New campaign launches to keep Ballard friendly

Geeky Swedes Ballard

There’s been a lot of discussion on MyBallard about the car campers, the homeless sleeping in front of the library and the alleged drug activity in our neighborhoods. Now, a new campaign has launched to combat unsafe behavior.

KeepBallardFriendly.org has launched with the goal of educating Ballardites about who to call when you see or hear illegal activity. “If the City recognizes (by getting thousands of phone calls on a consistent basis) that there is a problem here, then the experts who we pay to solve these issues, can be directed to work on a long term solution,” the website states.

Besides the non-emergency line on the blue flyer above, here are the phone numbers listed on the site:
North Precinct Community Policing Team – (206) 684-0794
Report Camped Vehicles – (206) 684-8763
Report Graffiti – (206) 684-7587
Report Trash Carts – (206) 684-7587
Report Encampments – (206) 684-2849

The documentation and plan of action (.pdf) outlines eleven different “problem areas,” shown in the map above.

“The end goal would be that all Ballardites would know this number, have it programmed into their cell phones, etc. and that they would use it whenever they see unsafe behavior or unsafe environments,” according to the plan of action document.

Updated: From keepballardfriendly in the forum:

I am Hovie Hawk, a long time Ballard resident who is the spokesperson for the Keep Ballard Friendly campaign. Even though conspiracy theories abound regarding our group, I can assure you that we’re just normal Ballard residents; moms, dads, young, old, who found ourselves concerned about certain troubling things happening in Ballard and decided to try and do something rather than just sit around and complain about it.

Even though I am a member of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce, founder of inballard.com and a board member of the In Ballard Merchants Association, those organizations are not part of this. We did talk with them, the Seattle Police Department, and the Assistant City Attorney in creating this plan in the hopes of building the best possible plan. They provided comments, advice, critiques, etc. which we sifted through to develop the current plan. But, again, none of those organizations are part of our group.

We are not trying to run anyone out of town or implement some super secret plan to undermine the City. We’re just people looking for the City to notice that we have some issues in Ballard and help us address them. I would welcome any questions people have regarding our group and its intensions.

Geeky Swedes

The founders of My Ballard

132 thoughts to “New campaign launches to keep Ballard friendly”

  1. Here’s the domain registration info for the site. Whoever Hovie Hawk is I don’t know, but phone number and address are in the domain listing:

    Domain ID:D158555138-LROR
    Domain Name:KEEPBALLARDFRIENDLY.ORG
    Created On:09-Mar-2010 19:52:16 UTC
    Last Updated On:10-Mar-2010 00:46:28 UTC
    Expiration Date:09-Mar-2011 19:52:16 UTC
    Sponsoring Registrar:GoDaddy.com, Inc. (R91-LROR)
    Status:CLIENT DELETE PROHIBITED
    Status:CLIENT RENEW PROHIBITED
    Status:CLIENT TRANSFER PROHIBITED
    Status:CLIENT UPDATE PROHIBITED
    Status:TRANSFER PROHIBITED
    Registrant ID:CR43542142
    Registrant Name:Hovie Hawk
    Registrant Organization:Design Hovie Studios
    Registrant Street1:2208 NW Market Street
    Registrant Street2:Suite 407
    Registrant Street3:
    Registrant City:Seattle
    Registrant State/Province:Washington
    Registrant Postal Code:98107
    Registrant Country:US
    Registrant Phone:+1.2067838600
    Registrant Phone Ext.:
    Registrant FAX:
    Registrant FAX Ext.:
    Registrant Email:site@hovie.com
    Admin ID:CR43542151
    Admin Name:Hovie Hawk
    Admin Organization:Design Hovie Studios
    Admin Street1:2208 NW Market Street
    Admin Street2:Suite 407
    Admin Street3:
    Admin City:Seattle
    Admin State/Province:Washington
    Admin Postal Code:98107
    Admin Country:US
    Admin Phone:+1.2067838600
    Admin Phone Ext.:
    Admin FAX:
    Admin FAX Ext.:
    Admin Email:site@hovie.com
    Tech ID:CR43542146
    Tech Name:Hovie Hawk
    Tech Organization:Design Hovie Studios
    Tech Street1:2208 NW Market Street
    Tech Street2:Suite 407
    Tech Street3:
    Tech City:Seattle
    Tech State/Province:Washington
    Tech Postal Code:98107
    Tech Country:US
    Tech Phone:+1.2067838600
    Tech Phone Ext.:
    Tech FAX:
    Tech FAX Ext.:
    Tech Email:site@hovie.com
    Name Server:NS1.MEDIATEMPLE.NET
    Name Server:NS2.MEDIATEMPLE.NET

  2. The vacant storefronts and huge empty construction sites are also an eyesore for the neighborhood. No more construction permits should be issued until the developers can prove they will finish what they start. Lower the monthly lease contracts to fill the vacant storefronts.

  4. I have a couple issues/concerns about some of this, but overall I like the effort – we certainly need to do SOMETHING to stop and reverse the trends that are ruining Ballard.

    My biggest question is simply to ask what the city is going to do. It's been demonstrated to me repeatedly that the city couldn't care less about these problems, and I'll be shocked if they did anything about them – no matter how many phone calls they get. They *want* Ballard to be a scum-filled dumping ground – they made a conscious decision to squeegee away the bums from downtown, at the same time they decided to turn a formerly nice residential neighborhood into an “urban village.” It's not an accident that the scumbags have taken over Ballard.

