EDITOR’S NOTE: Aria Peters is an English Language Learner (ELL) Teacher at the Arts and Academics Academy on the Evergreen Campus in the Highline School District. This spring, her intermediate level ELL students were given a “letter to the editor” assignment. They were asked to research a topic that is important to their lives, take a stand on that topic and write a letter arguing their position. Four of her students decided to write about Burien’s 606 Ordinance. These high school students are all recent immigrants to the United States and bring a unique perspective on what is happening in our community.
“The project was also a great opportunity for them to learn more about city government and the community in which they live. Students were able to work with writing tutors from the Bureau of Fearless Ideas so I would like to especially thank BFI for helping the students and I with this project,” Aria added.
Here are the letters as written by the students:
Dear B-Town Blog!According to Burien City Council, the 606 Ordinance which bans the “dangerous”, “unsafe”, “illegal”, and “unreasonably disruptive to other users” behavior in the public places. When a citizen’s behavior violates one of those clauses contained in the Ordinance, they will receive a trespass warning ascendingly. It was passed on August 18, 2014 with many controversial opinions. As a young person living in Burien, I perceive this ordinance is discriminating specific targets and causing dissent in our community.
Sounds like Burien Government did a great job to protect our public spaces, but they didn’t know or ignored those who are impacted the most by behavior calls “unreasonably disruptive to other users”. As soon as the time 606 Ordinance was adopted, many homeless people protested to reclaim justice for themselves. The organizer said: “This law targets the most vulnerable members of our society, homeless people have human rights just like everyone in Burien. Homeless people should not be outlawed, profiled, harassed and banned out of their own community during the current national crisis of homelessness”. They have their own difficulties, instead of making their life becomes more unfortunate, why don’t we stop pushing them out of our social. This ordinance also called “anti-homeless” which prevents them bathing, shaving, and washing clothes in the public bathrooms. So, where do you think they can do those stuffs with the word “homeless”? More preposterous, this law maintains “bodily hygiene or scent that is unreasonably offensive to others”, in other simple word, they will ban the smelly person. Not be allowed to taking shower in public bathroom, and of course the trespass warning about stinky are waiting for them.
Besides this injustice, the penalties are too harsh and people don’t deserve this. In the realchangenews.org online newspaper mentions: “For the first offense, police can bar someone from a public place such as a park or city hall for up to seven days. For the second offense, police can trespass someone for seven to 90 days. For the third, police can trespass someone for seven days to one year”. Moreover, if violators come back that area, they will be charged $1,000 and 90 days in jail or a maximum is $5,000 and 12 months in jail. I don’t think people could be in jail just because of poor manners such as talking loudly. Also this law might make others scare about they are randomly persecuted under this law.
However, some groups point out that the 606 ordinance is keeping our public places being safe and healthy. They believe that it helps minimize the risks of being disrupted or harassed by others. When the security is improved, they can prevent our places from malicious behavior on the city streets, and vandalism of public properties. Furthermore, City spokesperson Katie Whittier Trefry said: “Burien is not targeting the homeless population but rather focusing on safety for the whole community. She said the ordinance creates a middle step to warn people first”.
We can’t deny its benefits, but also we can’t deny its inequity. Therefore, we are required to consider about which side is heavier. In recent times, the American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (ACLU-WA) sent a letter to the Burien City Council to ask for repealing 606 ordinance. They propounded plausible arguments about improper clauses included “unreasonable disruptive to other users”. The ACLU-WA claimed: “This ordinance blurs the line between poor manners (cursing, expressing strong emotions, talking loudly on a mobile phone) and truly dangerous or criminal behavior”. Moreover, Burien Government should help them by providing homeless housing, instead of making homelessness a crime.
Anne McCaffrey, the first woman to win a Hugo Award, and a Nebula Award has said “Make no judgments where you have no compassion”. I hope the Burien City Council will take a position for this quote in their next decisions. Please put yourself in their shoes to see what they are really suffered.
Thank you for spending your time.
Sincerely,
Tuyen Nguyen
Arts and Academics Academy
Highline School District
Dear Burien city council,
The teenagers are the most important part of the community and the adults need to protect and think of them so stop what affecting them because they are the leaders of the country in the future. The homeless are poor and weakest people so we need to think of them. However the government need to think of them and help them they don’t have to disruptive them or to make a law that effecting them. 606 is a new law that disruptive the homeless people and teenagers. If you are loud or if you are smelling bad in public place. They can kick you out and call you the police officers. they will give your ‘’trespass warning’ ’And anyone who trespassed seven days or more can appeal the citation in court’’ if also anyone returns to an area from which they have been trespassed, they could be arrested and charged with a misdemeanor with maximum penalty of $1,000 and 9o days in jail. Although people who create think this law will help people focus what they studying and it will keep the places safe and peace and also the people will become more respectful and quite especially at the libraries, on the other hand this law is unfair and most of the people are unhappy with this law. The more you guys think this law will help the people is the more is affecting discrimination and humiliating the community.
