The Jungle of Hope: Olympia’s Largest Homeless Encampment

Above: David and Kathleen Bellefeuille-Rice were among dozens of volunteers who helped on Saturday to clean up The Jungle, a wooded area between Martin Way and Pacific Avenue near 3200 Pacific Avenue, where an estimated 150 – 200 people live. The cleanup continues on Sunday.

CleanUp Efforts Underway this Weekend

  

By Janine Gates

Little Hollywood

https://janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Editor’s Note: Little Hollywood was provided an extended, in-depth tour of The Jungle on Saturday. Photos of specific areas and individuals were taken with permission. Interviews were also granted to Little Hollywood with permission that the information could be shared. Little Hollywood has chosen to use discretion in revealing some names and information in this and future articles.

Dave, 49, is a lifelong resident of Olympia, born at the old St. Peter Hospital on the westside and is quickly slipping through the cracks of society’s safety net. 

Waiting for Social Security payments that could qualify him for about $800 a month, he has a blood vessel that puts pressure on his brain, occasionally causing seizures. He’s going to counseling, which is the start of a long paper trail, but isn’t optimistic that he’s going to get the help he needs. He said it took a friend of his who had lupus ten years to qualify and start receiving payments.

Dave is homeless, and has been a resident of The Jungle, Olympia’s largest homeless encampment in the wooded area between Martin Way and Pacific Avenue adjacent to the former Desire Video business at 3200 Pacific Avenue, for the past two and a half months.

The Jungle, a 1906 classic novel written by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair, portrayed the harsh conditions and exploited lives of immigrants in Chicago and similar industrialized cities.

In Olympia, however, The Jungle is spread out over ten acres and several parcels belonging to three separate property owners. Three of the ten acres is a sensitive wetland in the Woodland Creek watershed.

A major cleanup there is underway this weekend. Instead of the area being known as The Jungle, word is out that it is now called the Jungle of Hope.

Sponsored by Just Housing, a local housing advocacy group, the Socialist Party USA – South Sound Organizing Area, and United Love in Action Coalition, the cleanup event called Jingle of Hope continues on Sunday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. 

As volunteers gathered at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday morning, the temperature was a bone-chilling 35 degrees. Volunteers signed liability waivers and were urged not to touch anything they didn’t want to, but to summon assistance from others who were trained to deal with sharps and other hazardous materials.

Wheelbarrows, gloves, rakes, shovels, and sharps containers were distributed. Groups were initially dispatched to specific areas in groups of three, but as the morning wore on, more volunteers arrived to help, leading to an all-out cleanup of several areas.

A huge dumpster, paid for by Indivisible Thurston County, is on site for the entire weekend.

A local business, Kell-Chuck Glass, arrived early and offered their truck to help sort and return shopping carts on the property to area businesses. By the end of Saturday, they had returned about 120 carts. There are about 180 left.

Grassroots Efforts

Event coordinators reached out through social media to spread the word about the cleanup of the camp, which is home to an estimated 150 to 200 people who have nowhere else to go.

Volunteers arrived and offered their cars and trucks to take loads to the landfill. Jungle of Hope residents also helped.

The amount of debris is massive as years of discarded trash, human waste and needles have accumulated on the property. Part of the area was a former housing site that burned down in 1969, remnants of which are still clearly visible.

Above: Tye Gundel, left, and Chelsea Rustad help coordinate cleanup activities at The Jungle on Saturday morning.

Of the cleanup effort, “one property owner is supportive, one has not been able to be reached, and the other, when contacted, allowed volunteers to use the former Desire Video parking lot to stage and coordinate the event,” said Chelsea Rustad, one of the coordinators of the cleanup.

“It’s been interesting because the first question people usually ask isn’t how they can help or what to bring, but whether we have permits. Permits of this nature don’t exist because survival camping is illegal in Olympia, even with the property owner’s permission, and that’s besides the fact that some of these people will die from exposure if they are forced to vacate their homes in the middle of winter. So there was also an opportunity to advance understanding of the city’s ordinances and how they are designed to perpetuate houselessness,” said Rustad.

“My stance and that of the Socialist Party is that legality is not morality, and helping human beings survive is more important than whatever oppressive laws happen to be on the books at that time. We also recognize that many municipalities intentionally criminalize the state of being houseless so that they can push this vulnerable population away using the police force, and dehumanize them by getting the general population to see them as criminals.