    I'd also question whether it should be a goal to “keep Ballard friendly” towards these troublemakers. I don't know about you, but I choose my friends, and have no interest in being “friendly” towards the drunks who pass out and crap on our streets or the punks who come around by to mug someone or break in to someone/s car or home. Maybe Ballard should be a little less “friendly” towards everyone in general and be more selective in who we welcome to the neighborhood.

    But I'm all in favor of hassling the creeps and by extension pestering the city – although I honestly don't think the city will lift a finger. Making the bums comfortable here seems to be the city's top priority.

  5. Wow, this is a determinedly “friendly” face on the basic premise of “monitor your neighbors, citizen!” Their language is upbeat, cheerful, and nonaggressive. But they're asking people to target the homeless for hassling by police.

    I find this fascinating. There's the potential for a lot of good, here, and a lot of harm. I'm intensely curious about who set this up. They seem to want to remain anonymous.

  6. “Lower the monthly lease contracts to fill the vacant storefronts.”

    How do you do that? These are, afterall, private properties.

  8. Um, you could call the police on 911 if you witness a crime? Except I've tried that, and they don't care and won't come. Seattle could start by working on its completely useless police force.

  9. This is a great initiative. Thanks to the folks who have obviously worked hard on it! I, for one, do believe that the increased phone calls and feedback *will* help Ballard get better support and resources from the city and police.

  11. Well, the property owners and managers need to wake up and realize we're in a recession. If they want income, they'll have to do something. Ballard isn't Beverly Hills.

  14. I agree that the creators of the site really should ID themselves somehow. All of the anonymity seems strange.

    I wish the campaign also equally focused on solutions than just reporting behavior to the police. People will just go park their camper someplace else. People will find another doorway to sleep under because there is no where else.

  17. The map in the plan also should mention some other areas of concern.

    • Ballard Industrial Area (east of 15th Avenue NW) (RV camping)
    • Ballard Industrial Area (west of 15th Avenue NW) (RV camping)
    • Department of Social and Health Services building (RV camping)
    • Fred Meyer (RV camping)
    • Gilman Playground (RV camping, sleeping in park, human waste, garbage)
    • Goodwill / 8th Avenue NW (RV camping)
    • Safeway Ballard (RV camping, aggressive panhandling)
    • Seattle City Light (RV camping)
    • Sunset Bowl / Ballard Market (RV camping, human waste, garbage)
    • Ballard P-Patch on 14th Avenue (vagrancy)

  18. I like it. I think we get tired off calling the police because we know they won't show up for 45 minutes. It gets old. This is a reminder that we need to participate in keeping our community clean and safe.

    But if people are more persistent in reporting issues it could raise awareness that we need help – not to mention it could pull a criminal off the street before they hurt someone else.

    As a 9 year Ballard resident it feels to me that the drug/crime scene has really escalated over the past 2 years. Personally I feel less safe in Ballard every month. We can either get fed up and leave or we can take action. And take action as a community.

  20. We apologize for any concerns people may have with our anonymity. Due to the nature of this subject we have chosen to simply let the site be credit-less at this point. This is due to the fact that our employers and local organizations that we are members of could fairly or unfairly be associated with, and be seen as direct supporters of, the campaign. At this point all I can say is that we are a group of longtime Ballard residents who were frustrated and wanted to do something to help. I can promise we have no secret or ulterior motives here. We just want to do what we can to help our neighborhood.

  21. Unfortunately, there is no way to know if this approach was developed with input from SPD and other agencies, and no way to provide feedback. I've worked on these kind of problems at specific sites and have been told that if we see illegal activity occuring to call 911. At the very least, your information should make it clear to call 911 if you observe any dangerous illegal activity.

  22. Let's keep Ballard “unfriendly” by report, harassing, or otherwise removing the less fortunate from our community! Just because you are homeless, mentally ill or an otherwise unsavory character you don't have the communities blessing to enjoy the public parks or areas of our section of the city. Because god damn it we have right to not have an non middle class or better people in our community!

    What a complete failure of human conscience. If the people responsible for this farce put the same effort into helping the homeless, then the real problem might actually be solved.

  24. I am confused by this whole thing. Its claiming to be a campaign to make Ballard safer, but its really just an anti-homeless movement. All of the problem areas on the map are due to homeless related issues. I would ask the author of this pamphlet what is so unsafe about someone sleeping in a parking lot during the day? This is very typical of the Seattle attitude towards homeless people. We claim to be supportive of their struggles but we don't want them anywhere near us.

    I will not be participating in this campaign.

  25. ynh98107, you have it nailed! These properties are corporate or government owned! They should be contacted to 'clean up their mess'. For those who worry about displacement of the campers or homeless – take them to your home and let them camp out there or live in your home.

  26. WooHoo! Kudos to the kbf team. I don't blame them for keeping it anon. There are lots of people on this forum that think we should just let drunks sleep and $hit wherever they want because they are part of the community. Well, last time I checked 90% of these bums in Ballard haven't contributed anything to Ballard other than maybe fertilizing the bushes with their excrement.

