Yelm cleanup of homeless camp sparks outrage on city Facebook page

Yelm officials cleaned up a homeless camp last week, then posted details about that work, including photos, on the city’s Facebook page.

After those details and photos were posted, not everyone was pleased. Among about 50 comments, many raised concerns about the homeless who used to live in that camp and the whereabouts of their belongings.

But Yelm Mayor J.W. Foster strongly defended the city’s actions Monday, saying the one man who lived at the site refused the city’s help and was adamant he would not move. He also had occupied right-of-way property, which is used by those walking their dogs or riding bikes.

“We have to do the best for the many,” Foster said, adding that the site was riddled with hypodermic needles and human excrement. The man had been given three days’ notice prior to the cleanup.

The day the cleanup took place was the day of the Thurston County homeless census, when volunteers fan out over the county to try to get an accurate count of those living in shelters and outside. People on social media accused Yelm officials of trailing census takers to find homeless camps.

But Foster said that wasn’t the case.

City workers spent three hours last Thursday loading three truckloads of what the city termed “junk” from the homeless camp near the Nisqually River where the railroad tracks and power lines meet.

“Thank you to the residents who made us aware of this problem and our public works team who cleaned it up,” the Facebook post reads.

The city isn’t done yet, Foster said. He estimates the city will need a crew of 20 and four to five more hours to complete the cleanup along an embankment.

Although some praised the city for its work, many did not.

Some of the Facebook comments:

▪ I'm torn on how I feel about this. The garbage thrown all over is unacceptable. However, at the same time, this is where someone was sleeping. This was someone's belongings.

▪ You guys are seriously bragging about this?

▪ Shame on you, city of Yelm!! Shame on you!!

▪ So did the city of Yelm offer a place for these people to sleep, or are we supposed to somehow be proud of disrupting someone's life and destroying their property without solving anything?

▪ Does Yelm have a plan for sheltering these now displaced residents?

▪ People without homes are not problems to be cleaned up. They are human beings who most need our help.

▪ Why is the city of Yelm bragging about displacing people from the place they lived, a place out of view of the housed, a place even they describe as public land.

Foster said it is hard to engage in a rational discussion online.

“It goes off on threads and tangents that we just can’t control and don’t engage in,” he said.

He encouraged those concerned about the cleanup to call the city directly or to attend a Yelm City Council meeting.

This story was originally published January 29, 2018 at 10:26 AM with the headline "Yelm cleanup of homeless camp sparks outrage on city Facebook page."