Seattle Parks to continue daily presence at Ballard Commons into 2020

Meghan Walker Ballard

The recently launched park concierge program at Ballard Commons Park will continue through 2020.

The concierge program, run by Seattle Parks and Recreation, places a small canopy and staff person at several city parks.

Rachel Schulkin from Seattle Parks told My Ballard that the program started four years ago in downtown parks in order to encourage “positive park use and activate a space that is under-activated or has seen negative use.”

While much of the weekly park programming finished with the onset of autumn, Seattle Parks will continue to have a staff person onsite through next year.

Randy Wiger from Seattle Parks tells My Ballard that the Ballard Commons concierge was a pilot program which has now been funded into 2020.

“Our concierges, who have been in the park on a daily basis for a little over two months now, frequently hear from park visitors that their presence, along with the buskers and games that come with them, are very much appreciated,” Wiger says.

35 thoughts to “Seattle Parks to continue daily presence at Ballard Commons into 2020”

  1. Are they planning to remove the Honey Buckets now that we have our $500,000 toilet? I thought the whole investment was predicated on lowering the operating costs and illegal activities associated with the Honey Buckets?

    3. We should start a pool on when the Honey Buckets (which must cost several hundred dollars a day to rent and have serviced) are removed. Not holding my breath.

    1. I want my very own personal concierge too. One paid for by you. This means some of the mayor’s friends all got “good government jobs”. Please do NOT complain when receiving your next property tax statement.

        1. A functioning society with nice things precludes the proliferation of junkies. Paintking is correct in thinking that a functioning society shouldn’t be predicated upon the coddling of bums.

          1. I do wish we lived in a society where we didn’t have to babysit a non-trivial amount of the population. Would be great if we brought personal responsibility back.

          2. A functioning society shouldn’t be predicated upon rich people and corporations dodging taxes either or spewing divisive hatred towards it’s other members, yet people like you only seem to care about the homeless “bums”. A real functioning society comes together to resolve issues, help others and work together despite differences.

            There has and will always been people in need for one reason or another, unless you live in an unrealistic bubble. If you think you have the answer on how to resolve the addiction, homeless or mental health issues, by all means speak-up and help make this society functioning, otherwise your trolling and insulting others is only making society less functioning.

          3. Well, maybe Paintking (and other “Safe” Seattle members) should stop spouting lies and false facts about proven solutions to the homeless and opioid crisis to start.

            And “coddling” bums? I would love to see you spend even a night on the streets. Just because we aren’t throwing the homeless in jail, like you and Paintking seem to want, doesn’t mean we are “coddling” them. We are ignoring them, plain and simple.

  3. “Concierge”: another very nice, well used word that’s now lost it’s meaning. I will simply insert the word babysitter here. I bet they’ll all carry Narcan too. Perhaps these concierges can even hand out advice and or bus tickets, out of town too? Sad that enforcing existing laws isn’t a priority and having to budget a park nanny is now normal. Classic Seattle/west coast liberalism. Problems? We got NO stinkin problems.

      1. The real bums are the billionaires–people who contribute nothing to society. You can’t have extreme wealth without extreme poverty. It’s sad that some of you would rather attack the victims of capitalism’s backwards priorities than the handful of people at the top who benefit and resist efforts to create a society that works for all. Pathetic.

        1. While I agree that we have extreme wealth inadequacy, I’m not going to blame a billionaire for some dude in the commons whipping his thing out and peeing on the side of a building mid-day. There’s a percentage of society who will never function properly due to mental illness and addictive tendencies.
          I don’t blame the billionaires for this problem, I blame our overly-forgiving society and the lawyers who continually think up new reasons to keep ‘non-functionals’ on the streets, where they’re a danger to themselves (mostly) and others (occasionally).
          I don’t expect a billionaire or most millionaires to give a crap about the people who work hard for their money – the only people, I might add, who even bother to worry about such ‘trivialities’ as loonies in the Ballard Commons. Sitting around on your hands worrying about when Jeff Bezos is gonna step in and solve this is a waste of time – exactly the kind of time the average billionaire wants you to waste. You shout at the top and feel good in your virtuous outlook on life, thinking you’re ‘better’ than the guy at the top. Neither one of you is actually changing anything though – the billionaire through disinterest, and you through distraction.