  27. So demanding that people not piss on your lawn, break into our cars, harass you on the streets and in parks and crap in the bushes in vigilantism?

    Asking people to follow even the most basic and simple rules of a civilized society makes you a vigilante?

    Grow up or at least I hope when you feed pigeons, they cr*p on your house not mine.

  28. “less fortunate “

    Bums getting drunk and high on the street are not 'less fortunate'. They are bums. Don't confuse them with the genuine homeless.

    What a complete failure to understand human nature.

  29. Ah, yes. This must be the 'let's just push them off into another neighborhood' solution to homelessness. I won't be participating either.

  32. I think this is fantastic and it provides a concrete way for people to let the police and government know our expectations. The more we call hopefully, the more they will respond.

    If you choose not to participate, that is fine too. I'm guessing there will be enough people frustrated at the current state of Ballard that this campaign will be highly effective.

    Thank you to this organization that pulled this together.

  33. But you're screaming about a pigeon problem while you attack the songbirds with a flamethrower and then wonder why we have a fire problem.
    If you really want to blame a political party for bums on the street, I'd sooner blame the republicans for closing the mental hospitals and diverting too much of our tax dollars to the military.

  34. Guess what SPG, there were bums before Reagan came along.

    There was also involuntary mental health lockups but the ACLU took care of that.

  35. “If the people responsible for this farce put the same effort into helping the homeless, then the real problem might actually be solved.”
    Except that we're not talking about the homeless. We're talking about people breaking the law and making a mess of our town. When you get off your high horse and take a look around at street level you'll see that we don't have a homeless problem as much as we have a bums breaking the law problem.

  36. Seriously, it's getting tiresome this call to 'help'. And that you would insist that it will solve the problem.

    It created this problem. Your insistance to hold none accountable for choices that only they can make, is indeed the problem. Why don't you 'help' them make choices that will relieve the burden you would continue to increase upon society.

    And, you can even remain anonymous while you do so. How's that?

  37. Pushing them around does no good. Agreed.

    Letting them know what is, and isn't, acceptable seems a better aproach.

    It may be the one thing that will work. IMHO.

  38. To respond to the argument that this is unfair to homeless people — that's not the main issue, in my view. The issue is incidents like drunk men harassing and threatening my preschooler when she's in our own front yard during the day. That's the kind of thing that we'd like stopped, maybe by using the tools suggested by this group.

  39. But this is only going to cause harassment of people with nowhere else to go. It solves nothing. I worry this sort of thing will cause nothing but vigilante behavior. Have you looked at the Blogspot blog these people have set up? They aren't targeting the drunks. Their targeting anyone who happens to be homeless.

  45. Sound more like “Keep Ballard Fascist”
    Way to go Ballardites, you've shown your true colors on this one. Lets kick the poor out of Ballard so we can go back to living our comfortable lives.

  47. I agree.

    The drug activity in Ballard has escalated over the past two years because the area has gentrified and with that extra money comes a market for recreational drugs.
    With the recreational drugs and their dealers come droves of people from all economic classes in search of drugs.
    It seems to me that as Ballard has gentrified, it has become less of a nice place to live – not because of the homeless, less fortunate, marginalized or forgotten people who live on the periphery, but because of the character of the privileged, entitled folk who have so recently moved here.
    Let's work with the food bank and other organizations to actually HELP people instead of reporting them to the authorities.
    I don't want to live in a nanny state.
    And frankly, I'm in more danger of stepping in some fine, upstanding middle-class citizen's dog's crap that they feel entitled to leave on my lawn than I am from any chronic street alcoholic.

  48. Congratulations, the first person to call someone a fascist automatically loses the debate.

    BTW, how many bums do you let stay in your home?

  49. exactly.

    It's rather like Mark Sidran's “Don't sit or lie on the sidewalk” ordinance of ten or so years ago.
    That drove many homeless poeople out of downtown and into Fremont, Ballard, Wallingford, etc.
    It solved nothing.

  50. I am 100% for this.

    Nothing alledged about the drug activity. It is real and it happens all the time.

    Sure hope it isn't Mars Hill secretly behind it.

  51. Here here. I'm all in favor of this. I sick of watching the dealers working out of the RVs, the drunk bums yelling at people for no reason, and urinating or defecating in public. I'm sick of being harassed for money or just yelled at for no reason. Just a week ago I watched one of them drop his pants right in the middle of Ballard Commons and pee. Middle of the day with families around.

    I don't care where they go. Just as long as they get out of here. I'll help out with this.

  53. “what is so unsafe about someone sleeping in a parking lot during the day?” I would refer you to the classic children's book “Everybody Poops” by Taro Gomi. Where do you think someone who sleeps in a parking lot does this?

    Nearly by definition, many of the people who are homeless suffer from a mental disorder of some kind, mostly benign to others. But there are the ones who aren't so benign (a recent homeless serial arsonist comes to mind), and many others who have addiction habits to support one way or another. Those create a bad rap for all of them.

  54. It's not the poor, it's the filthy, disrespectful addicts and the mentally unstable. They also often happen to be poor, and create a bad rap for all of them.

    Just because you're poor, doesn't mean you have to wallow in filth and crap in public areas while insulting passerbys. That's who we have problems with.

    You're the one making the mistake of lumping all poor people together, not them. If I was poor, I'd be highly insulted that you'd equate me and my income status with the druggie bums peeing in parks.

