Contrast on encampments
If the location of yesterday’s second shooting sounds familiar, it should: it’s the site of the private homeless encampment operated by local businessman Hamoudi Sabri. This is the same encampment that was the subject of a lengthy city council meeting last week, where members considered whether the city should take legal action to clear it. After meeting in both closed and open sessions for over three hours, the council voted 6-4 to authorize a lawsuit. Our Ward 7 council member missed the vote, citing a death in the family, while four of her regular allies on the council voted no: Jason Chavez, Aurin Chowdhury, Aisha Chughtai and Elliot Payne.
How would Council Member Cashman have voted if she’d been present? If you read her newsletter from last Friday, you’d probably be left scratching your head – there wasn’t a clear answer. One constituent described it as “word salad,” citing “collaboration” with the mayor, but saying “we can’t sue our way out of this issue,” and then taking a thinly-veiled swipe at city departments for not doing enough. Great, but how would she have voted? She didn’t say.
You already know that’s not how I lead. If I miss an important vote, I’ll tell you how I would have voted and why. This one’s easy: authorize the lawsuit. Encampments are not a dignified or safe option for those experiencing homelessness, nor are they acceptable for nearby residents and businesses. This one in particular is a health and safety catastrophe, with reports of rampant drug use, other crime, discarded needles, and excrement – all near a school. Now it’s the site of a mass shooting. Deciding to shut down this encampment shouldn’t take three minutes, let alone three hours, but it did for our dysfunctional council majority.
I’m running to bring a common-sense, pragmatic voice back to a city council that struggles with transparency and practical solutions. This week, I participated in two Ward 7 candidate forums, one at Loring Green last Thursday and a second last night at the Bakken Museum. It was great to engage with voters and answer their questions. I appreciated having an opportunity to make the case for pragmatic change and open, accessible leadership.
At the forum Thursday, I asked CM Cashman directly how she would have voted on the encampment lawsuit and she indicated yes, yet her mass email the next day muddied the waters. I won’t do that. Whether you agree with me or not, you’ll know where I stand. I hope to earn your vote with honest, straight talk.