I was accosted at a Tacoma encampment. Now I walk by it and fear for my safety | Opinion

Encampment safety

Walking home from the store last week I witnessed a confrontation between residents of a homeless camp on South 82nd and Pacific and a young couple in a car.

One of the homeless individuals was threatening the man with a metal baseball bat.

I stopped to video this and a young woman from the camp accosted me — attempting to push me to the ground.

These camps should have onsite staff who will call the police. I am 66 years old and do not own a car. I must walk past this camp every day.

I contacted the police, but they’ve done nothing.

These camps must be monitored.

No one will help people like me otherwise.

Frank Hopper, Tacoma

Transit-oriented development

In 2022, Pierce County Sheriff’s deputies shut down a homeless encampment in Parkland – resulting in eight people being arrested.

This group was full of working members of the Parkland community who stayed at this encampment because going to a shelter would impair their ability to work.

I understand the police were doing their job; I’m not arguing against them.

However, people there were not living there by choice — it was out of necessity. Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) would help this issue by providing affordable housing — or even a homeless shelter — close enough to transit options for people to continue working and avoid trespassing on private housing.

The City of Tacoma already has a TOD task force, but Parkland is outside of city limits and will not benefit from it.

I’m calling on representatives on the state level to support TOD legislation that will help the Parkland community.

Rory E. Lacy, Tacoma

Tenants’ rights initiative

Now that Tacoma’s Initiative Measure 1 has become law, the city should expect a further scarcity of rental homes.

Tacoma should also expect increased barriers to access the limited inventory, as well as escalating prices.

Tacoma citizens will be getting exactly what they voted for.

Good Luck.

Dan White, Fox Island

State liquor monopoly

This year is now the deadliest on record for Washington state in terms of vehicular collisions. It is also the worst year on record for multi-vehicle collisions that have completely blocked traffic on highways across the state, sometimes for hours or even days.

More than 60% of these collisions have involved one or more drivers with a blood-alcohol content exceeding the legal limit. Washington has a drunk driver problem, and it is killing us.

In 2011, voters approved I-1183, a ballot initiative to dismantle the state’s liquor monopoly. Prior to this repeal, the only place you could purchase alcohol stronger than a certain proof was at stores run by the Liquor Control Board.

The LCB used metrics such as the number of alcohol-related deaths, injuries and crimes in a given census tract to determine the hours and locations of these stores, as well as what products could be sold. This acted as a dial the LCB could turn down in response to a recent surge in drunk driving collisions.

That’s all gone now. Alcohol-related collisions have risen year after year since I-1183 passed, culminating in what is now the deadliest year ever.

It is time to restore the state liquor monopoly.

David Bart, Olympia