What This Town Needs...

Bedlam Begins Thursday

2007-10-10T10:17:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow morning, the staff of Olympia's only mental health provider, Behavioral Health Resources, are going on strike. They have over 3000 clients, for whom mental health services are a basic need. These clients will be left without their case management, counseling, medication management, and payee services(which means their rent can't get paid).
If you're going to have a breakdown any time soon, I'd recommend holding off or relocating to another county, as our hospital emergency rooms are not at all equipped to handle the number of people who will be left in need of mental health help. Indeed, mental health concerns will become inappropriately delegated to law enforcement, and we will find county jail being the closest thing to a mental health provider anyone in Thurston County is going to get.
The job of mental health workers is one of the most difficult jobs in our community. They handle crises that the police can't handle, and help people with medical issues that leave many doctors at a loss. Their education will not equip them to do their job well. They have to be knowledgeable, stable, resilient, creative, compassionate, and courageous in order to do their job well. If they don't do their job well, the consequences can be great.
But the management of BHR has been trying to keep their employees from getting a wage increase that was mandated by the state legislature. The reason for this spending increase was to improve mental health worker retention rates, which are abysmal. It was workers at BHR who lobbied the state for this budget increase, knowing that their employer would not be able to increase their wages without better funding. Not only has management refused, but they have misspent agency money to hire a union-busting law firm, and have been negotiating for a contract that would crush the workers ability to advocate for themselves.
Perhaps the poor worker retention rates at BHR have to do with more than the stress of the job. Perhaps they have to do with the stress of working under management who's priorities are so backwards that they should consider getting their own heads examined. Perhaps the problem is that John Masterson, CEO, is the most difficult and possibly the craziest person that any of the staff has to work with.

Feeling the Pinch

2007-09-22T17:01:00.001-07:00

We are in week 7 or 8 of a housing search. I have lost track.
We need to find a place for several reasons.
For one, it is getting colder, and our inexpensive little rental house does not have adequate heating. The landlord says the old electrical won't tolerate it. Imagining spending the colder months marooned in a tiny house with damp and musty blankets, a space heater, and two young children bouncing like pinballs around our 800 square feet makes me feel crazy.
For another, a good friend and coworker of mine is currently sleeping in a tent in her friend's sideyard with her 9 year-old kid. Why is this person homeless right now, you ask, when she has a respectable job?
Because she is no longer able to keep pace with the rental market in Olympia. It has become unworkable for a lower-wage single mother to afford an apartment of her own.
And what has always been unworkable remains so- single parenting is an impossible job. She wants to live with another family who can share the burdens and joys of childrearing.
So, somewhere around two months ago, just after she lost her house, we started searching for a large house to rent together. At this time, it was the height of summer, and her kid was off at camp. She planned to stay at a friend's for one month to save money, and then move into a place with us around the time that her kid got home...
Trouble is, we're still looking. Many landlords have said they are not willing to rent to our household of seven. And we have been going to these horrible open houses where the first applicant to finish filling out their application gets the place. So far we have not been the fastest writers.
Meanwhile both our cars have broken down, and her tent is getting wet.
We look at another place tomorrow.
My grandparents both graduated from vocational high schools, and had four children together. My grandfather worked as a telephone repairman, my grandmother was a homemaker until her youngest child went to school. When her mothering duties lessened somewhat, she got a job working part-time as a secretary. They owned their own home. It only had one bathroom, but there were four bedrooms and heating that worked and a big backyard and a dining room. I think of my grandmother at twenty-seven years old, a housewife with four kids. They didn't have a lot of fancy stuff. They ate tuna casserole for dinner, and camped for family vacations. But they had housing security.
You cannot find a family like theirs in Olympia today. Those families have vanished. Those families live in crappy, mold-infested apartments on the far end of Lacey. They have to get food stamps, and still can't afford enough tuna casserole for the month. Or they work three jobs between the two of them and the kids go to daycare 40 hours a week.
My friend's grandparents were farmers. They were poor their whole lives, but they owned acreage, and when things got tough, they'd sell off a little plot, or sell a cow to make ends meet. They worked hard every single day from the time they got up until they went to bed, and they had no luxuries in their life. But they had housing security. For my generation, that is a luxury that only the rich have.
We Olympians are in a bad situation here, and it is getting worse. As the housing market shifts, houses don't sell, and rents are expected to go up.
I know an Olympia family who was displaced when their house burnt down due to faulty electrical. They had a large family and a moderate income, and could not find a single landlord who would rent to them due to their family size. After a year of searching, living in temporary situations, they decided to relocate.
Landlords respond to my classified ad and say, "I have a nice place in Elma that I think would work for you." or Tenino. Or Bucoda. But I don't want to leave the town I have lived in my whole life. I wait for the right place to come along here. Maybe this weekend will be the one.

Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project

2007-04-17T22:01:00.000-07:00

Dear City Council,

I regret that I am unable to attend tonight's meeting, so I wanted to register my opinion via e-mail.

I am in full support of the city approving Rafah as Olympia's sister city.

I understand that some locals consider now an inopportune time to create a sister city relationship in this part of the world. Certainly Israel/Palestine is entrenched a conflict which is deep, in which solutions are not obvious. It is a conflict where both sides state that there is no such thing as a neutral position, which makes reaching out seem like a risky thing to do for a prudent government, so far from the conflict.

But divisive conflicts such as this are precisely what the model of sister cities was created as a response to. The purpose of sister cities is to bridge cultural gaps, not to align oneself with a particular government or political ideology. Some local constituents have suggested that we should have a sister city in Israel, and I would support such a relationship wholeheartedly as well.
Some constituents have argued that formalizing our relationship with Rafah would be divisive, but I disagree. Diplomatic and cross-cultural relationships do not increase prejudice and conflict, they help resolve it. No matter how misguided, depraved, or corrupt the leadership in a certain region may be I think that creating cross-cultural relationships between common peoples is always a prudent, proactive, and positive thing to do.

We may find a lot of controversy in Olympia about what is the greatest wrongdoing in the middle east, where the blame lies, and what the solutions are. But I believe that you will find that what is uniting and mainstream here is so as well in Rafah and throughout Israel: most all of us wish passionately for a world that is peaceful and just.

As a city we have taken this step in the midst of post-WW2 racism and devastation between the US and Japan, post-cold war Soviet paranoia and propaganda, and in the aftermath of the Contra war. None of these were politically neutral actions, but all were optimistic.

I hope that you will choose to take such an action now with Rafah, where optimism is most desperately needed.

Thank you for your time and consideration.

Sincerely,

Jade Souza

Spring in Oly

2007-03-27T13:00:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed, I have not been 'blogging' lately. (I still can't use that term without quotation marks...)
Us northwest locals tend to become very inward in the late winter months. Funny that I can't even seem to leave my house virtually. It seems the internet might provide some solace in this lonesome season- that I might happily huddle near the glow of the electric fire, but instead I consume myself with inward activities and solitary work. I make my plans for the future. I reminisce. Strange things from the past come back to haunt me. I write for reflection, not for connection. I read more, and return my library books less. I drink more heated, caffeinated beverages and buzz about the house. I listen to CDs.
But as spring begins to push its way up and burst out all over, I find myself returning to the outer world. The first day of blue sky is so unbearably sweet it seems surreal. The streets of downtown fill with people. It is like the festival we've all been waiting for.
We live off that day for weeks, speaking more quickly, rising earlier, staying up later, calling neglected friends, feeling giddy and flirtatious like teenagers. Nevermind that the days since have been dark and drippy. Like flowers, once our blossoming has begun, we pay no mind to the five-day forecast. We even think silly things to ourselves like, "I think its high time I bought a swimsuit. Its practically summer!"
In keeping with my seasonal observance, I have begun thinking again about the blog. I have so many posts to catch up on...
Camp Quixote is flourishing and I've made nary a peep about it. Four hundred locals protested the war on Saturday. There is local buzz about new, hopeful mayoral candidates.
It seems we made it through the moldy drear once more.

Library Closure

2007-02-24T23:48:00.000-08:00

The Olympia Timberland Library is my church, in a way.
My church was closed on Friday for a staff training.
I was supposed to meet my husband there at 11:00 am. I got there a few minutes early, thinking that me and the toddler would hang out in the children's section for a bit, where he likes to find crayons hidden amongst the books and eat them like candy. He runs away and laughs at me when I try to stop him.
Anyway, we got there and the library was closed. I sat in front for about five or ten minutes. There was a person walking up to use the library about every ten seconds. Everyone seemed to share my shock that the library was closed on a Friday.
The parking lot was pretty full for a closed business! Just as someone got back in their car and pulled out, another couple cars would be parking. More people who I would watch walk up, look confused, then aghast- How could it be closed on a Friday???-and return to their car.
I knew our library was well-used, but I don't know that I realized how well-used it really is until yesterday.
I listened to several people talk about their library concerns. Not enough hours. No evening hours on the weekend...grumble, grumble.
I think its lovely that we love our library so well. I wonder if we as library-lovers (librariphiles?) couldn't be doing more to support the expansion of this vital community resource. We borrow books, CDs, movies. We hide when we have lost material charges. We return the damn thing 6 months later, and continue on.
Do we take our library for granted? With all of its usership, it seems that only the most die-hard library geeks join the Friends of the Library, or Timberland Regional Library Foundation, or concern themselves with the politics surrounding the library. How long has it been since our library expanded? 30 years?
Perhaps we are too passive in our love for the library.
I think its time I considered tithing.

What Olympia Needs is a bit of Mayo

2007-01-24T23:01:00.000-08:00

Originally posted on Olyblog by Chia on Tue, 01/23/2007 - 2:53am.

What Olympia needs is a community needs based downtown which also supports business. Take a look at Rochester, MN. The heart of downtown Rochester isn't business, although business certainly thrives there...the heart of downtown Rochester, MN is The Mayo Clinic which serves the entire community with world class healthcare. Tourism? You better believe it...people from all over the world travel to Mayo. Compassion? Of course! It would be difficult for a community to develop a reputation for world class healthcare without having also the reputation of a very big heart. The Mayo Clinic has a reputation for offering services free to those who can't afford them. Want to get people off the streets? Put them in an environment teaming with healthcare professionals educating their community about how to take care of themselves and providing necessary support services to back up that educational approach.

Olympia needs to draw tourists with a service that both community and tourists. Excellent healthcare is the way to go. Make downtown a health-based community center and business will flourish because who doesn't want excellent healthcare? May o has facilities in Florida and Arizona...maybe Olympia should invite The Mayo Clinic to set up a branch here...it could specialize in naturopathic meds and research. You never know...they might jump at the chance. It doesn't hurt to try, right?

The Ministry of Radicalism

2007-01-13T13:00:00.000-08:00

The Christianity and Anarchism Conference is coming up January 18th-19th. Though I know a few Anarcho-Christians locally, (and possibly even am one myself) there is a lot I don't know about the people who hold this philosophy. I was looking around at the websites of some of the groups nationwide who are connected with the movement, to try and get a feel for what it means in practical terms. How does a Christian Anarchist live, other than reading the bible and wearing circle-A patches? What are the concrete implications of this belief system?
After all, what one does usually says far more about their beliefs than what they call themselves...
Locally, Bread and Roses was born in the movement of Anarcho-Christianity. The original members put a down payment on a house, not knowing where the payments would come from, and started a radical ministry. The ministry was about sharing soup and offering beds in their own house to the homeless. It was also about everyone in this commmunity addressing our problems- decisions were made at local community potlucks monthly, open to anyone. Though it has departed from its roots both in the Christian and Anarchist traditions as it has become a more conventional social service agency, much of the character structure of Bread and Roses still reflects its roots.

My favorite site is that of the Christian co-op house/community in Philly, the Simple Way. (The picture above is from their basement prayer space. The scrape of paper tacked to the wall are prayer requests.) Their website contains information about cottage industry, needs of the local people in the neighborhood, political actions in Philly, and more. Particularly compelling is their information on why and how to obtain abandoned houses.

They also produced this:

A number of people have asked us to come up with some simple, practical ideas around social justice. With the help of our friends at Geez Magazine, we’ve come up with the following… add your idea to the mix and let’s brew up some holy mischief.

Go out to eat with someone who is homeless, or invite them to your home or cafeteria to eat with you.
Leave a random tip in the college bathrooms for the folks who clean them.
Find out who makes the clothes for the athletic department and if those companies reflect the values of Christ.
Learn to sew and begin making your own clothes.
Start tithing 10% of all income directly to the poor (relationaltithe.com).
Connect with a group of farmworkers who grow food for your cafeteria or favorite restaurant (such as Taco Bells Immokalee workers ciw-online.org).
Give your winter coat away to someone who is colder than you are.
Ask to see the budget of your school. What do the workers get paid compared to the administrators? Make sure folks know -- if you are proud of this, affirm the folks who make those decisions... If not, begin a conversation with both workers and administrators of how this could be better.
Ask where the campus gets its energy. Is it renewable? If not begin a plan for moving toward renewable energy (talk to folks at Eastern University about how they have done it by an optional ecological tax that is tacked onto tuition -- it's only a few dollars per student).
Write one CEO a month -- affirm or critique the ethics of their company (you may need to do a little research).
Write only paper letters for a month (go computer free)
Try sitting in silence for 15 minutes a day.
Kill your TV -- or go TV free for a year.
Go down a line of parked cars and pay for the meters that are about to expire... Leave a little anonymous note of niceness.
Beat a war machine into a plow, without hurting anyone of course (Isaiah 2:4) -- NOTE: you might want to plan on a little sabbatical after this one, a little reading and writing retreat -- in jail.
Write to one social justice organizer or leader each month, just to encourage them in their work.
Experiment with a post-oil era by going fuel free for a week -- ride a bike everywhere, carpool, walk or hitchhike.
Gut your TV and turn it into a pot for a plant.
Try reading only female writers for a year (since many of our problems seem to be stemming from men).
Go to a retirement home and ask to visit a few old folks who don't get any visitors.
Spend some time with someone who cleans the campus, get to know each other, share your stories.
Invite one of the college cafeteria staff to your home for dinner or go to their home.
Try jack-hammering the church parking lot to make space for potato plants.
Track to its source one item you eat regularly
Give your car away to a stranger
Convert a diesel car to run off veggie oil.
Try flushing your toilets off dirty sink water (for a little guide, check here).
Buy only used (thrift) clothes for a year.
Cover up all brand names, or at least the ones that do not reflect the upside down economics of God's Kingdom.

Many of these suggestions are things that this town needs, particularly acts of personalism and generosity can have sweeping local impact. Perhaps through many such small actions, we could discover what Jesus meant when he said, "The Kingdom of God is at hand."

Olympia's Business is Forbes Magazine's Business

2006-12-29T22:54:00.000-08:00

What kind of year has 2006 been for Olympia?

If the Olympian were our only source of information, we might think that our city was hostile to business, ridden with crime, and wrought with poverty. Yes, things are looking meager for Oly according to our local news source, with their whiny editorials and interviews with the bitter Seattle condo developer who didn't get his way with the council.
The council, on the other hand, is optimistic about their new ordinance banning crimes such as sitting or standing without buying in downtown Olympia. They think the ordinance will do much to create what they call quality of life and address what they call downtown safety issues in 2007.

But what else was said about Olympia this year?

Sperling's Best Places named Olympia the 16th Best Place in the country. For families, Olympia makes Sperling's top three!

Forbes magazine ranks Olympia among the Best Small Places for Business in America.

Inc.com's list of Boomtowns 2006 placed Olympia in both the Overall and Hottest Small Cities categories.
Yahoo Real Estate said Olympia is one of the six Best Places in the U.S. to Buy a Home What are some of the factors that make real estate great? A strong economy, and high opportunity due to a lack of strip malls and corporate chain stores are some of the reasons noted. (Take that, Lacey.)

Healthcare Traveler profiled Olympia, saying we are "one of the Nation's most popular small town destinations.". They are particularly impressed with our downtown's locally-based economy. (Oddly, they made no mention of the intimidating, uncivil behaviors of downtowners, vacant storefronts, or feces on the sidewalks. Don't they read the Olympian?...)

Yet again, Farmer's Insurance ranked Olympia among the most secure mid-sized cities in the United States.

We ranked in Relocate-America's Top One Hundred Places to Live

Also, just for fun, check out Wikipedia's article on the Olympia music scene

It seems while the Olympian has been checked out, the rest of the country has been checking us out.
Happy New Year, Olympia. I hope our resolution this year is to honor the greatness of our town,find new avenues of greatness, and create even more of what we love.

A Light in the Attic

2006-12-24T01:49:00.000-08:00

As Olympia seems to be on a course that will seal her doom it would be easy to just abandon Olympia and leave her carcass for the use of the developers and corporate interests. We have suffered a number of blows, we that love Olympia, and sometimes it is hard to see what can be done or, if indeed, something can be done.

Right now we are just seeing the skids being greased for the development of downtown. Concessions will be made, tax breaks will be given. Up in Tacoma the Old City Hall is being converted into condominiums. The cheapest condo there will be a one bedroom overlooking a halfway house for alcoholic men. This condo will go for $600k. And the buyer will not have to pay property taxes for ten years. This does not bode well for Olympia, one of the last best places. When money is to be made, deals to be crafted, we are in trouble.

Also in Tacoma is a grand old building that is presently being used as subsidized housing for the elderly and disabled. Around 200 units. The city officials have been determined to get the building out of the subsidized housing business and have been the opposite of supportive of those that wanted to keep it subsidized. I’m here to tell you that the building will now become a 4 star hotel. No one knows what will happen to the residents. Sure they will get vouchers to get other housing with, but in Pierce County there are thousands of people with vouchers and no place to use them. And by the way, the city will lend the billionaire developers of this property some low interest money as well. The city of Tacoma just doesn’t want poor people living downtown and they are determined to force them out to make it safe for monied people. The city admits this, at least they are honest about it.

Olympia’s city officials have not been as evil as those in Tacoma, but they are making a good start. The pedestrian interference ordinance is just the start. Soon social services agencies supporting the poor and homeless will be prohibited from the downtown core. Moratoriums will be put into place, retroactive moratoriums meaning that the present agencies will hardly be able to replace a light fixture in their facilities without fearing they will be forced out of downtown. Think it can’t happen? It is happening in Tacoma.

What I love about Olympia is her people. The spirit of her people. I don’t know all of them, I don’t know know how many there are, but I can feel the spirit of her people. The people of Olympia, the children of Olympia. The children of an experimental college and a brewery. I have no confidence in our city officials, but I have a surplus of confidence in the children of Olympia. Things may seem to be grim. The writing may be on the wall, but the children of Olympia will surprise you. Indeed, if the children don’t surprise you, the mother sure the heck will. And so I have a sense of optimism. The task at hand is large. The forces being faced are very formidable. It seems grim and dark and yet I know a light burns in attics all over Olympia. Cities can be taken away from the children of other cities, but the children of Olympia will not let this happen. At least not without a fight.

"The saddest thing I ever did see
Was a woodpecker peckin' at a plastic tree.
He looks at me, and 'Friend,' says he,
'Things ain't as sweet as they used to be.'"
-Shel Silverstein

The Problem Perception

2006-12-07T13:21:00.000-08:00

I saw in the newspaper yesterday that 15 wallets were stolen this week from people's purses while they shopped at corporate stores in Lacey. I wonder if these people will come flocking back to the safety of downtown Olympia for the rest of their Christmas shopping. I can just imagine the angry letters to the Olympian: "I used to shop at chain stores in Lacey, but since the wave of crime and filthy hooligans that have taken over suburbia, I am afraid to walk from the Target on Sleater-Kinney to my car. We need to get these jokers on the Lacey City Council to take some action before South Sound Mall declines into a feces-covered, dilapidated, crime-ridden freak show!" Somehow I doubt it.
Becasuse I don't think any of the hysteria about downtown Olympia has ever been about people's actual experiences of crime or danger. They could be mugged and beaten for their shoes in the Hawks Prairie Walmart parking lot weekly and they'd still rather buy new shoes there every week than have to parallel park downtown and walk past a poor person spanging. The city has said one sort of sensible thing about downtown, and that is that we have a "perception problem".
The reason I say "sort of" sensible is because saying this is not the whole picture. The perception isn't an actual perception of unsafety, like some people claim. Its more of the perception of an unsafe perception that people are reacting to. Rather its not a perception of danger, but a dangerous perception that is being outlawed.
What I mean is that the fear is of the perceptions one may have downtown which they don't wish to have, which make them feel very unsafe. I would call this a problem perception.
People are afraid of percieving poverty.
The perception of poverty has an unpleasant smell: a mixture of wet socks, malt liquor, cigarette butts that are being saved for later, and a raging mouth infection.
The perception of poverty has an unpleasant sound: bitter, sometimes a little mouthy, always desperate, and this time of year it has an unsettling bronchial cough.
The perception of poverty has an unpleasant look: shabby clothes that aren't at all stylish or respectable-looking, and often aren't even attempting to be. Sometimes no shoes when its cold outside.
Yes, the very perception of poverty is dangerous and threatening. Dangerous to our cold hearts. Threatening to our greed. Not at all safe for our plans to buy ungodly amounts of stuff for our kids and family and friends this Christmas. Percieving this is dangerous to our way of life.
It is more dangerous than wallet-snatchers or drunk drivers or vandals or any other actual crime.
The bad news is that many people really feel this way. Mark my words, there is no charitable way to stave off the perception. The only way possible to get rid of the horrible perception is to swallow any pangs of compassion and legislate the poor from our peripheral vision-which our city manager determined stretches exactly 6 feet from the front of anywhere we want to shop.

The good news is that many people do not feel this way. I have been noticing the bustle downtown lately, despite the brisk temperatures. I see people with nice coats and shopping bags more often than I see people with cardboard signs. (Impressive, since it seems more people than ever have to hold cardboard signs these days.)
I see what downtown Olympia is best at: lots of different types of people engaged in a diversity of activities. Playing, working, shopping, sitting, learning, competing, riding, preaching, wandering. It warms the heart. Of course, that is my perception. Some people think love is a perception problem.
I suspect if you surveyed the people who shop downtown, you would find them to be much more interesting and decent and kind than those that refuse to shop downtown. The reason I suspect this is because I know that the perception of poverty is not readily dangerous to people who are looking for opportunities to understand the way things work, or solve problems, or do meaningful things, or be grateful for what they have, or share what they have.
In fact, these people are much more threatened by isolation, and malls devoid of creativity, and oppressive, phony laws than they are of the perception of poverty. We may be threatened by the experience of poverty, since through it we find ourselves in a condition of genuine danger, but we are not threatened by its mere perception.
It is a shame that we have the first kind of people in any elected position for this town. They have no credibility in this role, no business designing our law, as evidenced by the city's unconscionable amendments to the pedestrian interference code.
Its a shame that we allow the first type of people to be running the town newspaper. The Olympian gives them a forum in which to broadcast their ludicrous insights and pass them as reasonable thought. They do not publish any sense about downtown in their newspaper. It is strictly banned, except for sometimes a letter to the editor or a business profile. All the rest is nonsense and propaganda. You can tell Mike Oakland I said that.
What this town needs more than anything right now is to gather all the people who shop and work and live downtown, all the wonderful downtown businesses who are thriving because they are a part of the landscape of Olympia's spirit, and we need to begin to shape the policies in this community.
It is terrible that all the greatest thinkers and kindest hearts in this town are subject to a bunch of dumb rules made by people who happen to be more organized.
If some of our people were on council, a lot less time would be wasted by guilty Ebenezers touting how fair and charitable they are, and could be spent instead collaborating with other strong minds and hearts, working on some real solutions. Living wage jobs, transitional and low-income housing in downtown, safe streets, supporting the arts, building local business, and other things that have to do with real issues of safety and vitality.
I think that if Olympia has a New Year's resolution for 2008, that should be it. She should resolve all of this balderdash up at City Hall, and get some officials who are going to work for a sound future for our community, economically and socially.

meanwhile, back at the library

2006-12-04T09:01:00.000-08:00

I really have to stop reading the comments section of the Olympian online. I guess it is like slowing down on the freeway to check out a car wreck. What brought me to the Olympian on this occasion was the reporting on the pedestrian interference ordinance that was just passed by the city. Of course I had to slow down and check out the car wreck that was the comments on the article.

