, I'm not in anyone's pocket. :) I'd get claustrophobic.
Dont forget raising children!
Submitted by Anonymous on Wed, 02/07/2007 - 7:32pm.Dont forget raising children!
Makes my regular job look like a piece of cheesecake (w/ blueberries & crumble on top, of course)
I guess..
Submitted by bubbaz (not verified) on Thu, 02/08/2007 - 4:49am.raise those children
Submitted by Sarah on Thu, 02/08/2007 - 3:57pm.Especially in the U.S.
Submitted by JulieM on Thu, 02/08/2007 - 9:17am.HA!
Submitted by DrewHendricks on Sun, 02/11/2007 - 3:20pm.Your idea of violence is so distorted that you cannot see the violence you do is even violence at all. And you interpret demands for self governance as taking something away that is yours to own - management of OUR lives!
Steve forgets that his boss is not the business community and the landowning class, but the people of Olympia. And you forget your oath to the Constitution, which says that we get these rights from being born, not from being workers or being voters or being in accord with your back asswards notions of what we're supposed to be doing with OUR time and energy.
And you forget your oath to
Submitted by The Fire Inside on Mon, 02/12/2007 - 1:02am.It's the Declaration of Independence which states where our (American citizens) rights come from.
And Drew, they come from a bit more than "being born."
As much as many hate to admit, this country was founded on the idea of a deity. So, without further delay...
It's "their" public space as much as it is "mine." So really, it's "nobody's" public space.
If anything, I think all of the arguments about "public space" serve as a demonstration for why there should be no such thing as "public space." Save for the property necessary to house government buildings, the government shouldn't be in the business of owning empty lots.
WOW Rob
Submitted by OlyCop on Sat, 02/10/2007 - 9:20pm.not sure what made you so mad, but whatever it was that wasn't my intent. As far as my true colors, I have done lots for the homeless in this community on a personal level. And I won't let your temper tantrum affect that.
I had a follow up comment to the one I just posted, but to post it now would like I'm trying to cover my tracks.
If you don't know how much the Lynch case has hurt the homeless cause in this community, you are a bit naive.
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so." President Ronald Reagan
I'm waiting for the day when
Submitted by Merwyn Haskett on Sat, 02/10/2007 - 10:34pm.Holding a population accountable for the actions of one is not right. Should we assume that Olycop has extra-marital affairs with interns? Isn't that what "all" Olympia Police Officers do? It happened before, are we supposed to believe it was one bad apple?
The same "Christians" who say "don't hold us accountable for the actions of Rev. Phelps" are saying "See what Lynch did? Typical of the homeless."
It happens
Submitted by OlyCop on Sat, 02/10/2007 - 3:08pm.Everytime an officer steps across the line professionally or personally, it tarnishes the badge. Should it, maybe not, but it's a fact of life. And their is no shortage for hate, distrust, and anger towards OPD and police in general from many of the bloggers here. To some extent, we are painted with a broad brush.
As far as the homeless, it's a fact, Lynch is not the first homeless in Oly that is a sex offender(still not convicted). There are MANY that have been here and currently reside here, not one or two, many. No not all are, but many more have criminal histories that keep them from being employable. So their life decisions, likely repeated several times put them in a position to use resources that should be reserved for those who are homeless through little or no fault of their own. Advocates here in Oly would have you believe that most of the homeless are in the shape they are due to factors out of their control. I don't see that with the homeless I deal with here. Most of the homeless that I get to deal with are the chronic homeless, and they are in the position they are in due to repeated bad decisions over their life.
I think we need to help the homeless, even the chronic homeless that want to help themselves, and want to change the behaviors that got them in the homeless state or keep them enslaved there(I really think this community and the advocates here enable the homeless behavior). But they have to want to change, and "demanding" and being prideful like this latest movement is doing waxes real weak with me, they should try being humble and grateful.
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so." President Ronald Reagan
Are their names and pictures
Submitted by Merwyn Haskett on Sat, 02/10/2007 - 11:21pm.I have no reason to disbelieve you; but why aren't we also telling people that residential neighborhoods are dangerous? Lots of sex offenders are lucky enough to have a place to stay. Especially the ones who were never caught in the first place. Plus there are TWO St. Michaels Catholic Churches, St. Martins University, CYO, Catholic Outreach, etc. My God Have We Learned Nothing? Clearly people, especially children, are at risk.
Okay...long calming breath...think I've had enough caffeine today...good thing I didn't throw in the gay community...Why is it that only the homeless get to carry the stigma for those who happen to be predators?
Sex Offenders
Submitted by jlw on Sun, 02/11/2007 - 8:46pm.Occasionally, the Olympian will publish the name and photo of a sex offender registered as transient. I do not know if their names and pictures are available online, but being a concerned parent, I wrote to the administrators of the Washington State Sex Offender Information Center to ask about this. If I get an answer from them, I will post it.