In my opinion this law is unfair law to homeless people and teenagers. It’s also important to me because I’m a teenager and I care about the homeless because they are part of the community otherwise they need help not to bother them. As the other community we need help them and stop bothering them. It also affecting the community because first is disruptive homeless people. Second is causing more dangerous behavior between the community and lastly it can cause more teenagers being homeless. For example teenagers are too loud if they get trespass warning again and again and they go to jail. That affecting their social security and that causing being homeless. I’m teenager and it can affect me. For example I can talk at the libraries and stories and then they may give me trespassed and that can affect my life. Also, I go the parks at the summer time with my friends and I want to talk to them and if play with them it may cause to get in trouble. I may cause to get trespass warning.
Burien city council just passed ordinance 606, which bans homeless people form public spaces in Burien. Homeless people have rights just like everyone life in Burien. And we have to give them their rights and stop this law because it is unfair. According to the 14th Amendment to the U.S. constitution it is illegal to discriminate against anyone. As humans, we try to do the right thing. “It puts homeless people in a catch-22: while they can be trespassed for poor hygiene, they can also be trespassed using public restrooms for shaving or washing themselves” this means homeless people can’t enter public places such as the bathrooms. And if they enter the public restrooms they will getting trespass warring. They also need place to rest and to wash themselves ’’Jon O’Dell, 16, is homeless but spends his days at the park with his dad. He noted that he could be trespassed because he uses a nearby bathroom to wash his cats’ food bowls. This mean homeless teens can’t even see their parents at outside the home. Because of this law and that is racism and separate, is unjust to separate parents and their children outside the house.
606 Burien law is dangerous behavior for the all the community especially homeless and teenagers. If the homeless people get angary about this law they can hurt or even kill many people. This law is very dangerous it can cause disagreement and make conflict between the communities the people who make this law thinks this law will help it can help people be more respectful and the place will be safe and also the people studying at the public places will focus more about what they studying.
In conclusion, 606 law is a new law that disruptive the homeless and teens. This law is dangerous behavior for the community and it is unjust. The law can cause conflicts and it can make homeless people get mad and keep hurting people or shooting. This law is also affecting teenagers by effecting their life, if the teenagers get too much trespass warning and they go to jail they may become homeless and that causing too much homeless in U.S. Furthermore, the law is unfair and immoral. The people who make this law think this law will help the people become more respectful and the places will be safe. However, what the law truly does is discrimination against homeless and teenagers.
Thank you for reading my letter.
Sincerely,
Nimo Hassan
Arts and Academics Academy Highline School District
Dear B-Town Blog,
My name Tien, I am 15 year old, I’m just came from Vietnam to America a year and a half ago. I don’t know much about America, as well as Burien, but I had heard about the Burien 606 law. And I had heard, had many people have bad reactive and good reactive about the law. One person will have different idea about everything. Some will like it but some are don’t, in the law, had many people like it, says it was good, but some had says it was bad and it was not fair. About me, I thinks it are bad, it make people are get away from each other. The law should be repeal because I see it not help for a community.
The law 606 came from Burien Community, it new law in Burien. That law also effect to teenagers and homeless people. It says that you will be kick out if you are smell bad, loud or have bad behavior. It is not fair and I think it not a good law. The law says, they will call police if you are do something like bad or they don’t like that, the first trespass warning banish up to 7 days to 90 days or up to 1 year. This is a big trouble, it not good or discriminatory of people.
The 606 law had made by Majority of Burien Council and by 9 people. This call The Homeless Rights Advocacy Project, this had wrote by law students Scott Macdonald and Justin Olson in the supervised by Professor Sara Rankin of Seattle University School of law. The University law school study said the local ordinances here and around the state “Are laws punishing behaviors that are necessary for survival”. This means, this law is correct because this can make people know what they do are good or bad but they don’t know about because of this law had many people have many difficult thing, they don’t have anywhere to go. They can’t buy food to eat, maybe they will die because they so hungry.
But still have many people are thinks this good, this is helpful to everyone. The Burien City Manager Kamuron Gurol said, “It makes it tough for us to try to provide a safe, welcoming environment for anyone when we have these behavior problems happening.” They means, they make the law is in the purpose is make they safety, make they get away the intricacy from people around them. They think the homeless are most of trouble, they don’t want to meet the trouble and that why people had support to the 606 Burien Law.