While I find it offensive to read much of the comments, some are particularly revealing. One person wrote extensively about an experience at the Olympia Library. Some of the highlights were “the furniture was filthy with urine & vomit stains” “snoring bums” “unflushed stools” (you just knew that feces would work into the conversation somewhere).

I spend a fair amount of time in the library, probably too much time. I should actually be reading the books that I borrow, but that is something for another post. I have found the library in Olympia to be well used. Perhaps that translates into crowded, but for me it just tells me that Olympians love their library and use the heck out of it. The library is not just populated by the homeless. Yes the homeless use the library, it is a public library, and the homeless are the public. I have seen people sleeping in the library. Indeed, babies in their carriers, elderly well dressed men, business women catching a few winks, homeless people, to be sure, as well. People sleep in libraries, no big news there. Some snoring may be loud, but the loudest snorer I’ve ever heard in the library was probably a woman state worker. I kept looking around to see if there was construction going on somewhere in the library. I’m still looking for the urine and vomit stained furniture. I’m not sure where people are getting the notion that the library is a vomitorium.

The restrooms, while not pristine, were never what I would consider unsanitary. We do have the issue of too many people and too few facilities. Yes, people without homes will use public restrooms to wash up. I’m not sure it is fair to complain about “smelly bums” and then complain about the same people trying to do something about their hygiene. One complaint per customer, it is the smelly bums or it is the bums trying to freshen up, pick one and move along.

Sometimes you have to go a long way out of your way just to come back a short distance. All of the foregoing was to get me to my real point, the point I gleaned from the comments. The writer said that they would boycott the library and only take their children to Barnes and Noble and Borders from now on.

Those places are very much like libraries, but without the sleeping, snoring, smelly bums. They are like the library but without the weapons of mass defecation. They are like the library because they are public. Wrong.

B&N and Borders are not public. In no way shape or form are they public. A charge of trespassing can be made upon you for the slightest infraction. And maybe this is my real point. It seems to me that a good many people are really not comfortable with the public realm. They don’t understand the concept of a public life, they don’t know how to interact with a public life. They fear a public life. People want a controlled public realm. A mall or Borders provides this. Many people want a public life in a place that is exclusionary. For sure no homeless person would be able to spend much time in a Borders, they have security guards to deal with the homeless. For sure no homeless person could use the restrooms of a Borders, the restrooms are for customers only. Too many people seem to be very comfortable with the notion of private public places. Not me. Don’t like them. Anything that is about excluding people I don’t want anything to do with.A public library is just that, public. There are books, there is furniture. Facilities are made available for all to use.

The other night I though I was going to a sit down at Last Word books. I was the only sitter to show up. I had an hour and a half before the next bus or I could catch a bus leaving in just a few minutes. It was cold, kind of damp. 6 pm, hours before one could legally sit or sleep on a sidewalk when the new ordinance starts being enforced. If it was that cold at 6 pm I was wondering how people can sleep at all when it is way colder and they don’t even have the warm clothing that I have.

If it is too cold in my apartment I have trouble getting a good night’s sleep. I can’t imagine people being able to get the rest they need sleeping on a frigid sidewalk. Maybe that is why homeless sleep in the library. It is warm and they are dead tired. I don’t know much about a lot of things but I can tell you that if you don’t start your day after a good night’s sleep you just really aren’t able to accomplish much. Doesn’t matter if you are a CEO of a company, a state worker, or a homeless person. Get a job some will say to the panhandlers. Get some good sleep is what I’d wish.

There is a concerted effort to destroy a true public realm. This is not only true in Olympia, it is true everywhere else in our country. If I owned a Borders I’d probably be complaining about smelly bums at the library. It is good for business. If I owned a Starbucks I’d be complaining about vicious panhandlers so that people are driven into the confines of my shop. There are so many, and in my opinion bogus, complaints about what goes on in public. All of these complaints are designed to drive people to private public spaces. The complaints are designed to drive people to commerce. A private public place is something money can be made off of. Years ago it was laughable that people would be buying water in bottles. Now people are attempting to make money off of a concept that formerly free of profit, the concept of a public realm.What little of the public realm that is left is worth fighting for. I just don’t know if we can compete with corporate America. We have a fight on our hands, you are either with us or you are against us. And while we are at it, let’s get some UN inspectors to check out those weapons of mass defecation at the library.

Bread and Roses: A model for downtown

2006-11-29T19:06:00.000-08:00

This letter was written to the Olympia City Council by Rob Richards of Bread and Roses, in response to last night's decision to ban all activities and objects, except walking, from the downtown sidewalks.

All,

Last night's council meeting was disappointing to say the least. I simply do not understand the logic of the amendments, and I have spent hours trying, I have lost sleep over this, I have research and soul-searched and really stepped back and approached this from all sides. One of the louder arguments is that this targets a certain population. The answer to that has been that this is about behaviors not people. Let's look at what this ordinance, even if it doesn't target anyone, does to address the behaviors in question. Instead of these behaviors happening against the side of a building, they'll happen six feet over. Aggressive panhandling has always been illegal (though the Olympian doesn't recognize this), drug dealing and assault have always been illegal. People should call the police if these things occur. What do these amendments really do to change people's behaviors?

You all know that I work at Bread & Roses, I'm the coordinator of the Advocacy Center (BRAC) on 4th Ave. When illegal behavior happens on our property, we call the police. If someone is a known drug dealer and isn't utilizing our services to better their situation, we ask them to leave and not come back until they are ready to take steps to change. We do not appreciate anti-social behavior either. We combat that at the advocacy center by building a strong community, that includes our guests and interns from TESC and SPSCC and our staff. As you accept people into a community they begin to take ownership of that community, this is incredibly empowering. One example at BRAC is clean-up. When Mike Holzinger and I took over the advocacy center we decided to radically change the way we relate to our guests (we call the people we serve guests as opposed to clients) by including them in every aspect of the center. What we have now, after just six months is two clean-ups every day, initiated by guests, one before lunch and one before closing. The staff and interns who work very hard advocating for people now have some of the weight off of their shoulders. We frequently receive calls from people who want to volunteer, a lot of them want to serve food (you'd be surprised how many people in the community still think we're a soup kitchen on Cherry St.), we used to send them to Salvation Army to work in the Community Kitchen. Now, we explain what it is that we do and that we'd love for them to come down and spend some time at the center. A vast majority of the time, after being given the tour and seeing BRAC in action, they are stoked to spend more time with us. After just a few weeks, volunteers start getting to know guests and hearing their stories and you can almost visibly see stereotypes being shattered for them, it's in their body language, their spoken language, and in their eyes.

This, in my opinion, is a model of downtown. Or at least a model of the way these downtown issues should be approached. Last week's public hearing was powerful, no doubt about it. There's one thing about it that sticks out for me, sort of an intrusive thought that keeps popping up in my mind. There was one common theme in the words of every person who spoke from the street community. That theme was: we have been a part of this community for a long time, we want to be a part of this community, we want to give back to our community, please don't push us aside. At BRAC, people didn't start cleaning because we asked them to, they started because they wanted to give back to a community that accepted them. It's kind of funny, but it seems that the poorer someone is, the more heart and soul they put into their lives and their relationships with people. Downtown does have issues, there are divides in our community that have created a "battle zone" in the heart of our city. We do not not need more laws to fix these divides. We do not need more police presence. We need a radical approach, a grassroots community building effort. In my experience, if people are given a space in which to learn just a little about someone they either know nothing about or have certain stereotypes about, it can destroy perceptions quickly and completely.

Laura, while I appreciate the friendly amendments that you made last night, I consider them a spoonful of sugar. They do nothing in my mind to address the illogical nature of the overall amendments. I appreciate the sunset clause most of all, because it gives me a tool with which to do away with this ordinance (I'll have to see if Terry will make me a toolbox), and I will spend the next year working to collect data in order to do just that. That does not mean I'm choosing sides, it means that I'm sticking to my principles. I look forward to working with you in a unified manner on the HSRC over this next year, I think changes need to made to the process and that you and I should communicate more than we have.

I want to return to my original query: What do these amendments actually, physically do about the behaviors in question? I wish someone would honestly and logically answer that question for me, because it hasn't been answered.

Politically, to me, this was an unwise decision because when summer comes and not only are the townies (housed and houseless) out and about more, but add to that the transient population (people that every summer stop in Olympia on their way around the country), people are going to hound you again about behaviors downtown. People may not have trouble walking down the sidewalks, but they'll still be walking past the same "anti-social" people. This could go one of two ways, you all could very well be demonized by the general public for failing to do anything about downtown, a complaint I think that lead to Doug's proposed ordinances in the first place. Or, people are going to call for tougher ordinances, as TJ pointed out last night. Unfortunately, I think the latter will happen. I also believe that in order to save face and gain some political capital, this council will push for those tougher laws.

How is it possible for this law to be enforced? The police, last year, were tasked with enforcing the smoking ban. I haven't spoken to a single person ticketed for smoking in a restricted area, housed or houseless. Are we going to instruct our police to emphasize this new law over others? If we do that, how will we ensure that the equal enforcement that we talked about at the General Government meetings in October actually happens? Was equal enforcement merely added to the list so that I would shut up? I hate to think that would be the case, I don't think it is, but at the same time I'm not sure what to think at this point. I haven't heard any real conversation on this issue. I've heard that training will be conducted for the OPD. I've been through and conducted many training sessions, from my time in the Navy to my time at B&R. Training doesn't work without maintenance. How we going to ensure that the training works and the officers are not targeting certain people? Is there any way to ensure they won't? If we can't think of a way, then this ordinance doesn't work, and needs to be repealed.

In conclusion, there are a number of people in this community who simply want the best for our beloved city. We need to focus more on one another, and empower and inspire one another to be a part of the greatness that only together can be achieved.

Thank you for listening,

Rob Richards

Proud (but concerned) Olympian

Where is the farmer?

2006-11-28T14:04:00.000-08:00

Many times I’ll be hanging around with Kelso LaBrea. Kelso is many things, but in his heart he is an urban farmer. He believes that most anyone can grow for themselves a good deal of the produce they should be consuming. Doesn’t matter if you live in an apartment or on five acres. Seems to me that many that live on five acres rarely, if ever, grow their own food, the five acres are for “privacy”. Now privacy is a fine thing, but who the hell needs five acres for “privacy”, exactly what are they doing on those five acres?

The conversation will usually end up somewhere around the Farmer’s Market. We both agree that the Olympia Farmer’s Market is perhaps the best farmer’s market in the northwest, no question about it. We also agree that is really isn’t truly a farmer’s market. The sales of produce and products from the farm is very limited. The prices are way high, probably due in part to the high rents charged the sellers. You will see very few low income people there and low income people are the tell tale sign that you are at a real farmer’s market.

Low income people, especially low income people from other countries, know what a farmer’s market is about. A farmer’s market is about dealing directly with the farmer. The person that grows the produce is the one that sells it to you. The farmer makes a good profit, you get to make a friend of the farmer, and you have a very fair price on the produce you need.

So Kelso and I talk about what it would take to have a real farmer’s market in Olympia, not the chamber of commerce affair that poses as a farmer’s market. What you need is a place where a bunch of trucks can park and people can mingle amongst the produce. We need farmers that have produce they want to sell. We need farmers to be in direct contact with the consumers and without the oppressive rents charged by the Olympia Farmer’s Market.

Until a critical mass of farmers can be built up, Kelso proposes that we contract with the Coop to have the new farmer’s market buy organic products through the Coop at wholesale and sell the products at near wholesale prices at the new farmer’s market. We also work towards educating the public about growing their own produce, possibly for sale at the market as well. Personally I could kill for some really top quality scallions. There was a time I could buy these off a truck from a Japanese farmer in Puyallup. A person could put in a couple of rows of scallions in their back yard, enjoy working with the earth, make some friends at the farmer’s market, and be part of a process that really builds community. And I could get the beautiful scallions I crave.

The new farmer’s market would in essence be a co-op. I’d imagine we could enlist the parking lot of a local church, close to downtown, to provide the space for the trucks and shoppers. We would like to see the new farmer’s market be mostly about farm products. We have nothing against the other things that end up being sold at a farmer’s market, but a farmer’s market has to be about the produce, and about the people.

Now don’t get me wrong. I appreciate that fact that we have something as wonderful as the Olympia Farmer’s Market. It is always a pleasure to go there, no matter the weather. The music, the people, it is all terrific. I don’t have a lot of money but even on my meager funds I can extend my enjoyment there with a few wise purchases. I remember the original Olympia Farmer’s Market. It was about the produce. A dozen or so stalls under a tent. I would get my wonderful scallions there, and the most amazing yellow Finn potatoes. I still dream about those potatoes. You can find them from time to time, but I assure you that they are not the same as I got at the old Olympia Farmer’s Market. Olympia Farmer’s Market, admit it, you have gotten too big and you have lost your way. You are having fun and you are successful doing what you are doing, but it might be time to take “Farmer’s” out of your name. If Kelso and I have our way, that is exactly what you should do.

Why Lacey Is Not A Role Model For Its Neighbors

2006-11-27T22:34:00.000-08:00

Posted on Olyblog by M. R. Rossi on Sat, 11/25/2006 - 11:00am.

In their November 6th issue, editors of The Olympian proclaimed that Lacey was a “role model for its neighbors” because of the city’s rapid growth in retail sales through “enticing business patrons.” In particular, the editorial compared Lacey’s economic growth to that of Olympia’s – where retails sales dropped. The reason for Lacey’s increase in sales growth was its business friendly environment, while one of the reasons for Olympia sales decline was its “crisis of public safety” (as one Olympian put it before the city council) in its downtown. Before everyone else follows the lead of editorial board of The Olympian, and jumps on the “Lacey model” for economic growth, it is important to asks some important questions: Is The Olympian’s analysis of the situation accurate? Specifically, is there really a “public safety crisis” in downtown, and is Lacey’s formula for economic growth sustainable?

First: the public safety question. Despite all the rhetoric about the dangers of Olympia, comparatively speaking Olympia has a very low violent crime rate. According to FBI figures for 2004, Olympia experienced 333 violent crimes per every 100,000 persons. This is low for both state and national figures. For Washington State the average is 461 violent crimes per every 100,000 persons, and for the nation it is 596 per every 100,000 persons. The figures become even more interesting when Olympia is compared to its neighbor Lacey for the past few years. In 2003, Olympia had a higher rate of violent crime than Lacey. (Olympia was at 3.3% while Lacey was at 2.8%). But, a shift occurred in the following years. Olympia had 145 acts of violent crime in 2003, by 2005 that figure had dropped to 115 violent crimes. While Lacey’s violent crime rate jumped in 2004 (to 3.3%), and in 2005 remained higher than Olympia’s. Olympia had 258 violent crimes per every 100,000 persons, while Lacey had 272 violent crimes per every 100,000 persons. What this means is that for that last few years violent crimes has been going down in Olympia, which is counter to national trends, while Lacey’s rate has moved up.

This evidence makes clear that the so-called “public safety crisis” is a delusion. Its remains alive and is seriously debated only because of an intense class-bias against the poor and homeless. People with this bias automatically assume that if the homeless or street vagabonds are hanging out together then they must be “up to no good,” or if a person is engaging in anti-social behavior in the downtown, then that person must be homeless. A perfect example of this is the complaint of public urination in the downtown. Often times the discussion makes references to Olympia’s homeless with the assumption being that they are the ones doing the act. However, the Olympia Police Department has acknowledged that the majority of cases of public urination in the downtown involve late night bar patrons who don’t tend to be homeless.

Second: the economic question. The editorial in The Olympian attributes Lacey’s recent economic success to it ability to attract major corporate enterprises such as Home Depot and Costco with its “business-friendly environment.” In this, the editors for The Olympian are accurate, but also a bit misleading. First off, it is unfair to economically compare Olympia and Lacey in the manner that was done in the editorial and it construes important economic truism. Lacey is a very young city – especially compared to Olympia. It has only been incorporated since 1966, and that’s important but it means that Olympia and Lacey have two very different economic infrastructures. Lacey is very underdeveloped compared to Olympia. Rapid economic growth through corporate enterprises is possible in underdeveloped areas because you are starting from nothing. Olympia on the other hand has built itself off of industries and businesses that have survived for decades. Allowing major corporate enterprises to move could seriously disrupt these foundations – which, for Olympia, would be locally owned businesses that are mostly located in the downtown core.

There is also the issue of how large corporation enterprises tend to depress the economies they enter over time. An essential part of any development plan is the ability to build off of previous gains. This is difficult to do in a corporate friendly atmosphere. Dollars spent at Home Depot and Costco vanish from circulation in the local economy. The ability of corporations to under-cut prices and offer more services ends-up destroying small independent businesses. The low pay and lack of job security for people who work at these business stagnates the economy because they only make enough money to cover their basic necessities - not to mention the hardship and cruelty of poverty itself. In the end, this corporate friendly environment is not sustainable; it leads to economic growth, but not necessarily to economic development.

Perhaps the biggest and most important lost in this corporate friendly environment is that of civic virtue. The re-organizing of city life - with the elimination of public spaces, the arts, and recreation, essentially transforming the city into one big mall – also change its people. Soon, people start identifying more as consumers, managers, and workers, than as citizens. Civic participation and social life ends-up taking a back seat to corporate controlled markets. People become more concerned with shopping than they do with voting - and even less so with political organizing. Ironically, this atmosphere of isolation and rabid materialism become a breeding ground for the anti-social behavior that the editors of The Olympian claim is preventing people from shopping in downtown Olympia.

The editors were right that Lacey’s neighbors do have a lot to learn from the city, but it’s what not to do. This of course doesn’t mean that Olympia is “good” and Lacey is “bad.” Both of the cities have their problems, and both have people who are working for greater democracy inside of them. What this does mean is that if either city is to move forward in a manner that supports all its citizens then it must craft policies with a focus on social and economic justice. If not, then “lost sales” will be the less of either city’s hardships in their (maybe not so distant) futures.

The Wild Rumpus

2006-11-19T18:50:00.000-08:00

For the last year, I have been meeting with a group of parents and children at the Olympia Free School. We've been calling ourselves the Free School Family Network, and we are all people who share an interest in non-coercive, multi-generational, natural learning in community. Many of us have already pulled our kids from school, some are investigating the idea of homeschooling/unschooling, and others are just interested in free, fun, educational activities with their kids. The group is supported by a few committed young adults who don't have kids, and a few whose kids are older, who help keep a lot of the stuff rolling, as us parents of littles busy ourselves with the exhausting life of parenting young children.
We have a few regularly scheduled events, but so far only two or three families show up to any given event.
Recently, I was a guest on a local radio program. This thrilled my six-year-old. She informed me that she would like to have a radio program of her own, a kid's radio show. I asked a few people I knew who have radio shows if they might like to help her do this, and mentioned it at a Free School Family Network meeting.
Before I knew it, the idea had taken flight, and we had plans to have a percussion instrument-making workshop, a music recording day with local musicians, and finally a day when the kids would seize control of a local radio station for two hours to spin their own tunes, show off their original music, and experience real radio DJing.
Yesterday, we parked and started walking towards the Free School for the music recording session. I didn't know what to expect. On the way, I wondered grown-uply things such as if original music by children was such a good idea, and whether or not the event would be a "success".
The wild rumpus could be heard from a block away.
Much to my surprise, there were probably a dozen or so youngsters, and as many adults filling the front room, armed with real, honest-to-goodness, serious instruments. Banjo, keyboard, fiddle, a variety of accoustic and electric guitars, recorders, a drum kit, and some guitarish instrument that I don't know the name of made from a cigar box. The front room was in exuberant chaos. Discovery and creation cluttered every corner, making a great noise that could give most noise bands a run for their money. It reminded me of the scene of Who Christmas morning in The Grinch Stole Christmas.
I kept thinking of the psalm, "Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth; break forth into joyous song and sing praises...Let the sea roar and all that fills it; the world and those who live in it. Let the floods clap their hands; let the hills sing together for joy..."
In the back room was the recording studio, where the mood was much different. Every kid in there was under ten. For more than two hours, serious work took place in that room, the likes of which is scarcely (if ever) seen in the institutions we charge with educating our young. There was a clear awareness on the part of the children that what was going on was serious work, not just the pretend stuff that children are normally permitted to do. They worked with unusual focus, negotiating who did what, even as they discovered what different "tracks" are, and how difficult it is to master an instrument, even for a simple melody.
Typical band dynamics ensued: Dreams of stardom contrasted with deep fears of performing. Egos competed. Resentments festered. Visions diverged. But in the end, 5 tracks were recorded. (It is a miracle that any record is ever recorded, any play ever performed, any film ever screened.)
When we left, my daughter's face was flushed and eyes shining like the true creator she is.
What might happen if we always allowed children to do important adult things when they asked to? To handle the precious equipment that we normally keep far out of their reach? To learn from experts on every subject that interested them, instead of shipping them off to experts on primary education? To master adult skills as they felt prepared to, instead of insisting that everything that matters to us is far beyond their capacity?
I imagine that what would happen would be, like yesterday, part wild rumpus, part joyful noise, part revolution, and it would uproot all of our notions about who children are and what they are capable of.

The Space on State

2006-11-18T20:42:00.000-08:00

Every so often I find something that surprises me in Olympia. I have thought that I would long be past being surprised, but that is not the case in Olympia. A couple of weeks ago I stuffed a flyer in my pocket. I figured I’d read it later, wasn’t even sure why I picked it up in the first place but I examined it while going though my coat pocket. It was a flyer for something called Space on State. I figured it was for some self storage place, like Shurgard or the Stuffit Inn. Turns out is was nothing like a self storage place.

