The encampment below Seattle's Ship Canal Bridge-- extending across both sides of the I-5 reveal lanes near 42nd Street-- has yet to be cleared, regardless of a sixth reported fire over the last month.

The King County Regional Homeless Authority (KCRHA) claimed, according to Jason Rantz, that under the contract the company has with the state, it can not eliminate the homeless within the encampment unless they have permanent housing.

" This has been the number of years now?" Rep. Andrew Barkis asked on The Jason Rantz Show. "I mean, this has been a continuous issue growing in intensity over the last numerous years."

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Barkis has actually functioned as the ranking Republican on the House Transportation Committee since 2019, which composed a budget in 2020 for KCRHA to remove encampments throughout the county.

" I composed a proviso and put it in there after doing some research to learn why isn't this happening," Barkis said. "And the response was, ‘‘ We require resources. We require cash.' So we did that. We put in millions of dollars, we even had an extra carveout for money for Seattle specifically and Tacoma. Go do what you're supposed to do. Well, it hasn't taken place. And they've been slow to react."

KCRHA's Five-Year Action Plan, which is out for public remark, has an overall price tag of almost $12 billion with $1 billion in annual operating expense. Seattle's entire budget plan, in comparison, for this year is $7.4 billion.

" The proviso I wrote says, provide services and direct individuals to alternative housing," Barkis stated. "That suggests shelter, Jason. That indicates any kind of housing that is possible, and we have that to move individuals into."

The Ship Canal Bridge encampment has been recorded as one of the more unsafe encampments in the region, with reported usage of fireworks causing fires, taking off gas tanks, and 2 shootings. John Stanford International School is a primary school situated one block west of the encampment, triggering concern among educators, students, and moms and dads.

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" Let's begin at the facility of they're breaking the law," Barkis stated. And then we can cover around every type of service under the sun to try to assist the people, which we should.

" It is really clear that shelter, gather shelter, any type of housing is what needs to be done to move the folks out of these encampments," Barkis continued. "So you begin one by one, and you do the job.

Senate Bill 5332, which was proposed in the Washington State Legislature earlier today, would prohibit encampments within 1,000 feet of schools.

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