Simon Dalexy

515 14th Ave E #302

Seattle, WA 98112

Ph 206.556.7331

November 25, 2020

Office of the City Clerk

PO Box 94728

Seattle, WA 98124-4728

"INITIATIVE PETITION FOR

SUBMISSION TO THE

SEATTLE CITY COUNCIL

"To the City Council of The City of Seattle:

We, the undersigned registered voters of The City of Seattle, State of Washington, propose and ask for the enactment as an ordinance of the measure known as Initiative Measure No. entitled: Title: Permanent Housing Solution (here set forth the established ballot title of the measure), a full, true and correct copy of which is included herein, and we petition the Council to enact said measure as an ordinance; and, if not enacted within forty-five (45) days from the time of receipt thereof by the City Council, then to be submitted to the qualified electors of The City of Seattle for approval or rejection at the next regular election or at a special election in accordance with Article IV, Section 1 of the City Charter; and each of us for himself or herself says: I have personally signed this petition; I am a registered voter of The City of Seattle, State of Washington, and my residence address is correctly stated.

The current handling of Seattle's homeless population is costing us millions of dollars a year. The encampments and tents in our parks have simply taken a turn for the worse. Seattle's parks are no longer safe places to socialize or take children. Seattle is the third worse city in the U.S when it comes to its homeless population--with over 47% being unsheltered.

The accelerating costs to clean up encampments and tents will not end until we provide permanent housing for those who are homeless. Shelters should remain as short-term emergency solutions, but not the answer to this growing pandemic. Ironically, providing housing will not only help the homeless but keep our community clean, give us continuous access to our parks, promote happiness and pride, and increase our enjoyment of the city. It we solve this problem; our police officers and others would be able to focus their attention on real work and not deal with homelessness when there are tangible solutions. Finding permanent solutions for the homeless is very complicated, and can't be solved overnight, but we can no longer just watch our brothers and sisters laying in various places in our community--pushing them aside as though they were trash. We have to demand more from ourselves and our elected officials.

Five years ago, King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle Mayor Ed Murray declared emergencies and outlined new investments to respond to the growing crisis of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in King County and Seattle.

https://www.kingcounty.gov/elected/executive/constantine/news/release/2015/November/02-homeless-emergency.aspx

I am calling on Washington State leaders to take the actions outlined in an Emergency declaration outlined five (5) years ago and provide permanent housing for all the homeless people living in our communities. This plan would also provide temporary shelters for every homeless person who needs one. Each year, we should see (very clearly) a reduction in homelessness by the minimum of 25% each year until there are simply no one without permanent housing.

In conclusion, we ask that our lawmakers find sufficient commercial properties to house every single homeless resident in our state. Washington State has the legal authority to exercise this Executive Order in the face of a public health crisis, and we would emphasize that this is also a moral, political, and economic obligation in order for us to save lives. We are now being forced to confront the reality that the life-and-death problems faced by homeless Washingtonians are not only theirs to accept but ours to share as well.