Olympia, regional partners collaborating on response to 'The Jungle' encampment 

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• JW

  A large law enforcement sweep could probably reduce the population by at least 50% if all outstanding warrants resulted in being sent off to jail. That's Phase I.

  Phase II is verifying where everyone left is from. If you're an actual local resident, you get offered the housing paid for by the local taxpayer. If you're from Tennessee, California, Illinois, or wherever, you get a paid for bus ticket back.

  Phase II lasts for two weeks. At the end of two weeks, anyone remaining is arrested for trespassing and the heavy equipment comes in and hauls everything away to the dump.

  Phase III is when the Dept of Ecology comes in and mitigates the biohazard contamination and the police conduct regular patrols to immediately arrest anyone that comes back and attempts to set up camp again.

  This could all take less than a month if any of the elected jellyfish had a spine.

  Monday, May 11 Report this

• 36098501

  The City’s approach to the Jungle has reflected some of the least effective and least compassionate strategies for addressing homelessness that I have witnessed.

  The people living there are human beings struggling with addiction, mental illness, trauma, and instability. They deserve compassion, dignity, safety, and real opportunities for recovery. Unfortunately, many of the City’s policies appear to have prolonged dangerous conditions rather than meaningfully improving lives.

  For years, the encampment has operated with little accountability while the City spent taxpayer funds to purchase the property, funded nonprofit services to support it, and directed substantial public resources toward maintaining the status quo rather than resolving it. This does not include the ongoing demand placed on police, fire, and emergency medical services.

  Complaints from Jungle residents led to the rapid expenditure of roughly $250,000 to remove dangerous trees. Meanwhile, after five months, Thurston County has yet to replace a destroyed guardrail on one of the county’s most dangerous curves, where homes remain at serious risk. Why do some public safety concerns receive immediate action while others wait indefinitely?

  This is not a housing issue. Mental illness and substance abuse are major factors. Compassion requires honesty about those realities and a willingness to pursue solutions centered on treatment, recovery, and long-term stability.

  Housing affordability remains a serious challenge in Olympia, and public resources should prioritize people actively seeking treatment, housing, and housing stability—people like CC Coates.

  Current harm-reduction policies have raised legitimate concerns about public safety, including open drug use and discarded needles in parks and public spaces. When were needle exchange programs to protect drug users allowed by the City to become needle disbursement programs endangering us all?

  The large majority of residents genuinely care about those suffering on the streets. But real compassion must mean more than simply tolerating, or even encouraging, dangerous lifestyles and public conditions. It should focus on helping people recover, reconnect, stabilize, and ultimately live healthier and safer lives.

  I've left out the public resources involved there daily - police, fire and paramedics. I've also left out the constant cleanups and environmental damages left behind. Its just a cascade of nonsense.

  Monday, May 11 Report this

• chrispc2u

  Put them all on a bus with a one way ticket to Pahrump, Nevada.

  Tuesday, May 12 Report this

• Chappellg

  JW & NoName have the typical knee jerk reactions to proposals to resolve the Jungle issues. Their suggestions are punitive & judgmental whose only result would be to overwhelm our local jails at even higher costs. These Jungle residents would be released either immediately or within a few days only to return to the Jungle or elsewhere.

  At least 36098501 has some reasonable suggestions worth discussing. They are right to acknowledge that the homeless problems are multifactorial & require thoughtful ideas, as the regional authorities also acknowledge. No one has easy solutions to the complex problems of homelessness which have been brought on by complex issues that reflect seismic societal changes and which cannot be completely resolved locally. But at least Thurston Co., Oly & Lacey are working together to try to resolve the issues.

  Tuesday, May 12 Report this

• 36098501

  CheppellG - I think my biggest concern is that, while I care deeply about the people suffering in these conditions, I also have to acknowledge that the current approach does not appear to be producing scalable or sustainable results. Over more than a decade, we have continued investing increasing amounts of money and resources, yet many outcomes — public safety, addiction, mental health crises, and chronic homelessness — have worsened rather than improved.

  I want to be careful to acknowledge that many of the people involved in this work are genuinely compassionate and trying to help. This is not a criticism of individual intentions. But good intentions alone are not enough if the overall system is not leading to measurable improvement for either vulnerable individuals or the broader community.

  One concern I have is that the current model often emphasizes low-barrier services without enough accountability or demonstrated long-term outcomes. While those approaches may provide short-term stabilization, they can also unintentionally normalize deeply unsafe and unhealthy living conditions rather than helping people transition out of them. I do not believe most residents view people living in squalor, exposed to violence, exploitation, addiction, and untreated mental illness as a humane or compassionate outcome. That is what my eyes see going on and that hurts my soul while at the same time I'm being told I'm wrong and insensitive.

