TJ Johnson's statement on Olympia Sidewalk Ordinance

author : T. J. Johnson topic : homelessness | Olympia City Council | Olympia Sidewalk Ordinance

I intend to oppose this ordinance for two reasons. First, because I believe it is based on a faulty assumption -- that our downtown is unsafe and that passing this ordinance will make it safer. Second, because passing this ordinance tonight is a divisive action when what this community clearly needs from its City Council is strong leadership that brings people together to create the kind of inclusive downtown that is welcoming to all and consistent with the vision of our comprehensive plan.

This ordinance is based on a false belief that downtown is unsafe, and that the downtown economy is in a downward spiral. Yet, no one has offered anything other than anecdotal evidence to support these claims. In fact, the data we have indicates just the opposite. Police service calls are down. Building vacancy rates continue to be within the range that national experts consider healthy in order to keep rents down and encourage the formation of new businesses. Parking is becoming more difficult, indicating that demand is growing beyond supply. Downtown Olympia continues to be a popular tourist destination as evidenced by relatively stable occupancy rates at area hotels, and only this week a major national ranking organization announced that Olympia was the fifteenth safest mid-sized city in the United States.

Does this mean the downtown faces no challenges? Of course not. However, the notion that hordes of good citizens are being kept from spending their money downtown due to rampant lawlessness on our sidewalks has taken on the status of an urban legend, and like most urban legends lacks a grounding in reality.

The real challenges facing our downtown are the same as those facing all downtowns, and won't be addressed with this ordinance. In the interest of time I'll address just one of these real, rather than imaginary, challenges- competition from high volume, low cost retailers which offer acres of free parking and spend billions on advertising directed to seduce a population that increasingly defines itself by its level of consumer consumption rather than the depth of its civic engagement. For many people the choice is simple. Why bother coming downtown to a small independent bookstore with a limited selection and higher prices when you can go to one of two national mega book stores in West Olympia, both of which offer huge selections, lower prices, and acres of free parking, one of which was recently fast tracked for development by the City Council without adequate consideration of its impact on existing businesses. Better yet stay at home and order your book on-line and avoid the hassle of ever leaving your refrigerator, home entertainment center, and your climate controlled 2,600 square foot fortress.

I fully understand that some people feel uncomfortable in the downtown. It is always more uncomfortable to be among people who don't look like you do, act like you do, and smell like you do. This is partly human nature. And it is this same affinity for people like ourselves that is at the root of this ordinance and which will likely lead to discriminate enforcement by our police officers who are not evil, but rather human.

For people who want that experience of being exclusively among people like them, there are ample opportunities to find it - at the mall, in covenant protected neighborhoods, frankly, in most other parts of this and every other community. Our downtown, like every downtown, will never be that type of place, nor should it be. The diversity of the downtown is its strength, and this ordinance diminishes, rather than enhances, that diversity.

Many people who have contacted us in support of this ordinance seem to believe that following its passage they will never see another teenager hanging out downtown, someone asking them for money, or someone with obvious psychological problems acting "scary." These people will be sorely disappointed by the effect of this ordinance, and I fear will soon come back asking for even "tougher" laws. Lets be clear; the type of people they object to will still be among us, only now they will be on the outside of the sidewalk, creating new user conflicts with people trying to park on the street and exit their car. We will also likely see new user conflicts as these displaced people seek refuge in Intercity Transit bus shelters, at the Olympia Center, in the library, and countless other places we have not yet even thought of.

Another thing we've heard from many supporters of the ordinance is "Thank God the City Council is finally doing something to improve the Downtown". Well, if they are regular readers of the Olympian, I can understand how they might have such a distorted perception about this community and the reality of what this City Council is and isn't doing. But the fact of the matter is that this ordinance is but a footnote in a much bigger effort that includes a $12 million renovation of Percival Landing, a new $35 million City Hall, an $11 million state of the art Children's Museum, and significant public investment to attract market rate housing and provide additional parking. The big difference is that all of these other efforts have been built on forging consensus, rather than stoking division. Its important for everyone to understand that this community and this Council will continue to work collaboratively on all of these far more important projects, regardless of the outcome of tonight's vote.