From their own flier they describe it as “work, hobby & creative space”. Well, I had to read on.

“Welcome to Space on State, we provide space for your creative needs! Whether you’re a small business, artist or a hobbyist we can provide affordable, safe, private workspace. Rates starting at $95.00 a month.”

Indeed, the spaces are small, on the second floor at 112 NE State. The rooms are all private, they have locking doors (with transoms that actually open and let in air and light) and windows. The rooms seem to run around 100 square feet, or 10x10. I took a tour of the facilities with a friend, Claybourn Saticoy, and we were very impressed. Just the right combination of funk and professionalism. Most of the spaces were rented out already, some to therapy professionals and a variety of other organizations. And get this, they allow you to bring pets to the office with you. They also let you paint your office anyway you like so long as you return it to the landlord white when you vacate the premises.

A whole lot to like, it is hard to know where to start. For sure you can not live on the premises, but they are open 24/7. You can’t use the space as a retail space mostly because the building is controlled entry. I suspect you could use the tiny space as a show room and conduct retail business, but not in a traditional sense. The spaces are very wonderful, no great views, but you get a good feeling being there. There is bathroom and kitchen space available. Oh, the utilities are included and there is free wifi. You can install your own phone line if you desire.

Claybourn really liked the place and is ready to rent a space, the deposit requirements are minimal and even he can afford it on his SSI. Why would he want such a space? He says that he gets to be in the heart of Olympia and he wants to have his private library there. He can listen to his jazz music read the books he always wanted to read and right outside his door is all of Olympia. $100 a month is not bad for this and I agree. No telling what will go on in his space. I imagine him setting up some salon for jazz lovers with discussions and music going on late into the night. Coffee and tea flowing along with the strains Art Tatum in the background. Perhaps his buddy Roachie Woods will drop by with his old blind dog and play a little sax into the streets below. I envy Claybourn, he has almost nothing and yet he seems to have everything.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t have my own take on this. First of all I think what the owner of the property is just amazing to provide this affordable and very attractive space. The place must be a bee hive of activity during the day and no telling what is being hatched there. But I have to use Space on State as a starting point. Would it be possible to provide housing for the poor using this model? Sure you’d need real bathroom facilities, no doubt shared, and ditto for the kitchen facilities, but let’s say a 100 square foot room for $100 a month, with little or no deposit to get in. We’re talking little over 3 bucks a day for a place to live in the heart of Olympia. Sure it is no palace, but it is clean and warm, and more to the point, one’s own. Something like this could be very empowering and within the reach of the homeless. For sure something that could be incorporated into an Urban Layers model. The fellow that owns Space on State is making a buck. He’s not making a killing, but he is making a buck.

Space on State has a website, www.spaceonstate.com It seems to be borked right now but I’ve seen it up and running. Plenty more details there. Please don’t consider this as a spam for a commercial venture, no question I like what is being done there, but mostly I like to think how this concept can really help with far more serious problems.

Veteran's Day

2006-11-12T13:27:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make a Veteran's Day Post, but I never know what to say. Its not exactly a happy-wishing holiday. And while I know I am supposed to thank those who have fought and died for me, to me it feels rather like thanking the legions of slaves who made this country rich with their toil, or the many Native Americans who were slaughtered and relocated to make room for this town, and others. Afterall, without their sacrifice, there wouldn't be an America as we know it. Still somehow thanks seems innappropriate. Maybe anger is the more honorable reaction.

My site meter has been running neck and neck with the American death toll in Iraq for quite sometime. I kept thinking every week was going to be the week when this site had seen more visitors than dead soldiers, but that week still has not come. Every week there is another battle, another roadside bomb, another stupid massacre and the numbers of soldiers who have died there for nothing climbs greater still. It seems the traffic on my little blog cannot keep pace with war's appetite for young blood. How could I thank these people?

Some just say it was for freedom, cause that feels right. Has a ring to it. Its so hard to say the truth- that they are dying for senseless, greedy politics. It sounds more respectful to call it freedom, though really we all know that lies are no way to honor the dead.

Maybe I should call Jeff. I saw him in a bar one night two years ago. I thought he was home for the holidays from college in Santa Barbara. Someone told me he'd just come back from deployment. I bought him a drink. There was so little to say. We slurped bourbons and I asked him questions and listened to him talk.
He looked old. His face was so much heavier than it was in high school when we used to share cigarettes outside concerts. We met when he gave me a quarter to play a song on the harmonica. He'd do hat tricks and run up alley walls like Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain.
He told me how stupid it all was, and how grateful he was to be home in one piece. It was hard to believe, he said. When he said this he would look around quickly as if he couldn't shake the danger, though he knew he should be glad now. It was so hard to see him this way. I apologized for asking too many questions. "Its ok," he said. "Its good to talk about it. No one wants to hear how it really is, they just want to think what they want to think..." That is the price that surviving soldiers pay for our illusion of "freedom".

Maybe I should call my uncle, the career Marine. I know he would be happy to call the war a freedom fight. When he returned we gave him a party with a red, white, and blue sheet cake. He was proud to tell heroic stories, and showed pictures of himself giving out candy and smokes to local kids, who were happy to pose for a picture in exchange.
But I can read between the lines. I remember him condemning the prospective war in Iraq over Thanksgiving dinner a few years ago. He called it ridiculous, and said it was clearly about oil-and everyone in the military knows it, he said. After the war began, we weren't allowed to talk about that anymore. After all, he had a job to do. We shouldn't trouble him with the truth, even though he already knew it.
Soon, silence gave way to outright lies. People in the family started making Saddam Hussein jokes and talking about how grateful they are to the President for keeping us free.
I wonder if Uncle Will felt caught in that. Anyway, if he did, he didn't let on. He stayed proud, even volunteering for redeployment. Now he's had some old injuries giving him a hard time, so he's asked to be discharged.

I could call any one of the veterans I know, but somehow it doesn't feel quite right. I don't want to obligate them to be happy, nor do I want to burden them with my gratitude. The only thing I really want to wish them is peace. Peace this Veteran's Day. Peace to all those who have died. Peace to those who survive. Peace now and forever. That is my prayer.

You are only high up if you are looking down

2006-11-08T21:51:00.000-08:00

Beverly Rampart and I are sitting in Batdorf and Bronson’s having a coffee and a heated agreement. Most people I know have heated arguments or heated discussions, but in the case of Beverly it is always a heated agreement, at least it is for me. The subject rolls around to bookstores, though it is hard to ever tell where one of these conversations will wander and where it will end up, or if it even will end up somewhere. Maybe it will just dangle to be picked up at a later date with pretty much the same results, unpredictable and always satisfying, unlike the new higher prices for the coffee at B&B, I guess they lost some business from smokers and loiterers so they have to make up the difference somewhere.

So on the subject of bookstores we naturally gravitate towards Last Word Books. Really there is no other bookstore, at least not in Olympia. Orca is, how can I say it, on its way to being soulless. Orca can dangle all the icons of Olympia before us, but they lack a certain conviction we like in a bookstore. Browser’s has its points especially if you like fiction. Don’t get me started on the big box bookstores, we don’t even want to go there, especially since this isn’t about bookstores at all, but I digress. Last Word is like being in my own living room. The people that run and frequent it are people I’d want to have in my own living room. The books, really all of them, if I had the room, would be in my living room. That is what I call a bookstore.

Beverly violently agrees with me. She has known nothing like Last Word since she left the gopher state. Tell me more, I asked Beverly as she sipped her newly overpriced coffee. She leans back and knows we are going to have yet another violent agreement. Arise bookstore, in the holey land, is very much like Last Word. Nothing I said about Last Word could not be applied to Arise. Beverly loved it, her son loved it, the people that camped on Arise’s roof in tents in the summer loved it. Now that was hitting below the belt. But that is Beverly, she pulls no punches in these heated agreements. A blow so stealthy, I hardly noticed it until I was reeling.

So this is finally the point of this article. Camping on the roof tops of bookstores in the summer. I looked outside the window of B&B and noticed all the vacant rooftops across the streets. Acre after acre of usable space where people would not have to sleep in the proverbial gutters of Olympia. It seems that the homeless were invited to camp upon the rooftop of Arise books in the summer. And why not? Didn’t hurt anyone. The owners encouraged it. So why not use this incredible and underutilized resource?

For certain not all roofs could support people sleeping on them. Other roofs would be too difficult for people to access. Indeed, some neighbors of the roof sharing people would be horrified at the notion of people sleeping on their neighbor’s roofs. You can even drag in the old liability issue, though I’m particularly sick of hearing about liability when one is attempting to do something good in this world. Liability is pretty much just an excuse for not doing something, there are plenty of excuses for not doing something good so I’ll just move along.

So here’s the thing, Arise makes it easy for people to get up on the roof. Dumpsters and other items are placed so that people can get up to the roof with their gear. Summertime is perfect for roof sleeping in the twin cities. Actually roof sleeping, albeit not by the homeless, is fairly common in many east coast cities in the muggy summers. We don’t know from muggy here in the northwest. Muggy makes you sleep on your apartment’s roof or fire escape. Look up and down some neighborhoods in New York on a muggy summer’s eve and you will see many people sleeping on mattresses on their fire escapes.

Seems to me that the poorer the neighborhood in NY the more likely you are to find people sleeping on roofs and fire escapes. Don’t these people know they are living in dangerous neighborhoods because there are poor people there? No telling what those poor people will do to someone with the sense to sleep on a fire escape or roof during a muggy night. I’ll tell you what these poor people will do, they join them for sleep on the roof, it is the only sensible thing to do and no sensible person would do such a thing if they thought it was unsafe. Actually in the summer time some of the city’s roofs will pretty much resemble a slumber party

People sleeping on Arise’s roof are not trespassing, they are on the roof with the permission of the bookstore. Beverly said that the roof campers were never a problem, indeed they policed themselves. There is something amazing and empowering about a bookstore that invites people to camp out on their roof. On the surface it might be considered a very small act, but one with profound implications. Besides keeping people out of the gutter, it gives them their OWN space. The users have a sense of ownership of the space and hence a sense of responsibility. It really is amazing.

Still weak in the knees from our heated agreement we exit B&B to loiter out in front and light up a cigarette. We walk by Nutter’s and he glares at us from inside his store. It seems that he does no business there and spends most of his time sizing up people that walk by his window, on “his” sidewalk. Beverly and I enjoy a couple of blocks of Olympia street life as we end up heading our different ways.

If Olympia wants to do something really terrific for it’s homeless I can think of no better thing than opening up some of the downtown roofs for camping. Maybe Tradition’s might consider such at thing. Think of the fine view people there would have of Capitol Lake. I think it could work in that location. Maybe the new owners of the Spar might consider such a thing. I know there are people out there saying, Sepulveda, you are crazy, like I haven’t heard that before. But I suspect there are a few of you out there that are in violent agreement with me. So light up a cigarette, loiter in front of B&B and look up at the roof tops around you. That is what this town needs.

Will the last poor person leaving Olympia please turn off the lights

2006-11-01T12:14:00.000-08:00

I find myself stranded in Tacoma and I have myself quite a dilemma. Lord knows I tried to find a cheap apartment in Olympia, my preferred location being in the downtown area, no further than one cigarette smoke away from Sylvester Park. My timing was bad, I was looking for a place to live just as all the Evergreen students were converging on town and providing some formidable competition for the apartments. I know I have another shot coming up when the first wave of students start dropping out or reconsolidating during the winter break.

While I don't mind the competition for the apartments, I'm a pretty shrewd and crafty competitor myself, I am appalled at the rents being charged in Olympia, in particular the places and locations I would desire. I looked at the Capitol House, kind of my sort of place, but the rents for a one bedroom were like $620, albeit with utilities included. Not exactly my neck of the woods, but it would do. At $520 I would have snapped it up. Still the Capitol House is well over a hundred bucks a month more than they would charge in Tacoma.

I had the opportunity to buy a house in the Olympia area a year and a half ago. Sadly my bank would only loan me up to 135k, and the cheapest houses in Olympia, at that time, were bumping up against 200k and those were pretty much tear downs. So I ended up in Centralia where you could buy a house for less than 100k. Now Centralia is a fine little town with lots of potential, but I don't exactly see myself as a pioneer in that particular locale. Centralia was fine for a married man, but not so good for an unmarried man with a whole slew of projects up in Pierce and Thurston counties and not being a driver. I pretty much eschew the motor vehicle, except for public transportation, but my favorite mode of transportation is walking.

So getting back to the dilemma. I need to be living back in Olympia. I need to be downtown. I need to walk around as my major mode of transportation and I need to be a part of my community and make the contributions I feel are important. I have a way cool apartment in Tacoma, but it is not enough. Sure I have great job prospects in Tacoma, for way more money than I'm accustomed to, but that is not really my thing. I'd prefer to be poor and happy in Olympia than wealthy and miserable in Tacoma or anywhere else. In the end I'll end up paying $100 more a month for rent in Olympia. A small price to pay to be happy and a member of a true community. I wish we had the selection and flexibility of the housing choices in Tacoma, but that is not yet in the cards. Be assured, once I find my apartment, I ain't leaving.

Olympia is a very desirable place to live. More and more people are finding this out and moving in faster than the existing housing can withstand. Supply and demand. Location, location, location. Olympia is starting to be a difficult place for a poor person to live. I know, from other cities, it is the poor people that give a town or district the reputation that the wealthy will want to take over. Once the poor establish a place as desirable to live in, the gentrifiers will start flocking in.

Olympia is rapidly becoming a place where the poor will no longer be able to live. I don't think there is anything wrong with being poor. Money is not the measure of anyone's humanity. The poor are creative, resourceful, and have better understandings of the important things in life. Money tends to distort these attributes, and not for the good. A day will come when even if the poor are willing to pay the outrageous rents of Olympia, the landlords will be looking for more "mainstream" tenants and just not rent to the poor. That is not the sort of thing that this town needs.

Olympia Food Co-op Growth

2006-10-25T00:43:00.000-07:00

Tonight I went to a forum about growth for the Oly Food Co-op. Those who know me know that I love the co-op more than anything else, and I love to enumerate its many virtues. That is mostly why I went to the meeting tonight. I thought it would be a great opportunity to get together with other people who love the co-op, eat free co-op snacks, gush about the co-op and decide what to do next.
It was kind of like that, only not so much of the gushing part. I learned that a lot of people who love the co-op also have strong emotions about it because they don't feel it is all it could be.
This was interesting to me because I think the co-op is perfect. But some people feel it needs to be more competitive, convenient, and attractive-looking. Some people feel it needs to return to its roots and be more stringent about environmental choices, nutrition standards, and politics. Some people think it needs to be bigger, some think it needs to splinter into smaller co-ops, some think we need a Tumwater location. There are a lot of considerations out there.
I listened to people worry about Whole Foods moving in and using aggressive business tactics to hurt the co-op. I listened to people who feel the co-op is headed the way of Seattle's flashy PCC, people who miss the days when the co-op was a sugar-free safehaven, people who are upset about the process the co-op is using to get member feedback about growth, and people who felt we needed to stick to the agenda.
I know not everyone out there cares about the considerations of a grocery store, but to me it is so important. I was busting with love for the co-op through every contentious moment.
Yes, I am a big dork for the co-op.
I enjoy giving them money.
I don't mind writing down my prices.
I consider grocery shopping to be a good Friday night date.
This summer I went to check out and saw that in my heaping cart, all of my produce was locally grown. I care about that. I can see people that I know who grew that food in my food, and the rain and melting glaciers and familiar places in my food. Maybe that sounds hippy-dippy, but that is really how I feel about it. I think local produce is healthier for me nutritionally, politically, and spiritually.
SO, anyway, regardless of how the co-op grows or stays small, I will be there with her. I love our co-op because it is a welcoming, ethical, smart business where good people work. I will continue to shop there, and I don't mind writing down prices, scavenging in the reduced bin, appreciating the volunteers, sweeping up the bulk aisle, bringing in my egg cartons, sampling the peas, and noticing the staff who do such a spectacular job of making the co-op a good place to be.
If you are a member of the Olympia Food Co-op, you can make your thoughts known on growth issues by filling out an advisory ballot, and by attending the annual membership meeting. If you are not a member of the Olympia Food Co-op, I could not recommend it more highly.

What do you want in your coffee?

2006-10-24T11:18:00.000-07:00

There comes a time to talk about coffee shops and it is time again. We have visited the subject of coffee shops, or cafes if you prefer, from time to time, and will probably revisit the topic in the future.

Those that know me know that I’m not a huge fan of Batdorf and Bronson’s. I care less for Starbucks. You will find me having coffee at B&B because it is the lesser of two evils, but not by much in my estimation. Certainly B&B has a great location. The decor I am not concerned with. Physical plants are not what ultimately turns me on. I ask you readers to consider this, what do you prefer to be turned on by, people or things? I take the people every time, just can’t get too excited about things. Ambiance is good, but I don’t consider it the highest thing on my list for a place to drink coffee.

Drinking coffee is what coffee shops are about. But it is not so simple as that. You can drink coffee anywhere. So what is it about the coffee shop that makes drinking coffee there the experience that it is? The answer is the people. People that drink coffee in coffee shops want to be with people that are also drinking coffee, but more to the point they want to commune with those drinking coffee. So coffee is the hook and the communing is the reason for being there.

Why I find issue with B&B and Starbucks is that there is very little communing going on in those places. Free WiFi glues people to their laptops. The arrangement of furniture does very little do further conversations, particularly for larger groups. Starbucks is even worse, you really don’t even want to hang around with your laptop very long in a Starbucks, seating really only a step above what you get at a McDonalds, and you have to realize that the seating in McDonalds is specifically designed so that you only occupy it for 20 minutes maximum.

A coffee shop should always be designed to be a place of conversation. A place to meet and greet and settle down in conversation. The coffee shop should be flexible enough to allow people to enter and leave conversations, even with people they might not know at first. Furniture should facilitate conversation. If you are a stranger to town a coffee shop should be the kind of place where you can get a cup of coffee and in 5 minutes be part of a conversation. A coffee shop should be the first place a stranger goes to find out what is going on in the town.

I like reading in coffee shops, I like writing in coffee shops. Those are fine solitary things to do in a coffee shop, but what I really want from my coffee shop is community and I don’t believe we have such a thing in Olympia. I know those out there are saying “ooooo, what about B&B? they have community there”. I ask you, next time you are in B&B to pay attention to what is really going on. You will find mostly solitary people engaged in solitary activities. You’ll see a sprinkling of conversation, but you will not find a conversation to join in on within 5 minutes.

There is room in our town for the B&Bs and the Starbucks. No doubt about it. They serve different purposes. But don’t really call these places coffee shops, they may pretend to be coffee shops, they may fill the void when there are no coffee shops, but they ain’t coffee shops, at least in my estimation. If you have enough conversation in a good coffee shop it doesn’t matter how much they charge for a cup of coffee. One cup will last you the whole afternoon in such an environment.

Ethiopian Restaurant

2006-10-22T22:49:00.000-07:00

I would really like to see an Ethiopian Restaurant in Olympia.
Ethiopian food is great. It features a lot of meats that have been simmered in spicy sauces-chiles, onion, ginger, garlic, cardamom- I don't know what else but it tastes spectacular. There are a lot of vegetarian and vegan options as well. Legume stews, various fried vegetables, spicy salads- one need not partake in flesh to enjoy Ethiopian food. In accordance with a culture which places heavy emphasis on socializing, food comes on one communal platter, and there are no untensils. There is a large tangy, pancake-like bread which the dishes are served on called Injera. Small pieces are torn off and used to scoop the food up and pop it into your mouth. It is a very sweet experience to eat this way with friends.
Sometimes the people of this area fancy we invented coffee culture. But Ethiopians have a coffee culture that I think is even deeper and more evolved than the one here in the Pacific Northwest. Like it is in the NW, coffee is a tool for fostering community. In fact, there is an expression in Ethiopia that translates to "Coffee is our bread." But its not just coffee that is taken seriously: it is the friendship, hospitality, and community that is created around coffee.
In Ethiopia, people gather for the coffee ceremony daily. Coffee is not about staying awake through the work day- its about being together. Its a time to invite strangers in. Its a time to gather to bullshit, share news and gossip, and nurture friendships. Its a way of showing respect to elders. Its a time to pause and appreciate the blessings of the day- even if you are working your tail off, even if you are living in poverty.
Once I was eating lunch in an Ethiopian restaurant in Seattle and it came time for the coffee ceremony. The staff came out from the back of the restaurant, and the owner of the restaurant brought out a tray with incense burning, small cups, the coffee pot, and sugar. The customers were invited to join them for the ceremony. Soon she brought out a pot of smoldering coffee beans that she had roasted over the burner in the back. She crushed the freshly roasted beans and put them into the coffee pot with boiling water to brew. The coffee was delicious!
She poured round after round for us, free of charge. Traditional black with sugar, then cream and sugar, then black with honey. The staff, her children, the customers- all were guests for the hour or more that we sat having coffee. In Ethiopia, they do this three times every day!
One thing I love about Olympia's culture is the people who make coffee a daily ceremony, if an informal one. You know where to find them. You know that if you are ever in need of a familiar face, you can at any hour find someone having their coffee ceremony who has time to argue with you, listen to you, cheer you up, or smoke a cigarette with you.
I think its in no small part because of this ritual that the downtown culture of Olympia is unusually friendly, easy-going, safe, and generous. We have created a plot in which these things grow well.
I lived in an Ethiopian-dominated neighborhood in Seattle and it was the same way. People were so friendly and so good to one another. I felt welcomed and cared for by my neighbors.
Anyway, everyone in Olympia is always complaining that we need more restaurants. It seems to me we have an abundance of restaraunts, but we need more types of restaurants. And I think Ethiopian would be a good place to start...

A New Library

2006-10-20T00:44:00.000-07:00

Please join this hot thread on Olyblog to hear what the community has to say about the future of the Olympia library.

An Accidental Downtown Olympia

2006-10-17T17:08:00.000-07:00

I often find myself wandering around flickr.com. In this particular instance I was looking for tags of: Downtown Olympia. Pretty much the usual pictures came up, the lovers statue, Procession of the Species pictures. And I stumbled upon this picture. It was a dream. It was not downtown Olympia Washington, it was downtown Olympia Greece. But it is my vision of downtown Olympia.

People living right downtown, life on the streets of all kinds. The smallest pushcart operator to the largest retailer. Sidewalk cafes, benches and improvised seating. The balconies above the stores are great. You can see that this is a downtown that works. Sure it is a little moth eaten around the edges, but even in the picture you see it has life. There is no disconnect between the street and the life.

This is what this town needs. It was not supposed to be part of my research, but it showed up anyway. What really amazed me about the picture was that I thought I was actually looking a a picture of Olympia Washington at first. I didn't quite recognize the area or the era, but then it occurred to me that it was not our town, still something about it seemed so right.

