Ballard

Rep. Carlyle’s update from Olympia

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Representative Reuven Carlyle has emailed us a new blog post covering the flurry of activity in Olympia, especially surrounding the state budget. As is customary now, Carlyle is asking for your feedback on a wide range of issues — and he reads the comments. His post follows below:

In the waning days of the 2009 session in Olympia, legislators are debating, advocating, prodding, pushing and voting on major issues ranging from greenhouse gas emissions to education reform, domestic partnerships and job initiatives in cooperation with the Obama Administration.

Serving as a member of the state House has been a tremendous experience on a personal and professional level. The best part has been making a difference on profoundly important public policy issues that impact real people living real lives. The worse part has obviously been spending so much time away from my wife Wendy and our four children. I’m chomping at the bit to come home!

On the budget front: House and Senate budget negotiators are holed up in conference rooms in the Capitol forging a deal on how to address a $9 billion projected deficit in the $33 billion biennial operating budget. The central theme of the session has been jobs, jobs, jobs….

SHARE: Sex offender screening ‘un-American’

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Members of the homeless group that were planning to move into an overnight shelter at Calvary Lutheran Church have written a letter responding to the controversy over sex offender screening. The letter, faxed to My Ballard, explains that the SHARE group was “disinvited” from staying at Calvary after “some neighbors became hysterical and threatened the church if they let us come.” The SHARE members said the church asked them to changing their screening process to begin checking for sex offenders, a requirement they called “un-American” and a result of “homelessphobia” discrimination.

(File photo of SHARE members with Our Redeemer’s Pastor Steve Grumm). “How many times have we had a problem with a sex offender at a SHARE shelter? NEVER. NOT ONCE,” the letter reads. “Sex offenders are not welcome in SHARE church shelters. We just don’t need a sex offender check during screening to move them on. The proof is in our well-run shelters and the complete lack of neighborhood problems where we stay.” The letter explains they believe they can find another church, temple or mosque that won’t require the checks. “We’ll be all right,” they write.

The controversy began when Our Redeemer’s Church, which oversees the now-vacant Calvary Lutheran Church, invited 20 members of SHARE to form an overnight shelter. Many neighbors in a community meeting demanded that SHARE submit to sex offender checks, a request that the church passed to SHARE, which as you can see, has refused to submit to them. Our Redeemer’s says it’s still working with SHARE in an attempt to come to a resolution.

Meanwhile, a My Ballard reader pointed out in comments on an earlier story that the city of Redmond has included a sex offender screening requirement in the temporary use permit for Tent City 4 (.pdf), which is made up of SHARE members. “Tent City 4 shall report any positive results of sex offenders or warrant checks to the Redmond Police Department,” the requirement reads.

The full letter from SHARE members follows below…