Each agency
Submitted by OlyCop on Sun, 02/11/2007 - 3:26pm.lists their offenders differently. Some list level 2 and level 3, some only list level 3 most don't list the level 1's.
the transient sex offender population is in constant flux. When I was in charge of the sex offender registration program for the city, the most that were transient at the time, transients offenders are handled by the County, was 11. It was as low as 5 then. So yes, given the TOTAL numbers, "read lots(1's 2's and 3's)" 5-11 is low. Even 20 would likely be low.
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so." President Ronald Reagan
Didn't mean to upset you, just tugging on our bootstraps
Submitted by Rob Richards on Sat, 02/10/2007 - 5:38pm.I'd like to hear what ideas you have, oh yeah, you're a Reagan fan, so let's just build prisons and shelters.
Olycop, we're already on this
Submitted by DrewHendricks on Sun, 02/11/2007 - 11:23pm.The fact of the matter is we have taken care of our own security issues without resort to police for more than a week. And Olycop must really hate that.
WTF?
Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 02/10/2007 - 2:51pm.Because I find both comments to be offensive and counterproductive..
Mental illness and homelessness are both very serious issues we face in this community..
They are real problems, not jokes to be tossed around..
Since i have relatives that are either homeless and/or mentaly ill, I find both comments distasteful to say the least..
Seriously..
i have relatives that are mentally ill
Submitted by OlyCop on Sat, 02/10/2007 - 3:11pm.Me too!
And I was homeless as a single parent for 6 months, but not too prideful to take menial jobs to try to help myself out of the situation. And with some effort was successful. I could have set back on my butt and demanded more services, but I didn't like the situation I was in, so I did something about it. I got myself there, and I got myself out of the situation.
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so." President Ronald Reagan
thats nice...
Submitted by bubbaz (not verified) on Sat, 02/10/2007 - 4:09pm.your still spinning hateful stuff on this board right now..
stop
Pride has nothing to do with it
Submitted by DrewHendricks on Sun, 02/11/2007 - 11:29pm.When people have marginal lives to begin with, or substance abuse issues and self-medication habits that disqualify them for life in rules-based and middle-class-managed facilities, there is still a need for them to have a place to sleep for the night. A place that would work better if someone could watch out for their stuff in the hours they ARE working, or trying to find work, or getting out to their Chemical Dependency classes. A place that is self managed, instead of managed for the benefits and habits of a person who has to watch TV each evening before going to bed.
The simple fact is that people sleeping alone in a tent in the woods are vulnerable to all kinds of mischief, including theft and murder. And the fact is that no one who died of exposure ever recovered from their alcoholism.
just had to add
Submitted by Crenshaw Sepulveda on Sat, 02/10/2007 - 5:55pm."I would make it impossible for the covetous and avaricious to utterly impoverish the poor. The rich can take care of themselves."
^@^
I would agree that my Aqualung reference
Submitted by OlyCop on Sun, 02/11/2007 - 12:38am.was taken as a significantly negative comment. I guess my sense of humor on this topic is different than some/most here. As far as my other comments, they aren't hateful at all. I have no hate for the homeless. I have empathy for those that can't get out of their situation due to factors out of their control. And those that choose to live the lifestyle, either due to direct choice or inaction on their part, I'm just apathetic.
I work with these people on a daily basis. Not in the same way as Phil or Rob, but I still work with them. I get them to help if they need it and I take them to jail if they deserve it. Same as the everyday citizens.
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so." President Ronald Reagan
If all cadillacs are cars does that mean all cars cadillacs?
Submitted by Rob Richards on Sun, 02/11/2007 - 1:28am.Don't school me
Submitted by OlyCop on Sun, 02/11/2007 - 5:19pm.Well I find much said here on this blog offensive too.
The facts are, many of the homeless, are smelly, dirty, and are sex offenders, to include child molesters. Sorry if the facts bother you.
As far as the homeless, don’t try to school me about them.
I have been involved with helping and policing the homeless for 21 years now. In the early days the homeless would take up a small part of my day. Now the homeless take up a much larger part of the day.
I have been with the homeless when they have been better and I have been with them when they are at their worst.
I was with the homeless guy who’s family had disowned him and he moved here to Oly. He had a network of friends in the homeless community, but he did something to alienate himself from his peers(so goes the story he gave me at the scene). He met up with a homeless gal, and they were in love, and she his only friend. One evening they did some dope at their campsite. When he woke up she was dead, overdose. He was grief ridden. I was there to help as much as I could through his pain.
I have been there when they have up lifted spirits and just want to talk. I have shot the breeze with them, learned about them, been friendly with them.
