On Tuesday, April 2nd, Redmond Silver Cloud held its grand opening. After an open RFB, King County selected the Salvation Army as its operator. Many supporters of Safe Eastside fought for public safety when King County announced the purchase of the Redmond Silver Cloud to house the county’s homeless population. We had several meetings with King County officials and raised our public safety concerns, which resulted in some of the safety measures put in place at the Redmond Silver Cloud. Thank you to all who have participated since 2021.
Although we still have concerns about the Redmond Silver Cloud’s tenants and some of its policies, the selection of Salvation Army is a good one. Salvation Army imposes a much stricter code of conduct than what the county and city would. In their initial presentation to the Community Advisor Group (CAG), the Salvation Army stated, “We maintain an environment where drugs and alcohol are not present for either user or sale.” However, that rule was questioned and watered down to “No smoking, vaping, or tobacco use except in designated outdoor smoking shelter areas;” and “No use of illicit drugs as defined by state and federal law.”
In comparison, the city’s selection of Plymouth Housing for the downtown Redmond homeless building can only be described with one word: “reckless”. During our long and difficult negotiation with the city on its zoning code, the city was reluctant to impose strict restrictions on drug use. In the end, the city’s zoning code only require the operator’s code of conduct to address “the use of illegal drugs” and “the sale of illegal drugs”. Despite our repeated requests, Redmond City Council does not ban the use or sale of illegal drugs in the city’s zoning code. The Salvation Army’s restriction on “illicit drugs” is much broader and stricter than the city’s mere requirement to “address” “illegal drugs”. All illegal drugs are illicit, but not all illicit drugs are necessarily illegal. To put things in context, fentanyl is classified as a Schedule II prescription drug in the United States when used legally for medical purposes such as pain management.
And Plymouth Housing’s own FAQ says, “Regarding legal substance use, Plymouth’s harm reduction approach means permitting private use (like what can happen in any home) that does not interfere with the community.” What are the common practices of “harm reduction”? According to the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, harm reduction strategies may include: free syringe service programs (needle exchange programs) and overdose prevention sites (safe injection sites), where people can safely use currently illegal substances without fear of arrest.
Leaving public safety at the downtown homeless building in the hands of the city of Redmond and Plymouth Housing is putting the entire community in danger.
Wondering what life is like inside a Plymouth Housing building? This video shows the inconvenient truth. Our homeless people deserve a better, more caring operator.
The King County-owned Redmond Silver Cloud, located in the Overtake area, has 140 parking spaces for its 100 homeless housing units. In contrast, the Plymouth Housing homeless building in downtown Redmond aims to have minimal parking and does not meet the city zoning code requirement of 125 parking spaces for its 100 homeless housing units in order to be “as cost-effective as possible.” The city and Planning Director, Carol Helland, shamelessly market this as “help the City achieve its Environmental Sustainability Action Plan goals for reduced vehicle emissions and vehicle miles traveled” on the city’s FAQ page. It is a known fact that homeless population brings junk cars to the neighborhood. Skimping on parking spaces in downtown Redmond hurts residents and businesses in that area. Yet, Plymouth Housing and the city of Redmond seem unconcerned about this.
According to their 2022 Form 990, Executives at the Salvation Army do not receive salaries, whereas the CEO and COO of Plymouth Housing each earn over $250,000 per year. The Salvation Army has only $2.2 million in assets, while Plymouth Housing possesses $321 million in assets. According to Plymouth Housing’s 2019 Form 990, According to Plymouth Housing’s 2019 Form 990, their assets grew from $65 million to $211.7 million in just one year and have continued to balloon since! For the same period, Salvation Army’s assets actually shrank. Despite its tax status, people may argue that Plymouth Housing operates more like a for-profit organization, exploiting the homelessness industry.
Plymouth Housing is a bad choice for Redmond. The leadership at city of Redmond is indifferent to the facts and the public’s concerns. It is apparent to the public that the Redmond city council and Mayor Birney are not going to listen to the public. They withhold critical information and do not allow the public to have a say. The only way to get their attention is for people in Redmond to stand up and fight against their decision to bring Plymouth Housing to downtown Redmond in large numbers. We need to reach critical mass quickly. Please do the following:
- Invite your friends and family to join us so that they can receive critical updates and action items. Please send them this join us link: https://safeeastside.com/joinus/
- Please hand out our flyer to your neighbors or people to come across: https://safeeastside.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Redmond_Plymouth.pdf
- Please post links to our information page on social media: Facebook, Instagram, Next Door, Reddit, etc. Link to our key facts page: https://safeeastside.com/2024/03/30/redmond-plymouth-housing-homeless-project-key-facts/