So, I thinks I agree with people who think it good, that right. That make you fells safe, might make you feels better to stay in that place but my mind are not allowed to agree with that idea. So, I had looked to another side of that and i had changed my thinking and why don’t you try like me and look at another side of the law right now. You will see the law are make homeless don’t have anywhere to go, that might make some homeless are fells they are not a humans because the law are telling to people about racism and try to separate they to people. And I already knew that the homeless are noisy, they are had bad behavior and they might not dishonest but that not all of homeless are like that. I know that, there are no body want to be homeless, people think bad about yourself, like them. They are don’t want to be like that, but they had no choice to become anything. The report said Burien Evangelical Church pastor Mike Alben, “Criticized the treatment of homeless individuals as a affording them ‘little to no dignity’”. This person might want to criticize the law because the law are make homeless people or people think they are not human, people don’t need to respect them, and it also make homeless people are pride and not confidence to become a better life or not better but they can be no longer are homeless. Why don’t people give to homeless the chance or just only one chance to change their life and become to a better person.
In that, still had some people was like admiration the homeless because they can’t be or become homeless even that, they are just thinks about it. In the article the person was says “if you really did trying the experiment it would be incredibly humbling- it would be terrifying and I think it is the terror of that it must like to experiment homeless”, she said this was want to encourage people try to be a homeless and know how it fell. And she kept says “I couldn’t do it, I know I couldn’t do it”, she means, be a homeless, it not easy and no one want to be homeless.
Can I be a homeless? And what can I do if I am a homeless? This is the question I had gave to myself, when I hear about the law. And now, I had answer for this question was, “I can’t, I really can’t, I will die if I am a homeless because it not easy, it is so difficult, what I can do if I am a homeless people? And it is nothing, I know, there are nothing I can do if I’m homeless. And I want to help people, even I don’t know how to help them and I think I can’t help them.
After all, my goal when I write this article are want to tells people “please look at the side of the suffering of homeless, and trying to help them”, and the last thing, this is a most of important thing I want to tell everyone in this article, I want to tells people is “everyone are humans like everyone, people should need to be equal, need to be respond to each other and to be have a good life because we can live in the world are the miracle of the God had given to people and people must cherish it and about your life too.” This is important to me because I am a human, and you are a human too.
Thanks for spending your time.
Sincerely,
ThuyTien Duong.
Arts and Academic Academy Highline School District
Dear, B-town Blog
Do you still believe America is an absolutely fair country in the world? Ordinance 606 is a proposed solution to disruptive public behavior in our Burien community. However this 606 law isn’t fair. Even though of it looks like can solve those behavior problem, it’s just another way to kick those homeless people out who have nowhere else can go. Therefore this law is unconstitutional for 14th Amendment.
606 law has another name called “Anti – Homeless”. 606 law rules that people in public place can call the police to kick out the people who are noisy or smelling bad. This means those homeless people who don’t have a real home and can’t wash their body have to leave the park or other public place, their only home, just because of a law. Although it sounds like a positive approach to solve the public behavior issue, in fact this is unfair for those homeless people.
Another reason is the penalty of 606 law is very serious when people violate it. How can a law punish people can’t go to the same public place again for 7 days or even 1 year for just because people are noisy or smelling bad or other bad behavior in the public place. Although this kind of punishment can prevent people from being offensive, but this makes people don’t want to often to go to the public place. The public place will be like a ruin get abandoned from people.
Will the public place be comfortable after the 606 law begin? Actually not, because it makes people have more disputes with other people and people will be nervous in the public place because maybe just a laugh and you will can’t go to the same place in a long time. Public place might be death in the whole air, because everybody don’t want to talk, no laughing, no excitement, no liveliness, only a dead silent place.
Why I care about it? I am an unknown student studying high school, and I live in Burien. I am from Taiwan which a small country where we speak Mandarin located in Asia near China. In Taiwan I like to ride a bike with my friends to play basketball in our community park. I often saw some homeless people sleep on the chairs and treat the park like their home. Their only work is recycling to take some of the bottles and papers around the road and in the trash can, and they only have a bike or a small stroller or even just a hand to sell those trash at the recycling field to earn a little rewards. Although they are very toilsome, but they still have smile on their face whole time, because they still have a “home” can let them go, let them live.
If one day I become a homeless person and there have a similar law to the 606 law, which law makes me can’t stay at my only home. Where can I go? Wait, it’s wrong. In correct way to say where should I go? The government forces me to get out my home by that stupid unfair law, and doesn’t give me other home to live. I can’t stay in the park, street or even a WC. Because these places are all public places under the government controlled with the law. Moreover I must to respect the law, otherwise I will be punished the most severely one year can’t go to the same place again. Therefore I will say this law is a completely wrong way to fix the public behavior problem. How about you? If one day you become a homeless person, how will you feel this law?
Thank you for reading my letter.
– Leo Wang
Arts and Academics Academy
Highline School District
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