A larger version of the picture, way bigger can be found at: http://flickr.com/photo_zoom.gne?id=88669854&size=l

2006-10-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

Former Olympian Steve Lodefink shot this 2-minute Super8 film of the trip from Olympia to Seattle in 1988 using stills. The soundtrack is his band Incredible Force of Junior. They broke up. Super8 is such a good medium for Olympia, especially when coupled with an indie pop/punk song.

Note how clear the roads were, and how much more green the areas along the I-5. Watch for the Rainier brewery sign- that used to be my signal as a kid that we were almost there.

Olympia: A Cheap Place You'd Want to Live

2006-10-17T10:28:00.000-07:00

MSN has named Olympia one of their 8 cheap places you'd want to to live in the country. They define a good affordable place to live as a place with a strong economy, a college, and a low crime rate. Isn't something to be proud of that we are a community where you don't have to be rich to have good quality of life? I think that is a hard thing to come by anymore.

Human Feces: Olympia's WMD's?

2006-10-12T23:32:00.000-07:00

By the way, (take note, Olympian reporters) this picture was not taken in downtown Olympia. It came from the website http://madeyouthink.org, where you can order these George Bush poo flags for the price of a self-addressed stamped envelope. Thousands have been planted worldwide, even puzzling German Police , who were apparently unaware of the website, and may still be searching for "the culprit".
I don't know if the makers of the website endorse participants creating their own piles to plant the flags in. I'm fairly certain that the Bush Administration and the Olympia City Council do not. What This Town Needs is united with them on this particular issue.
There are as many piles of human doo doo in downtown as there are weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Let's not create a problem where there isn't one...Um. Yeah.

Regime Change or Weapons of Mass Destruction?

2006-10-12T23:20:00.000-07:00

Originally posted by Crenshaw Sepulveda on Olyblog

It seems to me that the voices claiming that downtown Olympia is such a terrible place are very similar to the voices that got us into this war in Iraq. The lead up to the war had the administration trotting out for public display any voice that would claim that Iraq had these weapons of mass destruction and they were pointed at Podunk, Iowa. So we got the war, killed plenty of people. Of course there were no weapons of mass destruction.

So we now have all these voices saying how terrible downtown Olympia is. Between politicians, business people, writers to the comments section of the Olympian, and reporters for the Olympian. All these voices that say downtown Olympia is awful. But really, downtown Olympia is terrific. Most of the people that I know that see it for the first time love it. They love it even more after continued exposure. So we have this disconnect. What people are trying to portray downtown Olympia as and the real truth about downtown Olympia, and that is that it is a very successsful downtown with a distinct personality and unique mix of mostly locally owned businesses. Our downtown is populated with a diverse mixture of people that add to the life of downtown.

So if it is not the weapons of mass destruction, or in this case the horribly unsafe conditions of downtown, it must be that the people that are making the claims are actually going for regime change. The short story is that big business does not like little business. Big business would give us Applebys, Red Lobster, and the Gap downtown. They would give us sterile shopping districts that would be vacated after closing time. Big business would give us the illusion of safety without actually providing safety. I'll say that again, they would give us the illusion of safety without providing actual safety. Huh? Remove the panhandlers, remove the young street people, remove the interesting characters that populate the downtown area and you would have the illusion of safety. No panhandlers, no bums, no mentally ill people wandering around and all will proclaim that downtown is safe. I hope by now that you know better than that. What we will have is a void in our town after hours, the void will be filled by those that really pose a safety threat to the downtown. Where street life doesn't exist you have the increased potential for trouble. Couple that with the sterility of the businesses that would take the place of our local businesses and you have an environment that is so without humanity that it would drive the most pious to a life of crime.

What we have in downtown is what will make it better. We are well aware that there are people in downtown that need help. Unlike most downtowns I believe that our downtown can do this in the most humane and meaningful way. I say that because I believe that even the poorest of our community are worthy of inclusion in our community. I believe that they may be capable of making the most profound of contributions to our community.

Make no mistake, what is going on is not unlike the run up to the Iraq war. They are saying one thing, but you know what they really want, and that is regime change. Yes we have a war on our hands. It is a war against the poor. It is a war against the small business person that makes our town unique. There is a war because downtown Olympia stands for what big business doesn't. Couple that with the fact that downtown Olympia sits on some very desirable and valuable real estate and you can hear the war machines cranking up.

Out of Town...

2006-10-04T18:32:00.000-07:00

for several days. Expect the blog to be unmanned until next week...Thanks.

Pat Tassoni's History of the Sidewalk

2006-10-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

Its more interesting than the title would suggest...

This was originally posted on Olyblog on Mon, 10/02/2006 - 11:44am.

I was going to do like an academic masters degree thingy on the history of traffic laws as a political social struggle -- but then Asphalt Nation came out and I abandoned any idea that I could be a master of the subject.

Traffic laws come about only with the intermixing of new modes, with the exception of one law founded in christian morality that dates back to the 17th century in America: Under the colonial law sections related to gambling, it is illegal to race horses on Sunday. In urban areas in the late 18th century where there was a conflict between the modes of horses and pedestrians, it became illegal to ride horses on sidewalks. This had more to do with horses coming off the dirty and muddy roads and destroying the raised wooden sidewalks [really porches] in front of buildings. At this point the porches and any awnings were property of the building owner. This private benefit would change to public property as it became the role of government through taxes to build roads and sidewalks during the next century.

Although during the mid-1800s the first speeding law made was to protect the pedestrian from horses so horses could not run through densely populated urban areas, real speed limitations came with the introduction of railroads through urban areas. Another pre-industrial traffic law is still seen today: why the fuck do we drive on the right-side of the road - at least most of us? To regulate too many horses and carriages going over urban bridges that were built to human scale.

With industrialization in the late 1800s came the beginnings of non-dirt roads as people using those new fangled modes of transportation -- bicycles -- lobbied for better roads. So we got brick, cobble stone, granite slabs before the recipe for concrete and asphalt was developed. Olympia still has some stone and brick streets downtown, paved over though. It also became illegal to ride bicycles, like horses, on sidewalks [still wood]. I don't think it is illegal to race them though on Sundays. Personally, I think it is an antiquated law that doesn't fit downtown Oly because there is not the density here as evidenced by the frequent cops riding their bikes around without problems. [Oooo!, I remember once an OPD cop harassing some food not bombs people using a shopping cart and threatening to charge them with the long-standing law of stealing a cart. That law makes reference to a horse-drawn carriage and dates back to a time when you could essentially shoot someone for stealing your horse]. During this time too, urban areas required horse drawn carriages to carry bells and lanterns to warn pedestrians of their comings and goings. Trains too, and then cars.

At the beginning of the 19th century new laws were developed first to restrict automobiles and to protect pedestrians and horses from them. But the rich ended up having continued lobbying effect, roads and cities became paved and the car has won out and pushed away horses, marginalized bicycles and all but criminalized pedestrians in public spaces. The automobile industry also has a history of illegally controlling the development of other modes and destroying the existing ones in their favor. At least Ralph Nader pushed back.

But there was a brief moment in American history when the vast majority of people were by one definition poor and the few cars were just monstrous toys of the rich. Marketplace democracy prevailed for a while as the rich were heavily regulated to keep their cars out of sight and away from people [and horses]. Now we have lost that perspective and our pedestrian rights to the roads and public property.

Eat the rich.

Troy Remembers Bremerton

2006-10-01T23:29:00.000-07:00

I felt a little pang reading this timely post on Troy's Work Table, a (sort of) local blog I am fond of. Is this the ghost of Olympia-future paying us a visit?

"When I wandered around Bremerton two weeks ago, the town in which I grew up, similar memories were stirred by landmarks present and absent. I was taken back to my childhood, my teenage years, my years as a young adult. I wandered by the storefront that once was Harbor Books—a favorite hangout of mine when my brother or sister were taking swimming lessons at the long-demolished YMCA. Thinking of Harbor Books brought a flood of wonderful book associations with the space: browsing and then buying H.P. Lovecraft tomes; picking up the latest Dungeons & Dragons and Traveller modules; looking through the maps and discount books in the loft; buying books by Stephen King, William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, Ramsey Campbell, Clive Barker.

I passed the old Bremer's building, once the department store of downtown Bremerton, and Kitsap County. I passed the corner where Woolworth's with its soda fountain and lunch counter used to stand, now fenced in and claimed in a land grab by Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. I passed the places where the record store and tattoo parlor and the Roxy and Admiral theaters stood.

The dream of Bremerton-past shimmered and then faded. Sepia tone gave way to now: the steel frames of condominiums-under-construction on the waterfront, the new Kitsap Federal Credit Union building, the Kitsap Conference Center, the Bremerton Transportation Center, the Norm Dicks Government Building."

A Call for Visions

2006-10-01T10:31:00.000-07:00

As you may have noticed, I have been dragging up and reposting a lot of comments from folks on Olyblog about the proposed downtown ordinances and the community conversation about downtown.

This issue is so central, and the visions that are coming out of the conversation are exactly what I had in mind when starting What This Town Needs. I can't help but to post all these ideas.

I would like to invite others who have visions for downtown, or comments about this issue to post them on What This Town Needs. Of course, I am not posting everything. WTTN has a certain philosophy and vision for Olympia, so I am interested in comments that are mostly in line with this philosophy. I have certainly posted other people's comments that I don't agree with 100%, but it should essentially be ideas that are, in Crenshaw Sepulveda's words "inclusive and empowering".

If you have differing opinions, Olyblog is set up to be a community forum, so I would encourage you to post there, or feel free to comment on posts here that you disagree with. I publish all comments except those that are crude or threatening, or contain personal information about others.

Broaden the Sidewalks

2006-10-01T10:28:00.000-07:00

Posted on Olyblog by Crenshaw Sepulveda on Sun, 10/01/2006 - 8:18am.

[Bumped to the front by Rick]

If I have a complaint about downtown Olympia (and actually I have more than one) it would be that the sidewalks are too narrow. This is not because there are people I need to step over, because I never have to step over people (what an insulting concept). It is not because the sidewalks are covered with feces and I can not find a feces free spot to walk. The sidewalks are too narrow because they do not adequately function in their intended manner.

Sidewalks are a public space. Their nature is to provide the zone where people can mingle and converse in a public place. People seem to think that the sidewalk is the zone that protects the buildings from the cars in the street. Others view the sidewalk as the arterial on which people travel. Travel on a sidewalk is really not common as one thinks. Think of the people you know that will get in a car to drive two blocks to buy a qallon of milk.

A side walk is a public place. There should be room for outdoor cafes, push cart vendors, peoples making and selling art. There should be benches and improvised furniture on which people can relax. A sidewalk should be what the users can make of it. Getting from point A to point B is just one function of the sidewalk, and probably the least used and least important function of the sidewalk. Lacking a town square, or similar feature, the sidewalk, in its natural functioning, will take over the role of the town square.

Some might begrudge the homeless and young their space on the sidewalk and this is sad. We have to insist that the sidewalk is a public place to be used for a variety of purposes. The purposes are defined by the users. I'm not saying that the sidewalks are intended for illegal purposes but they are intended for people to live part of their public life. I can not say what defines living a public life. It might mean hanging around, chatting with friends, drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes, reading a newspaper, talking on the phone, watching people, napping, resting, shopping, running into friends and people that become friends. Our sidewalks need to be wider, there is too much going on there.

Most cities will make sidewalks narrower as to accomodate more cars on the streets. Sidewalks are sacrificed to provide more lanes for cars to travel. A place dominated by automobile travel will cease to be public places. Good examples are the so called sidewalks around our strip malls and big box stores. If you can find side walks at all in those locations you will never see people using the sidewalk as a public place, indeed it is usually impossible at a strip mall or big box store to use the sidewalk to get from point A to point B.

I understand that buildings can not be moved when roads are widened. Again, the sidewalk is sacrificed. But the sidewalk is the lifeblood of a neighborhood, in many ways it is the sidewalk and the life on the sidewalk that creates the safety in the neighborhood. Make the sidewalks narrow enough and our neighborhoods become strip malls and the functional equivilents of big box stores. Cars can prowl and people on foot will no longer exist or be provided for. Maybe this is the intent of the civic planners. Continue to serve the automobiles (which by their very nature are private spaces using public facilities) and make certain that public lives can not exist. Why a city would want to eliminate sidewalks as public places will take up another huge block of space so I will address that at another time.

"I would make it impossible for the covetous and avaricious to utterly impoverish the poor. The rich can take care of themselves."
^@^

Fix the Perception

2006-09-30T10:44:00.000-07:00

If some in Olympia said it made them uncomfortable to walk by Jake's because they don't trust homosexuals, would we call that a safety issue? Would the Olympian post the statistics about how many gay people there are here, and go on to quote the downtown crime statistics without feeling the need to draw any correlation?
Maybe we would propose legislation that targets "nuisance behaviors" such as hitting on straight men, or wearing disruptively flamboyant or sexually suggestive clothing, or maybe we would ask the city to do a study on how much sex is happening in downtown bathrooms, and what we should do to address this problem. Perhaps we would ask the question about how "sanitary" Jake's is. Perhaps we would quote statistics on the number of sexually transmitted diseases in the gay population, and ask whether advertising a bar as being queer-safe presents a public health risk. Perhaps we would consider an ordinance prohibiting the sale of liquour to known homosexuals.
Please don't think that I am taking that scenario lightly. It makes me sick to think about this kind of stuff happening. And its not an imaginary scenario. Such laws used to be commonplace. Gay people have been targeted by city ordinances very similar to the ones Olympia has recently proposed targeting the poor. Some people believe homosexuals to be dirty, sick, perverted, antisocial, a public nuisance and a safety issue. Bigotry is part of the lived experience of people who are gay.
Thankfully, our community has little tolerance for gay-bashing. In fact, councilman Jeff Kingsbury is in office largely because of this. Not because he is gay, but because he has made himself a leader for civil rights. People in Olympia want an official who will stick their neck out for the marginalized in our community.
Of course, there are a few homophobes that stick around this town and complain that Capital City Pride is "intolerant" of their way of life. They are not taken seriously by the majority here. We know that the "nuisance behavior" when it comes to homosexuality is people who find it acceptable to force others into a life of hiding, and harrass homosexuality out of public life just because they don't agree with it. We don't go out of our way to appease homophobic perceptions of safety.
Jeff Kingsbury played on Olympia's commitment to social justice during his campaign. At a forum on poverty issues, I remember him saying "believe me, I will stand up for everyone's civil rights in this community". I think he really meant that.
Now he is one of the two councilmembers advocating laws that are just as bigoted as the ones described above. Like those above, they are designed to target a certain population by banning activities that are a part of that subculture's lifestyle. Merely discussing such ordinances is a way of implying that this population is legitimately sick, criminal, dangerous, and shameful. The worst thing about this is not the ordinances, but the propaganda campaign it creates around an already stereotyped group of people. It is documented that when these sort of ordinances are proposed, hate crimes against the homeless go up.
We should expect this kind of thing from Doug Mah. He has always been a business-backed official, elected to office to serve the interests of the rich. (As the old folktale goes, "You knew I was a snake when you picked me up!")
But I feel betrayed by Jeff. The progressive community has really backed him. We backed him because we trusted him to stand up for humane legislation, and an inclusive community. I don't think he could have been elected without the progressive/leftist vote. Does he think we will accept him talking this way about the homeless?
We won't. Just as we didn't accept the the way religious extremists tried to discredit Jeff during his campaign.
I'm not just angry about the concept of exploring possible ordinances. I am angry at the smear campaign that Doug and Jeff are unleashing on downtown Olympia. I hope that Jeff will soon realize how wrong it is to indulge bigotry and fear in downtown Olympia.
The council admits that what we have is a "perception" problem. You don't go to the optometrist with a depth perception problem in order to have him move all the furniture for you. You pay the optometrist to correct your perception so that it correlates with reality. This is also the duty of city officials when it comes to people's irrational fear and prejudice. Responding to imagined dangers as real threats will not make our community safer.

First they came for the...

2006-09-30T02:13:00.000-07:00

Posted on Olyblog by Mike on Fri, 09/29/2006 - 7:46pm.

I agree completely that the "issues" disguise the real issue which is some kind of culture war against folks who haven't bought into the "get a job" world. Because I value creativity and think the "get a job" world tolerates creativity at best, and stifles it at worst, I value the folks who are stepping out and really living in the world. I don't care if they are homeless or mentally ill or running from abusive families or some kind of street genius, I can share the sidewalk and the downtown and the whole planet with them. If I have to step over their stuff or step around their legs, that's ok. Lots of the people live in very crowded conditions on this planet, like nothing we would imagine, and yet we are offended if we have to share the sidewalk with somebody who needs to sit down for a bit.

I am not a button down type. I look folks in the eye, smile often at the kids with their piercings and tatoos and crazy haircuts and I feel at home with the people downtown. I suppose I could walk around Dupont, but I don't think I would find it very interesting. I don't think it would feed my soul and help me feel like part of a community like downtown Oly does.

I feel a certain fascism goose-stepping out in the world and it usually starts by trying to get rid of the Jews, the homosexuals, the perverts etc. I am working with two Jews and so far they have been making it to work and not experiencing much trouble, though I think they are feeling a little worried. I am keeping in touch with my homosexual friends and they are still all accounted for so far. I plan to stand up for or sit down with the weird folks who frequent the downtown. I enjoy their company and I know that when they are all gone, the knock will be coming to my door next.

Another One Bites the Dust

2006-09-30T02:08:00.000-07:00

Posted on OLyblog by Crenshaw Sepulveda on Thu, 09/28/2006 - 9:44pm.

I'm wandering around in downtown Olympia, as I often do, and notice that the Taco Del Mar across the street from Sylvester Park is closed. Upon further inspection of their front door I notice that there is some legal document on the door demanding the rent, which was way overdue, be paid. Not long ago the Quiznos near B&B went belly up. Never did like Quiznos, and I never set foot in the Taco Del Mar. I'm not really into franchise operations. I guess many that frequent downtown share my views as the Taco Del Mar never seemed to have many diners. I guess some will blame the closure of these two establishments on the homeless, the panhandlers, the young, the smoking ban, or some other reason. I'm thinking that franchise operations are not a good fit for downtown Olympia. If you want franchise food you can go to Lacey or Tumwater. If you want food prepared by the owner, or owner's family, downtown Olympia is your bet.

A Taco Del Mar costs around a quarter of a million dollars to open. Franchise fees, required equipment, required supplies and the like make this one expensive proposition for anyone opening one. I feel bad for those that thought downtown Olympia was a good place for a franchise operation. I would have told them otherwise, and it would only have cost them a cup of coffee.

Perhaps locating the Taco Del Mar closer to the capitol campus would have made it work. The Subway there seems to be doing well, but I suspect it, too, is not long for this world. I only hope Meconi's will find another location when their building comes down. Which brings me to another point, why is the Meconi's building being torn down. From my perspective it is the perfect southern anchor for downtown Olympia. We still have a way to go in reaching that point, but now it seems pointless. Sadly downtown seems to end, at the southern end, at the former Ramada hotel. What an eyesore, not to mention a building filled with transients. Without a doubt we don't need the Ramada, or what ever it is called today. It is one ugly building, to be sure. It could be rehabilitated if it were turned into non-transient housing, but that is the subject of another blog for me.

Pat Tassoni's Guide to Downtown Olympia

2006-09-27T19:45:00.001-07:00

(Originally Posted on Olyblog)

Submitted by POLDF on Wed, 09/27/2006 - 5:11pm. *new

This is not meant to be objective -- when you're targeted, you have to have an opinion

I am Pat Tassoni and have been in Olympia for over 30 years, which is longer than most of the transients we call the Olympia City Council, who came in the 80s. I have lived and worked in historical buildings downtown for the past 20 years. I have been fighting city policies that target the poor for nearly 15 years now.

Simple facts:

2000 - Time magazine declares Olympia "Hippest" town in West [because of downtown]

2002 - Downtown business owner's son murders and dismembers frequent transient [his head is still missing!]

2004 - Major insurer declares Olympia 4th safest city in the nation [they set their rates to their word]

2006 - Micro-chain Mcmenamins buys the Spar in downtown for a sizable amount of cash [obviously they aren't worried about the boo-hoos]

Downtown History

When I was a kid, my parents used to bring us downtown to shop -- and there were department stores here -- JC Penney, Mongomery Wards, Sears to name just a few. Where did they go? Well our city officials, the forerunners to the current council, in their grand wisdom pursued a policy of sprawl and allowed the Capital Mall to go in the early 80s. And all the stores left downtown -- in fact the city made it easy for them to leave -- so downtown was pretty empty in the 80s. Me and my friends used to come downtown to skateboard and ride bikes because the streets were empty. Also during this time, affordable housing was being demolished and in some cases buildings were renovated to suit businesses. The city of Olympia was slow to respond and has scarcely replaced the number of units that were lost. And during the late 80s is when the downtown walking patrol was formed -- before that we would see a cop every two hours downtown, and they were mainly confused as to why we were there at all.

Over time businesses and state offices have filled in downtown, but not quick enough and not enough to satisfy those who want to pretend everything in the economy is right. Small businesses still have to compete with the malls and big box stores. The council has been so concerned about downtown that they have passed a number of laws to restrict individual behavior, but haven't yet reversed their decision that caused the problem to begin with -- They need to restrict business behavior and stop sprawl. And local businesses need to support and even lead that movement if they ever want downtown to be an area retail center again. [Capital Mall historically has been the most called for police services of any place -- probably still is. Be afraid of the mall!]

Over and over again, the spectre of 'public safety' has been raised to pass new laws, but it's shooting itself in the foot by constantly bringing up how dangerous downtown is in the hopes to project how safe it is there. And it's been going on for the past 20 years. And each time they promise it will fix everything!

The first wave was targeted at youth and increasingly so at the poor and homeless.

============================

Local History 101
What Your Money Buys In Downtown Olympia

This guide is an attempt to help you spend your dollars wisely in Olympia. As citizens we must realize that one of the realities open to us is to vote with our money and let companies know what you are/are not buying and why. We don't just buy a product with a purchase; we not only support an economic system with it, but we also support the working conditions and the political environment of the company as well. This guide is meant to help connect you with the history of activism that has gone on here and continues to go on throughout the world. Not everything in the world is covered here, and nothing was intentionally left out even though much is left out. There are no easy answers and this is not meant as a substitute for grassroots organizing on behalf of the environment, workers, and other facets of our world and society.

