Despite Jefferson County being in the midst of a full fledged housing crisis, an anonymous flier was distributed on Aug. 2 in the neighborhood around the 1500 block on 14th Street, urging residents to oppose Bayside Housing’s application to set up tiny homes for transitional housing near Ninth and Logan Street.

Not only do I take issue with the not-in-my-backyard sentiments of this type of advocacy that urges those disproportionately able to sacrifice — property owners, of which I am one — to fight for their interests at the expense of the most vulnerable and needy, but it also was deliberately misleading.

The flier was deliberately phrased in several places to emphasize the word “encampment,” and draw parallels between the tiny home area and the encampment at the fairgrounds. This is manifestly not the case: It would be a managed project of tiny homes where residents are screened and held accountable for standards of conduct. It would not be a place where anyone can pitch a tent, which is the usual association with the phrases “homeless encampment” or “tent encampment.”

It also tried to discredit the tiny homes by saying “they do not meet the city standard for occupancy, except under an emergency order.” This is laughable. Anyone who has taken an interest in the current housing crisis knows that the city codes have been systematically molded in favor of current property owners over the public interest, and that reforming them is a major priority in the fight against the crisis.

The flier concludes with, “I strongly urge you to write the city, asking to DISAPPROVE Land Use Application LUP21-051.” I also urge readers to write to the city, but I implore them to write in favor of it.

Trent Diamanti
PORT TOWNSEND