City of Olympia

City Offers Olive Branch to Just Housing; Seeks Collaboration, Will Not Ticket RVs on Ensign Road

30

Oct

1 Comment

City of Olympia, Contributors, Features, Mindy Chambers

City Offers Olive Branch to Just Housing; Seeks Collaboration, Will Not Ticket RVs on Ensign Road

Ty Gundel and Micky Nelson, a resident, discuss the pending move. The city of Olympia is acknowledging missteps it made on Tuesday when it barricaded Ensign Road south of St. Peter Hospital to put up no-parking signs while it encouraged individuals living in vehicles along the roadway to pack up and move. The morning was fraught with stress and confusion among residents and those who advocate alongside them. A letter from Just Housing sharply criticized the city’s actions, including the lack of communication about what was to occur and the city’s decision to temporarily bar access to the site. In…

City Conducts Pre-Dawn Soft Raid On Ensign Road RV Community; Won’t Evict, Will Ticket Residents Who Remain

27

Oct

By Mindy Chambers

2 Comments

City of Olympia, Contributors, Features, Mindy Chambers

City Conducts Pre-Dawn Soft Raid On Ensign Road RV Community; Won’t Evict, Will Ticket Residents Who Remain

Before dawn this morning, City of Olympia Public Works employees and their vehicles, including two bulldozers, and multiple Olympia Police Department officers rolled onto Ensign Road south of St. Peter Hospital, lights flashing, and barricaded it from Martin Way to the hospital entrance. City employees then went door-to-door to tell the residents of vehicles parked along the roadway that while they didn’t have to move today, if they didn’t, they would be ticketed. “This is just pure intimidation,” said Tyler Gundel, of Just Housing, which advocates alongside the residents of vehicles parked along Ensign Road. “They are very clearly trying…

BREAKING: City Calls Off Sweep after Attorney General Weighs In

26

Oct

By Mindy Chambers

6 Comments

City of Olympia, Contributors, Features, Mindy Chambers

BREAKING: City Calls Off Sweep after Attorney General Weighs In

Ty Gundel and Micky Nelson, a resident, discuss the pending move. The move is off.After receiving a letter from the state Attorney General’s Office Monday saying the city’s plan to evict residents living in vehicles along Ensign Road is a likely violation of the state’s eviction moratorium, the city changed its mind.Residents will not have to relocate or have their vehicles towed.“We will continue to work towards a voluntary cleanup along Ensign, but will not be compelling any of the campers to move tomorrow,” Assistant City Manager Keith Stahley said in an email to council members obtained by The Tribune…

26

Oct

By Mindy Chambers

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City of Olympia, Contributors, Features, Mindy Chambers

City Won’t Budge on RV Community Sweep

Note: This story is developing and will be updated as events warrant. Ty Gundel and Micky Nelson, a resident, discuss the pending move. With less than a day to go before their city of Olympia-imposed deadline to move, residents of vehicles parked along Ensign Road and those who advocate with them still don't know where they will go. "We are still in limbo," said Deborah, a resident of the area for the past few months. "It is so stressful," she said as she welled up in tears on Saturday.Neither the residents nor those who advocate with them know what to…

Olympia Moves Ahead With Ensign Road RV Sweep

20

Oct

By Mindy Chambers

2 Comments

City of Olympia, Contributors, Features, Mindy Chambers

Olympia Moves Ahead With Ensign Road RV Sweep

"If you're going to make us move, could you give us just a few more days?" That's what residents of recreational vehicles parked along Ensign Road near St. Peter Hospital hoped the City of Olympia would do. Many receive federal disability benefits, which come on the first of the month. The question is why the City can't wait to make them move until November 1 or a few days later. This would allow them to purchase gasoline and other things they need to leave the space they have called home for several months. Ty Gundel and Micky Nelson, a resident,…

City to Sweep Car Campers From Ensign Road

16

Oct

By Mindy Chambers

4 Comments

City of Olympia, Contributors, Features, Mindy Chambers

City to Sweep Car Campers From Ensign Road

UPDATE: 10.16.20 6:23PM The city of Olympia is telling residents of vehicles parked along Ensign Road near St. Peter Hospital that they must move those vehicles by October 27.The city plans to begin its official notification of the residents on October 20, Kellie Braseth, the city’s strategic communications director, said Friday.Information obtained by The Tribune states the city is moving the residents because “the daily activities of the roughly 60 people parked on Ensign Road has been impeding and slowing emergency vehicles bound for St. Peter Hospital Emergency Room” and that the Olympia Fire Department has “issued guidance to first…

Tenant Protections, Camp Sweeps in Olympia

15

Oct

By Tracey Carlos

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City of Olympia, Columns, Contributors, Features, Tracey Carlos

Tenant Protections, Camp Sweeps in Olympia

Eviction Moratorium Extended until July The biggest issue at the October 6 Olympia City Council meeting spilled over into the October 13 meeting. Hence, I decided to hold off and write about both at once. That issue was the passing of an emergency ordinance regarding tenant protections related to COVID-19. Several people n attendance spoke on this issue. There was concern that the ordinance extended the protections too far out, making it more difficult for people to get out from under the debt they accrue. After much discussion, it was determined that the ordinance would protect tenants from through July…

09

Oct

By Mindy Chambers

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City of Olympia, Columns, Contributors, Features, Mindy Chambers, This and That

City parks and COVID

A huge gathering of sports teams and fans at Yauger Park certainly piqued observers’ concerns. One poster to Facebook wrote this warning: “Olympia area friends be careful today if you walk through Yauger Park or bring your kids to play. There's a baseball tournament starting up, and the majority of folks watching and wandering around in close proximity are not wearing masks …” (photo from City of Olympia website) This came in a week in which 121 new COVID cases were reported – the most new cases in one week since Thurston County health officials began tracking the virus on…

Ballots drop on Friday – get your recycle bin ready!

06

Oct

By Mindy Chambers

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City of Olympia, Columns, Contributors, Features, Mindy Chambers, This and That, Uncategorized

Ballots drop on Friday – get your recycle bin ready!

Ballots for the Nov. 3 general election will go in the mail on Oct. 8, followed shortly by dozens and dozens of expensive, colorful, glossy mailers, made of dead trees, extolling candidates’ virtues. The deluge, in fact, already has begun. A fund-raising letter from Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction candidate Chris Reykdal hit local mailboxes on September 28. A big postcard touting her record on education from 10th Congressional District candidate Marilyn Strickland was in the mailbox on Monday – lots of cute kids here, to be sure. Personal fave so far – a “photograph,” letter, and return postcard/envelope from Democratic…

03

Oct

By Rob Richards

26 Comments

City of Olympia, Features, Rob Richards

Trump Troops Traipse Through Town

Editor's Note: The following reports were compiled from multiple eye-witness accounts submitted by community members. For the safety of the eyewitnesses, all reports are anonymous. https://youtu.be/fN1GFZjogSg Trump-supporter caravan traveling through Olympia. Contains foul language. "I am getting reports all around Downtown [Olympia] of a caravan of dozens of trucks decked out with Trump and Culp signs and flags driving up and down the streets as of 3:30 pm today. Earlier they were also driving up I-5 and harassing other drivers according to three separate reports. One report mentioned a car being boxed in and pelted with eggs. This event was…