The floors are swept and the half-finished drinks have been cleared from the bars and hotel conference rooms that held throngs of eager supports as initial election results came in last night. Moods were high at the Mike McGinn party at The War Room where he clung to a 910 vote lead. Around the rest of the city some candidates were busy making concession calls to their opponents, while others were celebrating all but certain victories.

The Seattle political landscape has changed and leaves us wondering where the most vulnerable of our city will stand in the eyes of our newly elected officials. City Attorney Elect Pete Holmes has promised to be aggressive in seeking out alternatives to incarceration. We hope this means that he will seek to stop the cities trend of prosecuting the homeless that has lead to a general criminalization of poverty. At the very least he is hard nosed against the jail and will do everything in his power to prevent its construction. Although I-100 failed to make the ballot, it did not fail to make ripples in political circles.

Tim Burgess has said he will bring his anti-panhandling legislation before the City Council later this year. With a shake up in the executive office Burgess knows he needs to get his legislation through before the end of this council’s session. The balance of power of those influenced by the Downtown Association probably wont have any sort of swing, but there is definitely a sense of urgency about blocking what he considers a slam dunk.

It will be interesting to see how the rest of these daily releases of results will play out. As of the latest count McGinn lost a little bit of ground and now leads by only 462 votes. Even after this madness is over it is still unknown how the candidates policies on homelessness will play out. Either way, I hope we will be better off than we were with Nickels. Although, it will be up to us to make sure that the voice of the people is heard and that our new representatives are fully versed in their opinions of the homeless sweeps and the criminalization of poverty.

Category: News

Written by: Niko

Nearly half of all the food produced in the United States every day is wasted. From the time its being harvested, loaded into a shipping container, put on the grocery store shelf and finally into your refrigerator, it is checked again and again, not for real quality or for how it will taste, but for if it looks good enough to sell. If it doesn’t look like it can be sold (if it doesn’t look like how we perceive our food is supposed to look; even when most of us have never been on a farm or grown our own food), it will be thrown out.

Paradoxically, this happens at a time when people around the world as well as in our own neighborhoods go hungry. As recently as 2007, 36.2 million Americans lived in food-insecure households. More often than not, those that suffer from hunger are families, children, single mothers, and the elderly who don’t have the means to buy food and pay rent.

Thinking of this I cant help but be reminded of the images of the great depression farmers that I saw in my American History class in high school. Not of the Oakies who blew out west with the dust bowl (which brought my own family west), but images of the large farmers in California, emptying hundreds of gallons of milk and countless pounds of oranges and apples into the gutters in an attempt to offset the low prices they refused to sell at. All while the Oakies were starving, trying to scrape by on nothing. This especially sticks in my mind today, as we see the 80-year anniversary of Black Tuesday, the stock market crash that marks the beginning of that era of American History.

80 years on, little has changed in the way we treat our food and our hungry, it seems. We still throw out food because of purely economic reasons, all while others go hungry. But that’s not to say that nothing has been done; in recent decades there has been hope from a growing movement that strives to redefine how we look at and treat our food, especially thanks to an organization called Food Not Bombs.

Food Not Bombs is an all-volunteer global movement that serves free food in public spaces to anyone who is hungry. While each group is autonomous and has its own way of organizing, there are some basic tenants that are semi-universal for FNB.

Among those is the belief that food is a right and not a privilege. Everyone deserves to have access to free and healthy food, just as everyone has the right to clean air and water. It is a basic human necessity that we have the capacity to fill. To provide healthy food, FNB serves exclusively vegan and vegetarian meals

FNB serves food as a form of protest against war and poverty (hence the “not bombs”), and especially as a way of protesting nuclear proliferation. Should we really be spending our resources on weapons when people are starving?

The food that FNB serves comes from a variety of sources, depending on the group, but the idea is that it is food that would otherwise have gone to waste simply because it was seen to hold no value in our capitalist system. Therefore, some food comes from donations by local markets or farmers, and some is reclaimed.

Some storeowners and business’ are so caught up in our capitalist way of thinking about food that they will go to great lengths to prevent people from eating the food that they throw out. They somehow interpret it as a threat to they’re business to have people eating for free (when most of the time it goes to people who couldn’t afford it anyway) and will go so far as to pour bleach or rat poison over the food they throw out, so that no one is able to reuse it.