Local stores keep money local, however, promote certain agendas and have taken sides on social issues. Some downtown businesses have formed the Olympia Downtown Association (which is funded in part by the City of Olympia) and have initiated and lobbied the city to enact certain targeted laws (at homeless and\or youth):

* 1986 - Criminalization of Skateboarding Downtown

* 1987 - Outlawing of Teen Dance Clubs Downtown

* 1990 - Criminalization of Loud Car Stereos

* 1991 - Outlawing of Cruising Downtown

* 1993 - Criminalization of "Aggressive Panhandling"

* 1994/5 - Attempted Stop of Transitional Housing for Homeless (Fleetwood)

* 1995 - Proposed Criminalization of Car Camping
- Proposed Outlawing of Fortified Wine Downtown

* 1996 - Outlawing of OAPP Needle Exchange

* 1996/7 - Attempted Banning of Sitting on the Sidewalk Downtown

* 1999/2000 - Criminalization of Graffiti

* 2001/2002 - Proposed Criminalization of Camping
- Proposed Criminalization of Car Camping
- Proposed Outlawing of Fortified Wine Downtown
- Attempted Establishment of Panhandling Zone

* 2005 - Downtown designated 'Business District' and gives extra funding to ODA

Below the good news (+) comes first in each category followed by the names of businesses that have taken bad social justice positions on particular issues (-). Businesses have over time changed ownership from the time of these issue and they are marked by "~" to indicate such:

Businesses in Support of Graffiti Walls

(+) Supporters: ~New Moon Cafe, Dumpster Values, Midnight Sun, Old School Pizzeria, Olympia Film Society, Otto's Bagels, Thekla

(-) Opponents: The ODA

No Sitting On The Sidewalk City Ordinance

(+) Opponents: Always Safe and Lock, Brown & Balsley Sign, Olympia World News, Cascadia Research, Childhood's End, Danger Room Comics, Earth Magic, Five Corners, Fuji Teriyaki, Haut Hats, Jamie Lee & Co., K Records, Kill Rock Stars, Kundalini Coffee, Midnight Sun, Mini Saigon, Old School Pizzeria, Tee's Me, MIXX 96, Whole Earth Imports, Working Systems Inc., YoYo Prod.

(-) Supporters: The Spar, Washington Center, Dean Whitter's, ~King Solomon's, Gold's Gym, Coast Office Supplies

The Fleetwood Low Income Housing Project

(+) Supporters: Traditions Cafe, David Stein & Associates, Thekla, Danger Room Comics, Electric Rose Tattoo, Five Corners, Olympia World News, Fish Brewing, Budd Bay Realty, Radiance, Archibald Sisters, Jamie Lee & Co., Looks Hair Design

(-) Opponents: Applebaum Violin Shop, Audio Northwest, B&B Auto, Bartels, Castle Enterprises, CD Connection, Chattery Down, Coast Office Supplies, Cuda Construction, Deskoba Inc., Especially Made Designs, Hodges Inc., Jinjor, JR Roofing, Key Bank, Koehler's Furniture, Little Richards, Lynch Paint, Olympia Printing, Panowicz, Pizzazz, Salvation Army, Storman's (Bayview and Ralph's Thriftway), ~Urban Onion, US Marine Sales, Walt's Radiator, Washington Center, Washington Travel, ~Wind Up Here

Farmworker Boycott (WA Winery)

(+) Supporters: Ben Moore, Chattery Down, Gardner's, Henry C's, ~Patrick's, ~Urban Onion

(-) Particularly nasty opponents include Budd Bay, Genoas, St. Martin's, Coast Office Supply, Olive Garden

Farmworker Boycott (OR's PCUN Gardenburger)

(+) Supporters: Olympia Food Co-Op, TESC, Budd Bay, ~Darby's, Sara's Kitchen, Pipers Lady

(-) Opponents: ~Urban Onion, Falls Terrace

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgendered Rights

(+) Active Supporters (as advertised in Capital Q): Altered States, Archibald Sisters, Batdorf & Bronson, Darby's Cafe, Hannah's Tavern, Jamie Lee & Co, Mike Cook's Antiques, MIXX 96, Olympia Food Co-Op, S. Don Phelps-Attorney, Radiance, Rainy Day Records, Shakti Cove Cottages, Sigafoos & Witcher, Thekla, Tumwater Travel Service, Wild Grace Arts; (also see Pink Pages)

(-) Anti-Union Establishments: ~Urban Union/Elysse's Potpourri, The Spar, Capital Coachman, Henry C's, Burrito Heaven

(-) Anti-Native Establishments: (with a Smoke-Shop Indian Carving): The Spar, Cigarettes Cheaper

>>> Over 60 business opposed the recent formation of the downtown 'business district'.

Loiterer's Freedom Lobby

2006-09-25T23:34:00.000-07:00

There is no activity on God's green earth that I enjoy more than loitering in downtown Olympia.

As I have explained before, downtown Olympia is not only a safe and beautiful place. If you sit on a corner long enough doing nothing, something interesting inevitably happens. Usually it happens in the form of someone talking to you. It might be someone who you see all the time but have never talked to. Or it might be someone you do business with regularly. Or it might be a street person.
Most street people are interesting to talk to, and often they are not accustomed to being listened to for very long. Given the opportunity, they will often talk at some length. I've had conversations with street people about politics, parenting, spirituality, animals, love, money, homelessness, you name it. I couldn't really generalize what these conversations have been like, because they have been various and numerous. Sometimes they have been profound. Sometimes they've been bothersome. Sometimes they have been hilarious. But usually if I converse with anyone I don't know, I find out something interesting about them, and the homeless are no exception to this.
One time I was on the bus and the man across from me kept talking crazy. He kept telling me these vague, grandiose things and I just kept smiling and nodding. He didn't seem to add up, as far as I was concerned. He told me he could tell me how to get a million-dollar education for free. "Oh yeah?" I humored.
"Yep, " he promised. "You can learn from the greatest doctors, scientists, historians, professors, brilliant writers, the greatest minds in the world-all for free. You can learn to write poetry, you can study the universe..." etc., etc.
"M-hmm."
This went on for fifteen minutes.
"I'm serious," he said. "You want to know the secret?"
"Sure." Let loose with it already...
"The library. All the greatest minds in the world have their knowledge contained in books. You can read these books for free. It is the greatest education available."
I smiled, a little stunned. F-ing brilliant.
Often if you listen long enough, street people will come around to telling you about their troubles, and why it is they are on the streets. I have been brought to tears many times listening to Vietnam vets' tireless rantings, or listening to young teenagers eloquently describe lives too horrific to belong to someone so young. The stories usually involve heartbreak, death, abandonment and/or unspeakable violence. You can learn about all the ugly underside of our society by listening to these stories. You may have never known that there was so much bad fortune in this great country.
These stories are very important. The people who are on the streets can map the ills of our society with perfect clarity. If lawmakers spent more time loitering and taking notes, I have no doubt we'd have a more just, more sane, and more peaceful society.
But instead they want it outlawed. They want to outlaw my right to a pasttime that is sacred to me: My right to sit around in busy places and do nothing. I'll be goddamned if any politician is going to tell me that we have no right to freely assemble and lay idle. Does only busyness belong in downtown? Would they have no haven for meditation, introspection, or shooting the shit?
The city lawmakers responsible say they want quality of life in Olympia, but clearly they have no idea what quality of life looks like. Because loitering is a major player in quality of life. What is a life of quality with no empty hours, no wandering, no picnicking, no daydreaming, no benches?
Loiterers, arise. If there is one time not to loiter, it is this week. Our constituency must take action to protect our way of life. Please come to the city council meeting at city hall this Tuesday at 7pm, and especially make a strong showing at the Town Hall Meeting on Thursday September 28th at 5:30pm at the Olympia Center. (Arrive on time for the free pizza and loitering hour.)

Ode to the Littlest Big City

2006-09-19T23:15:00.000-07:00

The town of Olympia, WA is considered by insurance companies to be one of the safest communities in the United States of America. Not only is it safe, it is a pleasant and unique place.
Downtown Olympia is a treasure, home to the highest concentration of local businesses in the region. City planners visit Olympia to learn from our model of a vibrant downtown.
Our locally-run stores vary from funky thrift shops to antique stores to upscale boutiques. We have the Olympia Farmer's Market known throughout our region as being one of the best. We have the Hands-On Children's Museum, a creative and educational place to take the littles when the rainy season hits. We have Fish Tale Brew Pub, where you can bring a jug to be filled with good local ale. Good local-roasted coffee is available almost everywhere (except Starbucks).
But Olympia also has something very special and unique. It is not a store, its a spirit. Olympia's spirit is very unique and creative, which is why we are internationally known for our DIY music and arts scene.
Tourists often comment that Olympia is a small town with an urban feel. I would call Olympia the littlest big city around. (Population: 42,000)
Like all big cities, Olympia has many different types of activities and events going on all the time.
Downtown Olympia is a wonderfully spontaneous place. In addition to our local shops, you will see many underground enterprises in downtown.
You might see the musician in the "will sing for cookies" hat, or Viola, who sells temporary tattoos. Sometimes local farmers will peddle their produce downtown out of the back of a truck or a bicycle basket. You will see creative enterpreneurs doing many unexpected things downtown. You will see the Manium, the black-painted concert venue, owned by Duane, the landlord of over 30 black-painted properties in Olympia. There are even two restaurants that share a space: New Moon Cafe operates for breakfast and lunch, and Quality Burrito uses the same restaurant at night for late-night burritos.
Olympia's economy is far from conventional.
Downtown Olympia is also characterized by generosity. Generosity is expected-its part of our way of life.
Almost every successful business is heavily involved in sharing its prosperity with the community, and citizens in our town donate their time and art prolifically.
Perhaps the best example of this is the Procession of the Species a completely non-commercial parade, where 3000 local residents dance or march as animals and plants in elaborate home-made costumes through downtown, attracting 35,000 spectators. (Pretty good turn-out for a town of 42,000.)
Throughout the year, rain or shine, you will see black-clad punks riding around on bicycles with heavy baggage every evening. This group of community members, called Done and Done (or EGYHOP), collects donations of socks, jackets, sleeping bags, food, and first aid supplies and are on the streets every night distributing them to folks in need. No one funds this organization, and no one "runs" it. It has been operating for five years without funding or formality.
On Columbia Street, across from Olympia Supply hardware store is the Olympia Free School, another volunteer-run organization where community members offer free classes and workshops to anyone who wants to learn a new skill. Classes include cooking, music lessons, foreign language, reading, arts, and more. The Evergreen State College may be our most well-known alternative education institution, but the Free School is the most generous.
Anyway, already I have written a long post trying to describe a little of the flavor of our precious downtown community. I should just begin regularly profiling the great projects and businesses and people who I see around town, as one post could never contain them all.
The reason I want to write this is because recently there has been a lot of local talk about improving downtown, and making it more economically viable. I could not agree more with this plan. We need more flourishing businesses here, and more entry-level jobs, especially living-wage jobs. I think there is much we could do to creatively bring more vibrance to our community.
But sadly, some people (including several of our city council members) have been perpetuating a bad image of downtown, calling it dirty, unsightly, decrepit, and even unsafe.
Politicians have been saying these things, though they are not true, as justification to make expensive deals with out-of-town developers and big business.
If history is any teacher, we know that these kinds of deals will NOT bring economic viability to downtown, though they may line the pockets of developers like Steve Cooper and politicians like Doug Mah.
There is a poster in the window of many retailer windows in Olympia that says: a dollar spent locally generates $5-$15 in the local economy, but when a dollar is spent at a chain store, 80% of it leaves the community immediately.
When I think of flashy corporate business deals being touted as good for our economy, I remember the Olympia Brewery being bought by Miller in 1999. This was supposed to be great for "our" economy, and the cities gave Miller a great deal. They immediately removed the Oly Beer sign, and replaced it with theirs. Three years later the plant closed and every one of its union workers were laid off. Miller said the brewery was too small to generate profit, but it is more likely that the deal was a way to stomp out a union-dominated competitor. Miller made a deal that disallows any company from brewing beer there ever again. Who's economy is that good for?
When it comes to downtown being strong, healthy place where small businesses are successful, no one is a greater advocate for that than the local people who love this place. But one thing we will not accept in regards to our town is slander, especially if that slander is part of a campaign to sell Olympia's spirit right out from under her.
Start telling the truth, Olympia City Council. Downtown is safe, beautiful, inclusive, vibrant, and viable, and thousands of people already know it. Denying it will not bring more dollars into downtown, but declaring it will.

Permatopin'

2006-09-17T23:51:00.000-07:00

I have never really used the word "permaculture" before. I always used to think of permaculture as being one certain type of thing- trends like cob building and composting toilets. It was only recently that I realized permaculture is about everything that I think and write about. Common sense solutions, win-win situations, workability, and social harmony are all qualities of permaculture.

So my new thing is permaculture websites. I'm not embarrassed about that.

This one had this cool little map of what "permatopia" would look like. I don't really believe in utopias. Things in real life are messier and more complicated than all that. And if there is one thing that I have learned from living and working with people, its that there are many ways of doing things and its seldom you find a group of people who agree on even the most basic of things. So I don't really believe that this little chart is the key to saving the world. But I think ideas like some of these may catch on and save the world little by little.

Olympia's Heart: A Coalition of the Willing

2006-09-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

We have choices about how to approach problems in our community. We can look at a thing like crime or homelessness (problems not as synonymous as people think)and decide to place responsibility for it on those responsible. No one can tell you not to blame the guilty, if you want to take that upon yourself. But how do you determine, for instance, who is responsible with regard to homelessness? Many believe that the individual is responsible for their own circumstances, however difficult. I guess I believe that too, on some level. I've seen people be unreasonably decent as often as I've seen the opposite, and I can only chalk it up to free will.
But if you spend much time working with homeless people trying to get off the streets, you find that many of them are stuck in catch-22s. For instance: the state has determined that they are unable to work due to a serious disability, but their monthly disbility income is less than $400 per month, and there is no subsidized housing available.
Or they have been clean from drugs for a year and a half, are attempting to regain custody of their children and right those they have wronged, and a felony drug charge keeps them from getting a job, getting into any apartment in town, or going to school.
Or they are so traumatized from war or abuse, and have been repeatedly retraumatized on the streets, that they have lost all sense of common reality and cannot recognize a single ally in their life. Maybe it seems like they need to just get over it. I have found it very hard to say that to someone who was raped by their parent as a child, or who has seen other humans blown apart in war. I just don't know what it is to live in the aftermath of something like that.
I can no longer approach human beings as either responsible or not. I have had the privilege to know many bad people. Bad people have changed me. I have known and cared about people who were meth dealers, sex offenders, child abusers, schizophrenics, junkies, and "homeless-by-choice".
Perhaps that sounds backwards to some people. I don't condone the bad things people do, or trust everyone I know to do good. But I encourage every person in the world to take on having a deeper look at bad people. Resolve to not see them as bad. I have known some very good bad people. I believe its only when people can be seen as good that they can take on the responsibility for some of the bad things they have done.
Most of us have a side of ourselves that we'd rather not be defined by. It is a wonderful public service to refuse to define others by the worst things they do or have done.
One thing I value about Olympia is that I think a lot of people feel this way. When I am downtown, I know the business owners, baristas, bums, stay-at-home-moms, street kids, police officers, bus drivers, librarians, musicians, even the drug dealers. We say hello to one another. We grow accustomed to our routines together. Someone drives the 47 bus, someone begs on that particular corner, someone opens shop promptly at 10:30, someone drinks coffee and bullshits Sunday mornings, someone always orders the same thing and leaves the same tip. We notice if someone disappears for a while. There is a shared sense among a lot of the Olympia community that we all belong here- that we're part of a whole, and that Olympia would be incomplete without any one of us.
I cannot tell you how much that means to me. I would never want it to be any other way. Everyone should know their neighbors in this capacity. Everyone should know their town crazies by name, and worry when they don't see them for a while. When you are a part of this you have a family that is greater than your bloodlines. It feels amazing to have so many people matter to you.
There is cruelty here, like anywhere. There is pretension, racism, insanity, desperation, loneliness, violence, bad manners. But there is also a huge number of people who choose to allow every imperfect and unlovable person to have a place of some honor in our community. This "coalition of the willing" does not represent every resident of Olympia, but we are, I believe, her heart.

Welcome, Mr. McMenamin!

2006-09-14T21:32:00.000-07:00

McMenamins is buying the Spar! Music to our ears. Current owner McWain has been one of the most outspoken jerks in town for quite sometime, and downtown is hungry (as always) for more hangouts than the bars. I think McMenamins is pretty sure to deliver a good show. I know it is not locally run, but I think it will be a tasteful and profitable business that will honor the character of downtown, and this is an endangered species anymore.

If we could just get him to buy Batdorf and Bronson....

B & B, what happened?

2006-09-06T20:36:00.000-07:00

Michael Nutter Jeweler (from Vancouver, WA) has moved into the space next to Batdorf and Bronson coffee shop, furthering the gentrification of that block.
The owner has informed B & B that the smoke from out front bothers him, so B & B has obligingly removed all the outdoor seating and thus they suck even more.
Rumor has it that the owner has a beef with the notorious and lovable Long Hair David, a regular in the outdoor/smoking section in front of the coffee shop. He apparently started something with LHD the other day, grabbing Long Hair's bicycle to remove it from the space in front of his shop. When LH objected to this, jeweler turned to him and said, "I know who you are. My brother's a cop."
Sometimes I just fear for the future of our town, when there is not a spot on the marble sidewalk left for any chain-smoking, cranky eccentrics.
It couldn't be that jewelery guy's complaints about the sidewalk-sitters has something to do with his Long Hair Dave vendetta, could it?
The verdict is still out on whether the change is permanent. It will be an interesting test as to what kind of prestige is more powerful in this town...

Percival Landing Makeover

2006-08-24T23:47:00.000-07:00

The city has found some starting money to revamp Percival Landing. All in all they are talking about an 18 million dollar project. I want to see Percival Landing stay operational, but I must admit, hearing those kind of numbers makes me a little queasy.
I just keep thinking, man, just $3 million could put down payments on 60 houses for low-income families. Or that $18 million could be used towards making Budd Inlet a liveable habitat for fish and people. Maybe rotten docks would be sort of cool...
There is just so much money available for building projects, and so little for human need...Or fish need. It makes me feel hopeless.
Even I am tired of hearing myself talk about this. And I know that I know nothing about how these things work, and you can't just take money out of one pot and put in another. But I still keep thinking it whenever I hear about these sort of projects. It just seems so decadent and wrong to spend money this way in this day and age. They say there won't even be a downtown in 30 years if we don't stop global warming. Maybe we should spend our boardwalk revival money on keeping Percival Landing on land...
I guess if we move forward with this thing, my one request is that they make one of those parking lots or green patches into a town pool. If they refuse to clean up the Sound, they could just throw us that one bone. Its getting hot here.

Making Time

2006-08-19T22:55:00.000-07:00

I was at the Olympia Eastside Coop yesterday and when I went to check out, there was a new volunteer cashier. She made a minor mistake and accidentally charged me a small amount too much. She quickly got a staff member and he told her how to correct it and went back to his work. But he did not walk her all the way through the process, and she accidentally charged me the amount again, rather than voiding it. Another customer got in line, and she apologized to them, and told them her line would be a bit held up. She wrang for the staff member again. Another customer got in line. Fixing the problem went on for a few minutes, and all the while she seemed to get more and more flustered by the whole situation, and kept apologizing profusely to me, the staff member, and the other customers.
Meanwhile, the staff member kept calmly assuring her that it was fine, and courteously apologizing to other customers. I just kept thinking about how much I value having a worker-member coop, and how much I appreciate people showing consideration and friendliness to one another, which is one of the hallmarks of the coop.
This girl felt so horrible that she dared not know how to do everything perfectly, and that it was taking up an extra five or so minutes of my precious time. Why do we live this way?
My friend recently told me that he thinks the new measure of prestige is not money, but busyness. In our increasingly bureaucratic and corporate society, people have started to measure their value not by results or money, but by how busy they are. What we are busy with is not the issue.
That is why many people do not have time to have a trainee cashier, or a volunteer anything interrupt their most important schedule. If the schedule is interrupted by some poor person on their first week in a service job, they are met with outrage. Slowing up a transaction is tantamount to stealing in this day and age.
I am so much better of a person since I stopped being "busy", i.e. too important for daily life.
I am still busy, of course. Life fills every minute of every day.
But now I value being busy with unbusyness. I am busy being generous with trainee cashiers. I am busy listening to canvassers talk about their issues. I am busy being available for my friends' unanticipated crises. I am busy making time to stop and loan out jumper cables. I am busy having thoughtful, rambling conversations with my child. I am busy checking my blind spot before I merge. I am busy making time for my mistakes, and for compensating for other people's. I am busy taking time to know my husband's daily thoughts. I am busy making time for people who can't make it across the crosswalk before the red hand stops flashing.
The push to cram more and more work into the precious hours of our days is robbing us of courtesy, gratitude, peace, and love for our neighbors. Each time we slide another meeting or shift in another slim column of our day, we are ripping ourselves and the world off. I suggest we take a new approach to time, where quality leads, and we cushion our schedules with time for the spontaneous and untamed, the methodical and painstaking, the contemplative and generous-all the pastimes and qualities that make a life a good one- let's fill our planners with those.

Wednesday Outdoor Ball

2006-08-10T00:03:00.000-07:00

I was invited to a kid's party at the interactive fountain today. I forgot- as did the other parents- that the interactive fountain is closed on Wednesdays. I don't know why it is closed Wednesdays. The fountain is closed but the park is still open.
It was a bit of a sad sight, all these kids in their bathing suits on that big, dry, flat surface. But being kids, they were unfazed. They began drawing little designs with sidewalk chalk around all the holes that normally squirt out the water, and blowing bubbles. And getting glammed out in their swimsuits with feather boas and tiaras and cowboy boots and the like. And popping balloons which made a terrific bang with the acoustics down there...Ouch.
I decided that we need to hold a ball periodically at the weekly fountain-turned-outdoor-dance-floor in Heritage Park. There is room for a band. This will be a wonderful opportunity for people in Olympia to get out their neglected formal attire. But it will, of course, be in the Olympia Way. Children may wear tutus. So may adults. People of any gender may wear tuxes or satin gowns or high heels as appropriate. Prints and corduroys and cowboy boots are all acceptable. Homemade or scavenged formal wear is most encouraged. In fact, the only rule is that you MUST wear something that makes you feel most festively and extravagantly yourself. Tiaras for all!

Edible Parks

2006-08-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

I walked down our long driveway today and discovered that the blackberries are ripe. I love this time of year. You can find the invasive Himalayan blackberries growing in residential alleys, empty city lots, and clearcuts all over the Pacific Northwest. Any patch of land that is neglected will soon be consumed.
Every yard and wild place is positively dripping with bountiful produce this time of year. Blackberries, (which people pay top-dollar for in other parts of the country) are abundantly available. Plums, cherries, and pears are easy to come by as well.
But why are our parks so barren of these delights?
Sidewalks are covered in bleeding berries grown too soft and heavy for the bush. You can actually smell them everywhere. But not at the park.
I think we ought to allow some areas of Heritage park grow over with blackberries. We could prune walkways into them to make them easy to wander through and pick.
And we should plant fruit trees everywhere.
Silly that anyone should bring a picnic to the park this time of year. Much better to have the picnic await them there!