“Overall, I feel it’s not my place to judge why anyone ended up where they are. They were asking for help, and to be seen as human beings. Taking direct action to help them without talking over them or putting myself in the spotlight was the very least I could do,” she said.

Above: Tye Gundel of Just Housing, left, uses a pair of grabbers to pick up several needles discovered by Jungle cleanup volunteer Joanne McCaughan.

The homeless who live there could also be called domestic refugees. They pitch their tents and create flimsy shelters out of tarps and pallets, enduring year round weather extremes. Mazes of paths run through the property. The terrain is uneven and undulates with ravines. It would be easy to get lost at any time of day or night.

Many residents of The Jungle face medical challenges, unable to get proper medications, and lack support of family. Many are lifelong Olympians. Some are mentally challenged or addicted to drugs or alcohol. Some have been kicked out of group homes that have failed them or are escaping domestic violence. Others are new arrivals, down on their luck. Some are veterans, mothers, elderly and disabled.

Until recently, a 21 month old child lived in The Jungle, amid the unsanitary trash and debris and needles.

This past week, Olympia area evening temperatures dipped into the 20s. Around the wetland portion of the property, the temperature is at least seven degrees cooler.

Several volunteers were asked how they heard about the event and why they came to help.

“We felt like this community needed to be supported…we feel responsible. We need to work together to make a community that is clean and safe and livable for all of us,” said Joanne McCaughan. She and her husband Doug arrived early to deliver several wheelbarrows and tools and work for as long as they could hold out.

“For me, as a Christian, it’s part of the Gospel. The Gospel says that everyone deserves a home. It’s that economic justice that Jesus talked about, and the prophets talked about, and the dignity of all people. I believe God is concerned about the dignity of all people,” said Kathleen Bellefeuille-Rice of Holy Wisdom Inclusive Catholic Community Church.

“And we were invited! That’s the other thing,” her friend Saima Scott interjected. “Phoenix came to us and asked for help. When someone asks you for help, you can’t just ignore it, you know? I mean, what do you do?”

Above: Phoenix Wendt is a resident of The Jungle and started the idea for the Jingle of Hope cleanup effort. She has also created a new group, United Love in Action Coalition. She provided Little Hollywood an extended tour of the Jungle of Hope. In front of her is The Thinking Tree.

Phoenix Wendt, 35, is a resident of The Jungle, and started the idea for Jingle of Hope. She most recently formed the United Love in Action Coalition. Her efforts looking after The Jungle’s most vulnerable residents and maintaining safety and order has been met with appreciation and praise from others. She was busy along with others on Saturday coordinating supplies and cleanup efforts.

Wendt has lived in The Jungle since early June. She introduced me to residents and showed me debris strewn areas with specific names like The Mansion and The Amphitheater, trees with special names like the Thinking Tree, and a path named Blackberry Lane.  

One area is comprised of residents who were cleared out by code enforcements officials from behind the Veterans of Foreign Wars building on Martin Way near Applehill Court. 

“About sixty-five percent of our residents have chronic conditions like lupus, multiple cancers in various stages, and mental health issues….I can’t work because of cancer and other medical conditions and I’m not letting go of my people,” said Wendt, who is working to get 501(c) 3 nonprofit status for her new organization.

The area has been an encampment for decades but attracted more attention when Wendt distributed a flyer earlier this month to Olympia city councilmembers during a council meeting suggesting that the property was being cleaned and prepared for the building of tiny homes for the local houseless community.

Near or at the same time, the city, in response to recent complaints about the encampment, sent courtesy notices to the property owners informing them of the encampment on their property and requested that they correct the situation within 14 days.

Just Housing says that courtesy notices have historically led to the eviction of an encampment, but in this case, the next step is up to the property owners, who have asked the city for more time to figure out how to proceed.  

“We are trying to work with the city, the property owners, the area businesses, and our houseless neighbors in The Jungle to come up with a humanitarian path forward that addresses the concerns and needs of all parties involved. This is a complicated situation with many moving parts,” said Tye Gundel, a spokesperson for Just Housing.

Just Housing is also working with the city to work on possible revisions to the city’s existing houseless encampment ordinance.

