by Luke Schaefer
Following a spike in crime during the coronavirus pandemic that culminated in three deaths near the Mt. Baker light rail station in June, community members at Artspace Mt. Baker Lofts (Artspace) urgently called upon City officials to tour the neighborhood and hear grievances from residents and business operators during an hour-long conference on the afternoon of Sept. 17.
Jamil Suleman, the Mt. Baker-based artist and business leader who organized the event, asked for officials and community members to set aside personal politics in order to relay the neighborhood’s reports of theft, arson, and toxic dumping to City officials. Among those in attendance were Mayor Jenny Durkan, Seattle City Councilmember Tammy Morales, Chief Adrian Diaz and Mark Solomon of the Seattle Police Department, as well as members of the Artspace staff and the adjacent preschool. Suleman expressed that having all these voices together was quite unprecedented, and in order for action to be swift, bureaucracy must be circumvented. Everyone had to understand firsthand. Everyone had to be there.
Continue reading ‘Ready for Action’: City Officials, Community Organizers Converge Over Crime in Mt. Baker