  55. Stalwe,
    Hw about you put the same effort in on creating solutions that these people did creating this reporting system? Then we would be equally focused on solutions and reporting.

    I'm fine with just eporting this activity to the police so that these people will go park someplace else.

    My main goal is to get these people to stop sh*tting on the porch leading to my back door, and hanging about scaring away customers.

    I have neither the time or desire to solve any problem beyond that.

  58. Solved nothing? Not from the point of view of the residents of certain downtown areas, who now enjoy a relatively homeless-free environment.

    Sure, pioneer square is still infested, but belltown and south lake union got cleaned up a bit. Unfortunately, Ballard soaked up a lot of the mess that got squeegeed out.

    Push 'em on up to Shoreline, say I.

  59. Everyone has their breaking point, no matter how liberal they are. There will be a tipping point eventually. The vagrant population is rising in ballard, it is becoming very unsafe and the open drug use, drug selling, intoxication, urinating, deficating, vomiting etc. is not acceptable!
    Anyone who says it is does not spend anytime in the vicinity of the proplem and is just spouting utopian – passive cr*p. Every urban area has a homeless population that the citizens are mostly considerate to and compassionate towards – but when the vagrant population begins to spread the word about the new “Ballard Vagrant Palm Springs Resort” with a passive inactive population – the problem grows and grows and grows and grows and even the most soft hearted individual with demand a change… we have to push back a little – if you don't like it then step aside… I will call, in fact, I called today to report all of the vagrants behind the BAy Theater having a pot party and hoarking up luggies – as I was calling the non-er number I had to side step a panhandler and be careful not to step in the vomit that was feet away from my car.
    You little passive heads… live and let live right?

  60. Actually, I do put the same effort on creating solutions. Every day – my 9 -5 is helping homeless people get jobs.

    I don't want people sh*tting on your porch either.

  61. Just because you're homeless doesn't mean you can't behave nicely toward others and toward our common amenities. I'm concerned that if we argue otherwise, we end up depersonalizing and patronizing the homeless.

  62. I agree. But look at the folks the Blogspot blog are spotlighting. These are not the troublemakers. These are just the ones with no place else to be. I know Ballard has some troublemakers within the homeless community. I'm not blind. I just take issue with who it looks like they are targeting here.

  63. I don't know whether in your 9-5 if you've noticed that most of the problem is that most of them have no interest in finding work.

    They aren't required to, for one, and they are fed and given money daily so they don't feel the need.

    You know, people like to point out the few that are no problem, which just creates the allowance for those who continue to be a problem.

  64. I think this Keep Ballard Friendly movement is really just another community minded effort by a bunch of people who live in Ballard and who just happen to also all attend Mars Hill Church.

    They'll be renting a meeting space to inform you of their efforts and have some of the social service agencies and police liasons talk to the group.

    But don't worry, they won't feed the hungry or shelter the homeless. They just want them to go somewhere else where they won't be a bother to the membership drive.

  65. Me too.

    I'm a proud leftist (not looney though), and I'm ready to do just about anything within reason to drive the snakes out of Ireland, er, Ballard.

    It's not a left/right issue – no matter how much one looney rightie might wish it was.

    Lets unite the left & right to make Ballard a better place and get rid of the lowlife creeps. Unless you would rather pick a fight with your neighbor who wants the same things as you.

  66. Screw the bums. I've had enough of them.

    Homeless? Fine, we'll help. Scumbags? Get the fuck out.

    It's pretty easy to tell the difference if you're willing to look. The bumvocates are either not willing, or just too stupid, to see what's right before their eyes.

  67. What's wrong with pushing them to someplace else? Honestly?

    They'll go where the bumming is easy, the locals are stupid and welcome them. That's Ballard, all right.

    You make things a little less comfortable for them here, they'll find some other neighborhood full of morons who can't tell the difference between someone who's actually down on their luck and trying to do something about it, and the lowlifes who only want to stay drunk and high and take advantage of the suckers.

    They're here because the locals somehow believe it's Ballard's responsibility to solve the problems of the rest of the world.

  68. Agree 100%.

    Why is it Ballard's responsibility to solve the rest of the city's/state's/country's/world's problems?

    Get out the squeegee and hose, and move em along to Shoreline or some other point north. Let's see how well received they are there.

  69. I think this is FAN-TAS-TIC. I live only a few blocks from Ballard Commons and the library and I have had it with BUMS, true bums, drinking, relieving themselves, using the foutains and library bathrooms to wash up in, drinking and dealing and doing drugs in public. A group of a couple dozen creeps have taken over public places and are disrupting hard working small businesses and neighbors. Its plain nasty and its dangerous.

    I have to run the gauntlet of these people every day. It means I don't get to sit in a public park my tax dollars and the tax dollars of my neighbors pay for, or use the library. These people are not innocent homeless. The majority of the community is being negatively impacted by the minority. Is it ok for the kids at the skateboard park to have to deal with this? Is it ok for the librarians to have to deal with this, the small business owners? Everyday? BS.

    Time to take back our community. Great effort neighbors, and I totally support and get the reason to remain anonymous. Lets keep the effort going!