I have been there when they are passed out lying in their own puke, on the verge of death due to overdosing on many different drugs or alcohol.
I have been there when they mismanage their money and run out 3 or 4 days after getting their SSI check and have to steal to eat, and I have arrested them for that. Or arrest them for stealing 4 pounds of King Crab legs, choosing not to pay for them, because he couldn’t really afford them.
One of our homeless was trying to get home toKentucky Kentucky
Just a few short examples of how I have been involved with the homeless here in Oly.
So just what have some of the other bloggers really done here to help the homeless? I don’t know. But if the sum total of what you have done is sit on the sidewalk to protest the ordinance that prevents the homeless from sleeping on the sidewalk, pat yourself on the back, I’m sure they appreciate your work to give them a nice soft piece of concrete to sleep on. Or maybe you brought some goodies down to the camp over the last few days, did it make you feel good to do that? How did it really help them in the long run?
I believe in helping the homeless that deserve being helped. Not all deserve the same level of help, and some actually hurt those that need the help, and could get more help if the one’s milking the system where held accountable. Without accountability, the advocates here are just having one big pity party. The homeless that are abusing the system need to be moved on, the one’s that can work need to be assisted to get work, and the ones that can’t work and help themselves(the chronically mentally ill or physically ill/injured/disabled) need to be well taken care of.
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so." President Ronald Reagan
Olycop you'd be the first person I'd invite to a discussion
Submitted by Crenshaw Sepulveda on Sun, 02/11/2007 - 6:55pm.I think it is fair to say, at this point, that the pedestrian interference ordinance was about the homeless. They can dress it up anyway they want but it still, if not at the end of the day, bur rather than during the day, affects the homeless. Sit down protests and tent city protest were the response to this law. We all know the homeless will have to go somewhere during the day, most likely to the only places available to them, the library and the parks. People worried about child molesters shouldn't be forcing people perceived as such into places that put them into close proximity to children. What is flawed about the law, other than the lies we were told about it, is the fact that no provisions were made to provide alternatives to people for sitting on the sidewalks during the day time. No day centers were opened up. I know some of the community will say that now that these people can't sit on a sidewalk all day they can look for a job. I suspect that many that are homeless do want jobs but they are a long way from being able to actually get a job. Having a warm place to sleep would assist in getting a job. Having the ability to shower and wash one's clothes would be a great help. Sadly many of our homeless are too far from the normalcy that most employers look for in workers.
Our community needs to come together on the issues of the homeless. We need to hear from law enforcement, we need to hear from the homeless. Neighborhoods and businesses have a voice. More to the point, however, talking is not enough. Talking is good for leading to understanding, but action is what is needed. Money is only good if it is spent appropriately, in my view the most appropriate use of the money would not be in the form of handouts and bureaucracy but rather as investments in the homeless. This is what works, it got a Nobel Peace Prize for an economist from Bangladesh for proving it works. Mohammad Yunnis has moved millions of people, mostly Moslem women, out of poverty using this very concept. Some will say that if you give a man a fish he will eat for a day but if you teach him how to fish he can eat for the rest of his life. A trite statement and totally inadequate as a model for dealing with homelessness. The truth is the homeless know how to fish. What they lack is a bit of string, a hook, a a place to find the fish. Mohammud Yunnis has created an ownership society of Bandladesh's most abjectly poor. Virtually no government money has been spent on this, indeed the government money was avoided, along with most government regulation. Olympia should be leading the way in getting people out poverty. Olympians are a smart and compassionate people. We just need to use our smarts and compassion in a way that translates into better lives for those that are homeless. It can be done, it need not be expensive, it can for the most part be self sustaining and even profitable. Yunnis' Grameen bank is one of the largest, if not by now, the largest corporation in Bangladesh. Efficient, compassionate, profitable, but most importantly successful in moving people out of poverty.
"I would make it impossible for the covetous and avaricious to utterly impoverish the poor. The rich can take care of themselves."
^@^
n/m
Submitted by Rob Richards on Sun, 02/11/2007 - 7:08pm.Turnabout is fair play
Submitted by DrewHendricks on Sun, 02/11/2007 - 3:54pm.Oh, that's just my opinion based on years as a copwatcher, mind you. Not to mention my extensive reading of history and cop autobiographies.
Of course, I can point out that Olycop fits none of the above criteria in my personal experience of him, but we do not know each other that well.
"I believe in helping the homeless that deserve being helped."
I try to remind myself that it is not my job to figure out who deserves help, but what I can do to help. I cannot do everything that I wish to, and I cannot do everything that is wished of me. But I have those choices to make and my choice is to help as I am asked or moved to help. Not to out compete you, Olycop, but to serve as an example of how to help rather than hurt.
"Without accountability, the advocates here are just having one big pity party."