Interviewed early on Saturday, Kevin Neiswanger, general manager of the Mullinax Ford dealership, welcomed cleanup volunteers to use their restroom, eat their donuts, and get some hot coffee.

He says residents of The Jungle are pretty respectful. 

“They come over and use the facilities and grab a cup of coffee. Sometimes we chat. We don't mind that. There's good people over there. I haven't had any issues with them,” he said.

He also said he doesn't want to see the residents kicked off the property in winter.

“That's not cool,” he said.

How to Help: The cleanup will continue on Sunday, December 17. Tents, trash bags, canopies, winter clothes, gloves, socks, bedding, hand warmers, food and drinks, first aid kits and more are being accepted by Just Housing. 

For more information, go to Just Housing at https://www.facebook.com/JustHousingOly or attend a Just Housing meeting from 3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. every Monday at the POWER office at 309 5th Avenue SE, Olympia. To contribute monetarily, Just Housing uses a PayPal account at https://paypal.me/justhousing. 

Above: A child's stuffed animal lies amid debris and leaves in the Jungle of Hope.

Olympia Dispute over Marijuana Operation Raises Questions

Above: Medical Marijuana

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Questions are being raised in a community issue involving medical marijuana, code and law enforcement, he-said-she-said neighbor disputes, and three utility line fires that involve Puget Sound Energy. Throw in a breakdown in communication and you have a messy situation.

Little Hollywood has learned that the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force did what is called a “knock and talk” at a marijuana operation in an Olympia northeast neighborhood on July 7. 

The unannounced visit to the home was in response to a neighbor complaint by Melinda Spencer, who alleges that her neighbor is operating a commercial marijuana grow operation.

In a telephone interview on Wednesday with narcotics task force captain Dave Johnson and the detective who actually visited the home, both said that the tenants were cooperative and invited law enforcement inside. The tenants showed the proper paperwork for a collective grow. Captain Johnson said that the residents gave the detectives a tour of the entire property and it was found to be in compliance with current medical marijuana law.

Captain Johnson said that in the last three years since the passage of state legislation, they have dealt with a lot of complaints about grow operations.

“The law is going to change next July, and it’s going to get cleaned up a little bit, but until then, it’s a Catch-22 law, and not easy to deal with,” said Johnson.

Collective grows are not required to register with the state or local authorities, so police have no idea how many are in operation, and neighbors and concerned neighbors wonder where to turn to for information and assistance.

Utility Line Fires and Communication Timeline

The information about the narcotic task force’s “knock and talk” was never provided to Melinda Spencer, who complained about her neighbor’s operation at Tuesday night’s Olympia city council meeting in public testimony.

City manager Steve Hall mentioned it during council comments and regretted the lack of communication with Spencer.

Spencer said that she believes that three recent utility line fires, one occurring as recently as July 30 near her home, were caused by the grow operation in her northeast neighborhood. She says that her neighbor in question has repeatedly and openly referred to his operation as a wholesale grow for sale to medical dispensaries.

Spencer began communicating her concerns with the city and other authorities in the third week of June, before the fires.

In a June 29 email, the date of the first utility line fire, Chris Grabowski, lead city code enforcement officer, told Spencer and her husband that their concern had been forwarded to the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force, saying this was not a city zoning or code enforcement issue, but a law enforcement issue.

That same day, a sergeant at the Olympia Police Department said that the task force will make contact with the residents when time permits and determine if there are any law violations. Spencer responded to Grabowski, and thanked him for getting her concern pointed in the right direction. 

Another utility line fire occurred in early July.

Spencer continued to do research and contacted Puget Sound Energy. She also wrote the city attorney on July 8, specifically detailing her concerns and to ask if the operation has the proper permits. Spencer says she never got a response from the city attorney.

A third utility line fire occurred July 30.

Spencer and several other neighbors co-wrote a letter on August 1 to the property owner informing him that they have authorized their insurance agents to pursue damages against him if any activities occurring at his property harm persons or property in the vicinity. She sent copies to several city officials, including the fire chief, the police chief, and city attorney.

Spencer wrote an email to Olympia city council on August 13. She says she did not receive a response from any councilmembers. That same day, she contacted Puget Sound Energy to provide details about the grow operation so it could better evaluate if those activities contributed to the service line fires.