  71. Yeah, I tell you, everytime some yuppie breaks into my car, shouts drunken obscenities at my kids or sh*ts in my yard, I think about the character of the privileged.

  74. Nobody is talking about kicking all the bums out…..but downtown Ballard is being overrun, it's nuts.

    Look, every neighborhood should have a few quiet hobos sitting around. They are a natural part of the urban landscape and we need them, if only to point them out to our kids as a warning. But Ballard is way beyond a few picturesque winos. Time to chase the a**holes off. Where do they go? Who cares.

  76. Well I guess I already lost the debate but if the shoe fits…
    I actually work at a shelter with these very people that you will be watching from the bushes with your binoculars and whispering into your walkie talkie.
    Yes they are smelly and many times obnoxious but instead of the “not in my backyard” mentality that has plagued suburban neighborhoods since the dawn of time why dont we start looking at the root of the problem and taking care of each other whether it be at the polls or right there in Ballard Commons. Homelessness is a real problem. Less for you (weird I know) and more so for the individual.

  77. Two weeks ago I was at Salmon Bay Park with my wife and two dogs on a sunny afternoon. There were about 30 family and kids playing at the time playing in the park. There was a drunk Native American hobo at the park and he approached me for no reason threatened to shot me with his gun he had in his bag, He said my dog was looking at him funny. So my 6 month pregnant wife and I left the park and called 911 within 5 minutes. 50 minutes later the cops came to my house to take a report. 50 minutes later!
    It needs to stop now. As residents of Ballard we need to take back control of our community and the police need to make a huge improvement before any of this will improve.

  80. Two weeks ago I was at Salmon Bay Park with my wife and two dogs on a sunny afternoon. There were about 30 family and kids playing at the time playing in the park. There was a drunk Native American hobo at the park and he approached me for no reason threatened to shot me with his gun he had in his bag, He said my dog was looking at him funny. So my 6 month pregnant wife and I left the park and called 911 within 5 minutes. 50 minutes later the cops came to my house to take a report. 50 minutes later!
    It needs to stop now. As residents of Ballard we need to take back control of our community and the police need to make a huge improvement before any of this will improve.

  81. From what has been reported, I have sincere reservations about a group deciding what “friendly” is. To me, welcoming people into the neighborhood whether they own property or a business is being a friend. In fact, providing a bunch of anonymous phone numbers that bring down the law on mostly innocent people is the definition of “unfriendly”. Sure, crimes happen and that sucks….but, so does fear. I remember the days when a person could sleep overnight at Shilshole or down by the docks without being branded or hassled by the law. I've been there. I relish the days when I was free of house payments, etc. Oftentimes, the very artists and creative folk that made Ballard a desirable place to live arrived that way (sorry it wasn't because of its proximity to downtown) . I acknowledge that condos and high density leaving is the future but why does it have to be sterile? The answer to crimes isn't to create an easy to use network of tattlers but to make people more concerned about the individual. Most criminals are that way because they are alienated and have learned to disrespect a system that does not treat them in a friendly way. Get involved.

  82. Nora,
    What you and your whiney like fail to realize is that “people that don't have any place else to go” aren't criminals, but there are consequences to anti-social behavior.

    1) Sit on the sidewalk or sleep in the doorway = less retail traffic = less sales tax = less money for social services.

    2) Make a neighborhood undesireable by loitering and camping = lower housing value = lower assessed value = lower tax revenue = less money for social services.

    The unavoidable truth about anti-social behavior (as much as criminal behavior) is that it COSTS. The people that organize these initiatives aren't dispassionate. In fact, by addressing the costs (to them) of derelict bums, anti-social a*holes and belligerent drunks — directly — they will doing plenty to make sure the conditions are right for a safe, prosperous, desirable community (that then has both the compassion and resources to deal with the “real” homeless.)

    And, at least this initiative may blow-off some steam from a rising anger in Ballard. Better this than true vigilantism.

  83. Ummmm….

    he “artists and creative folk” made Ballard a desirable place to live?

    What planet are you from?

    Ballard is popular because its an honest, working-class community with some particular civic values derived from its Scanda-hoovian roots. Values like “Take a shower and go to work.” and “Mow your lawn” and “Have a beer after work, not instead of work.”

    The blather about “artists” making Ballard special is evidence of the Seattle's wussy-ness. If self-anointed “artists” and “creative folks” defined Ballard, we would have no discernable difference from Fremont & Wallingford.

    If you want Fremont. Move to Fremont.

    This is Ballard. And we're kicking out street the drunks.

  84. I've had only respectful exchanges with the folks hanging out by the library. Maybe I'm lucky that way, or maybe it's something else…

    I find it alarming that the “Keep Ballard Friendly” website defines “congregating” as problem behavior. I'm all for dealing appropriately with true problem behavior, but it looks to me like we have an “pretty face” on an attempt to get rid of “those people” rather than truly dealing with criminal behavior.

  85. Have you seen Fremont lately? I agree that Ballard was working class…the kind of working class that supported places like the Backstage, the Owl and the Chai House. All of which are gone. The “drunks” are mostly young people that have deemed downtown Ballard party central. Mostly encouraged by the number of new bars that cater to their meatmarkets. They are the the largest source of drug money; not the homeless. The fact that your tone responding to me is so condescending shows that we will find the “friendly” folks needed to solve the real problems from somewhere else. Good luck.

