Here’s what happened the day after Bellingham dismantled downtown homeless Camp 210
After Bellingham ousted residents of the downtown homeless protest site and demolished what was left of the encampment, two City Council members agreed that more can be done to boost housing options, and some Puget neighborhood businesses objected to campers who arrived nearby.
City Council members Michael Lilliquist and Hollie Huthman said they were unaware that Mayor Seth Fleetwood had ordered Camp 210 dismantled and its occupants evicted a day ahead of a previously stated deadline Friday, Jan. 29.
“We’re never included in tactical decisions,” Lilliquist said Friday, Jan. 29.
“We’re legislators,” Lilliquist told The Bellingham Herald. “That’s our role. We don’t have that authority.”
Both Lilliquist and Huthman learned of the action Thursday morning on social media, and said they went to City Hall.
There, several dozen Bellingham Police officers — supported by dozens more law-enforcement officers from three agencies — formed a cordon around the Civic Center complex to protect Public Works Department employees as they removed pallets, trash and belongings that the campers left behind or were unable to collect quickly.
“Yesterday was 100% not the outcome that I wanted to see,” Huthman told The Herald.
Camp 210 dismantled
Some 50 to 100 protesters built a makeshift barricade of pallets Thursday to prevent police and workers from entering the Camp 210 site on the lawns of City Hall and the Bellingham Public Library as another group of volunteers hired trucks and helped move campers’ belongings.
Four people were arrested in a standoff that lasted for several hours before protesters left around 3 p.m. Thursday.
Huthman decried the violence but said she believes the months-long encampment succeeded in focusing Bellingham and Whatcom County officials on the lack of affordable housing and the need for more services to help people suffering from mental illness and substance abuse.
Camp 210, which was erected on Veterans Day with five tents and expanded to dozens of tents and makeshift structures of pallets and tarps, had an estimated 100 homeless residents and their supporters.
Several crimes were reported over nearly three months, including arson, assault, drug offenses and harassment of city and county employees.
Hope for more services
Nevertheless, “there has been a great increase in compassion for the people who are living there unhoused,” Huthman said. “This can be the beginning of a lot more.”
Lilliquist said the city and county spend $10 million or more annually on affordable housing and providing a range of services to help those in mental health crisis.
He said the protesters seemed bent on provocation and didn’t seem to understand the immediate needs of Camp 210 residents, nor did they realize the depth of services offered.
“The charge that we don’t know people are suffering and aren’t doing anything is baseless,” he said. “The campers that I spoke to were as upset as I was by the escalation of events. What I saw was campers going about their business, trying to find a place to spend the night.”
Shelter residents rise
Base Camp, the shelter operated downtown by LIghthouse Mission Ministries, had 158 people spend the night Jan. 28, an increase of 25 people from Jan. 20.
“As of Jan. 28, we had 71 beds available at Base Camp and the Overflow Shelter at our former Drop-In Center” on West Holly Street, said Hans Erchinger-Davis, the mission’s executive director.
In all, Bellingham and Whatcom County provide more than 500 beds nightly at the shelters, at Unity Village of tiny homes, at Swift Haven, an enclave of cubicle homes, and with motel vouchers, the Health Department’s Anne Deacon told the County Council in a presentation Tuesday.
Early action
Fleetwood, Bellingham Police Chief Flo Simon, and others said city officials acted Thursday to dismantle Camp 210, which was never legally permitted, because of reports that factions on the political left and right were planning to demonstrate Friday.
Simon and Fleetwood weren’t immediately available to elaborate Friday, said Bellingham spokeswoman Janice Keller.
In an email, police spokeswoman Lt. Claudia Murphy wouldn’t say where Fleetwood was Thursday, except that he was “fully engaged and apprised of the situation.”
Cost of the encampment, protests and eviction — including public works and police overtime, as well as repairs to vandalism at City Hall and damage to surrounding lawns, wasn’t immediately known, Keller told The Herald in an email.
“This is an ongoing operation, estimates of financial impacts will be available in the future,” Keller said.
Neighbors concerned
Meanwhile, owners of businesses near the Haskell Business Center on Fraser Street, have become increasingly concerned about an encampment in the parking lot of Frank Geri Softball Fields, at Puget and Fraser streets.
Campers began arriving there in early December as the site was offered as an alternative to Base Camp, and dozens more arrived Thursday.
Public trails in the area have been closed, said Parks and Recreation Director Nicole Oliver.
Joeen Daughters gave The Herald a copy of a letter that she, Fred Haskell and Marci Haskell, wrote to Fleetwood, asking campers be moved from Geri Fields.
“Cleaning up the front of City Hall has simply transferred the homeless problem away from your property and onto ours,” Daughters said. “Your issue is now gravely affecting dozens of small business owners including Haskell Business Center and every single one of our tenants, who rely on us to provide them a safe and clean property at which to conduct their business.”
Rebekah Robitaille, owner of North Coast Gymnastics Academy and North Coast Kids Preschool, also wrote Fleetwood, concerned about homeless campers near businesses that cater to children.
“They are near daycares, schools, and youth-related businesses,” Robitaille said. “Our hearts go out to those in need, and we understand that not all those that are homeless are dangerous. However, this group that resides less than 50 yards from my business, from our school and youth sports center has already shown they are dangerous. Must I wait until someone else is harmed before you would act?”
