There’s been a lot of discussion on MyBallard about the car campers, the homeless sleeping in front of the library and the alleged drug activity in our neighborhoods. Now, a new campaign has launched to combat unsafe behavior.
KeepBallardFriendly.org has launched with the goal of educating Ballardites about who to call when you see or hear illegal activity. “If the City recognizes (by getting thousands of phone calls on a consistent basis) that there is a problem here, then the experts who we pay to solve these issues, can be directed to work on a long term solution,” the website states.
Besides the non-emergency line on the blue flyer above, here are the phone numbers listed on the site:
North Precinct Community Policing Team – (206) 684-0794
Report Camped Vehicles – (206) 684-8763
Report Graffiti – (206) 684-7587
Report Trash Carts – (206) 684-7587
Report Encampments – (206) 684-2849
The documentation and plan of action (.pdf) outlines eleven different “problem areas,” shown in the map above.
“The end goal would be that all Ballardites would know this number, have it programmed into their cell phones, etc. and that they would use it whenever they see unsafe behavior or unsafe environments,” according to the plan of action document.
Updated: From keepballardfriendly in the forum:
I am Hovie Hawk, a long time Ballard resident who is the spokesperson for the Keep Ballard Friendly campaign. Even though conspiracy theories abound regarding our group, I can assure you that we’re just normal Ballard residents; moms, dads, young, old, who found ourselves concerned about certain troubling things happening in Ballard and decided to try and do something rather than just sit around and complain about it.
Even though I am a member of the Ballard Chamber of Commerce, founder of inballard.com and a board member of the In Ballard Merchants Association, those organizations are not part of this. We did talk with them, the Seattle Police Department, and the Assistant City Attorney in creating this plan in the hopes of building the best possible plan. They provided comments, advice, critiques, etc. which we sifted through to develop the current plan. But, again, none of those organizations are part of our group.
We are not trying to run anyone out of town or implement some super secret plan to undermine the City. We’re just people looking for the City to notice that we have some issues in Ballard and help us address them. I would welcome any questions people have regarding our group and its intensions.