On the other side, opponents of the ordinance argue that the City is not doing enough to help the homeless and the mentally ill who I believe will be negatively impacted by this ordinance not by intention but by practice. And they are probably right, we should be doing more to help the less fortunate. However, I think they have overstated their case by not recognizing what we are already doing. The City of Olympia does a lot in this area, more so than any other City in this region and more so than almost any City of our size. And we continue to do so in the context of significant fiscal challenges. In 2006, the City of Olympia spent over $300,000 on human services, $229,000 on low income housing, and $135,000 to help local people start small businesses, many of them low income. In addition, as the City representative to the HOME Consortium and the Housing Task Force I can tell you that we are actively engaged on a regional basis to solve problems and ensure that the federal and state money available to this region is used to build affordable and transitional housing, provide shelters and deliver important social services. Of course its not enough. It will never be enough as long as we continue to exist within a larger society where the rich are getting richer, the poor are getting poorer, the middle class is stressed and looking for someone to blame, and the corporate media and politicians of both major parties continue to ignore the problem.

I believe that everyone who has participated in this debate has what they consider to be the best interests of the downtown at heart. However, as we have seen not everyone agrees on the definition of best interests. This is to be expected. But what has been most troubling about this debate has been the lack of civility. Given that we are talking about has been called a "civility" ordinance I find this particularly ironic and troubling.

What message are we sending to our children about how our community solves problems? I was speaking with a 5th grader at a local elementary school yesterday who asked me why the adults were all shouting at each other at last week's City Council meeting. What could I say? Rather than working through our differences with respect, creativity and compassion -- as we educate and expect our children to do -- supporters and opponents alike have resorted to demonizing and stereotyping. Here are just a few of the terms that have been thrown about in the past few weeks to describe people on various sides of this issue: vermin, excrement, losers, freaks, punks, druggies, miscreants, filth, psychopaths, bums, cold hearted, arrogant, upper middle class snobs, elitist, greedy businessman, and my favorite "the silent majority" which has been claimed by all sides of this debate.

Very few people on either side have stopped to recognize that people on all sides of this issue are precisely that -- people. Human beings. In denying our basic common humanity, we seem to have started down the slippery slope that leads quickly from stereotyping to discrimination and oppression. Is this the kind of community we wish to become?

I believe that passing this ordinance tonight will only further divide our community, when what we should be doing is bringing people together to find collaborative solutions to our common problems. Even proponents of the ordinance acknowledge that whatever problem they believe exists has disappeared or at least significantly diminished with the advent of colder weather and shorter days. Why then can't we use this window of opportunity to take a step back and make another attempt at dialogue? Why not exercise our responsibility as community leaders and invite voices from all sides to sit down together and try to identify common ground? What is the worst that could happen? If the process fails, then we can say that we gave it our best shot, but we could not reach agreement, at which point I believe a higher percentage of our citizens would understand and probably support action. If, on the other hand we were actually able to come up with a shared agreement about problems and solutions, would we not then have a powerful new tool for resolving other community conflicts? It seems to me that under either scenario the community would be better off than approving this ordinance tonight.

I understand I am in the minority on this issue, and that this ordinance will probably pass. I also know that the members of this Council that support the ordinance do so not because they want to hurt any person or group, but because they believe this will help our struggling downtown. I am very proud of this Council and its commitment to our policy of "Vote and Move On." I know that the winners will not gloat, and that the losers will not sulk, and we will continue to work together to make this great city even better. I only hope that the larger community that has been so divided over this issue can do the same. We have important work to do together to build an inclusive community, a great downtown and to address the genuine needs of the people that will be most impacted by this ordinance.