The City of Redmond is missing the opportunity to truly lead the region in addressing chronic homelessness. Right now the main focus of the City Council, mayor and Planning Commission is to put two rotating camps on Education Hill for what amounts to full time over the next five years. Most of the advocates who want these camps on Education Hill don’t live in the neighborhood, or they are from outside Redmond. Only two City Council members live on Education Hill near the proposed encampment locations. No other neighborhoods or churches or facilities are even under consideration, which is very unfortunate. This places a continued burden on Education Hill that should be shared across the city. The City Council has elected to ignore the recommendations of the Homeless Task Force and only consider the recommendations from the Planning Commission. We can make a corrective course action with a new solution.

The solution? The city should reassess the encampment locations and only host them on the city campus in between the Redmond Police Department (RPD), the Redmond Regional/King County Library, courthouse and City Hall. This area is all city property that runs up next to the courthouse and library. It’s a large open park area right downtown within easy walking distance from Redmond’s Together Center, which offers excellent social services for those in need. Additionally, the location is right next to the RPD, the bus line and the library, which is a popular hangout for our local homeless population. Unless other parts of Redmond volunteer locations in their neighborhoods, which appears unlikely, the city campus is the best location that everyone can share the burden of becoming the regional leader in homeless encampments.

With a city campus location, many area churches and organizations could help support and run the encampment, instead of just one at a time. Most importantly, this gets the camps away from neighborhoods and the four schools on Education Hill. Advocates from outside Redmond and other neighborhoods who haven’t volunteered their locations should enthusiastically support the city campus location.

The City Council and mayor may not appreciate this decision initially because the city campus is visible from a main thoroughfare and the offices at City Hall. Objections to using the city campus don’t carry weight simply because the same objections are ignored from the Education Hill residents and taxpayers. If Redmond is going down this path, we all need to share in this, front and center.

The City of Kirkland has taken a similar approach by hosting encampments near their City Hall. If Redmond’s City Council, mayor and Planning Commission truly want to be regional leaders on this issue, volunteering the city campus is the best solution, which places the burden on the entire community and not just one neighborhood.

Brian Hansford

Redmond