On Tuesday, August 18, Spencer felt compelled to speak publicly about the situation.

Communication from Code Enforcement

On Wednesday, the day after she spoke at city council, Chris Grabowski, the city’s lead code enforcement officer, sent Spencer an email providing details about the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force visit, but did not provide her the date. That information was provided to her by Little Hollywood.

Grabowski said in the email that detectives counted 50 plants on site.

 

“At the time of the inspection, that was slightly above the maximum 45 allowed, but under the new laws now in effect, the amount has gone up to 60 plants.  (The detective) told me that the grow was a legal one, and that (the task force) had no plans to go back and re-inspect as there was no indication of any illegal activity,” wrote Grabowski.

In an interview, Spencer says she appreciated the email, but it came a little too late.

“No one ever closed the loop with us,” Spencer said.

“This really is such a gray area and I feel pretty whipped and overexposed by this whole situation. I did get some staff to focus on this issue and follow up with me -- with prodding. I asked a lot of questions that were never definitively answered…but what makes me bitter is the big lapse by whoever should have let us know that the task force had done its job and made its conclusions. My emails after the inspection on July 7 should have reminded someone at city hall that crucial information had never been sent to me....” said Spencer to Little Hollywood late this week.

Spencer says she would have preferred to not have spoken publicly, nor ask for media attention, but felt she had no choice. Spencer still has concerns regarding the electrical safety of her home, and other homes on her street.

The Other Side of the Story

Little Hollywood has spoken several times with the resident at the address in question to get his side of this story.

The resident, who does not want to be named, says he is a medical marijuana user. He says he is a retired engineer on Social Security and disability. He says he has had brain surgery and uses the medicine to prevent seizures. He says he has been very up front with his neighbors about his collective garden, and gets along well with many of them. He is upset with his neighbor, Melinda Spencer, who he feels has been harassing him. He says the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force has come to his home twice and he has showed them the proper paperwork.  He admits he put about 50 plants outside during a recent heatwave. The air conditioning runs fulltime because he says marijuana is a fickle plant and needs to stay at a cool temperature. He says his crop is grown organically and he does not use chemicals. He did some work on the home for the owners late last year and says they are aware of his collective garden. He says the house used to be the worst looking one on the block.

“.…I’ve only been doing this since November. This is an expensive thing to do if you’re going to do it right. I’ve got nothing to hide. There’s no 100 plants. This hurts…it’s life changing stuff….” he said.

He currently has an option to buy the home, but now feels like he needs to break his contract and leave the neighborhood. He says he has retained an attorney.

The tenant says he knows of at least seven grow operations within four blocks of his house.

Collective and Cooperative Marijuana Garden Law

A collective grow is not a business, since the intent of the marijuana grow, under current Washington State law, is for the members of the collective to pool their resources to grow medicinal plants for their own consumption. 

According to the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB), a “collective garden” means qualifying patients share the responsibility for acquiring and supplying the resources required to produce and process cannabis for medical use such as, for example, a location for a collective garden; equipment, supplies, and labor necessary to plant, grow, and harvest cannabis; cannabis plants, seeds, and cuttings; and equipment, supplies, and labor necessary for proper construction, plumbing, wiring, and ventilation of a garden of cannabis plants.

Starting on July 1, 2016, collective gardens will be eliminated, but will allow for the creation of medical marijuana “cooperatives” that may be formed by up to four qualifying patients or designated providers.

Washington State Governor Jay Inslee signed new legislation in July that will make marijuana laws more restrictive. The new law repeals RCW 69.51A.140, which granted cities and counties the authority to adopt and enforce requirements related to medical marijuana, including zoning.

Rules regarding marijuana cooperatives state that they cannot be located within one mile of marijuana retailers; the location must be registered with the WSLCB; they must be located in a domicile of one of the participants; are limited to one cooperative per tax parcel; and may grow up to the total number of plants authorized for each patient, a maximum of 60 plants. Qualifying patients or designated providers may only participate in one cooperative, and are subject to inspection by the WSLCB and law enforcement. The WSLCB may adopt rules relating to security and traceability requirements for cooperatives.

Above: The northeast Olympia neighborhood rocked tonight at the Love our Local Fest on Bethel and San Francisco Avenue. DBST played funkadelic rock.

For more information about this case, go to Little Hollywood, www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com and type key words into the search engine.

