ANOTHER LIFE LOST - ORDINANCE FAILS THE PEOPLE

The City of Bellingham voted 6-1 January 22, 2018 to allow an Emergency Ordinance meant to fast-track tent shelter space for those living on the streets this winter; however, this ordinance is ineffective without a tax-exempt property to host a designated city sanctioned encampment, and the criteria for doing so is steep. No church organization has been endorsed directly by our city to host this encampment, nor has a willing church volunteered to do so which the city is already fully aware of. So the ordinance serves no purpose but to further outline State guidelines (and city restrictions) to be applied to a NON EXISTENT CAMPSITE with the word "emergency" attached to it. The authorization of this ordinance was permitted on the basis of "emergency" showing that OUR CITY ACKNOWLEDGES AN EMERGENCY EXISTS; therefore, it is critical that we address the flaws of this Ordinance and the incompetence of our city to utilize adequately an emergency response measure to assist the people. Instead of acting in a course of city emergency and employing our resources to meet the needs of the public directly, the city unrealistically expects the religious sector to be the sole authority for delivering a solution, waiving the responsibility of the city to act and further crippling the autonomy of our religious sector to do so. Instead of the city taking REAL ACTION beyond reiteration of RCW guidelines for permitting an encampment on tax-exempt property, the city is further penalizing the unhoused population with the strictest of guidelines for authorization of an encampment should a church attempt to endorse this measure. This accomplishes nothing when no church has stepped forward with provisions for an encampment and will most likely lack the credibility to do so because of this Ordinance. Once again, the city is unrealistically leaning on the philanthropy of the religious sector to meet this crisis instead of making a FORMAL DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY and utilizing our city and state resources to save lives directly. The city admits we have an emergency and refuses to take direct ACTION to address it. Meanwhile, another unsheltered resident of our community has perished on our streets due to exposure, T.J. Duffey. This is unacceptable and inexcusable. ACT NOW and please hold our local government ACCOUNTABLE for the lives who can still be saved and the deaths which were lost in negligence. Suffering and death is occurring because our elected leaders have responded ineffectively to meet the needs of our most vulnerable citizens.