          2. How is you shouting from the top, insulting others here going to help or change anything?

            Much blame can actually be put on the rich and corporations because by not paying their share of taxes and getting tax breaks, takes away money for infrastructure and social programs which could help our community. That lost tax money could be spent on crumbling roads, improving our school system, making our parks clean and safe, paying police and teachers better, and providing resources for all community members in need including but not limited to addicts and folks that have mental heath issues. Just sitting around on your hands, insulting others and worrying about when the next elected politician elected will fix the problem of “bums dropping stinky loads outside the port-a-potties” is also a waste of time. Politics and Social Issues aren’t can’t be changed by politicians alone, they require the community members to hold politicians, businesses and other community members accountable. In the case of the rich and corporation tax dodgers, they need to be called out and held accountable just like you, I or anyone else, but they aren’t.

            But go ahead and only blame the homeless “bums”, keep insulting other people, and see how that works out.

          3. OK Surly, how did you hold the very rich and powerful accountable today? Did you picket outside Amazon’s headquarters? Did you not use your Apple computer, smartphone, or Android tablet? Did you buy only local, non-corporate foodstuffs from the local, non-corporate store?
            Or are you essentially still shouting at the top, and misdirecting your ire at me because ‘oh, I only care that the bums are taking stinky poos in Ballard commons.’ Yeah buddy, I think I already told you why railing at me takes your ire away from where you should probably be placing it, but if it makes you happy, go ahead. I’m sure Bezos still won’t be bothered to read your little tirade though.

          4. Today, only by calling them out on this public forum in hopes that maybe I can convice a person or two to do the same. In the past I’ve emailed or called our representatives, our mayors and our governors. I’ve joined protests. I’ve bought local and limited what I spent at businesses that pay no taxes. I’ve supported and voted for politicians that want to make the rich and corporations to pay their fair share. I know it’s not much, and that I could do more much more, but it’s what I’m capable right now. Yes I know the rich and corporations could care less about our, but i also know that if enough of the population called them out and want change, they would be forced to change.

            What I haven’t done make comments insulting homeless people on the internet because I know it accomplishes nothing and only divides people at a time where people should be working together to make our community a better place.

            So what have you done, “buddy”?

          5. I’ve done exactly what I said I would do: nothing. I could care less to call out ‘the evil rich people’ that are polluting our society. Let’s be honest, most people only ‘care’ up to a certain point. Then, they themselves reach a certain tax bracket, or have kids and get too busy, or decide they think sniping at someone on an internet comments board is a more important use of their time.
            Good for you for hating the rich, but ya know, you sound like a total one-trick pony. Anyone who expresses a differing opinion, you try to call them out and shame them, while attacking rich people in the same sentence, because that’s your soapbox. And that’s fine, but good luck getting to the rich. They have the best lawyers. Wanna get rid of the rich? Better get rid of the lawyers first.

          6. “Good for you for hating the rich” Nice try, where here did I said I hate the rich?

            I don’t hate the rich at all. Just as you want “bums” to contribute to our community and be held accountable for their actions, I want the rich and corporate bums to contribute by paying their taxes. Not much of a differing opinion there, just focus on a different part of the issue.

            Speaking of one trick pony, you insulting the homeless from your soapbox all over this community blog must be your one trick? Maybe you reached that certain tax bracket, or had kids and got too busy, and decided you think sniping at homeless on an internet comments board is a more important use of your time?

            Oh, and I see your buddy Bezos is donating over $1 million dollars to the PAC Civic Alliance for a Sound Economy, in hopes to sway the election, but his company pays very little in state and federal taxes, and gets huge tax breaks.

          7. Actually, my new job is triggering you, SurlyAF. I have no love for the homeless or the rich. I guess you could call it indifference. The bums are here, provided they don’t get up in my face I won’t get up in theirs?
            But yeah, I have a problem with them disregarding basic laws of human decency. Do I whip my thing out in public? No. Do the bums? Sure. Why? Oh, I’m sure you’ll tell me it’s because of the rich, or Reagan, or Trump, or Clinton. But it’s not. Not really. Sure, some of them have mental issues. And some of them just suck as people. I am logical enough to put aside blind compassion and understand that much.

          8. “Actually, my new job is triggering you, SurlyAF”

            Says the person who was so triggered by a story about the city announcing continued year-round presence at Commons Park, that you to felt the need to put down homeless. I thought the city addressing the community safety concerns is something the vast majority of us could agree on?

            Anyhow, best of luck at your new job.

          9. Wow, you really ARE SurlyAF! LOL, I guess if the name fits, live up to it.

          10. While I agree that we have extreme wealth inadequacy, I’m not going to blame a billionaire for some dude in the commons whipping his thing out and peeing on the side of a building mid-day. There’s a percentage of society who will never function properly due to mental illness and addictive tendencies.