This kind of mentality seems fundamentally flawed in its wanton disregard for the well being of other humans. You have extra, and they have none, yet you will not let them eat even when it does you no harm.

So please, take this as a call to action! Come be a part of Food Not Bombs and help us build a global movement by cooking or obtaining food donations from local businesses; because food is a right and not a privilege, and you cant give high-fives if you have nuclear arms! We need people on the ground; not just online, we need Food Not Blogs!

Food Not Bombs cooks at 10am on Saturdays at Sherwood Co-Op (4746 18th Ave NE) in the University District and serves at 1:00pm at Campus Parkway.
More info for the Saturday FNB at http://seattlefnb.blogspot.com/

On Sunday Food Not Bombs cooks at 1:30pm at Cascade People’s Center (309 Pontius Avenue North) and serves at 6pm at Occidental Park (in Pioneer Square).
More info for the Sunday FNB at (206) 949-0322,or seattle-fnb@riseup.net

General information on the Food Not Bombs movement can be found here:
http://www.foodnotbombs.net/

Category: Blogger, News

Written by: Nick

October 29, 2009
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm
6:00 pm	to	8:00 pm

It’s time to vote! Come to a Ballot Party tonight, October 29th, at 6pm at Franklin High School. There will be food (Ezel’s!), entertainment, and prizes. Bring your ballot and bring your friends and family. It’s important that every voice is heard to ensure racial and social justice.

Ballot Party
October 29th
6pm
Franklin High School
3013 Mt. Baker Blvd S
Click Here For Directions

Category: Events, News, Take Action

Written by: Niko

Having access to a quality education is one key factor to keeping people out of homelessness. Studies have shown that those with a college education are far less likely to become homeless than those without one (though this is no way meant to marginalize or ignore the huge number of homeless students and graduates that exist within our society).

For many states, what is considered a “public education” is far more expensive than many can afford without being burdened with student loans for the rest of they’re lives. Even when financial aid if offered by FAFSA (free application for federal student aid) or other programs, it often does not come close to covering the full cost of school.

That’s why making college education free and accessible to all people should be a priority for all states to provide; but sadly this is far from the case, as education is more and more being turned into a for-profit business model, even in this faltering economy.

What’s more, many schools are using the current downturn in the economy as an excuse to charge more and more from the students, while simultaneously offering less classes and fewer services. This can be exemplified by looking at California’s public education system – the University of California.

Over the past year, the UC system has announced major cuts in funding to programs and services, while raising tuition and other fees to exorbitant prices. Last spring, for example, they announced an 11% increase in tuition in order to cover the current budget crisis. This increase, however, failed to keep the UC from trying to completely cut the Community Studies program at UC Santa Cruz – the social justice major.

This was by no means an end to this practice; and now the students are beginning to stand up for what they see as a basic human right by demanding an end to these price increases and calling for a free public education system in California. Starting this fall, the UC announced yet another increase in tuition, this time by a whopping 30%. It was then revealed that of this huge increase, not a single penny would go towards student resources or faculty; but rather it would be directed to preserving the bond rating of the institution so that it could borrow money for unnecessary building projects, and bolstering the state of California’s credit rating against its own future borrowing.

This sparked a wave of protest throughout the UC system marked by a massive system wide walkout of students and staff at every campus. Students on the UC Santa Cruz campus, who have been hit especially hard by the cuts, decided to go one step beyond these traditional protesting methods. As of this writing they have occupied two buildings on campus, literally taking direct control of they’re school and putting it in the students hands.

The first occupation lasted almost a week, and ended with no arrests or violence. Immediately after they began the occupation, letters of solidarity from all over the world started to come in, as so many others are feeling the same frustrations. The second occupation lasted only several hours; as they barricaded themselves in the office of Dean of Social Sciences, Sheldon Kamieniecki’s office, three students were maced and arrested by campus police, after not being warned or mirandized.

This is just a recent example of the demand for systemic change in the way we see school. Access to a free and quality education should be a right, not a privilege. If we lived in a society that valued people and education before profit, think of how much different our social landscape would be. I think its safe to say that if people are willing to fight this hard for a free public education that it is a real possibility. Someday soon we may have a truly public education for all people, rich and poor alike.