And how do you expect a homeless person trying to survive should suffer accountability when our own Chief Executive / Commander in Chief can lie to get us into a war which killed 560,000 Iraqis for weapons of mass destruction which never existed? How do you expect to put "accountablity" on the poor when your own department serves up essays as 'punishment' for serial abuse of power with subordinates in return for sexual favors? It's your job as a union president to allow accountability or block it within the department, and I hold you personally responsible for allowing your cohorts to run a certain black man out of your agency. You hold the power to make that right, you did not, and I consider you a racist for failing to excercise your power in that case. Or for excercising your power in the wrong direction. Either way, you are the last person I should hear from regarding accountability.
I care not for how you helped this or that person with a "one way ticket out of town." I want to hear your humility, your regrets, your apology for your own damn behaviors before I hear you point fingers at anyone else over whom you have the power of imprisonment and death. The stories you hear as someone who could literally kill with impunity are not the same stories you would hear as a peer of the people you judge so harshly.
Defamatory Commentary
Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Mon, 02/12/2007 - 5:05pm.Ad Hominem attacks are not helpful to a discussion of serious topics. This comment has been queued for moderation.
In the Course of Events
Missed the point entirely, Rob
Submitted by DrewHendricks on Tue, 02/13/2007 - 5:33am.Sorry, Rob - next time I'll label my sarcasm for the Americans in the audience who don't get subtlety.
Personal Attacks
Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Tue, 02/13/2007 - 2:33am.Also, to be honest, I have stopped reading your comments - because I find them insulting. If you want to persuade people, you're first going to need their respect.
In the Course of Events
Olycop
Submitted by Phil Owen on Sun, 02/11/2007 - 4:16pm.It is not enough to care about the poor. And it is not enough to help them, even if we were to strain ourselves in so doing. We are called upon, like the rich young man in Matthew 19, to give up what we have and become poor. We are called upon to identify with the poor, to be willing to be one community with them, and to honor Christ in each one of them. This is profoundly more powerful than to offer charity.
Please meditate on Matthew 25 and consider its relevance to current events in our town.
The Canaanite's Call
is the city a place to heal?
Submitted by chad360 on Mon, 02/12/2007 - 10:12am.Butting Heads
Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Tue, 02/13/2007 - 2:28am.In the Course of Events
I can't tell if you're
Submitted by Merwyn Haskett on Sat, 02/10/2007 - 2:56pm.If giving examples of stereotypes and expressing dislike for them is offensive and counter-productive then consider me a sportsblogger I guess.
What's Going On
Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Tue, 02/13/2007 - 7:30am.In the Course of Events
Culture wars, Rob. It's
Submitted by Mike on Tue, 02/13/2007 - 7:00am.Satyagraha is not all love and light, it is also speaking truth to power, getting your head cracked, etc. It may be the right thing to do, but the enjoyability factor is low.
Culture Wars
Submitted by Robert Whitlock on Tue, 02/13/2007 - 9:35am.Maybe this is a culture war. But I don't like the word war so much. Culture conflict maybe. Maybe it is a 'war.' And I just don't like to hear that word associated with something I am involved in.
I recently picked up a copy of M. K. Gandhi's Non-Violent Resistance (Satyagraha). It is interesting, and surprising so far (I am only a few pages into it.) I am impressed with Gandhi's ability to argue effectively in some examples of when he was being questioned by government officials - he was able to get his point across without being offensive (as much as possible - as he was obligated to truthfulness, obviously.)
In the Course of Events
Drew
Submitted by OlyCop on Tue, 02/13/2007 - 10:43am.Drew it seems you have a special place in the hearts of those in leadership on this blog, because you can attack with apparent impunity, and they take no action to rebuke you. But calling me a racist is so preposterous it’s laughable. What isn’t laughable is you have credibility with certain people on this blog and in the community, God knows why, and they may believe your lies, conspiracy theories, and hate speech. Those that know me know your calling me a racist couldn’t be further from the truth.
Your comment really doesn’t deserve a response. But to remain silent on such an obscene and vile comment might some how be perceived as an acknowledgement by me as a thread of truth in that statement.
As the saying goes, opinions and, well you know. This opinion you have of me is mighty stinky, flat wrong and baseless.
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so." President Ronald Reagan
As far as my comments above
Submitted by OlyCop on Tue, 02/13/2007 - 10:46am.I have appologized to Rob R. and Phil Owen. Even though my comments weren't meant to offend they did, and it is those two guys who work so hard for the homeless that deserved an apology from me.
The PPU might have been offended too and I meant no offense to them either. So I extend a public apology to them as a group.
"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they are ignorant, but that they know so much that isn't so." President Ronald Reagan
Stinky..
Submitted by bubba z (not verified) on Tue, 02/13/2007 - 10:52am.Im locking it down with this: