Seattle postpones Ballard encampment sweep amid criticism of mayor’s homelessness strategy
About 17 people live at this encampment from time to time in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. It is now scheduled for removal and may be the first coordinated sweep by the city since Mayor Katie Wilson took office. (Photo: KOMO News)
SEATTLE — UPDATE 5:00 P.M.: After this story was published and aired on television on Jan. 13, the City of Seattle notified KOMO News that the encampment resolution effort in Ballard that was previously scheduled for Jan. 14 has been postponed indefinitely.
“We do not have additional information about when these efforts will resume to share at this time,” a spokesperson said.
Original Story Below:
City crews plan to clear a homeless encampment in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood this week in what advocates say could be one of the first major tests of Mayor Katie Wilson’s approach to homelessness since she took office just days ago.
The encampment, located near the corner of NW 41st Street and the Burke-Gilman Trail, is home to about 17 people living in roughly 10 tents and makeshift shelters. It sits in an industrial area, set back from the roadway and away from sidewalks, and does not block public access, according to community advocates.
The site has been cleared multiple times in the past and later filled with concrete “eco-blocks” to prevent people from returning. Those measures, critics said, have failed to address the underlying issue.
“This is ground zero for figuring out how we move forward in a better way,” said Bruce Drager, chairman of the Ballard Community Taskforce on Homelessness and Hunger, who has urged Wilson to postpone the planned sweep and reassess its necessity.
Drager said the encampment poses no observable obstruction or safety hazard and that repeated removals only displace people without moving them closer to permanent housing.
“These folks don’t go anywhere,” he said. “They get displaced, then two or three blocks away they show up there, and in the meantime, it disrupts the valuable services that keep them on a pathway to housing.”
Drager, who supported Wilson’s election, said many advocates are watching closely to see whether her administration will break from the policies of former Mayor Bruce Harrell, who oversaw widespread encampment removals during his term.
“I called it the ‘sweep-with-impunity’ plan,” Drager said of the prior administration’s approach. “I hope she will be a new way forward.”
People living at the Ballard encampment say they face frequent displacement. Nora Lane, who has lived at the site for about two months, said sweeps are a regular part of life.
“We move around a lot,” she said. “We get swept about every month if we are lucky.”
Lane said residents try to keep the area clean and organized, but have limited control over the actions of others.
Another resident, Jayden Newman, questioned the new mayor’s criticism of sweeps during her campaign, only to oversee one after taking office.
“It’s her promising one thing and then us getting told we have to leave tomorrow,” Newman said.
Encampment removals in Seattle are carried out by the city’s Unified Care Team, which conducts outreach and assesses sites based on health, safety, and public impact. The team works to connect people to shelter and services while mitigating hazards to the surrounding neighborhood and restoring access to public spaces.
During her campaign, Wilson sharply criticized Harrell’s sweep strategy, calling it a cosmetic fix that failed to deliver promised shelter and housing. She has said the city must move faster to create both short-term stabilization options and long-term housing, including reviving programs such as JustCARE and expanding housing subsidies.
Drager said the Ballard encampment represents an early signal of how Wilson may govern.
“To my mind,” he said, “this is the first sweep of the Katie Wilson era.”
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said Wilson plans to observe Wednesday’s encampment resolution and will lay out more details on her strategies to address homelessness soon.