            The mentally ill homeless are a direct result of Reagan’s Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981, which cut the top income tax rate from 70 percent to 28 percent and the corporate tax rate from 48 percent to 34 percent.

            One of the most notable things to get cut was mental health treatment. I can guarantee you that it was billionaires pushing for one of the largest tax cuts on the wealthy in the history of our country. So while Bezos may not cause “some dude in the commons whipping his thing out”, his large amounts of wealth is partly thanks to that same man not getting the treatment he needs.

            Guess which of the three classes then gets to clean up the mess left by the USA’s GDP now lopsidedly accumulating in these billionaires offshore account?

            I don’t blame the billionaires for this problem, I blame our overly-forgiving society and the lawyers who continually think up new reasons to keep ‘non-functionals’ on the streets, where they’re a danger to themselves (mostly) and others (occasionally).

            Because there is literally no place to put them. You can’t throw a mentally ill person in jail. There’s also little to no available treatment centers available (see above) to send them to. So what else are cities supposed to do?

            Like seriously, you and others are very quick to criticize the current situation, so you must clearly have answers.

          11. Truth, you’re very quick to criticize and label those you have disagreements with as members of ‘Safe’ Seattle, or part of the Sinclair Group, or Russian trolls. Didn’t anyone ever tell you the surest way to make someone disregard the argument you’re trying to make is by insulting them and their viewpoints, instead of trying to find common ground where you both work towards a meaningful solution together?
            And we’re not ‘quick to criticize’ the current situation. We’ve – all of us – have been living with this situation for a decade plus, since whenever they declared their ‘war on the homeless’. What we can criticize is the fact that nothing our local leaders has done has worked. What we are doing is pointing out the absurdity of needing a ‘park concierge’ when we have people like you, Truth, telling us there’s ‘no problem, no homeless, no threats’ in our Ballard Commons Park. Do you really believe the city would shell out money to essentially provide a hall monitor for our park if there were ‘nothing wrong’. This is literally the least they can do and not admit there’s a problem.
            So yeah, I’m not an elected official, but I am a taxpayer, and I criticize because everything our local leaders do is to skirt around admitting they’ve done little to make the problem better, but to the average person, it seems they’ve made the problem worse, This from a local resident who is certainly not a Russian troll. Now then, dosvidanya to you!

          12. Wow, you got a lot of insinuations there. I’ll sort out what is worth responding to.

            First off, “Safe” Seattle is opposed to any and all proposed solutions to the homeless problem. They’ve made that abundantly clear at open houses, through the media and via blog commenting (they are very open about coordinated commenting for homeless-related articles). Their reasons for being opposed to the solutions are mostly based on lies and fake facts, with the actual reason boiling down to them not wanting solutions to the homeless problem in their neighborhood. When I accuse people of being part of “Safe” Seattle, it’s because their views are in lockstep with “Safe” Seattle.

            Again, you’re quick to criticize the homeless problem and blame the Council (rightfully so, but for different reasons than I would criticize the Council), but you are also quick to criticize and shoot down proposed solution (see above paragraph). Yet, I haven’t seen you suggest any solutions.

            Case in point, the City is trying a concierge service. It’s a well used park in a very dense neighborhood. The concierge is a useful amenity to the many park goers. And if it helps activate the space, discourage homeless use and help people feel safe, then that’s a bonus. Yet, you’ve already declared it as a waste of money and a failure, like our buddy Paintking, rather than allowing this potential solution to play out.

            Same thing with the new restroom. You guys have complained ENDLESSLY about the Honey Buckets, so the City builds a permanent restroom, that will be usable to park patrons and you guys literally and figuratively crapped yourselves over that. Yet, we all know the alternate to Honey Buckets or permanent restrooms is homeless urinating and defecating in public.

            This from a local resident who is certainly not a Russian troll. Now then, dosvidanya to you!

            Nice Red Herring!

  4. oh lovely, there will be a “presence” – useless unless the guy can arrest people.

    what an idea though! trying to keep law and order in a city park? amazing concept.

    1. Wasn’t the concierge nearly assaulted on the first day? And weren’t some of the installations intended to ‘activate the space’ vandalized pretty much on Day One?
      I’m by there all the time. The concierge has had almost no effect beyond the water feature area, and even there, few people are using the space.

          1. It is crazy to me that the people of Seattle seem to have so quickly forgotten that Murray resigned amidst allegations of child molestation….and then his accuser was found dead in an Auburn motel….remind anyone else of the current Kevin Spacey scandal?

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