  I think it is important to recognize that communities operate with finite resources. Every dollar spent in one area is a dollar unavailable for another need — including treatment programs, behavioral health services, housing support tied to recovery, public safety, parks, schools, and services for working families and seniors. That does not mean abandoning vulnerable people. It means making difficult decisions about which approaches are most likely to produce meaningful improvement over time.

  To me, the most compassionate approach is one that prioritizes helping people move toward stability, recovery, and self-sufficiency wherever possible. That requires not only services, but expectations, structure, accountability, and measurable outcomes. Compassion and accountability are not opposites; in many cases they need to exist together.

  I also understand the argument for harm reduction and low-barrier sheltering. The reality is that addiction and mental illness are complex, and many people are not ready or able to fully engage in treatment immediately. Preventing death and immediate harm matters. But I worry when temporary emergency measures gradually become long-term systems that manage suffering rather than reduce it. At some point, we have to ask whether the current trajectory is truly improving lives or simply sustaining a cycle that grows more dangerous and more expensive each year with worse outcomes that may destroy the very community that sustains it in the process.

  The uncomfortable truth is that there may never be a perfect solution that reaches everyone equally. Some individuals will refuse services, struggle to comply with treatment, or continue behaviors that place themselves and others at risk. That reality is painful, but communities still have an obligation to maintain public safety, public order, and shared civic standards. A city cannot remain healthy or sustainable if open violence, drug dealing, and chronic lawlessness become normalized in public spaces - and some of the approaches may actually encourage this behavior and attract those looking to exploit the community's compassion.

  I believe nonprofits and outreach organizations play an important role, and many people working in them deserve respect for difficult work. But I also believe the broader funding model needs stronger oversight, clearer goals, and greater accountability for results and is entirely independent of those receiving funding, or adjacent to people receiving that funding.

  Taxpayers deserve transparency about what approaches are succeeding, what approaches are failing, and whether current policies are actually reducing homelessness, addiction, victimization, and disorder over the long term.

  Ultimately, I think most people want the same thing: fewer people suffering, safer neighborhoods, healthier public spaces, and pathways for vulnerable individuals to reclaim stability and dignity. The disagreement is not usually about compassion. It is about which policies genuinely achieve those outcomes.

  Tuesday, May 12 Report this

• olyhiker

  I'm with JW. Whatever 'we' are doing now--it's obviously not working. I met a couple from California on the street. The word out was go to Olympia where you can get everything you want.

  Tuesday, May 12 Report this

• Virge13

  I agree with everyone to some degree. Get the out of staters OUT of Washington . One way bus ticket back to wherever they came from. I truly feel compassion for folks who WANT housing and can’t afford it like CC. Those are the people funds should be allocated to help. Anyone who refuses treatment should be forced into wherever is best for them, jail, treatment center or a mental health facility. Autonomy is important but if folks won’t take responsibility for their own existence then the powers that be need to make that decision for them.

  Tuesday, May 12 Report this

• 36098501

  This topic definitely requires some difficult conversations that I don't see happening. The good people involved are always looking for more funding to expand their reach and services. I'm not sure this is the right approach, given that it hasn't been shown to be a scalable, successful, approach from moving people from the streets, away from addiction and into sustainable housing that can become the beginning for a new start.

  I'll be honest, it is hard to know because these groups haven't done a great job with managing their financials, being transparent with their financials or providing public data on those who enter the system. We see the millions of dollars going out from the City of Olympia, but nothing in return to demonstrate what is working, and maybe more importantly, what is not.

  From a laypersons perspective, a community member, the answer always seems to be "Yes" where I believe much more nuanced discussions should be had outside of those people directly involved with receiving the funds.

  I think many in the community would be surprised to find out how many of these service providers and non-profits, along with those adjacent to these services, are involved in setting direction and allocating taxpayer funding. I certainly was. While important to have them involved in any discussion, the incentives created by this approach here are not appropriate.

  For good, or bad, many of the people involved in these groups started as local activists in the homeless space back in the early 2010's. One became a City Council Member, another manages a non-profit receiving $5mm in funding every year with executives receiving very healthy salaries that was started along with a retired City Leader in the homeless space who was supposedly at odds with these very same groups.

  So, all good people with good intentions, but money is flying everywhere with very little oversight and no handle on where this money goes once it leaves the City accounts. Nobody involved has experience running an organization, managing financials, or often running the very services the City has funded them to manage. They are learning as they go. This is a recipe for disaster.

  It is a challenging problem, but I'm critical because despite so many people involved, so much money spent and the incredible amount of dedicated City resources, what is taking place seems to be making things worse - not better.

