Seattle Squatters Evicted

The Tent City known as Nickelsville, named after Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels, was evicted today around 1:00pm.

An opinion column in the Seattle Times says the City of Seattle should evict them.

"Comparing Mayor Greg Nickels to President Herbert Hoover, organizers have called their encampment, "Nickelsville." But Nickels is no Hoover. Seattle is as liberal in its provision for the homeless as any city we know."

The SeattleTimes wastes no time buttressing the liberal mission of the city. But according to the Nickelsville website, Seattle does not have the resources or beds necessary to shelter all of its homeless, thereby justifying the existence of a Nickelsville:

"During the One Night Count of January 2008, 8439 people were homeless in King County. 5808 had shelter through existing programs but 2631 were without, a 15% increase over last year. 34 homeless people have died outside this year alone."

A post on another website describes the somber mood during the eviction today.

"Several hundred homeless and allies were present to demand their right to safe temporary housing ... cops and journalists commiserated and joked with one another while homeless residents of Nickelsville worried about whether they would sleep in jail tonight or risk sleeping exposed and alone elsewhere in the city."