  86. Two Situations:

    A 28 year-old spends $60 on drinks and dinner, on a Saturday night, shouts wahoo! little loud on old Ballard Ave, on a Saturday.

    Or a grungy 45 year old guy sits down in the park, buzzed on a few $1.98 tall cans, and swears like a sailor in front of kids at 11:00a on a Tuesday morning.

    I'll take the Ballard nightlife drunks, thanks: Appropriate age in life, appropriate time & place, appropriate businesses. You can have the bums… pissing in your yard.

    As for friendly folks solving the problem, you're missing the point. Nobody is going to solve the problem of bums, but the bums themselves. (don't confuse them with the homeless, who deserve our support) Not volunteers, not government, churches or programs. They only nature is to respond to negative pressure, where the costs of hanging around (fines, police intervention, bum-on-bum crime) outweigh the benefits of being a bum (hanging out, doing nothing).

    We're just going to give them a nudge.

  87. I may be dense, and I'm sure BMWL will tell me so, but what's been keeping you all from calling the cops and reporting this behavior until now? Did those of you who are clearly in favor of KBF's mission need an engraved invitation to do your civic duty and report lawlessness? Perhaps your phones didn't have the numbers 9 and 1 on them until KBF came along and installed them for you?

    Look, I don't really care for the drunks and the bums and Mr. Shouty any more than anyone else. But seriously, all you “yeah, good plan!” people: HAVE YOU BEEN REPORTING IT? Or have you just been stewing about it and getting your panties in a bunch while you wait for someone else to make that call for you? The sense I've gotten from reading this thread is you're all for it, so long as someone else makes the call to the cops and you can just sit there being inconvenienced by these “degenerates” and keep your hands clean.

    Clearly, from all that I've read here, this has been an ongoing concern. Even the folks with some compassion agree that there's been a problem for a while. The other side, who would very clearly like to see these people (yes, they are people after all) shuffled off to some other neighborhood, don't seem like they've ever considered picking up the telephone to report them, yet they're all for it now.

    Good thing those guys over at KBF thought it up.

  91. The landlords who keep kicking out established Ballard businesses definitely need to get a clue. Has a new tenant been found for Mr. Spot's former location? That pho place that replaced Olsen's will not be long for this world. It's always empty.

  93. I read every comment here, long on words, not One solution or idea to solve the problem! So here are mine.
    1. Require a license to panhandle with weekly reporting on paper to trace the income. These people hate structure that is why the life style – structure their homelessness and they move on. Oh, and the license doen't have to cost $300 $5 bucks would do. Heck I would buy one.

    If you want to sleep in a vehicle on a city street its a $5 camping permit per night. Let Parking enforcement go after them they love that stuff.

    Just a couple suggestions rather than whinning.

  94. I was there that day too, he threatened to kill me and my kid. I called the cops (911) twice and left when they did not show. Followed up later that evening and got a total runaround.

    Now my kid is too scared to go to the park….but god forbid the homeless guy should have his rights infringed upon.

  95. “Most criminals are that way because they are alienated and have learned to disrespect a system that does not treat them in a friendly way”

    Apparently you are older but you not grown up…..this is utter nonsense.

  97. Ytoo, you are why the far left never wins elections, with this kind of idiocy; apparently keeping our neighborhood from going to hell is something only Republicans support?

    Get – a – clue.

    Plenty of us lifelong Democrats support this.

  98. Isn't asking for money a business transaction? You know, “give me money to relieve your guilt and avoid me screaming at you and your family!”

    Don't these folks need a business permit to do that and shouldn't they pay sales tax?

  99. So by your logic Democrats support bums sh*tting on our lawns, breaking into cars, threatening us in the parks and shoot up drugs in the alleyways behind market?

    Total maroooooon.

  100. As long as you are not trying to convert me – I am all for it.

    It really is scary when you are walking alone sometimes at night and it should not be that way. I have watched a guy with big frizzy hair park his van in front of our place – take a pipe out and start toking on it – then roll out and relieve himself. Sooooooo Gross and then hanging out down on market screaming at people. Come on – this is not the way people should live together or my kid needs to see. I did not call the police because in the past when I told them I saw someone dealing drugs – they told me to get in line. I will do so now – you all make a good point.

    Let's clean it up – we should not have to live this way.

  101. So you have no problem with half the bums in Seattle settling in our neighborhood?

    Well, keep feeding those pigeons, just let us know where you live so we can send YOU the bill for cleaning up the pigeon sh*t.

  102. That's Mr. President, self-appointed hobo king, and friend to neo-hippie morons who thankfully left when mr. Spots closed.

  104. I've lived in Ballard for 50 years. The worst place that I know of isn't listed on your map. It's the 7-11 store on 24th and 62nd. Drinking, drugs and fighting all night long. 7-11 won't allow people to use their rest room so the bums poop and pee in my yard on a daily basis. When the 7-11 was first built, the neighborhood voted only to allow 7-11 to be open until 11 o'clock at night, but they took it upon themselves through the years to keep it open even though it's illegal. Speak about crime, it's right there for everyone to see.

  105. The real issue is that nothing will get better as long as we are determined to make it somebody else's problem. That's not a solution; that's a short-sighted lack of effort. We will start seeing improvement on the homeless issue when we begin to accept it as our problem to solve.