Public Places to Swim in the Olympia Area

2006-08-03T00:59:00.000-07:00

There are a few.

Deschutes River: (from I-5 and Henderson Blvd.)Drive (or bike) out Henderson Boulevard until you get to Yelm Highway. Stay on Henderson. Pioneer Park entrance is on the right a little ways down. You do have to hike to the river, but its real close to the parking lot. There are lots of spots. Keep hiking until you find the right mixture of seclusion, pooling, and sun-warmed water. Innertubing is fun. Be careful, and watch kids carefully-the current can be strong. There is also a soccer field at Pioneer Park.

Black Lake: (From hwy 101 and Blacklake) Drive out Black Lake a couple miles. Turn left on Blacklake-Belmore Rd. Follow this another 2 miles. Turn right on 66th. 66th will take a sharp left just before the park. Kenneydell park entrance is on the right. There are picnic shelters and ample beach. Usually quite a crowd.

Munn Lake: (Newly discovered!) Follow the directions above to Pioneer Park, but stay on Henderson another 1/2 mile or so until 65th. Turn left on 65th. Park on the street-the lot is for permit-holders. Nothing fancy- a small boat launch and itty bitty gravelly beach. Quiet, pretty warm, and weedy. You can also fish there. If you like hidden spots, this one is for you.

Burfoot Park: From downtown Olympia, take Plum Street to East Bay Drive, which turns into Boston Harbor Road. Continue six miles. The park is on the left at 6927 Boston Harbor Road. Watch for the park sign. (If you arrive at Boston Harbor, you went too far.) You have to hike down a little ways from the fields and shelters. Its salty and barnacley and sometimes jelly-fishy. But I don't think its sludgy. I really like it there. Good beach for combing, sunbathing, and playing, too. Beautiful Puget Sound!

Chicago Rooftops and the Smallness Revolution

2006-08-02T14:22:00.000-07:00

Crenshaw Sepulveda left comments about the Richmond rooftop gardens that resonate with me...Aching to live in a place so humane...
I can relate. As much tenderness as I feel for this little town, there are such depths of the Olympia Way we have yet to experience.
What can we do to encourage this type of growth, beyond planting nasturtiums on our apartment window sills?
When it comes to rooftop gardens, the city of Chicago has a very interesting project. Of course, in Chicago, heat is a big issue. Temperatures in the summer are unbearable, and the city is like a solar oven with all that concrete. So they started using green rooftops as a way to naturally cool the city. They aren't "gardens" in the sense that you can't actually walk around in them. Most of the rooftops are still not accessible to people. (It takes much less structural support to carry just soil and plants without people.)
A side effect of this project which traditional air conditioning lacks is that you can now look out a Chicago highrise window and see a sky meadow beneath you with wildflowers blooming. Isn't that sweet?

Perhaps our city will adopt such a program in the future. But in the meantime, we can begin small.
I believe more and more that smallness is not ineffective. Smallness is flexible, attainable, and efficient. I think that if we ever have a revolution that saves the world from destruction and frees humanity from its plight, it will be a revolution of smallness. Small projects inspiring other small projects, and on and on. Here are instructions from the Journey to Forever website on how to make gardens if you have no soil. Included are instructions on making a vertical garden, as well, if you have very limited space.

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

2006-07-29T22:44:00.000-07:00

See? Anti-sprawl doesn't mean anti-growth. Au contraire.

Libraries and the Homeless

2006-07-28T20:57:00.000-07:00

This was originally posted as a comment on an Olyblog thread by Crenshaw Sepulveda, but I thought it deserved its own thread, so I have reposted it here:

For as long as there have been public libraries the libraries have provided refuge for the homeless. A truly democratic government service, the public libraries serve all that avail themselves of their services. One simply has to enter the library to be entitled to the services it provides.

Service to the homeless has gone hand in hand with the provision of library service. This is not their mission, to be sure, but maybe it is time the library realizes that this has been an untended part of their mission for over a century. As a former library professional I fully understand how libraries have approached the homeless in the past. Libraries realize they will serve many of the homeless. They also want to mitigate the impact of the homeless on the service whenever possible. Many libraries institute rules directly to mitigate and govern the behaviors of the homeless. For instance a library might prohibit large backpacks from the library. This is something many of the homeless have. The impact of the rule is that the homeless with the backpack will be reluctant to use the library if they have to leave their pack unattended. To be sure a large and cumbersome backpack might provide some minor hazard to other library users in a crowded environment, but the net effect is to prohibit such homeless from the library. There are many other examples, but you get the point.

What libraries have to do now, and in the future, is to embrace their role as providers of services to the homeless. No more punitive rules to keep the homeless from the services. But they must do more. How much would it add to the construction of a library to provide a Urban RestStop on the grounds, an Urban RestStop being public showers, laundry, safe storage of belongings, at the minimum. The URS could be staffed by volunteers.

Public libraries must embrace their role in services to homeless. Libraries need to stay open longer. I know for many of the homeless the worst hours they face are the hours after the library is closed. As a government agency the library has proven to be the most empowering of any govermental agency, with out a doubt. Let us see the library become more inclusive and embrace their role as being a positive force in the lives of the homeless.

"I would make it impossible for the covetous and avaricious to utterly impoverish the poor. The rich can take care of themselves."
^@^

Library Kiosks!

2006-07-27T23:05:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on Olyblog by emmettoconnell

Last night at the General Government committee meeting, another topic brought up by Jodi Reng, library director for the Timberland system, was the possibility of placing a couple of library service kiosks around town. That would take pressure off of the downtown branch.

My initial thought would be to put kiosks in the two high schools in Olympia. Both are far enough from the downtown library to provide geographic diversity, and as you'll read below, I think there is something awfully cool about libraries and schools coming together.

Kiosks are basicaly mini-libraries that have been succesfully used throughout the system in non-library settings:

"The kiosk will provide Timberland Library services to both the Center’s students and Hawks Prairie area residents," said TRL Director, Jodi Reng. "Developed and designed by TRL’s Computer Services staff, the kiosk is the first stand-alone library services station to combine a library catalog and information computer with a self-checkout station. It’s efficient and economical," said Reng. The cost for the two-station kiosk was a little under $5,000.

Timberland library services available at the Kiosk

TRL cardholders can:
Place holds on Timberland library books and other library materials and request delivery to the Hawks Prairie Center.
Pick up and self-check out the materials that have arrived for them.
Return TRL materials in the book drop outside the Center’s main entrance.
Check their library card accounts, including the status of materials they have reserved.
Search the TRL catalog for books, DVDs, music and audio book CDs and cassettes, and more.
Search full-text magazine and newspaper articles and reliable reference resources.

Briggs Urban Village

2006-07-27T22:01:00.000-07:00

I am interested to see what happens with the Briggs Urban Village. The 810-home development will have a grocery store, and a cute little pretend "downtown" area, and a 6-acre preserved nature area along Ward lake. (Does this mean the public will finally be able to swim there again? It used to be such a great swimming spot.)
Also, I am wondering what will happen to the Chambers Prairie Grange in all of this. Its been shut down for a while and is in need of fixing up, but it is a great grange with a kitchen and dance floor. I've been wondering if anyone was going to buy it and make it into something cool.
I must admit, I wanted to hate the idea of the Briggs village just out of principle. I mean, how can housing developments be a good thing? But I looked at the Briggs website and the plans are far superior to regular housing tracts.
Condominiums, duplexes, townhouses, and single family homes are all included, with preserved "open spaces", an old-fashioned, commmon sense idea that is now considered revolutionary and new.
There will be no apartments or affordable homes. Everything there will be exorbitantly expensive. In fact, those of us who are renters and not yet rich should probably just leave the county now, as we will probably never be able to buy in our hometown. However, it will not be gated, and the developer said, rather ironically, "This is a welcoming community."
Here is what I don't understand: why is the city in support of development of new mixed-use neighborhoods when our existing neighborhoods have zoning that makes commercial development and higher density housing so difficult to create? Is the council looking into changing our residential zoning? They should.
I really hope this place doesn't end up looking like Disneyland. Like New York City: its a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there.

Site Temporarily Neglected

2006-07-16T20:18:00.000-07:00

I am travelling and haven't had much time to post. I will be back on the 26th of July.

The Olyblog Candidate's Platform

2006-07-06T22:43:00.000-07:00

Originally posted by Rick on Olyblog:

I've started to collect the great ideas that people have proposed [on Olyblog] on a single page that someone new to the site could easily access. I'm working off memory for the most part, so I need some help to make sure we got all the good stuff that has been discussed on the blog. I'm thinking mainly about long-term ideas such as infrastructure improvement or better tools for building community (but I'm open to other suggestions). You can see what I've pulled together so far here.

Nazi Rally Surreal

2006-07-05T13:33:00.000-07:00

If you didn't make it to Monday's National Socialist Movement white power rally in Olympia, you missed out on a surreal experience. The rally was advertised on the NSM website as being a HUGE all West Coast nazi meet-up. They boasted a sound system that would be heard in Tacoma. The picture above literally shows what the scene was like. A dozen nazis in full WW2 regalia, awkwardly adjusting their formation and whispering to one another, surrounded by a barricade built for them by the state, 150
feet of "protective" space, and 275 state troopers in riot gear guarding them. What you can't see in the photo are the several hundred counter-protesters. Scary people. Sunhats, batiked dresses, percussion instruments, pictures of Ghandi, clowns. I would have wanted riot police too.
The clowns seemed almost superfluous, as the nazis did such a good job of mocking themselves. It turned out their sound system could not be heard in Tacoma. In fact it could scarcely be heard over the counter-protest's kazoo band.
Not only did they convince the state that they needed this excessive show of security, but they also were furnished with private public transportation. Did you know such a thing existed? Neither did we, but apparently it does for white supremacists!
And as critical as I am about the taxpayer expense of private buses to and from the Washington state capital for a dozen fringe extremists, I wonder if it might not be a good strategy for getting better public transportation in this town. Could we, for instance, call Intercity Transit and say: "I am going to be going to the Brotherhood Tavern on monday for the Tune Stranglers show. I will be carrying a large swastika flag. Do you think you could arrange a ride for me? And
maybe some armed escorts as well?"
After all, its tough being a white supremacist. People are always trampling all over your rights just because you believe in genocide and aryan world domination. White guys need a lot of protection in this cruel world.
What was almost as unexpected as the incredible government indulgence of this event was the way the neonazis talked. I was entirely unprepared for this aspect. They used their eeeeviiilest super villian voices. They screamed growlingly into the microphone(think 70's demonic movies) things like, "Cowards! Cowards! Cowards! We are recruiting thousands of white youth! Our army is growing! We will take this city, this state, this world!" Wa ha ha ha ha. Very strange.
They were so theatrical that I thought they must be engaged in some kind of bizarre
performance art. The only one that was at all believable as a real neonazi was Justin Boyer. He
didn't use some silly voice, he just looked scared sh*tless. I actually felt bad for him. I am not saying that just to insult him. It was already pretty pitiful with the 12 of them and the riot police and all, but when Justin started to speak, all shifting and stuttering, it was so uncomfortable that even the counter-protesters got kind of quiet.
The entire rally was basically an embarrassment to the Nazis, the state of Washington government, and every Olympia local who witnessed it.
I think it might have been a lot better on LSD, though.
On Tuesday, the NSM was asked by a reporter about how they felt about the huge show of opposition to their cause by the Olympia community. They merely stated, "We'll get you next time, Olympia!!!!!!" as they roared away on their Nazi-cycles.

A Conversation with my Six-year-old

2006-07-02T12:03:00.000-07:00

Do you know why we're going to this event today?

Why?

Because there are some people who think they are better than other people just because
people aren't white or are Jewish, and they're going to have a rally here.

Or because they're brown?

Yes.

And those people are the nazis.

Yes. How did you know that?

I've heard people talking about it.

What do you think about that?

I don't like that they are doing that. Because I'm brown, and I feel good of myself! And I love my mommy and I would be lonely without her, and she's white and I'm brown! You would miss me too, if I was gone from you, right?

Yes. Very much. You are the perfect daughter for me.

I don't like the feeling of people saying they are better than me because I'm brown.

...So that's why we are going to this event. To say no to the nazis and their rally.

Yes! Say no to the nazis! ...Will ___ [Caucasian friend] and her mom be there? Do they like the nazis?

No. They will be there to say no to the nazis. No one that we know likes the nazis. Everyone who we are friends with says no to the nazis.

Especially ___[Native American friend].

Yes.

Poll of the Week

2006-07-02T11:19:00.000-07:00

What do you hope to see come out of this week's neonazi presence in Olympia?

Racism and Hope

2006-06-30T00:44:00.000-07:00

I went to a talk tonight about prisons and racism. It was a panel discussion followed by a lively
community dialogue.
It got me thinking a lot about who the Nazis really are. And really, I have more background in common with them than I do with my representatives in congress. More than almost anyone I see on TV. Maybe even more than with the average Evergreen student.
They are just poor white kids, ripped off of the opportunities they want, and buying into a lie about the reasons for that. They are no more the problem with this country than soldiers are
the problem in Iraq.
Sometimes I have a great sense of hopelessness. Neonazis are just the tip of the iceberg. I think a great many people are pretty happy with racism, so long as its not directed at them. Regular, respectable people. Even people of color. This depresses me.
I want so much for us to have something better than this-better than racial profiling, detention of Arabs, police brutality, ghettoization, English-only education, Indian casinos, supermax prisons, and poor white kids putting on Hitler outfits and assaulting their neighbors.
I want us to rise up and take some of what we've earned. But I don't think that's possible without the help of the same kids who are going to be down at the Capitol building on Monday waving a swastica flag like a bunch of
buffoons. And I don't think its possible so long as many people condemn those kids but secretly snicker at racist jokes, and secretly thank God for white privelege landing them a job with benefits.
We can have better than this.
I have to find hope that its possible and even probable that these nazi kids are going to wake up and start using their white power for good not evil. They are my people, and realizing this both saddens and inspires me.

The New Manium (Update)

2006-06-29T14:33:00.000-07:00

I recieved this comment from wolvesinthethroneroom:

Jade. Its Nathan Weaver. Remember me? Mayday, Options etc. I am the manager at Manium and have been since it opened. I have to say that everything in your post is completely inaccurate. Devin True style professional promoting? Another Bar Code? $500 person capacity? We are doing all the booking? This is all news to me…. I hope you know that I’d never be involved with such lameness.
I would just write you and explain further but I cant figure out how to do that on this weird website.
But for the record everything you said is totally not true. If you want to call me please feel free...

Wow, I feel like a real asshole. Maybe I should spend more time listening to people I know in real life rather than copying and pasting every stupid rumor I read on MySpace and commenting on it. Apologies to the Manium, (old and new) and my friend Nathan Weaver who I've known since I was seven.

Outdoor Movie

2006-06-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

I think it would be great to have an outdoor showing of the Great Dictator one night during the upcoming NSM rally.
Its a very funny movie.

We would need:

A downtown apartment or office we could project the movie from.
A projector.
A copy of the film.

NSM vs. SCA

2006-06-23T23:44:00.000-07:00

Recently, a neo-nazi was posting on Olyblog, and at some point he mentioned that the National Socialist Movement answers to the SCA in Washington state. He was in fact, not talking about the Society for Creative Anachronism, but nonetheless it caused a bit of confusion for those of us who don't fancy ourselves part of the neo-nazi scene. I got a good laugh, though, imagining Jim Ramm and his little battalion standing and saluting before an Arthurian council.
I got to thinking...

Key similarities between the National Socialist Movement and the Society for Creative Anachronism:

Both are organizations for geeky white people.

Both are Eurocentric.

Both have pretend hierarchies that they are obsessively committed to.

Both fancy historical garb, weapons-collecting, and practice fighting.

Both discourage real killing, though in the SCA maiming or murdering your opponent will actually disqualify you from membership.

Key Differences between the NSM and SCA:

SCA stresses historical accuracy, whereas the NSM denies the holocaust.

SCA members recognize that having your own kingdom is just a fantasy, albeit a time-consuming and expensive one.

You don't actually have to be white to be in the SCA. I was just joking about that.

There is such thing as a cute, lovable nerd. NSMers do not fit this profile, SCAers often do.

SCA members have better vocabularies. For instance, ruffle an NSM member and you might hear: "Eat n**ger sh*t, you k*ke-loving, c*nt-eating lesbian commie b*tch." or on the internet, you might get 4 pages of "HEIL HITLER!!!!"s. Whereas an SCA member might say, "Lick my blood-boltered leather, thou lumpish, reeky, tardy-gaited codpiece!" , and they'd rather settle disputes in the ring with a wooden sword than by crapflooding.

The SCA is a good way to make friends. The NSM is a good way to be taken advantage of by crazy sociopaths, beat up by SHARPs, and further alienated from society.

Would not the SCA be a more appropriate group for dejected white outcasts of Olympia to take part in? I encourage neonazi visitors to this site to check out the SCA website. You might find that participation in a good, educational hobby is plenty white powerful.

Why the Iraq War is a Local Issue

2006-06-22T01:13:00.000-07:00

I've been hammering on this issue for so long, but Phil just made this great post on Olyblog that really summed it up.
Its incredibly frustrating for me to hear people complain about our local government addressing the war, arguing that it is not within their sphere of governance. As if we can draw some sort of iron curtain between something so huge as this conflict and our own individual lives. Like the war is something that exists only in imaginary places like Newsweek and blue maps of the globe. Don't people get it?
There is nothing in this world except localities, connecting to other localities, and when they form a huge web, and something huge enough happens that it touches many of the localities, we call that an "international issue". These places that we hear of in Iraq are all local. Tikrit is somebody's sweet little town. Fallujah is somebody's beloved city.
This is part of the beauty of the Blogosphere. There is something both so chilling and so real about the fact that you can read someone's diary from across the world. Not someone who's diary gets published by Penguin- but one regular person's undiscovered thoughts, among thousands. We are starting to get it that we live here together. Baghdad is not an imaginary place. And neither is Olympia.

Phil's post, titled Support Your Troops, originally posted on Olyblog:

In the last three years since the start of the Iraq War, it has become common to see anti-war protesters standing on opposing street corners from pro-war activists. Sometimes there are visible differences of clothing and hairstyles. Generally the differing worldviews, above and beyond opinions on the war, are strong enough that you can taste them.

Both sides, however, have latched onto one common slogan: “Support Our Troops!”

This slogan is bandied about on either side of the street as though the other side somehow doesn’t get it. In spite of their fervor many of the rally attendees have, no doubt, stepped over the bodies of disabled veterans while walking to the rallies.

I got a call the other day from the Ranger newspaper asking if Bread & Roses had seen any veterans from the Iraq War yet. We haven't. I had to be honest with the reporter. I told her that it takes time for troops' families to give up on them.

People come home from war totally mangled in mind, body, and spirit. In spite of all the sloganeering out there, the responsibility for the welfare of veterans ultimately falls on their families. Many, many families are unable to shoulder the responsibility. This doesn't make them bad or irresponsible, nor does it mean that they don't love their veteran. It DOES mean that taking care of a person who doesn't sleep at night, who suffers from flashbacks, who turns to alcohol for solace, and who becomes sorely irritable, even prone to fits of rage, is EXTREMELY difficult and should not fall on family alone. But it does fall on family alone, because everyone else is too busy sloganeering.

With time, the families give up. I know this because we at Bread & Roses have fed, sheltered, comforted, and advocated for veterans of every war from World War II to the Persian Gulf War. And we are criticized for it.

Veterans who suffer from PTSD often turn to alcohol or drugs to ward off bad memories, as well as to blunt their emotional response to being alienated from society. Imagine enduring the horrors of war for your nation, and then being left to rot in the gutter as a reward. You’d start drinking too.

2006-06-20T21:15:00.000-07:00

Residents of New Orleans protest in a neighborhood of affluence the city's move to turn low-income housing into mixed-income housing. Many of the already poor people of New Orleans lost everything in the hurricane. They are in danger of being gentrified out of the urban area during reconstruction.

Poll of the Week

2006-06-17T20:16:00.000-07:00

Where do you think Nazis in Olympia go for fun? I mean, when they're not hosting hate rallies, they must hang out somewhere.
(NSMers: Please feel free to respond. I know there are a couple of you who actually live here.)

Heritage Park's Romantic Restaurant

2006-06-17T18:27:00.000-07:00

I went and walked around Capitol Lake last night. I have some mixed feelings about Heritage Park, but there are many things I really like about it. I like the nutria, I like the apostrophe-shaped thing that goes out over the water, I like the brick sidewalks and little wooded spots. I don't know if I like them in the range of the 18 million dollars that it cost, but I like them.
Wandering around at dusk, I ended up over by the old train depot. (That white building off Water St. by the train tracks) I think the General Administration offices used to be housed there, but right now nothing is housed there except some spiders, and possibly a skillful squatter or two. It is totally deserted. I have no idea why.
I looked in the windows and it is actually really nice inside as well. It seems like a terrible waste of great real estate.
It would make a really beautiful restaurant. If I ran it, the restaurant would be cheap, yet romantic. That is something we have a lack of in Olympia, I think. Romantic places. I know the idea of a romantic restaurant is not very revolutionary. But it would be so nice.
Besides the obvious it-being-on-a-lake, there are some other factors with great romantic potential there.
The location is very romantic. Its not really on a street. Its more on the park itself, so it would has this very comforting style where you could sort of accidentally wander upon the restaurant. Romantic as hell.
You could use the back parking lot (currently piles of dirt and rubble) for a veranda. We need more places with outdoor seating in this town. Outdoor seating is so romantic.
Its also next to the raiload tracks so the occasional little train might come drifting by at 2 miles per hour and you could watch them coupling cars in the "yards", and then heading off through the tunnel, towards the Port. Its all romance.
Since the property is owned by the state of Washington, maybe the revenue from the restaurant could be used for some sort of project. Maybe the place could be a vocational program- staffed by kids coming out of foster care, or folks transitioning off the streets.
Maybe you could order New Orleans red beans and rice for $1.50 per plate, making the place accessible to the frugal and humble alike. Somehow it must be in keeping with the Olympia Way: "Inclusive and empowering."(Crenshaw Sepulveda)

New Rules Project

2006-06-15T10:15:00.000-07:00

Rick posted this on Olyblog:

The New Rules Project:

Why New Rules?
Because the old ones don't work any longer. They undermine local economies, subvert democracy, weaken our sense of community, and ignore the costs of our decisions on the next generation.
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) proposes a set of new rules that builds community by supporting humanly scaled politics and economics. The rules call for:

Decisions made by those who will feel the impact of those decisions.
Communities accepting responsibility for the welfare of their members and for the next generation.
Households and communities possessing or owning sufficient productive capacity to generate real wealth.

These are the principles of "new localism." They call upon us to begin viewing our communities and our regions not only as places of residence, recreation and retail but as places that nurture active and informed citizens with the skills and productive capacity to generate real wealth and the authority to govern their own lives.