  Tuesday, May 12 Report this

• EdgarAllen

  36098501,

  As a long time city employee (no longer) involved in part of the response mechanism to the houselessness problem in Olympia, one that was a large drive for us to leave Olympia a year ago, thank you for your thoughtful, well-articulated commentary. It leaves out fault, blame, and other ingredients which only lead to further discord, and seeks solutions, while pointing out many, if not all, of the most prominent problems with how that situation was and is being managed there. I would hope you'd share your thoughts as eloquently with the councils of the local governments so that the place I call home, which I love dearly but had to leave, can begin to become the place I grew up, not the mess it is now.

  Tuesday, May 12 Report this

• 36098501

  Here is just one example of a 990 that is required to be filed by a Non-Profit.

  In this case Olympia Mutual Aid Partners (OlyMAP). Data is a bit dated - 2024. You can see the size and scope of the funding and the salaries for the executives, and amount of employee wages, if you scroll down far enough in the second link that includes the most recent filing.

  The names will be familiar to anyone involved in, or adjacent to, this function.

  My primary point isn't that they aren't doing some good work, but this is some big money likely without the strong oversight it deserves.

  https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/850602825

  https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/850602825/202533189349312838/full

  Tuesday, May 12 Report this

• 36098501

  To EdgarAllens point in regards to communicating with the City Councils, Committees and County Commissioners.

  In the recent past, this was an entirely unfriendly and unwelcoming environment. It was common to find those people speaking up to have their personal and business information spread on lists on Reddit, Facebook and other social media. This made the costs of speaking up just too dangerous for most people, their families and employees.

  This is part of how the system stays intact as nobody is allowed to safely have these public discussions without being labelled as some terrible person. I have experienced this first hand. Couple that with the lack of diversity on the Councils, Committees and Boards and you can see how these system persists despite significant community disagreement.

  Watch YouTube and some of the City Council or County Boards. It will be obvious to anyone outside the circle of those involved. 7-0 votes with large consent calendars are the norm, to provide for more time for proclamations and political discussions.

  Tuesday, May 12 Report this

• Boatyarddog

  Virge13 In America, people regardless of income level are allowed to travel where they please. Get used to it... you should be proud to be a part of a compassionate community, because that Is how people find freedom from those that only talk about force.

  Tuesday, May 12 Report this

• EdgarAllen

  36098501,

  Nietzsche wrote: "if you gaze long into an abyss, the abyss also gazes into you." There are variants in philosophy: The "Shouting" Variation: Often paraphrased as "If you shout into the void, the void shouts back," emphasizing that what you focus on eventually consumes your thoughts. Metaphor for Hopelessness: "Screaming into the void" is commonly used to describe speaking without being heard, feeling ignored, or expressing despair to a silent, unresponsive universe.

  This is Olympia. Screaming into a void without response and hoping you don't become (or are perceived as) the evil of which you spoke. When the majority is overwhelmed by the vocal minority, which is so in many ways in Olympia, the minority governs, and the majority remains silent, which is sadly ironic in a democratic republic. It is simply they who yells the loudest or most often. This effectively silences the voices of those with something to say but fear of saying it. Olympia is certainly, in thought and public offering, an open and welcoming place, right up until you disagree with the loud minority. It is then that you become seemingly unwelcome, even though that is only an illusion, most probably agree with you but feel others do not so they too tolerate the absurdity.

  We chose to leave the place I was born, raised, and dedicated myself to public service in for 30 years. I ask you, acknowledging I was unable or unwilling to do so while there, if you don't say something in a calm, articulate fashion, who will? You may be screaming into the abyss but it still makes noise.

  Tuesday, May 12 Report this

• 36098501

  EdgarAllen — I hear you, and I think about this often myself.

  What we are seeing in Olympia may be one consequence of an “at large” Council Member system in a community where a relatively small number of highly coordinated voters can have outsized influence.

  Personally, I believe districts or wards deserve serious consideration — not to divide people politically, but to improve representation, increase diversity of perspective, and help Council Members stay closely connected to the specific needs of the neighborhoods they serve.

  Another structural issue worth discussing is the appointment process when Council Members leave office early on purpose to give the remaining members the power to choose their replacement without an election.

  Once appointed, those individuals naturally build relationships with staff, serve on committees, and gain the visibility and advantages that often come with incumbency before ever standing for election. Whether intentional or not, that can make it difficult for new voices to emerge. Running as an incumbent is an enormous advantage. Take a look at the current Council and how they got their start on the Council.

  I have friends and acquaintances across the center political spectrum, as well as many people who are largely apolitical. Most care about Olympia and want safer, healthier, and more compassionate community. They simply want the basic - not the politics.

  That is why these conversations matter. We should be able to discuss systems, accountability, public safety, and compassion at the same time without assuming bad motives in one another. But right now, the environment that has been created, and seemingly encouraged, doesn't allow it in any meaningful form.

  It continues to be a personal work in progress.

