In a follow-up to the multi-agency arrest of over 50 people involved in drug and gun dealing in White Center, a meeting was held on Monday night, Oct. 24, to discuss how the community can work with law enforcement and county government to ensure crime of that scale never finds home on their streets again.

Those gathered also sought to address issues beyond large scale crime, looking into everyday issues such as public intoxication and open drinking that steer potential visitors away and make many residents weary of enjoying their own community.

The goal is clear, however the path is not. Monday’s meeting was an exercise in defining the steps that need to be taken, and coming to grips with realities that will cause trouble along the way.

The meeting was held at the Greenbridge Community Center and, as a testament to White Center residents and business owners hopes for safer community, the room was packed beyond seating.

In attendance to answer questions from the crowd were U.S. Attorney Jenny Durkan, King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg, KC Councilmember Joe McDermott, State Rep. Joe Fitzgibbon, KC advisor to Executive Dow Constantine Gail Stone and Major James Graddon and Sheriff Sue Rahr from the Sheriff’s Office.

“The big, big purpose of this is to hear from you, to answer your questions because if we are going to build the building blocks of success after this operation it really is going to come from the people in this room, from the ideas in this room, from the concerns in this room,” Durkan said. “A lot of us up here are committed to results for the future of White Center and the area but there is only so much we can do. Truly, some of the next steps are going to be up to members of the community.”

“We truly believe that criminal conduct does not reflect the majority of people who live here, work here or want to play here, nor does it reflect what your aspirations are …,” she continued.

After the panel introduced themselves, they reiterated themes from Friday of the White Center bust being a model of collaboration between federal, state and local agencies and appalling in the amount of drugs and guns undercover agents were able to recover over 90 days. The rest of the meeting was turned over to the community for questions and ideas on how to move forward.

Here is a summary of questions, ideas and responses raised at the meeting:

Justin Cline, owner of Full Tilt Ice Cream, asked why Papa’s Pub and Grill and DK’s Bar – both raided and identified as fronts for illegal activity – are still operating today. Durkan responded that the Washington Liquor Control Board is currently investigating their status and “I think you will see results from that in the very near future,” and “they should not operate like they did before.”

Another question raised by Cline and several others was what can be done about public drinking in White Center. As a business owner, Cline said families witnessing inebriated people walking around with drinks in the streets is a hindrance to business. The response: while it is legal to be drunk in public, Washington State law makes it illegal to drink in public. The problem, according to Dan Satterberg, is that open containers are low on law enforcement priority lists, especially in under-policed areas such as White Center. Councilmember McDermott said he would add the open container issue to his “list” for White Center.

Elizabeth Gordon, co-owner of Mike’s BBQ, said, “It is just amazing to see the alleys and the corners of the streets calm and quiet” in the wake of the bust. Durkan suggested the White Center Community take advantage of those quiet street corners. “The best way to reclaim the streets is to be on the streets and everyone one of you should vote with your pocketbooks and your feet at night and frequent those businesses that care about this community.” Later in the meeting a “Night Out” for White Center was suggested, where masses of those wanting their community back take over 16th Ave S.W.

There were calls for new codes reducing the number of establishment selling alcohol along 16th Ave and calls for incentives to bring businesses other than bars into the community … and no easy response from the panel on that front, only something that could be looked into.

One of the largest complaints from citizens of White Center is that they do call 911 when they see prostitution or drug dealing, not only along 16th Ave but in their neighborhoods, and they seem to never get a response from law enforcement.

One woman talked about living next to a very active drug house until recently (it was foreclosed upon) and voiced her frustration over calling the police repeatedly and being told there was nothing law enforcement could do about it. She asked what path citizens need to take to be heard.

Sheriff Sue Rahr tackled the question.

“Your question is going to get to the elephant in the room … and that is resources for urban unincorporated King County,” she said. “Our taxing structure in this state is not set up to fund local law enforcement in a urban unincorporated area, that’s just a fact of life. We all kind of tap dance around that and we do these cleanup events – and I think it’s a wonderful thing – but the fact of the matter is there are not enough resources … to address all of these neighborhood drug house problems.”

“Our biggest new band-aid is BJ Meyers, our new storefront deputy,” Sheriff Rahr added. “BJ is the person now that you can call and he can help coordinate and we can triage what we can put our scarce resources on. But I don’t want to delude you into thinking all of the sudden we are going to have all these resources to come out here to do this. We just simply don’t have them, we have a limited number of undercover officers and that number is not going to grow overnight.”

The discussion moved to the possibility of securing federal funding to implement social contract and support programs. “Those are also critical pieces to all of you because we can run around and arrest a whole bunch of people but if we don’t have some kind or support mechanism you’ll never break the cycle of issues for these folks,” Major Graddon said. “We can’t incarcerate ourselves out of these problems,” Durkan added.

There was a promise from the panel to help the community look into possibilities for funding for after school programs for prevention and treatment programs for those already mired in addiction or crime.

Prosecutor Satterberg said taking the streets back as a community (ie spending time there) and quickly reporting, documenting and covering up gang graffiti is a good way to deter gangs from settling in White Center. He said if anyone notices graffiti on a building they do not own, report it to the storefront deputy and he will coordinate with the business owner to get it covered up.

The meeting came to a close with plans to coordinate a Night Out event (and a reminder from Mike Albaeck, owner of Proletariat Pizza, that next Monday is the Halloween Walk-Around in White Center and Art Walks are on the third Saturday of each month - both less formal opportunities to take back the streets). Attorney Durkan suggested coming up with a “concrete to-do list in terms of an advisory group so people really have jobs they have to accomplish.”

Anyone interested in becoming part of that advisory group can email Thomas Bates, Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney, at thomas.bates@usdoj.gov. If you are interested in keeping track of results emerging from this meeting, Bates can also add you to an email list for future notifications on White Center.

On the street level, those interested in attending open-community meetings dealing with public safety can attend the White Center – South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meetings held the fourth Thursday of each month at St James, 9421 18th Ave S.W. at 6 p.m. (email them at wcsdsc@yahoo.com), or the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meetings held the first Thursday of each month at the North Highline Fire Station from 7-9 p.m.