Fed up with what they say is a marked increase in drug activity, residents of the Eernisse Apartments have reached out to a variety of officials and are working to eradicate the narcotics problem they say is plaguing their neighborhood.
Last week, at least 10 members of Eernisse’s 26 households attended a meeting with two King County sheriff’s deputies to establish a neighborhood watch and discuss potential solutions to an increase in drug traffic in and near the complex, which provides affordable housing and is located just behind the Methodist church.
The increase in drug activity was first noticeable this summer, according to Vanessa Burgess, a mother of five who lives at Eernisse and organized the meeting. Teens would come by, going in and out of an apartment and spending time in the wetlands, an area where no one is allowed. Needles were reportedly found there, she said, and activity seemed to increase as men came in and out of the complex to two apartments at all hours, with many residents saying it was evident they were there to purchase or use drugs.
Tensions increased, Burgess said, and a few weeks ago, she contacted Deputy Jeff Hancock about forming a neighborhood watch.
“The answer is not to sit here scared or sit here freaking out,” she said. “Our goal is to increase political and social involvement and make this a safe place.”
Now, adding to the neighborhood watch and an increased police presence promised by local deputies, some residents say they have brought their concerns to elected representatives at both the county and federal levels and to the King County Housing Authority — steps they say were needed because they believe that officials at Vashon Household, which manages the complex, are not doing enough to combat the problems.
Chris Szala, Vashon Household’s executive director, said he understands some Eernisse residents are frustrated, but that the organization is taking steps to address the issue. He stressed that Vashon Household must follow strict landlord-tenant housing laws and privacy regulations, and even with drugs involved, it can take three to four months to evict a resident.
On Monday, Szala reported progress and noted that one of the residents in question, who the agency had been working to remove from the apartments since July, recently signed an agreement to leave, and eviction proceedings are under way regarding another resident.
He added that he fully supports the neighborhood watch and that Vashon Household staff intends to be more closely in touch with sheriff’s deputies.
“We have talked to them and are going to coordinate more,” he said.
Last Friday, some of Eernisse’s concerned residents gathered to share their experiences with a reporter, and two children came by to express their concerns as well, including Elias Canterbury, 11, who provided a letter signed by several of the young residents, saying they are sometimes fearful for their safety. “This place is important to us because this is our home — this is where we live,” the letter said in part.
The large number of children who live at Eernisse makes this issue important, say some residents, including Suzanne Casiano, who contacted the King County Housing Authority because of her concerns, and a woman named Morgan, who requested that her last name not be used. She recently wrote to Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) and said she plans to send the same letter to King County Councilmember Joe McDermott, requesting help from them both.
“We need our kids focused on education and being kids,” she said.
In addition to the influx of foot traffic and reports of needles being found, residents and deputies point to two troublesome incidents in recent weeks.
At the end August, Deputy Jeff Hancock said he responded to a call where a 54-year-old man had overdosed on heroin and died in the playground of the Methodist church.
Medics revived him, Hancock said, but he noted that play area — which he estimated to be less than 50 yards from the Eernisse Apartments and where Eernisse children often play — draws drug users, who like to shoot up under the canopy of the play structure.
Hancock said that while he has seen no overt signs of drug use and its aftermath left behind at the playground, he has seen it in the empty lot next to the church.
“What happens, you have needles that are left. They urinate and there is feces; you have this where kids are. It is very, very dangerous,” he said. “It brings crime to an area. Not just that, it brings fear.”
In the second incident, less that two weeks ago, Deputy Kurt Lysen responded to a call at Eernisse itself. According to information provided by DB Gates, a King County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, a known drug addict at Eernisse sprayed blood from a syringe onto the car of a resident who has been vocal about wanting to clean up the neighborhood. Evidence was taken at the scene, but no suspects have been formally identified and no arrests have been made. The incident is believed to have occurred the night of Sept. 20 or the morning of Sept. 21, just days after fliers for the pending neighborhood watch meeting were distributed.
“It’s a biohazard,” Burgess said of the blood. “It makes me feel a lot more anxious about the whole neighborhood.”
Indeed, Eernisse’s neighborhood, with several trees and shrubs, is leafy and green, but the foliage also provides cover for drug use.
The complex is also close to a vacant lot that had housed a ragtag encampment for for more than a year but was finally cleaned up last fall. The Eernisse property abuts the rear portion of the Methodist church property, and transients come and go through there, Hancock said, following a footpath that connects the apartments to the main highway. Children who live at Eernisse also use that path to get to and from the bus stop.
Just in the past month, Rev. Kathy Morse, the pastor of the Methodist church, said she has seen increased foot traffic coming through the church yard from the vacant lot. A couple times a day, she said, people walk through, and sometimes they want to sit by the playground. She reroutes them, she said, and she planned to call the deputies to investigate what might be happening back beyond what is visible there. She had not yet done so when Hancock reported that he had just recently asked two people to leave the lot, where he found them with syringes nearby and stolen wire. The wire was taken from Vashon Electric and has since been returned, he said.
Morse, who said she had not been informed about the man who had overdosed in the play area, added that she had been invited to the neighborhood watch meeting and could not attend, but plans to be at any others.
“I would have loved to have been there,” she said.
At the meeting, Hancock and Lysen noted that some environmental improvements could be made at Eernisse with an eye toward crime prevention, such as cutting back bushes and increasing the lighting in the parking lots. One resident recently took it upon herself to dramatically prune some bushes near the parking lot, in the process clearing a spot where drug use is believed to have regularly taken place.
At Vashon Household, Szala said he is open to security suggestions and is considering whether to apply for county funds that may support additional lighting.
For their part, deputies say they were pleased with the recent meeting and the neighborhood watch’s potential for fighting crime.
“The most important thing is a community who knows each other and knows what is normal and a community that is not afraid to act,” Hancock said.
Deputies will focus more of their attention on Eernisse, he added, including beginning a trespass program there, which has been helpful in clearing drug use from other troublesome areas on the island, including the Village Green.
Hancock stressed, though, that law enforcement’s attention at Eernisse may help that small community, but will not address the problem of narcotic use on Vashon — or the endemic problem of addiction.
“We will focus our attention,” he said. “It does not solve the problem. It just moves it.”
Indeed, last week at home in her kitchen, Burgess stressed drug use is an issue she hopes the community as a whole will pay more attention to.
“When do you say as a community, this isn’t OK anywhere?” she said. “If we don’t want this problem on the island, everyone needs to decide to call 911 if there is a problem.”