  109. totally repulsive – the cops should have been there in 5 seconds if someone is threatening to get out a gun. Threaten my family in my neighborhood and your hash gets settled, if not then then later.

    Last time I was in Salmon Bay park a drunk was puking all over the lawn in the middle of the afternoon. It's a health hazard if the guy has a fluid communicable disease. Kids play ball right where he was yacking up a huge puddle of beer and fast food.

    The drunks behind The climbing gym down by the locks are getting out of control too. A few weekends ago they were playing football bouncing punts off parked cars. The week before that really big guy that lives down there (like 6'5″ gave up on fishing huge Alaskan looking dude) threw a beer bottle in the street about 20 yards ahead of the stroller I was pushing. I've got an eye out for that fool now every time I'm down there. Hate that that's the case in our neighborhood.

    I had a camper parked across the street from my house for about a week last month. The people in it were quiet and clean, appeared to take off in the day to do some sort of work, and scrupulously cleaned up the area when they left, making it cleaner than when they arrived.

    I wouldn't call in the latter case but certainly would in the former cases. Is it so hard to distinguish who's homeless and who's a POS dirtbag that can get the hell out of our town? I think not. Don't mean to sound too harsh but bottle throwing near my baby, vile puke where our kids play, some fool threatening to pull a gun and shoot families? I say get after the bad ones — we know who they are.

  110. You obviously give us much too much credit (we're not that fast).

    This plan was developed over a 2 month period that involved research and interviews with many organizations familiar with the problems. After not finding THE answer (who can) we felt it was best to start with the most basic concept… if you see something wrong, call. It may seem elementary but it was shocking how many people didn't know what number to call in the event of a non-emergency.

    You may see this as some simple waste of time but if more people call and get the City to devote more resources to our area, then we'd but ecstatic.

  111. This is the lack of respect that the 'poor' seem to have about anyone who has anything they can call their own. How does it feel to be lazy, yet envious of someone who obviously isn't? How much do they owe you for their unmitigated greed and inherent evil for feeling driven to be successful? You poor, poor soul…how could you manage without stealing from them? Vilifying them? Feeling wronged by them? Demand your equal outcomes for everything, and all will be right with the world.

    To you, I'd be inclined to suggest that you deal with your entitlement issues, and when you discover how, let your friends know about it.
    You might even find success for yourself.

    Of course, you'd be one happy to see this new health care entitlement become law too? That ought to make all of us want to work really hard to be able to pay for your free health care.

    Why would anyone care to labor for what is being handed out for free?

    Good luck with that too. It won't be so 'cool' to laugh then I'd bet.

    So chuckle your ass off, and ignore the issue entirely…

    So cool…

  112. Bit by bit, undermining the obvious efforts by those who want to see things improve, and definitely, don't want to see things get worse.

    Killer (more likely mentally ill), and then hobo? Really? Do they hop on and off the the missing link railways?

    It's this hug a thug crap that gets ridiculous. You could be dealing with someone who, whether mentally ill or not, will harm you or your family.

    And when, God forbid, someone actually wants to be doing something about it brings these yahoos out of the closet to scream “there's no problem here…just move along…what we have here is just some guy having a bad day…nothing serious…this probably isn't even real blood…you know how dramatic these people can be….oh, stop, it's not as bad as you want to make it sound…really, I just see people who need more help…”

    That's exactly how this crap is being defended, shamelessly, tearing down any effort to create a safer community. Interfering with the feeling that it's perfectly ok to discuss these issues just makes the solutions harder to approach.

    If you have input about a solution, say so, if you just want to interfere with or obfuscate the issue. Knock it off.

  114. That's why we need this resource. Many issues are yet to be known, and also, tied together. There could be literally one group of scum-bags causing problems for six different locations, and so forth.

    What we are dealing with isn't isolated to one area, or one group. Everyone's input will put the picture together, and will certainly contribute to a holistic solution.

    Use this resource, educate yourself, provide your input, report issues you see.

    Or, get your panties in a bunch about it. (clearly, that's good enough for too many)

  116. OK, seriously, and once again now. Who is defending homeless people and their actions when they menace people or cause problems in the neighborhood? Who is doing it? I see nobody waving the banner of “Let the homeless run wild!” or “Just deal with the drug activity!”. I see nobody making that argument. The only debate is about how best to solve the problem. There are two camps: Those who would help the homeless become better, more productive citizens; and those who would simply shove the homeless into another community, without regard for the harm caused to those homeless or the other communities.

    Every time you claim that people who want to solve the problem rather than push it somewhere else are “obstructive” or “defending” bad behavior, you are perpetuating a lie. You are lying.

    So far, this thread has yielded *no* solutions. No action. You go on and on about “interference” and “obfuscation” but there's nothing to interfere with. Nothing to obfuscate. If the best “solution” the neighborhood can come up with is a website with some phone numbers to try and convince the city to magically fix the problem for us, we're screwed.

    What have you done to help solve the problem? What solutions have you proposed? In a country founded in the fires of debate and discourse, telling people you don't agree with to “knock it off” is tantamount to unAmerican. Who do you think you are that you have the right to dictate what others should think and do?

  117. This problem is over 1000 years old. I wish I was so smart that I could solve the 1000+ year old problem of homelessness and bad public social behavior, but I'm not.