Check out info on the occupation by going here:
http://occupyca.wordpress.com/

Category: Blogger, News

Written by: Nick

On Tuesday night the Miller Community Center was full of workers, volunteers, advocates, and community members eager to hear the candidates compete in a Who Can Say Nicer Things About Human Services Competition. In theory, it appears that all of the candidates, in one form or the other, want to invest in people and basic services for the poor and vulnerable.

Sometimes the most difficult job for voters, and the greatest skill, is the ability to weed through rhetoric and political pandering and see how talk on the campaign trail will translate into actions in office.

There is a lot of great work going on in this area, and while I do believe that the candidates are sincere in their wanting to help people, when they are faced with political realities and pressures it becomes easy to pander to the powerful.

You get candidates like Sally Bagshaw when faced with questions about what to do about food banks and daycare shout “Fund it. Increase the supply,” while at the same time saying we don’t need to make choices between downtown interests and neighborhood interests. Well the fact is choices will need to be made and priorities will need to be set. This is most especially the case in this budget cycle where every department fights for its fiscal lives.

While it would be wonderful if we could throw money at ever initiative and project the fact remains that we are going to have decide what is most important to us as a city. Are going to invest in projects or people?

The real question becomes which candidate is going to keep their ears tuned to the cries from the community and the people whose voices may often be stifled but are never quiet. I am still waiting for a public official to stop using buzz words, be honest, and say, “I don’t know everything. I’m not an expert on every issue, but I am ready to learn.”

For me the sign of a great leader is those who know how to surround themselves with the greatest minds and listen to what they have to say. Not just listen, but be truly objective to special interests and do what is just.

Category: Learn More, News

Written by: Niko

How many cops does it take to arrest an 82-year-old woman? Roughly 50; according to the actions of the Seattle Port Authority last Wednesday.

Around a dozen activists and residents of the Nickelsville homeless encampment were arrested on trespassing charges yesterday, after refusing to vacate Terminal 107, where they have been located since July.

A little after 1pm, port police sporting “Civil Disturbance” patches marched in, military style, to clear the camp of any remaining residents who hadn’t left already (and to ensure maximum possible intimidation). By one count there were as many as 49 police officers, not including the park rangers waiting at the perimeter.

Those who chose to stand their ground at Nickelsville were handcuffed and escorted to a waiting paddy wagon (it was actually a converted school bus, but really what’s the difference anyway?). They were then dropped off at the next terminal and told not to return. Meanwhile, police went through the camp and confiscated necessities such as food, clothing and a generator.

Why? Was this really necessary, or was it just a blatant show of dominance over the poor? To say that 49 officers is excessive force would be an understatement. Having three police officers escort and arrest an 82-year-old woman, or a man who walks with a cane is not only excessive, but it would be downright laughable if it weren’t so sad. Couldn’t these 49 officers be out protecting the peace? How many violent crimes could have been stopped while these officers were preoccupied taking away peoples home?

But then this comes as no surprise; the ports refusal to allow Nickelsville to remain on parkland is merely a reflection of the city’s violent anti-encampment attitude spearheaded by Mayor Nickels. And yes, I do mean violent. By not only denying people a place to live, but by physically forcing them out of a community, the city is conducting an act of violence against the poor.

“Why?” was the question being asked again and again by the now displaced Nickelodians. There is just not enough space in the city’s emergency shelter system to accommodate the number of homeless individuals in Seattle, yet that is where they are being told to go. The city is simply pushing people around, forcing them to go from once temporary location to another, without offering any real solutions.

Camps such as Nickelsville offer people a safe space, free of drugs and alcohol, where they can build a sense of community that will never be found in a shelter. Yet the city refuses to recognize this, choosing instead to portray encampments like this as dirty shantytowns, with talk of piles of garbage and human waste.

For now they have secured a space at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, but after a week they are out on the street. The city needs to recognize the important role that tent cities such as Nickelsville play for people who can’t or don’t want to be a part of an overcrowded and dangerous shelter system. Until they do so, the camps will simply continue to be moved from one part of town to another, straining the already non-existent resources of the poor, forcing them further into poverty.

When asked why he was willing to be arrested for this, one handcuffed resident responded simply, “Because this is something that I believe in”.

Now if only Greg Nickels would believe in it too…

Category: Blogger, News, Nickelsville

Written by: Nick