Code Enforcement Leaves Olympia Resident Frustrated

Above: Melinda Spencer arrived early at tonight's Olympia city council meeting to give public comment about an alleged commercial marijuana grow operation in her northeast neighborhood. Spencer believes that three recent utility line fires near her home were caused by the operation. 

By Janine Unsoeld

www.janineslittlehollywood.blogspot.com

Code enforcement for residents of the City of Olympia is an issue fraught with emotions. Law abiding citizens turn to the City of Olympia for help and information regarding sidewalks blocked with vegetation, abandoned or dilapidated houses used by the homeless, abandoned vehicles, busy drug houses operating in established neighborhoods, and nuisance dogs.

Commercial businesses like the Grande Terrace on Capitol Lake, a wedding and event venue on Deschutes Parkway, also test neighbor's nerves, when they are blatantly allowed to skirt the law, operating in a residential neighborhood and violating the terms of temporary use permits, as well as known federal and state law and city ordinances.

With the help of a concerned group of neighborhood volunteers between 2010 and 2014, the city did pass a repeat violator ordinance and developed an action plan to improve code enforcement but a functional online system that would allow citizens to track the status of code enforcement complaints has yet to be implemented.

Not surprisingly, a 2014 opinion survey of Olympia’s city government services by Elway Research published last November indicates that code enforcement is lagging.

Out of thousands contacted, the poll surveyed 952 residents drawn from a list of residential utility customers provided by the city.  Survey respondents were asked about the quality of life in Olympia and their assessment of city government programs and services.

Performance lagged behind expectations for six services: neighborhood planning, permits and code enforcement, sidewalks, land use, street maintenance and police patrols.

Neighbor Concerned About Alleged Marijuana Grow Operation

Tonight, northeast neighborhood resident Melinda Spencer addressed the Olympia city council about an alleged unpermitted, commercial marijuana growing operation. The home is 200 feet from Roosevelt Elementary School.

Earlier this month, Spencer reached out to Little Hollywood for assistance and granted an interview to explain her plight.

Spencer said that she believes this operation has caused three fires on the power line outside her home since June 29, causing a transformer fire, lit the lawn on fire, and closed the street. She is concerned about the electrical safety of her home, and other homes in her neighborhood, as well as other issues.

In her comments to city council tonight, Spencer said, “Because this business continues to operate unchecked, we are bracing for the next power surge and fire. The city better hope that the melted service line doesn't fall on a school bus, Intercity Transit bus, U.S. Postal Service mail carrier, or anyone else who lives or travels on our street. We need city staff to investigate this situation and take the appropriate actions. And I shouldn't have to lobby City Council to get our staff to do their job.” 

Spencer mentioned that a group of volunteers worked for four years with city staff from 2010 until 2014 to develop workable solutions, but which city managers have largely ignored.

“You should be very concerned about the lack of accountability that has been allowed to take root among our city staff. Volunteers work for years to cultivate strong neighborhoods, but city staff demolish those gains when they ignore clear code violations and allow unsafe and illegal commercial operations to flourish in our communities,” said Spencer. 

 

“I’m sure the individual code enforcement officers took their positions with the city with every intention of doing a good job for the citizens of Olympia. But something is broken at top levels of city management, and this breakdown has cultivated a culture of inaction among key city staff. Olympia will never grow into its potential if residents' efforts to build strong neighborhoods are obliterated by the lack of accountability among management at City Hall,” she said.

Little Progress and the Run-Around

In her interview with Little Hollywood, Melinda Spencer said she works fulltime and researching city codes has been exhausting.

“This is not what I do for living, and I might have missed something, but I want to know what universe I am in that it takes all this work to get city staff to help us with this situation. I’ve lived here 18 years and I’ve never needed code enforcement. Now that I do, I need them to help me,” said Spencer.

Spencer brought her concern to the attention of the city code enforcement staff in June. She also informed Puget Sound Energy (PSE). As her research increased, so did her email communications to the city. Most recently, on August 13, she informed the city council of her concerns, and received no reply. 

In an email to Spencer on August 7, the city's code enforcement manager, Todd Cunningham, said that the service line from the pole to the home is regulated by PSE – the city has no jurisdiction over this part of the electrical system. He referred the situation to Chris Grabowski, the city’s lead code enforcement officer in charge of complaints for the Eastside.