  Wednesday, May 13 Report this

• EdgarAllen

  Not wishing to engage in much in the way of the rhetoric that gets thrown about on this site regularly, I can assure all that my hands were “dirty” amongst many other substances (not just dirt) for many years involving homelessness, mental health, substance use, and the intersection of all of those things in Olympia. I am well-versed in harm reduction, low barrier methods, and treatment theory and practice.

  That said, the problem in Olympia isn’t occurring in a textbook or lecture hall, it is real and in the world that one can see around them. And the only base of evidence necessary to assess the response are the outcomes, which are best viewed with one’s own eyes and not through the lens of what some may tell us are “best practice.” Our best practice implementation had us (while I was there) and appears to have that community precisely where it is, and that is not good for those suffering the aforementioned struggle nor the people who are watching in happen, or worst case, facilitating it. All some are asking for is to evaluate alternate methods in hope of different outcomes. This isn’t about politics or belief systems, we all want people to be well, functional, and housed. This is simply a discussion about how we start to get there. That is all. If we stay mired in our positions, arguing, and political systems, and continue what we are doing, we will get the same result, which is the definition of insanity.

  Wednesday, May 13 Report this

• 36098501

  clrgxr - You speak nonsense. Given your comments, I sense you haven't read the entirely of my comments here, or on other articles on the Jolt. Feel free to insult me all you wish, but that too won't solve any problems.

  Your comment sort of summarizes the entirety of the issues we are facing at this moment as a community. The insults fly quickly, the relationships come last. How about we turn that around. The meaningful relationships come first, and the political discussions follow if they must - not everything must be political despite how many in our community seem to prefer.

  I know you haven't seen me, or know me, because if you did, we would likely become good friends with different ideas.

  I'd love to share my name with you in these comments, but I can't for reasons I've mentioned before. It is entirely unsafe in this community to have ideas or opinions outside of those involved in the political engine that ultimately run Olympia. Take a look at social media - Reddit and Facebook - they are anonymous cesspools of insults and nobody in the community deserves to have their names, families and businesses tainted, or feel unsafe in their own community, because of ideas they might have that some disagree with.

  I never insulted anyone personally - maybe the opposite - I think the people involved are good people with good intentions, but possibly in the wrong direction for the future of our community. It isn't a crime to be wrong, or change course or have a different opinion. I am responsible for criticism while also providing the links to publicly available data that supports it. You can review any of the links I've included in many of my comments if you have a moment.

  In my heart, I do think these are good people working hard in a very bad system that many of them knowingly, hopefully unknowingly, contribute to with ideas I disagree with - that is ok - anyone who has lived here can look around and see firsthand the unintended consequences on the community as well as their impact on the affordability for people who want to live here.

  So, if you like what you see here in the community, and think budgets are well managed with strong oversight, then you are in a good spot and should do nothing.

  I appreciate your comments, and I wish I could hear more of your thoughts. The ones I've read are wrong.

  You are free to think wrong things if you choose, but I'm certainly open to see all the evidence base data anyone has that shows Olympia is successfully managing those struggling every day on the street back into a sustainable lifestyle - the evidence I see with my eyes shows exactly the opposite. The things I have seen, paint a terrible picture and we can do better. How, I'm not sure but something very different than the approach we are taking now. Right now, that conversation isn't allowed.

  I can't be any more involved in downtown than I already am. I'm just entirely separated from politics, or the desire to become involved in politics. That doesn't mean I don't have strong opinions, or a desire to engage in public debate or help people in need. It wouldn't matter if I was interested, because unless you meet a very narrow list of qualification, there is little opportunity to break into the governing clique. Many good people have tried and failed.

  In some ways, I'd rather live in your world where everything appears fine, people suffering on the street really aren't, mental health issues are well managed, drug dealing and addiction is acceptable, mental illness on the street is compassionate, those with strong opinions are psy-ops and people like me are the source of all the problems we are facing and should be quieted. That framework would make my life much simpler and allow me to avoid any deep thinking whatsoever. So, you might have a more personally healthy framework than I do.

  Feel free to join the conversation - I know it may seem far beneath you but I'll do my best and to try and keep up.

  Wednesday, May 13 Report this

• HappyOlympian

  If a person does not a care about themselves, I certainly won't care about them either. Clearly, most of the occupants of the Jungle fit that category. Move them along, move them to jail, and quit providing them with the resources that make it so easy to just continue as is.

  Wednesday, May 13 Report this

• 36098501

  Boatyarddog – Calling people “clowns” may feel satisfying, but it is not an argument. Apparently, you have some outrage towards my comments, but you’ll have to be more specific.

  If your entire contribution to a complex crisis of human compassion is “these clowns are full of BS,” you are not participating, you are heckling. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt that you already know that and this is a choice.

  Educate me and persuade me that what happening in this moment is in any way compassionate. I’ve yet to hear a good argument that things are working well as they are, so I come to you with an open mind and I am certainly willing to listen to your ideas that could lead to a solution.

  Wednesday, May 13 Report this