South Central Urban Farm

2006-06-14T09:50:00.000-07:00

44 people were arrested yesterday at South Central Urban Farm, the largest urban farm in the country. They were obstructing the crews that had arrived to bulldoze the farm for development. Over 300 Los Angeles residents farm this 14-acre green in the middle of one of the most sprawling concrete places on earth. In this city, breathable air and fresh produce can be expensive to come by. For the residents of South Central, this farm is more than a beloved neighborhood attraction. It is the fruit of their hard work, and the source of their family's sustainance. The sign in the picture reads "Destroy the Farm, Destroy our Humanity". It is clear from the pictures of the rally- women sobbing as the bulldozers converged, young people standing a few feet in front of the city's cherry picker, people being dragged away screaming from their plots-the sign does not sensationalize-this resource is truly precious to this neighborhood.

2006-06-14T09:07:00.000-07:00

Activists in Lansing, Michigan wash their capitol steps after a neo-nazi rally.

Inside of a dog it is too dark to read

2006-06-12T23:55:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on Olyblog by Crenshaw Sepulveda

Of the many places downtown I find that I have a special place in my heart for the library. I know that it is a crappy late 70’s building and it is way overcrowded. Actually I kind of like the crowd. It tells me that Olympians really use their library. I like that I see people from all walks of life there. And though it is a late 70’s vintage building it seems to have taken on a special character due to the people that frequent it. Besides it is right next to Fertile Ground and Media Island and the cool street furniture and art at the intersection, and you all know how much I love intersections.

We do need a new library, not to reduce the crowds or the proximity between users, I like the cheek and jowl that goes on at the library. Any new building would represent what the community wants in the library, hopefully from the get go. No doubt it will evolve from there. I suspect that there will be a new library in our future. I’d like to see a larger library, to be sure, with more materials available on the shelf. I’d like to see more room for the various functions that currently require rationing by the library.

I’d also like to see that the library, when the new building is built, provide some new services for the public. I’d like to see later hours. At least to midnight. I’d like to see year round Sunday hours. I’d like to see public showers. Huh? Hey, if you are going to build a building from the ground up it is at that point you add the features needed by the community. One of the things that the homeless need in Olympia is a place to shower, and also do laundry. So adjacent to the library, when it is built, I’d propose a wash room, staffed by volunteers where people could shower and do laundry. The library, by its very nature is a drop in center for the homeless, and a finer place I can’t imagine. Let the library be more humane in the future, longer hours, a place to get clean and to clean up your act.

^@^

[Jade commented:]

I've long been a fan of libraries and the library profession. (You may have heard me go on my Washington Law Library tangent.) If there is one thing we can be proud of innovating as a country, its the library. Libraries make me truly proud to be an American.

I also like the crowdedness of our library. I like the awkward tension that you get when you have to step over someone or squeeze by them in the aisles. I mean, I don't like it in a perverted way. I like it because you feel like like you know someone's secret-they are in the same 100 of the Dewey Decimal system as you. Its like you're part of some conspiracy of people having an affair with the same non-fiction.You politely pretend to not notice what they're reading, but internally you take note.

While the internet has many wonderful benefits, it will never offer that.I appreciate technology, but analog is my first and greatest love. And the library is the best that tactile, analog information has ever created.

I have long been an advocate of replacing our (so-called) education system with libraries. If libraries had all the resources of schools, then academics would be hired on as references. We would have floors of our libraries just dedicated to brilliant minds as human references. We would end compulsory schooling and private universities all together. All you would need is a local address and learning would be free. (As long as you returned your borrowed materials.)

We could librarize other resources, too. Someone I know told me that at their home-town library you could borrow framed art for a period of three months. I've seen libraries where you can borrow puppets and toys.In the Boston area the libraries give away a limited number per day of free passes to local educational and historical attractions like museums, gardens, and the aquarium.Tools, art supplies, media equipment, moving trucks?

I concur, Crenshaw. We should fund the bejeezus out of the library. Its at once the most effective government project to date, and the most successful revolution.

Portable Greenhouses

2006-06-11T15:36:00.000-07:00

(Originally posted by DrewHendricks on Olyblog.)

Trellis and tube structures, very much like clear plastic tented greenhouses on wheels, parked on vacant lots downtown and turning sunlight, CO2 and water into Oxygen, food, and soil. They're mobile, so when the vacant lot needs to be used for something else, you can push them along to their new home. There is always some spare land around, Capital is terribly inefficient with land. You don't have to own land to make it produce, and you don't have to grow plants in soil either - hydroponics work.

May the Loudest Man Follow

2006-06-09T23:27:00.000-07:00

Something that seems to happen frequently at marches: The march begins, and the loudest men charge quickly to the front of the crowd, shouting chants and raising their fists. I start out in front, trying stay with the marchers, but soon I am hobbling along, baby on hip, diaper bag hanging from my shoulder, and dragging some ridiculously large sign that my daughter insisted on holding only to refuse to carry it anymore. My chant is weaker then the men's up front, who's hands are free, but for a megaphone. I am a bit out of breath. Pretty soon, my kid starts whining about the walk, or begging for juice, or meandering towards traffic, and I am further diverted from the forward momentum of the rally. A lot of reporters want to take my kids' pictures. Everybody asks if its their first protest and I say, "No,"...but I am wishing it was our last.
After a half hour we are inevitably at the very end of the march. The crowd keeps bolting along, but as I look around, I see all the other people with small children are also straggling behind. Also people in wheelchairs. There is a frantic energy in the back. No one is chanting. We gave up on that a long time ago. We are simply rushing to follow the loudest-men-led crowd, which is moving at a pace that seems break-neck to us with our automated chairs, or unwieldy loads, or sobbing toddlers. The police are closer to us in the rear than we are to the rest of the march. We get all of their bored, rolling-eyes stares, and curt little motorcycle siren blips. We can hardly hear the chants anymore.
And I think, isn't this what's wrong with everything in the first place?
At my revolution, the slowest people would lead. Mothers should be in the front anyway. If we listened to mothering, everything in the world would be more peaceful, and more empowering. Plus, mothers are so much better at making sure no one is left behind.
I am not saying that the loud men couldn't be fighting, too. But at my revolution, they'd be in the back. So they could protect us from the police, and so they could keep all of us in their line of sight- so they wouldn't forget to remember the women, the elders, the babies, the disabled, and the quiet people. Plus, we need to have their loud voices in the back so we can hear the chants. They should be chanting for us, not away from us! They should be marching to us, not leaving us in the dust!

2006-06-09T02:32:00.000-07:00

Police Watching For 'Green Terror'

OLYMPIA, Wash., June 12, 2004

Firemen walk past vehicles at a car dealership in West Covina, Calif. damaged in an August 2003 fire blamed on arson (AP)

Quote

"We have to take (the ELF threat) seriously, and one of the reasons is that this group has claimed credit for a fair amount of criminal activity in the past several years"
Tor Bjornstad, a police commander in Olympia, Wash.

(AP) The FBI has told law enforcement agencies across the country that radical environmentalists may stage protests, possibly violent ones, this weekend in support of a jailed arsonist.

The FBI bulletin said the Earth Liberation Front reportedly was planning a "day of action and solidarity" that could include acts of eco-terrorism, according to Tor Bjornstad, a police commander in Olympia, one of several cities named as possible targets.

Some of the others were Eugene; Ore.; San Francisco; Modesto, Calif.; Morgantown, W. Va.; Portland, Maine; Worcester, Mass.; Lake Worth, Fla.; and Lawrence, Kan., Bjornstad said.

The general warning was part of a weekly intelligence bulletin the FBI distributed to some 18,000 law enforcement agencies on Wednesday, said Bill Carter, a spokesman in the FBI's Washington, D.C., headquarters.

No specific targets were identified in the bulletin, Bjornstad said. He said his department contacted what it considered potential targets, including auto dealerships, building contractors and the Port of Olympia, which exports timber.

"We have to take it seriously, and one of the reasons is that this group has claimed credit for a fair amount of criminal activity in the past several years," Bjornstad said.

ELF has been linked to fires and vandalism at agriculture research labs, logging operations, car dealerships and construction sites. The group has defended its actions as efforts to stop companies from profiting from exploitation of the environment.

A Web site titled "International Day of Action & Solidarity with Jeff 'Free' Luers" featured a list of events planned for Saturday, including protests at SUV dealerships.

Jeff Luers is serving a 22-year sentence in Oregon for a 2000 arson at an auto dealership and an attempted arson at an oil company.

The Olympian Wants You

2006-06-08T18:57:00.000-07:00

The Olympian is seeking to fill its two community members positions on its Editorial Board for the next four-month service period beginning in July. Self-nominations from all interested community members are now being accepted through 5pm on Friday, June 9^th.

To learn more about the Editorial Board and these community positions, please go to http://news.theolympian.com/opinlinks/volunteeredit.shtml.

Self-nominations should include why you want to serve on the Board and what you would bring to its deliberations. Letters should be sent before Friday’s deadline via snail mail, email or fax to: Editorial Board, The Olympian, P.O. Box 1219, Olympia WA 98507. The e-mail address is news@theolympian.com and the fax number is (360) 357-0202.

Dreamers Wanted

2006-06-07T23:54:00.000-07:00

Thurston County's "Dream the Dream" forum happened yesterday. The forum was intended to be a diverse group of local residents, including business-owners, creating a plan to end homelessness in our county. According to the Olympian, however, the dream of the forum wasn't fully realized, as it was mostly attended by the same people who already work on these issues everyday. Few from the private sector attended.
I admit, I was amongst the non-attendees, though I had entertained the notion of going for a while. I found myself facing my own cynicism. The same kind of cynicism that had people name the forum, "Dream the Dream". I thought, "Yeah, keep dreamin, dreamers." And I felt that it would be too sad to go and spend a whole day thinking about homelessness.
I worked in the poverty industry in this town for several years. It was my blood, sweat, and tears for a while. I quit about 6 months ago. And for some reason yesterday the idea of facing the overwhelming obstacle of homelessness absoloutely filled me with unspeakable despair. I don't know how I got this way.
I used to be so fired up about it.
But now I find myself thinking that I could not stand to be in that room and watch people spin their brilliant visions of hope, only to watch the same problems continue in our community. Whatever great shelter they create, or streamlined services, or new rehab program, its still going to be the same groups fighting over the same slice of the pie, and it will never be enough.
What do I do about this?
I know there are others who feel the same way. That's why we do nothing. That's why we avoid looking street people in the face. That's why we throw money at them, or lobby to get rid of them. I know I am part of the problem. How do we face this horrible grief? How do we find the strength to do anything?

I am really at a loss of cool ideas right now.

The Olympia Way

2006-06-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on Olyblog by Crenshaw Sepulveda on Sun, 06/04/2006 - 1:24pm.

It should be no secret to anyone that I love Olympia. I also want it to become a better place. I will harp on the issue of Olympia becoming more inclusive and more empowering until my dying breath. I am a simple person, generally driven by this concept. I make no allusions that I know everything, nor am I stubborn about looking at issues from other sides. But I am dead set on Olympia becoming more inclusive and empowering.

What I like so much about Olympia is that it is not like any other place I have experienced. I have lived in a great many of the great cities this country has and visited even a greater number of them. This is no better choice for me than Olympia. There are other places I could be happy, to be sure, but no place I have a greater respect for, or affection for.

We see places around our country or world and wonder should not Olympia have this or that. Indeed, there are many things that would be interesting to have in Olympia. The thing is that Olympia has her own way. I do not see her doing things because it is cool in Santa Cruz or Providence or Timbuktu. I see her doing things because they are inclusive and because they are empowering. I will bring ideas to the table that may have their origins in cool places, you can count on me for that, but in the end nothing matters unless the ideas are inclusive and empowering.

Olympia has her own way. Can not always pin her down. In the end she will be like nothing else and she will always stuggle to be only who she is.

Nazis finally give me credit

2006-06-05T18:16:00.000-07:00

Jim Ramm, Nazi leader with the NSM sent me this e-mail:

SO you are replacing Sarah (who is afraid to tell her
last name) as Olympia's latest blog-villian? Good! The
gang from the NSM are here to give you a warm welcome.
See you at the next Oly Unity meeting.

Mission accomplished.

Poll of the Week

2006-06-03T19:12:00.000-07:00

I am deferring to Machete Red this week. In her comments about the Port, she wrote this:

If we open up the entire Port property for private or semiprivate ownership, or a land trust or something, we can build from the ground up. Square one. Start visioning now. What do you want to see on that property? Pretend that the Port Commission, in their last act, is giving away the land... what is your vision for this area?

Town Hall

2006-06-02T17:11:00.000-07:00

originally posted by emmettoconnell on Better South Sound

Have you missed me downloading the city of Olympia council packet and telling you what I find interesting? Might not, but I've missed doing it. So, for next week's meetings, here are the highlights.

1. The general government committee met last week to start planning the next Town Hall meeting, it will be September 28 and they're trying to come up with some stuff for us townies to talk about. Here are their suggestions:

Olympia as the Capital City - Olympia’s proposed 2007 State Legislative Agenda
Put Sustainability into Action - Solid Waste Master Plan (How to Achieve a Zero Waste Goal by 2025)
Improve the Effectiveness of Government - New City Hall
Invest in Downtown Olympia - Staff will provide an update at the meeting of possible topics

Huh, not exactly the burning topics of the day, are they? The only one that sounds interesting is the New City Hall, to me though. Last time they had a packet (sorry, didn't write about this one), I noticed they mentioned the 2007 city budget as a possible topic. While this part of the city process should have a "town hall" or participatory flavor to it, it shouldn't be part of the Town Hall meetings process.

In terms of your comments below, feel free to say what you think the city council should talk with you about on Sept. 28.

By the way, why are we only having one of these this year? In an non-election year, we should have at least three of these. Then we wouldn't have to worry about picking a topic, we'd have enough time to cover everything.

2. Speaking of town hall meetings, in the matrix for the upcoming Neighborhoods (associations) Town Hall meeting next week, there is a spot for "libraries," and a mention that the general government committee will be meeting with Timberland folks in July, maybe to talk about a new library. I have to get me to that meeting.

3. Speaking of neighborhoods, it looks like the city is planning to change the way they do neighborhood planning. In the document in the packet, there aren't many specifics, but there is a mention of formal neighborhood plans and seeking to streamline how people interact with the city government. Sounds pretty cool, I'll be interested to see how it turns out.

4. For the folks in Northeast Olympia, specifically at the corner of 8th and Pattison out by the Hospital, looks like the city is buying you a new park out there. Or at least some land for a park. How nice for you. The four acre park will cost the city about $500,000. Not bad.

There it is, what I found important in this week's packet. If you feel like you missed something, feel free to spend a few minutes and download the entire thing yourself. Its 30 MB of fun this week.

In terms of your comments below, feel free to say what you think the city council should talk with you about on Sept. 28.

Visionary Art Museum

2006-06-01T22:26:00.000-07:00

American Visionary Art Museum, is located in Baltimore, MD. (One of my favorite parts of the country.) In their own words:

"Visionary art as defined for the purposes of the American Visionary Art Museum refers to art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself." In short, visionary art begins by listening to the inner voices of the soul, and often may not even be thought of as 'art' by its creator.

Exhibitions have included themes such as: We are Not Alone: Angels and Other Aliens, and HolyH20: Fluid Universe, and Race Class, Gender \Character:
"Throughout history, visionaries have dreamed of a world where their characters are not judged, their creative potential is not limited, or their livelihoods are not proscribed by factors of race, gender, or economic circumstance."
Its hard to even imagine how cool this place really is. Since we are accustomed to "high art" concepts, rather than visionary art, its difficult to imagine all of what they might be talking about. Think the Procession of the Species, or that guy in Centralia who's yard is decorated with all that metal stuff. Included at the AVM are things like art cars, their annual "BraBall" event, and a place for ridiculously gigantic sculptures. I highly recommend visiting their website, and if you can swing it, the museum itself.
It is unpretentious, wildly creative, revolutionary, absurd, spiritual madness.
Do you have a guess as to where I am going next with this? That's right... Olympia needs a visionary arts museum! We have millions of artists, many untapped. We already have a start with the Procession of the Species. We just need a building, a curator, and about ten more projects to sustain it.

Peace Tourism

2006-06-01T12:16:00.000-07:00

Olympia has drawn the attention of the world as members of our community put their bodies in front of Stryker vehicles being shipped to Iraq, attempting to halt the militarization of our port. (Read the statement about why from the mouth of the horse, Olympia Movement for Justice and Peace.)
The ship left this morning carrying its supplies. Our fame only lasted a split second. The attention span of the world is short.
The port commisioners are likely pulling out their hair, nonetheless. They still had high hopes for that sports and convention center, and notoriety just ain't selling to tourists these days. Who wants to go to a Bridal Expo at the site of a world-famous tear-gassing? I guess its unlikely they'll be erecting a plaque.
But who knows? Maybe this kind of attention is exactly what Olympia needs to jump-start that tourism industry we've been talking about for years. After all, what was Crawford, Texas before Cindy Sheehan started Camp Casey, bringing thousands of activist-tourists including names like Joan Baez, Martin Sheen, and Steve Earle? When else have you heard of a town of 705 drawing that kind of crowd?
What was New Market, Tennessee before the Highlander Center?
And what was Faslane, Scotland before its peace camp that draws thousands of internationals annually, and has existed for over 20 years? It was a "hamlet", that's what.
Perhaps we should set up camp at the port, and invite the world to join us in our actions. Perhaps we should set up a convention center that looks more like the Highlander Center, a place for activists to come and learn organizing skills, and for pacifism conferences, and anti-racism conferences, and anti-globalization conferences. Maybe we could fund it through a partnership between the Evergreen State College and the city. What do you think, Olympia?

Sanitizing Olympia

2006-06-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

Submitted to Olyblog by Crusty on Thu, 06/01/2006 - 8:12am.

Does anyone think Olympia is getting a little too sanitary? I do. I fear the community is getting a little obsessive compulsive about trash and bad influences and transforming the town into a role model for the entire state. Someone mentioned the Farmer's Market, and I had to agree. I am in and out of the market in a flash where I used to linger. They don't allow dogs. They don't allow smoking. Most of the tables are square in the sun. People push and shove or walk like snails and I don't like crowds. Many of the prices are jacked up and they are lacking in diversity for local homemade things at reasonable prices. I'm not sure why, but I think the boothes are too expensive. Consequently, the supply is restricted and doesn't fully feature the community's wares or artisans.

Art is a luxury I choose to afford when I can. But I tend to frequent Earth Magic, the cooperative gallery near the lake or local Natives that I know. I have my own hotlines. Antiques are another love but I buy those mostly in Centralia. Olympia is too expensive and the stuff is more filtered for affluent collecting. I like plain old stuff without a lot of value. I like business owners who bargain a little when I buy gifts. I have a jewelry lady in Centralia that I've used for three pair of special earrings. She always knocks down the price and I keep coming back. I will go there again for a wedding ring for my husband to be. Olympia lacks a lot of choices and I personally hate malls.

Everyone talks about Sylvester Park. I love the park but there aren't enough benches in the shade. And I know in the past that the police chase people off. That bothers me and I feel odd being there, like I am disloyal to my less affuent friends. I don't frequent any establishment that sanitizes people. I do go to the park because they have water for the dog. But I sit under shade trees and leave the few benches to couples, the elderly, and homeless needing a nap.

Hug the Pipe

2006-05-31T19:26:00.000-07:00

Originally posted on Olyblog by Crenshaw Sepulveda

If I had a top ten list of cool things about Olympia (wait a second I do have one) the artesian well in the Diamond parking lot downtown would be right up there near the top of the list. The fact that it even exists is amazing to me. Here is this huge company that has parking lots all over the region and they allow this well to spring forth on their property. I spend a lot of time at the well and I'll tell you that people from all walks of life make use of it. I see people drive up in BMWs drive up and fill a couple of water bottles. I see homeless people shuffle up to the spout and take a drink and wash their faces. Almost every one I've talked to at the well has a story. Some claim miracle cures to the waters. Some just like the community they find at the well. A whole set of etiquette has evolved around the filling of bottles. I've never seen such a cooperative process. Kids with body piercings cooperating with lawyers and state officials here at this one magical spot.

It is a magical place, the Olympia Artesian Well. I will not vouch for any cures the waters have, but it often cures my soul. Water is the most fundemental thing in life. Sure we have those nay sayers that will pipe up and say, yeah what about air? But let us face it, without air we ain't around very long, couple of minutes at best, and once you have been air deprived you ain't coming back. Water, however, is generally available, but in a pure form becoming scarce. Heck people actually pay for the stuff in half liter bottles that if sold by the gallon would cost more than gasoline. So here we have this Diamond Parking company, I'm sure it is a multimillion dollar concern, and they let this pipe sit in their parking lot for all to enjoy. I almost get religious about the significance of the act. To some it is just some pipe sticking is asphalt spewing out water. To me it is like holy communion. A communal sharing of a life giving resource. A true mixing of every walk of life engaging in this sacred act. Shut me up if I get to corny.

Urban layers, The Rockford Files and the Beach Boys

2006-05-31T17:55:00.000-07:00

I was going to post this at Olyblog, but they seem to be having some major server issues, maybe they are under attack, I don't know. Any way it is called:
Urban layers, The Rockford Files and the Beach Boys and it goes a little like this:
It seems that I become involved with the local Urban Layers group here in Olympia (thank you Jade). I get in trouble when I start thinking, but thinking is what I've been doing. The urban layers concept is an easy one to describe, from their own website they say "What We Have In Mind: A collectively run mall in downtown Olympia housing local businesses and services that will fill social and economic gaps and bring more vitality to the downtown area." What a concept, right up my alley.

And I've been thinking about the Port of Olympia and what an absolute waste of space, time and money it is. So I'm thinking, like a lot of people have been thinking, that the port stop being a port and become a part of downtown, albeit the northern reach. What a location for the Urban Layer. What a location for a new Olympia library. What a location for the artesian well. What a location for a trailer park.

Huh? Trailer Park

I know that trailer parks have been given a bum rap in the past. I have often been known to make trailer parks and their residents the butts of my jokes. But then I started thinking. I don't watch much TV but I remembered the old Rockford files and the trailer on the beach where James Garner lived in the show. Turns out is a real place and a way cool place. A recent article on Paradise Cove can be found at:

http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/magazine/la-tm-trailer21may21,0,3088645.story?coll=la-home-magazine

Give the article a read and see how such a place could fit in what I hope is the reclaimed Port of Olympia. Imagine a snug little community of Olympians and their spin on such a place. Single wide trailers are going for a song these days as most trailer parks no longer accept them. You can own your onwn living space for the cost of hauling it away in some instances. Provide the park with the necessary public spaces and amenities and we have a way cool place with housing for the less affluent members of our community in a terrific setting. We should alway reserve some of our best places for those that occupy the lowest rungs of our society. You figure out how the Beach Boys fit in.

