³ÉÈËXÕ¾

SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Don: Seattle’s smells, downtown activity is downright embarrassing

Jul 21, 2015, 10:38 AM | Updated: 11:52 am

The party in Seattle needs to stop, ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Radio’s Don O’Neill says. People should not be...

The party in Seattle needs to stop, ³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Radio's Don O'Neill says. People should not be smoking marijuana in public. (AP)

(AP)

A beautiful day in downtown Seattle turned sour with the rank odor of marijuana, urine and feces.

³ÉÈËXÕ¾ Radio’s Don O’Neill took his brother-in-law out on the town last week. Don does his best to sell the city and all it has to offer.

But all downtown seemed to offer was filth, Don said.

“There was just a lot of grown men standing around on a perfectly beautiful day smoking dope,” Don explained. “And there wasn’t a police officer in sight.”

Don attempted to flee the distinct smell of marijuana, but as soon as he did that, other odors took its place. The two went over to Occidental Park, where it looked like a “homeless-person party.”

Related: Do we really want surveillance cameras in black neighborhoods?

“There are people drinking, there are people peeing,” Don said. He was glad he didn’t bring his son. “It was one of the first times I have ever been embarrassed by Seattle.”

After their run-in with the party at Occidental, Don and his brother-in-law went over to grab a bite to eat near Pioneer Square &#8212 sitting at an outside table. They couldn’t smell their food as much as something that was becoming all too familiar that day. The smell of feces and urine.

“There is a lot of stuff there for our police department to have to deal with,” Don said. “You could put five police officers down in Occidental Park writing tickets and they’d be busy the whole time.”

It’s a frustration Kathleen O’Toole, chief of police for the Seattle Police Department, must be feeling now. O’Toole defended the department, after a report came out showing a “disproportionate” amount tickets for marijuana use in public were being given to African American men.

“We are making national news because we have a disproportionate number of tickets written to men and to African Americans,” O’Toole said during a City Council meeting Monday. The department issued a total of 85 tickets in the second half of 2014. Of those, about 70 are in question and making the rounds in the news.

“I don’t want to sit here and defend any of it,” O’Toole said during the meeting. “Some people say we need to look at the demographics downtown. Who were the people in Westlake Park? Who were the people on Pike and Pine? But bottom line is we are talking 70 tickets in a city with a population of over 650,000 people.”

O’Toole has asked for direction. She said she doesn’t want to go in front of the council every six months to defend a handful of tickets.

Don concurs. People shouldn’t be allowed to stand in public parks, partying. Everyone should be able to use public spaces and feel comfortable doing so.

“The party has to stop,” Don said. “And we have to give people like O’Toole the tools to go ahead and clean it up.”

And it’s not just marijuana and public defecation the city needs to clean up. There have been a number of complaints about people living in various Seattle neighborhoods.

Seattle News Archives & Features

Associated Press

Seattle man charged with string of burglaries at the homes of NFL and MLB stars

SEATTLE (AP) — A Seattle man was charged Friday with a string of burglaries at the homes of prominent current and former football and baseball players, marking the latest example of well-known athletes being targeted in home thefts. Earl Henderson Riley IV, 21, was charged with several counts of residential burglary in both occupied and […]

25 days ago

Associated Press

Campgrounds closed along Pacific Crest Trail in search for man wanted in daughters’ deaths

SEATTLE (AP) — Authorities have closed a wide swath of popular campgrounds and backpacking areas along the Pacific Crest Trail in Washington as they search for a former Army soldier wanted in the deaths of his three young daughters. Dozens of additional law enforcement officers from an array of agencies joined the investigation and search […]

25 days ago

In this undated photo released by the Thurston County Sheriff's Office, a cache of military weaponr...

Associated Press

2 arrested with arsenal and Nazi paraphernalia after base robbery were ex-military, prosecutors say

SEATTLE (AP) — Two men arrested in Washington state with an arsenal that included grenade launchers and body armor, along with Nazi paraphernalia, were former military members who attacked a soldier with a hammer while stealing gear from Joint Base Lewis-McChord last weekend, investigators say. Levi Austin Frakes and Charles Ethan Fields were arrested Monday […]

27 days ago

Associated Press

Authorities are searching for a Washington state father of 3 dead girls

WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) — A Washington state father is wanted for murder after his three young daughters were reported missing and then found dead. Police on Tuesday asked the public for help in finding the father of the girls, Travis Decker, 32. He is wanted for three counts of murder and kidnapping, the Wenatchee Police […]

28 days ago

Expand Autoplay Image3 of 5 Burien car crashes through home Burien car crashes through home (photo:...

³ÉÈËXÕ¾ 7 News Staff

Driver sails through Burien homes after launching off curb, officials say

A driver crashed into two Burien homes Monday afternoon causing significant damage.

1 month ago

Associated Press

1 person was rescued and a search is underway for 3 others after a boat sinks north of Seattle

SEATTLE (AP) — One person was rescued by a good Samaritan and authorities were looking for three others after a boat took on water and sank in waters north of Seattle, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday. A U.S. Coast Guard boat crew and helicopter searched for the missing alongside Everett firefighters and police, the […]

1 month ago

Don: Seattle’s smells, downtown activity is downright embarrassing