Council passes Dan’s RV ban
This week, the city council passed Councilmember Dan Strauss' package of bills targeting RVs and people living in them. While some of the services and outreach are arguably a step forward, the legislation takes several steps back by establishing a punitive permitting system in 2027 that banishes RVs to the city’s industrial areas in true NIMBY fashion. The Seattle-King County Coalition on Homelessness pushed back on this system, noting that many will be unable to get a permit, and the opening of a new safe lot has been delayed for years.
Councilmembers presented the permitting system in softer language. Strauss called it “human-centered.” But this follows years of stigmatizing rhetoric. For example, at an August public safety committee meeting, Chair Bob Kettle generalized that when there are “more than five RVs together, someone is dealing drugs.” Councilmember Martiza Rivera suggested the permitting system wasn’t punitive enough, saying she worried this would “legalize” RVs that the city should remove. She failed to pass an amendment that would revoke permits based on certain criminal convictions. Strauss clarified that one safe lot is already opening and that he submitted a budget amendment to fund a second one. The backdrop of the legislation is a proposed austerity budget that squeezes funding for housing and tenant services, while growing the police budget to over half a billion dollars. At the same time, eviction filings in the county have climbed over 1,000 in March 2026 alone. The legislation takes effect at the end of April 2027, with a 90-day grace period and full implementation at the end of July.
Change to Everett homeless policy disrupts free pantry
Everett Free Pantry briefly shut down this week after the city informed the operators that it was located within a recently expanded “service facility buffer zone,” where providing aid to the homeless requires a permit. The pantry reopened Thursday. There’s no permit yet, but it’s on private property, so it’s technically exempt. The buffer zones are part of an anti-homeless and ableist policy referred to as “no sit, no lie.“ The first iteration of Everett’s “no sit, no lie” law was passed in 2021. Two years later, the city added buffer zones that restricted people from providing food, water, supplies, or services without a permit—a move clearly meant to punish mutual aid. The city council extended the buffer zones through 2027 last year. In the first two years, police gave out 156 warnings and 15 criminal charges for “buffer zone violations” against 11 people, with at least one conviction. Sitting or lying on public property in one of these “buffer zones” is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in jail and up to a $500 fine.
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WSP Trooper’s vehicular homicide trial pushed back again
Former Washington State Patrol Trooper Sarah Clasen will not stand trial for vehicular homicide until 2027, at the earliest. In fact, it’s looking like she might take a plea and not face trial. Clasen struck and killed 20-year-old Venezuelan immigrant Jhoser Sanchez in March 2025. She had reportedly been drinking at a Chinese restaurant famous for its “strong drinks” for four hours before the collision, and her blood alcohol content was estimated to be roughly three times the legal limit at the time. This is the fifth time the court date has been moved. The prosecutor’s office has cited “ongoing negotiations,” hinting at a possible plea deal. Clasen’s case is a perfect mirror image of the death of WSP Trooper Christopher Gadd a year before. Gadd was killed by an intoxicated driver speeding on the I-5 shoulder, and conservatives rallied around his death because the driver was an immigrant. The man who killed Gadd was given a million-dollar bail (later reduced to $100,000), held in jail until his trial date, tried in a little over a year, and sentenced to 10 years. Compare that to Clasen, who was not formally charged for four months, was released without bail on personal recognizance, and remained on the state payroll until April of this year. While we don’t know what sentence Clasen will face, it definitely won’t be a decade in prison. Though we’re often told that police are held to a higher standard, it’s clear that cops face an entirely different justice system.
KCSO deputy suspended for elbowing flight attendant
Earlier this week, we reported that King County Sheriff’s Office Detective Shawn Peckham was suspended for getting kicked off a plane in San Diego last year. Peckham, who smelled of alcohol, did not want to raise his seat during takeoff and elbowed an off-duty flight attendant in the seat next to him. The pilot ordered him removed from the plane. Peckham was rude to the officers who escorted him off the plane, telling one of them, “Don’t touch me!” In particular, he was hostile and argumentative to the Black female detective taking his statement. Peckham thought she was biased against him because she was a woman. He condescendingly referred to her as “girl” and implied that she must be new to the job (she was the ranking officer on the scene). He accused her of taking the side of the “gal” on the plane [the flight attendant] and claimed a witness to the fight, presumably also a woman of color, was not “white guy friendly.” He was suspended for two days.
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