Fears are growing that the city of Spokane is quickly becoming Washington state’s new Seattle due to rampant homelessness and an ongoing opioid crisis.
The city in eastern Washington is currently dealing with ongoing issues involving widespread homelessness, fentanyl use and overall lawlessness while the city’s mayor focuses on ‘harm reduction’ to address the problem.
The city had boomed during the pandemic, proving a popular destination for young working professionals and couples in their golden years.
But ongoing problems are proving tiresome for some local businesses, which are resorting to shutting up shop.
Earlier this month, two-time James Beard Awards semi-finalist Chad White said that he would be closing his much loved restaurant Zona Blanca Ceviche Bar after it was broken into twice in 24 hours.
After eight years of operating the business in downtown Spokane, he said the decision came down to what was best for his staff and customers.
Spokane boomed during the pandemic, proving a popular destination for young working professionals and couples in their golden years .
The city in eastern Washington is currently dealing with ongoing issues involving widespread homelessness , fentanyl use and overall lawlessness
In an open letter, White said: ‘The hard truth is that like many businesses in downtown Spokane, we’ve faced a challenging and rough road.
‘The increasing crime, visible drug use and the damage to public and private property have made it harder and harder to maintain a safe environment for our team and partners who are like family to me, and for you, our valued guests.’
He asked local leaders to address the problems, saying if he was struggling to maintain an eatery amid such chaos, a restauranteur with less acclaim doesn’t stand a chance.
‘The challenges we face are real and growing, and if we don’t take immediate action to address the safety and well-being of our downtown, many more businesses – especially the smaller ones – will face even greater struggles in the months ahead,’ White said.
The decision to close the restaurant came after it was broken into twice within 24 hours.
According to a local business leader who spoke to 770KTTH, it was ‘ransacked and looted throughout the evening by a gang of criminals coming and going.’
Business leaders have taken to an email thread to connect with one another, share stories and offer advice to one another.
A real estate broker who wrote about the break-ins on the thread told the outlet that he was left ‘angry and frustrated’ when he visited the business.
Chad White said that he would be closing his much loved restaurant Zona Blanca Ceviche Bar after two break-ins within 24 hours
In June, the mayor confirmed that the overdose rate had jumped 30 percent over the same time last year
‘There were six people camped out under the “no camping” sign, three of which were actively using drugs when I arrived,’ he wrote.
The broker added that ‘the fatigue is real and it is absolutely exhausting.’
‘We cannot continue to allow our businesses to be terrorized in this manner,’ he said.
‘When 80% of the crimes are committed by only a small number (20-30?) of individuals we need a repeat offender law that can deal with these people.’
He explained that a person involved in the initial break-in at Zona Blanca was apprehended by Spokane police the next day, and booked on two previous felony counts of burglary and theft unrelated to the restaurant break-in.
The broker pondered how it was ‘possible that this individual was out roaming the streets of downtown?’
Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown declared a state of emergency to implement a response to the opioid crisis plaguing the city
‘Let’s not confuse the issue, these are drug-addicted criminal deviants who need to be locked up,’ he said.
In June of this year, Spokane Mayor Lisa Brown declared a state of emergency to implement a response to the opioid crisis plaguing the city.
Speaking at a press conference when she confirmed the plans, the democrat said that the overdose rate had jumped 30 percent over the same time last year.
In response, officials have invested in ‘harm reduction’ policies, like sites where users can test their drugs for fentanyl to avoid dying of an overdose.
In February of this year, addiction treatment worker Hallie Burchinal told KREM that she wished fentanyl would go away and heroin would return as the drug of choice.
‘We’re experiencing people die on a regular basis. It’s absolutely getting worse,’ she said.
Just three years ago, she said staff would see two or three overdoses a week. Now they now deal with multiple every day.
The local government is also set to make housing status a ‘protected class,’giving the homeless help in finding jobs.
In January of this year, former city councilmember Mike Allen told The Center Square that downtown Spokane was a ‘wasteland’.
‘It’s just continued to get progressively worse with the litter, the vandalism, people shooting up on drugs,’ he said.
‘It’s a wasteland now. I’ve watched people shoot up in doorways. We’ve seen violence in Riverfront Park. This is not the Spokane of six, seven years ago.’
In June of last year, the state moved in to Spokane to close the largest homeless encampment in Washington, nicknamed Camp Hope
Gordon Hester, president and CEO of real estate company Kiemle Hagood, added: ‘The last three years have been awful.’
‘It’s so disheartening. If you look at it from a real estate perspective when you’re trying to bring companies into downtown and you have this kind of stuff going on, there’s no way I can convince people it’s safe to do business,’ he said.
The two told the outlet that they have noticed the homeless population become increasingly emboldened to commit crimes in public.
Both men agreed that current policies had to change to help the city.
In June of last year, the state moved in to Spokane to close the largest homeless encampment in Washington, nicknamed Camp Hope.
It had been home to 600 homeless people and originally opened as a protest over the lack of available shelter beds.
Officials eventually had it cleared due to concerns over crime and drug use, with service providers then relocating residents to housing options.