  118. I'm tempted to load up my two kids and stroll over to Salmon Bay Park to look for the guy who threatens to shoot people. I have a carry conceal permit and a glock. I'd shoot this motherfucker in his face if he makes one comment about harming my family.

  119. “But you're screaming about a pigeon problem while you attack the songbirds with a flamethrower”

    That takes the entire emm effinn cake for hyperbole.

    And then you go for seconds, by insisting on 'waah-nting abouwt vwose mean wepubwicans' waaah. Oh boo hooo!

    You would blame fly paper for the fly problem, wouldn't you?
    Any one with a clue knows who creates this voting block SPG.

  120. And for a decade, my involvement with homeless, through private organizations, has been a tremendous success.

    This method REQUIRES accountability, drug screening, community service, and nothing comes for free.

    What are you contributing?
    You just gonna call for more free stuff that we have to pay for?
    Going to make sure that you heap shame upon what few choices we have to deal with it? Thanks a lot…

  121. When someone threatens to kill my kid, I don't give a eff about 'helping' him be a better person. I want him cuffed in the back of a police car and removed from my community.

  122. Evil. Yeah, anyone sick of these filthy entitled drunks that make this such a wonderful neighborhood are indeed evil.

    Especially the ones who have to work to pay for their every need. Pure evil. I don't know how they can get up and go to work in the morning, these evil people.

    What an total asshole.

  123. Good job. You've removed one mentally unstable person from your community and done absolutely nothing to prevent it from happening again. This is the very definition of short-sighted behavior.

  124. Your involvement with the homeless is to be commended! I'm very happy to hear that you have taken steps greater than simply making some noise on the internet. It appears that you and I are on the same side. Accountability, drug screening, and community service? Those sounds *great*. They're far more effective than vigilante websites and lists of phone numbers.

    If you took just a moment to stop your attack, you might realize that I have never called for “free stuff”. I have never “shamed” anyone who brought real contributions to this problem. As far as I've seen, NOBODY HAS DONE THIS here on MyBallard. You're making absurd accusations that simply aren't true. You're trying to make an enemy out of people who want to solve the same problems you do. Why are you doing this?

  125. Do you often make a habit of distorting other people's words?

    “Evil is defined as something that is immoral, causes pain or harm, is offensive, or threatening.”

    Instead of solving our neighborhood's problem, xyzzy proposes that we simply dump our pain on somebody else. We're too lazy to deal with it, so we cause somebody else to experience our pain instead. *That* is what I find truly evil about this conversation. Our neighborhood is too damned lazy to solve the problem, instead trying to make it somebody else's problem.

  126. 1000 years? I can guarantee there have always been bums since the dawn of man, yet you expect Ballard to now solve this problem? Let us work on a more realistic goal for Ballard, like world peace.

  127. “will do this over and over and over”

    Yep, until they know they are not welcome if they engage in criminal and anti-social behavior. Someone has to fight against the hand out mob who invited the bums to Ballard the past 2 years.

  128. “”Evil is defined as something that is immoral, causes pain or harm, is offensive, or threatening.”

    What, like threatening to kill people in the park?

  130. If the Ballard Library has become uninviting, because of homeless people, it should be dealt with better security. The library wasn’t designed as a rest stop for the weary traveler. Families and children need to use the facility and shouldn’t feel uncomfortable with men snoozing in every chair.
    We use the main downtown branch about once a week. I’d guess 90% of the people in there are homeless people sleeping and just taking up space. You see hundreds of burnout guys using the computers and dozing at the tables. That building is pretty big, so you can maneuver around them and find what you need.
    The library system has a problem and needs to fix it.

  131. Agreed. I wonder what portion of those commenting are really invested in Ballard (literally). Renting does not show a true long-term committment to the improvement of any neighborhood. Many people renting in Ballard live here for a variety of reasons before moving to a more affordable area to actual invest in real estate. Those paying for homes here should have a loud voice to provide true direction for change. Make your voice known. Identify yourself as a concerned long-term homeowner. Neighborhoods that do not stress this long-term interest (Capitol Hill, UDistrict…) suffer lack of attention from SPD.

  132. Having only lived in Ballard for 2 years, I cannot speak to what Ballard was like. But I made the conscious decision to buy a place in Ballard, beacause of the great neighborhood that had developed as well as the proximty to City life. If I wanted to live in a suburb, I would have bought a place in Redmond. If you make the choice to live within a days walk of downtown Seattle, then you make the decision to deal with transiants and homeless people. On the flip side, I own my propery, pay property taxes, and take pride in the neighborhood. I should be able to expect that my money is being used by the city to keep the streets clean, fire stations active, and police patrols constant.

    I agree with bothsides of the issue: 1) Homlessness is a problem that needs to be fixed. The homeless are human beings and should be treated as such. Our city government should work to provide more shelters, or some form of aid in order to get people on the path to being conrtibuting citizens. 2) Tax paying residents of any community should feel that we are paying for a safe and clean envorionment.

    So what is the solution??? If there was one, then we would not being talking about these issues right now. Both helping homeless people as well as cleaning up the neighborhood are comendable goals. We should take action on both. These people have come up with a step. It is not the solution.Kudos to this site for at least taking a step and starting the conversation.

Leave a Reply