On August 11, Grabowski referred Spencer to Jeff Payne at PSE, who informed Grabowski that PSE was looking into the line failure but they had not made a determination yet on the cause of the fire. According to Spencer, PSE has had to repair the service line to the property three times since late June.

Grabowski also told Spencer that her issue was not a code enforcement issue, but a law enforcement issue. Grabowski forwarded her concern to the Olympia police, who then forwarded it to the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force.

The business is not listed as licensed on a list of marijuana license applicants by the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (WSLCB). The WSLCB does not issue licenses for locations that are personal residences.

The residence is a small home on a 0.17 acre residential lot owned by Michael Saulino of Ocean Shores, according to Thurston County Assessor’s Office information.

Attempts by neighbors to reach Saulino in early August were unsuccessful. The homeowners sent Saulino a certified letter, but have seen no changes at the home.

“The pot-growing operation continues as usual and it does not look like the tenants are being evicted. We continue to be concerned about fires resulting from these activities,” said Spencer.

Spencer showed Little Hollywood two photos that show how the service line to that property was taped and clamped after the most recent power surge and line fire on July 30.

According to Spencer, a PSE employee who was at her home to determine if her power supply has been affected by the surges said that the fixes to the melted service wire may not appear to be safe, especially if the pot-growing equipment continues to draw extraordinary amounts of energy.

Spencer’s husband, Keith, and PSE staff were given tours by the tenants of the marijuana operation inside the home as well as two attached and detached garages, and confirmed that air conditioners have been running around the clock since they moved into the rental home in January.

In response to Little Hollywood's question about odors, Spencer said, “Yes, there are uncontrolled odors, and the pesticide and fertilizer use goes down into our water system, but the pot operation isn’t even the issue for me. It’s an unpermitted commercial operation that is exceeding the capacity of the system in a residential area….The city is on the hook for this,” said Spencer, as she concluded our interview.

City Response 

As is customary at city council meetings, council members listen to all speakers at public comment time and at their discretion, choose to respond to specific speakers and issues.

In response to Spencer’s comments, Olympia city manager Steve Hall said that city staff has been very responsive to Spencer’s concerns, and detailed the city communications with PSE and staff, information that was already known to Spencer. Hall said PSE has assured the city that the power lines are safe.

Hall also said that he just received information that he had not shared with Spencer.

Hall said that city staff contacted the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force, who investigated and determined that the location is a collective garden operation, which would be allowed under state law, and as such, would not be regulated by the city, nor is a business license required. 

Councilmember Nathaniel Jones commented that he remains concerned about the city’s role in the situation and was concerned about the three recent fires within a short period of time.

“It seems to me we have some responsibility to follow up with PSE in our role….to ensure there are no remaining concerns about fire risk or electrical failure.” He thanked staff for what has been done but said the report did not give him confidence on continuing risk.

Councilmember Jeannine Roe also thanked Spencer for coming, and said she sensed that the city needed the improve communications with constituents.

As the council turned to other business, speakers left the council chambers en masse. Hall quickly gave Spencer his business card as she left.

Outside city hall, Spencer was incensed with Hall’s comments.

“….I was last in contact with the city on Thursday and I never heard anything else after that…. He could have had the courtesy to call or email me…To undercut what I said in public! That’s mean! I’ve waited the last three business days for communication from the city because I’ve been giving them the benefit of the doubt. All along I’ve been thinking, ‘prove me wrong!’ You just don’t do that!”

Spencer complimented the councilmembers who expressed concern about the issue.

“It is not a collective grow operation. They have several hundred plants in there. The city is trying to tie it up in a tiny little bow because code enforcement minimized the problem,” said Spencer.

Above: City of Olympia's Strategic Communications Director Kellie Purce Braseth, who began her new position with the city on July 13, checks the public comment sign-in sheets at 6:50 p.m. City council meetings usually start at 7:00 p.m. At the beginning of the meeting, Braseth takes the sheets to the mayor, who usually calls speakers up to the podium in the order in which they signed up.

Tonight, ten speakers spoke on issues related to code enforcement, public support for the city's possible purchase of 75 acres off Kaiser Road as open park space, support for a $15 minimum wage, support for the the city's possible purchase of LBA Woods, and Black nationalism.