Crenshaw Sepulveda

Port Protests

2006-05-31T00:03:00.000-07:00

There has been continued action at the Port this week opposing the war shipments. Many more arrests, and some pretty intense police response. Its too much for me to keep up with reporting. I recommend checking Olyblog or Olympia Indy Media for regular updates. The protests at the Port are attracting national attention!

Blogolution!

2006-05-30T23:49:00.000-07:00

A lot of times I think blogging and other internet past times are sort of pointless and anti-life. But something truly exciting has happened with Crenshaw's "Why Not Tables?" entry. I don't want to paraphrase it, because it is so beautiful how it unfolded in its chaotic, meandering, cooperative way. Please read what developed in the 25 responses to his original commentary.

What Residential Neighborhoods Need

2006-05-29T23:17:00.000-07:00

I took my six-year-old daughter to Bigelow Park today. She loves that park, even though the playground equipment has recently been replaced with new equipment that is so safe the playground is rendered almost pointless. I watch kid after kid run up the graadddually staggered platforms and then get to the top and look around like, "What now?"
At least they finally got the swings put in. There is also a round cup that you can sit in and spin around. Its pretty cool, though still a far cry from the merry-go-rounds we used to have that's momentum would send children flying in all directions across the park.
The ground is covered with a mural made of colorful chewy stuff, so you can't get hurt. But its not really necessary, as there's nowhere to fall from. The slides are very slow and short, with rounded corners. I'm so glad I was a kid back in the days of the teeter-totter.
Despite these bland improvements, my kid still loves Bigelow park. That whole neighborhood is one of the best in Olympia. It has a soul. I think it is largely because of its excellent residential destinations. More neighborhoods should have places like the San Fransisco St. Bakery, where on a Sunday morning you can see everyone who lives within a 2 mile radius waiting sleepily in line for a cup of coffee and a pastry. There are also two small markets, Puget Pantry and Don's. Both good for a beer when its too late to drive to the big store, a popsicle on a too-hot summer afternoon, or for middle schoolers to buy candy on the walk home from school. I just don't understand why we zone business out of residential neighborhoods! Every good residential nighborhood has a few of these wonderful places where its possible to catch one's neighbor out before they've had a shave.
The same spirit of integration into residential life is what makes Bigelow such a great park. It is on a small hill, so you can see all the surrounding houses, but it is also distinguished by big shady trees. Its just big enough- the size of a city block, so it has no get-away places, but instead feels like a big public square. People cut through on their bicycles, and kids wander by in flip-flops looking for something to do. It has a few modest, classic amenities. The playground, basketball hoop, a few picnic tables, a small covered area, and a little baseball diamond.
There is also a small amphitheatre made of large sculptural slabs of stone. Most children prefer it to the playground. Toddlers like to step from rock to rock, testing their jumping abilities. Older children enjoy making concoctions in the bird bath that is carved into one of the rocks. Adults like to sit on the rocks and chat. Because it is such a small area, they are less nervous, and less likely to be interrupted by children demanding, "Watch me!" "Catch ME!" "Chase me!" and the like.
I like this so much better than many of the big, fancy parks I have been to. There's something so unique and so intrinsic about the small, square, city neighborhood park. I would like to see one such park in every residential neighborhood within city limits. I think the only ones we have currently that fit the bill are Lions and Bigelow.
And wouldn't it be great if there were more residential hang-outs like "The Bakery"? Westside residents ought to demand it!
If I were on city council, I'd be thinking about how we could use zoning to encourage more neighborhoods to have souls.

Why Not Tables?

2006-05-27T23:02:00.000-07:00

Submitted to Olyblog by Crenshaw Sepulveda on Sat, 05/27/2006 - 12:00pm.

[Bumped to the top by Rick -- overlooked during Port action]

I am thinking it would be great to have some permenent tables in Sylvester Park. In many parks in New York you will find the ubiquitous chess tables. They bring various gamers to the park and are quite popular. Depending on the neighborhood they are populated with chess players, checker players, or in Latino neighborhoods, domino players. I'm sure Olympia would give its own particular spin to this. Lappy users come to mind, not to mention coffee drinkers.

I guess what I'm saying is that the park needs a variety of seating opportunities and uses. To be sure, it is great to have the grass and benches, but the tables would increase the park's attractiveness and utility. The greater the seating opportunites the greater the use of the space. Sylvester park is far from being the kind of public space it should be.

I am certain there are other features that could be installed in Sylvester Park that would increase its utility. I personally would like to see some food vendor carts and opportunities for street musicians. There should be dancing in the streets, if not in the park.

» Crenshaw Sepulveda's blog | 11 comments | 1 new comment | 92 reads

What is the FBI doing here?

2006-05-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

A number of people in Olympia have recently been questioned by the FBI in connection with some expensive acts of so-called "eco-terrorism". When the government talks about "eco-terrorism" they are not talking about acts of mass violence to the life of our eco-system, as the word sort of implies. Au contraire. They are talking about acts of destruction to property, in defense of the ecosystem.
Whether or not you think property destruction is an acceptable means of citizen action, I think that calling it terrorism is a bit extreme. In fact, I think its offensive. The concept that property has "sanctity of life" is an insult to real people who have lived through or died in horrible crimes like the bombing of the World Trade Center. The term terrorism is being hijacked (no pun intended) for political purposes because of its powerful historical connotation.
Drew Hendricks has compiled a history of the FBI's targeting of political groups for the Olympia Copwatch website. If you have any doubts that the FBI organizes against groups for political reasons, please investigate this history. You might also want to check out the Olympia Civil Liberties site, which has been set up as a response to the recent FBI surveillance and Grand Jury subpoenas.

Poll of the Week

2006-05-26T21:14:00.000-07:00

What is the best place to work in Olympia?

The New Manium

2006-05-26T19:31:00.000-07:00

The Manium is going under a very expensive remodel. It will have a 500 person capacity. If I understand correctly, its going to be an all-ages venue with a bar. (Cool.)

My predictions:

Is its going to be the next Bar Code/Thekla/Transit Center/Mario's. The Olympian and the city and everyone is going to be majorly up in arms about allowing teenagers into a place that has drinking. They will try to shut it down.
It will still be black.

The other news about it is that the management will do all the booking. This is the part that kind of sucks in my opinion.
I actually like the idea of having a bigger venue in Olympia. I think a lot of bigger bands would be happy to play here, but don't because there aren't many places to play. And I don't think it would compete with the local, smaller bands. In fact, it could create opportunities for them to play for more people. Not all change is bad. But I don't like that they do all the booking! I don't like it when people try to be professional concert promoters in Olympia. I think its dumb, and it takes away from the great collaborative, artsy, DIY spirit that Olympia has. If you want to be slick and make money booking shows, move to Los Angeles or something.
Does anyone remember Sunnyside Productions? Ten bucks per show. Exclusively mediocre bands from Seattle. The only people who showed up were middle class high school kids. Lame.
So, anyway. I think the new Manium is a mixed bag, but I am looking forward to watching the saga unfold.

On Courage

2006-05-24T23:16:00.000-07:00

Sarah (on Olyblog) posts often, and I really like a lot of what she has to say. She also takes a lot of flack by conservatives that hang out on Olyblog, which she seems to be pretty good-natured about.
The NSM has targeted her because of her work with Unity in the Community. They talk a lot about her on their website. She gets regular hate mail and threats because of this. She recently posted about this on her blog, Olympia United Against Hate. Please note: this contains graphic, offensive language. It should be disturbing to anyone, but might be too much so for some people:
Pieces of the puzzle

At one point I decided to change the emphasis of my blog some, in hopes that the "other side" would also mellow out. No such luck. Time for me to do what is in my heart to do.

Read the excellent post over on Orcinus, fits into my post here handily.

So who is this man, this Matthew Ramsey, this Jim Ramm? We are able to piece together some of his journey, but what brought him here:

SARAH WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME LAST NIGHT? DID I GET IT IN THE WRONG HOLE? NEXT TIME I WILL USE SOME LUBE LIKE A HAND FULL OF GRAVEL!!!

What brought this man to this point in his life to send this message to someone he does not even know?

Reading about various Neo-Nazis gives me some pieces of the puzzle. I've learned the lay of the land to a certain degree. Reading about and also reading and listening directly to their words has taught me more. Images can be a mind expanding addition to this learning process. The cut of a jaw, the way the features distort in mid scream, the shirt untucked, all tell us something.

But never enough. Why on earth would Mark Martin send me this:

Subject: Re: Fuck off you worthless slag! You commie whore

You say you don't hate, but you DO! You're a filthy jew-sucking, hypocrite!! DIE from AIDS you cunt!

What happened to these two men when they were children? What happened in their lives to bring them to that moment of sending hate emails to people they do not even know?

What brought them to this place of being able to easily dehumanize people, call them muds and sluts and commie scums and jews and mental deficients and you name it they say it.........why do those words trip so easily from their tongue? What brought them to this place of inciting violence, of deception, of experiencing their lives as WAR, with all the rest of us supposedly their subhuman enemies?

What the hell did this to them? Are they still able to make independent choices at all?

posted by Sarah at 5:42 PM

I wrote this to Sarah on Olyblog:

Sarah, you're our hero!

Sarah,

That really sucks. Those sort of words have so much power. They trigger such horrible thoughts that is a sort of a weapon. Sometimes I find myself getting wrapped up in fear. Recently I imagine things like the Nazis targeting my family- beating up my partner, harrassing my daughter, or showing up at my house. Or worse things. What helps me (though maybe its cheesy) is imagining myself as sort of a hero in the story. I think about this thing that Kevin (EGYHOP volunteer) said: that we as Americans need to reinvent heroism. We need to imagine a kind of hero that we can be. So I think of myself as a hero standing up for justice, and love, and the earth. (You can think of whatever your hero would stand up for-its probably stuff you already do.)

And I realize, wow. You don't have to be anyone pure or finished-up to be a hero. You just have to invent in your head an idea of what you think would be heroic and then do it. It really works, because if you think about it- heroism almost always has to do with being courageous, and courage is simply not being stopped by fear. So then your fear becomes like an opportunity to be heroic. Its fun.

Some great things have come out of this little thought process. Like for a while I was feeling scared about the FBI surveillence and their targeting of activists in town. I would imagine being watched, people I know getting arrested, or me getting unjustly arrested, or them murdering people and making it look like an accident, or whatever. I was scared to talk to anyone about this, because I was afraid of the FBI. I felt paralyzed. I had nightmares about a police state.I was basically peeing my pants.

And then I sort of conjured up a hero, and I realized that my hero would wear a t-shirt around town that said: "FBI:Survey This. " With a "one-finger salute" on it. So now I'm going to make that t-shirt. (I just hope they make note of it in my file.)

Most recently I've been e-mailing the NSM, politely but persistantly asking them to add me to their list of "NSM haters". This was something I was and still am afraid to do. So then I think, "Wow. I'd be so scared to do that. Oh, wait--I did. That is so cool." Anyway, that's what I do.

Another thing that inspired me was at the event tonight, a guy in the movie had Nazis throw a brick through his children's bedroom window. He was talking about how horrible it was to realize he couldn't protect his family. He was a doctor- I imagine someone very accustomed to having power. He said, "I realized that I could not protect my family. I had to let my community protect my family." And I think that is a beautiful thought. That is a really beautiful thing to imagine how many people that you don't even know, Sarah, are protecting you right now.

-Jade

Not in Our Town

2006-05-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

Tonight. 7pm at the Washington Center. Free. Hope to see you there.

Hendricks update and free gift offer!

2006-05-23T22:54:00.000-07:00

"Drew Hendricks appeared in Thurston County Court at 3:30 pm today. He was arrested at 3:15 this morning at the Port of Olympia and is still in custody as of this writing. He is expected to be released at 7 pm. Drew is charged with 2nd degree trespass. He will be released on his own recognizance after his attorney verified his address. He is not required to pay bail. The judge restricted Drew from entering Port of Olympia property, at the request of the state. The judge did not specify how long this restriction would be in place.

Drew Hendricks is a committed Olympia CopWatch activist and host of Seeking Justice/Olympia CopWatch on Free Radio Olympia 98.5 Tuesdays at 5 pm. Drew is committed to keeping track of police activities and police violence, and CopWatch is the only organization that does so in the absence of a citizen review board in Olympia. Drew has covered many people's cases and their interactions with police, and police abuses in Olympia. Olympia, please return the favor and stand in support with Drew Hendricks now. "

posted by Sarah on Olyblog

To get your free gift: Please send me your snail mail address and I will send you a custom-made, hand-drawn "Drew for Port Commissioner" button. Great for wearing around town, to actions, and to Drew's trial!

Port Arrestees

2006-05-23T12:00:00.000-07:00

Here is the current list:

Brendan Dunn, Drew Hendricks, Nikki Miller, Holly Carter, Josh Elliott and Glen Anderson

Brave Drew

2006-05-23T11:20:00.001-07:00

I wrote a sort of convoluted and silly post last night at like 2:00 am on Olyblog suggesting that Drew Hendricks be elected Port Commissioner, and implying that no one else in town is quite geeky enough for the job. If you don't know Drew, he is a local citizen who moniters Olympia police activities, as well as being involved in a lot of other community issues. He is detail-oriented and full of amazing conspiracy theories that are usually true. I value him as a member of my community. He'd make a great Commissioner, though in all seriousness I think he probably gets more done as an activist. I did not know what he was up to last night.
An hour after I posted this, he was arrested on Port Property for trying to close the gate and stop a military convoy from entering to ship weapons to Iraq. Every person in this town should be down at the Port doing this in the next couple days. I really believe that these types of actions are pretty much the only area where we have power to stop the war in these times.
He is being held on charges of 2nd degree burglary. This is a class B felony and carries up to a 10 year sentence and $20,000 fine. Please show up to his hearing this afternoon at Courtroom 3, Building 3, at 3:30 pm and show your support.

Nazis Seek Speakers/Opposition for their Website

2006-05-23T10:03:00.000-07:00

I've been dropping in on the National Socialist website more than I really want to since I made that post a few days ago.
It is a testament to the power of mere words. I mean its hard to look at that kind of stuff. I feel completely horrified, sick to my stomach, etc. And afraid. However unlikely, I am afraid that something horrible will happen in our town. I'm afraid that some wingnut will want to hurt me and my family.
They like to boast a lot about how much they scare people. In one part of their site they describe showing up at a Unity in the Community meeting:

"Justin first noticed the look of sheer terror on the faces of the commie scum. Their eyes bulged as they wondered if they were finally going to get the ass-kicking so richly earned. Of course, the NSM didn't show up to give anyone a boot party. We only retaliate legally by excerising our constitutional rights of freedom of speech and freedom of assembly.
Sarah, the leftist leader from Oly Unity, jumped up quickly to shake Justin's hand. Justin said: "It was a weak handshake and she was trembling in fear."... Justin then told scared Sarah that the racialists will be outside waiting. The meeting soon fell apart and they accomplished nothing. Some brave soul from the meeting walked outside to talk to justin. Justin said we will be back every month to hang with your gang regardless."

There seems to really be only one local Nazi, if that. The rest of the little handful that showed up to their rally are outsiders. Apparently the NSM has identified Olympia as being an area lacking in Nazi activity, so they are coming here to organize posing as regular local citizens.
On their website, however, you will see a growing list of "NSM haters", and "Pro-Communist Hate Groups" which includes many authentic local names of people who live here, and have lived here for years. It also has groups that have actual members and live meetings. If you send them an e-mail, they will be more than happy to add you or your group to this list. You may or may not get a lot of hate e-mail and Nazi traffic to your website. Of course, you might also get harrassed in real life. I haven't really found out yet.
They also have a section of their site dedicated to organizing the upcoming July rally in Olympia. "We are creating a speakers list. We need all patriots who would like to speak email: Mindfelon@yahoo.com"
They said it, not me. If you feel you fit into this category, please e-mail them and let them know you would like to speak at the rally!
I'm scared. You know what feels great? Being afraid, and not being stopped.

Urban Layers: So Crazy it Just Might Work

2006-05-23T02:09:00.000-07:00

In response to a letter to the editor suggesting we privatize our Port, I wrote this long and sort of unreasonable and insane post for Olyblog. I meant to just make a short post about how there might be a middle ground or something, but its late and I got carried away. I wonder if other revolutions have begun that way...

I think we ought to develop the bejeezus out of the Port. Zoning and private enterprise! Music to my ears. But seriously...
Let's sell the whole thing to the Urban Layers Project. Can you picture it? Truly mixed income housing: Relocated Fleetwood residents sharing a building with yuppies drawn in to the sexy, innovative, green-built cob condos. ("Cobdos?") And have some creative people renovate one of those warehouses into live/work artist's lofts.
It will also have a waterfront park with the new artesian well all finished off into a tiled wading pool, so not only can we fill our pitchers of water, but the kids can finally cool off without having to brawl 20 other kids for a spray from the interactive fountain. Maybe it will have a real outdoor pool, too. The park will also feature a basketball court, canoe and kayak rentals, and charter boats.
The Olympia Food Co-op could have a little healthy bodega. And the library will finally get that new building they've been asking for the last 15 years or whatever. We could expand the Farmer's Market to the size of the Pike Place Market. Maybe there will also finally be a downtown pharmacy, that would fill prescriptions for Plan B. Outdoor theater? Community arts center? I don't know.
All I know is that while the Port may be crumbling, we as a community are on the verge of growth. We could go the way of Seattle and many other cities. Grow like cancer and have our bottom fall out leaving us stuck with a bunch of empty overpriced condos and gentrified neighborhoods. Or we could think about what we want to grow. Unfettered private enterprise is not the answer, folks. We'll just get done the way Miller did our beloved brewery. We have to invest in enterprises with heart. People who are here for the long-haul. Heart can make money, but it won't just take the goods and skip town. Nor will it rot out the downtown core, leaving us locals stranded in neighboring communities while richer newcomers mushroom up in our place. Some people have said that Urban Layers is a pipe dream. But the Youngstown Cultural Arts Center in Seattle's Delridge neighborhood came up with 12 million dollars to do something equally ridiculous and revolutionary.Why can't we?

(This was edited slightly for clarity. Its still late.)

Apologies

2006-05-22T10:55:00.000-07:00

What This Town Needs had a small crisis of the html variety yesterday, and my internet subsequently went down so I was unable to fix it. I say it was small, but actually it was a gaping hole of blackness with floating links. It was horrifying.
Anyway, life goes on. Please do see the post that was MIA for that 36 or so hours.

Not in Our Town

2006-05-20T20:48:00.000-07:00

I am one of the people in Olympia who did not show up to oppose the Nazi rally that happened recently. I didn't take it seriously. I thought it would be a bunch of angry teenagers running their mouths. I thought it best not to give them a grand entrance.
Then one day I visited their website nukeisrael.com and I saw the stuff they had written about people in our community. Not just racial slurs, but names, addresses, and phone numbers of individuals and groups they want to target. And I thought about Pete Bohmer and what its like for him to live in this town now. I feel so safe here. I bet he doesn't anymore.
I was wrong to write this off.
I can still remember when I was ten years old hearing of the murder of teenager Bob Buchanon in the train tunnel downtown. It really happened, and I lived here and walked by the tunnel afterwards. For me, Sylvester Park and the train tunnel are still haunted by that horrible event.
I am grateful that for so many years we haven't had much of a Nazi presence in Olympia. I'm sorry this is cropping up now. Let's never have something like what happened in 1992 happen here again. And let's show all the wonderful people like Pete Bohmer in Olympia (and the not-so-wonderful people too) that we have their backs. Unity in the Community

“Not in Our Town,”

Documentary film about a community’s response to hate
Wednesday, May 24th, 7PM
Washington Center for the Performing Arts

512 Washington SE, Downtown Olympia
Sponsored by the Olympia School District Diversity Watch, the City of Olympia and Unity in the Community

Please attend the high school student led diversity forum and screening of “Not in Our Town” sponsored by the Olympia School District’s Diversity committee, the City of Olympia and Unity in the Community. This screening will take place at the Washington Center for the Performing Arts, located in downtown Olympia at 512 Washington SE.

All ages are welcome. Unity posters and stickers will be available and Unity volunteers will be collecting names to be listed in the Olympian ads. This event will offer a unique opportunity for a multi-generational dialogue on diversity and what to do when hate groups come to town.

This is the fist public screening of “Not in Our Town,” the inspiring documentary film about the residents of Billings, Montana who in 1993 responded to an upsurge in hate violence by standing together for a hate-free community. This video has being made available locally by Temple Beth Hatfiloh for educational purposes.

For more information please contact us at info@olympiaunityinthecommunity.org

What This Town Needs...

Bedlam Begins Thursday

Feeling the Pinch

Olympia-Rafah Sister City Project

Spring in Oly

Library Closure

What Olympia Needs is a bit of Mayo

The Ministry of Radicalism

Olympia's Business is Forbes Magazine's Business

A Light in the Attic

The Problem Perception

meanwhile, back at the library

Bread and Roses: A model for downtown

Where is the farmer?

Why Lacey Is Not A Role Model For Its Neighbors

The Wild Rumpus

The Space on State

Veteran's Day

You are only high up if you are looking down

Will the last poor person leaving Olympia please turn off the lights

Olympia Food Co-op Growth

What do you want in your coffee?

Ethiopian Restaurant

A New Library

An Accidental Downtown Olympia

Olympia: A Cheap Place You'd Want to Live

Human Feces: Olympia's WMD's?

Regime Change or Weapons of Mass Destruction?

Out of Town...

Pat Tassoni's History of the Sidewalk

Troy Remembers Bremerton

A Call for Visions

Broaden the Sidewalks

Fix the Perception

First they came for the...

Another One Bites the Dust

Pat Tassoni's Guide to Downtown Olympia

(Originally Posted on Olyblog)

Simple facts:

Downtown History

Local History 101What Your Money Buys In Downtown Olympia

Loiterer's Freedom Lobby

Ode to the Littlest Big City

Permatopin'

Olympia's Heart: A Coalition of the Willing

Welcome, Mr. McMenamin!

B & B, what happened?

Percival Landing Makeover

Making Time

Wednesday Outdoor Ball

Edible Parks

Public Places to Swim in the Olympia Area

Chicago Rooftops and the Smallness Revolution

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words...

Libraries and the Homeless

Library Kiosks!

Briggs Urban Village

Site Temporarily Neglected

The Olyblog Candidate's Platform

Nazi Rally Surreal

A Conversation with my Six-year-old

Poll of the Week

Racism and Hope

The New Manium (Update)

Outdoor Movie

NSM vs. SCA

Why the Iraq War is a Local Issue

Poll of the Week

Heritage Park's Romantic Restaurant

New Rules Project

South Central Urban Farm

Inside of a dog it is too dark to read

Portable Greenhouses

May the Loudest Man Follow

Police Watching For 'Green Terror'

The Olympian Wants You

Dreamers Wanted

The Olympia Way

Nazis finally give me credit

Poll of the Week

Local History 101
What Your Money Buys In Downtown Olympia