Pearl Safeway after hours is 'absolute disaster'
Councilor Eric Zimmerman reacts to disturbing video of sidewalk outside the store
After watching the video below of Northwest 13th Avenue between Lovejoy and Marshall streets at night, District 4 Councilor Eric Zimmerman minced no words.
“It’s an absolute disaster and something we can never let go unchecked,” he told the NW Examiner.
“I’ll ensure this gets in front of the mayor and plead with him to deploy police. The county’s deflection center is going largely unused and producing little in terms of results.
“Our police need to intervene, and they have my full support to do so. It’s deflection or jail, not deflection or nothing.
“No neighborhood deserves this and I’ll do everything I can to deploy crime prevention design for this area. Safeway is one of the most important tenants and services in the neighborhood,” he said.
The video was taken by a source known to Pearl residents who did not want to be identified. It was also shared with Councilors Mitch Green, Olivia Clark and Angelita Morillo, none of whom have responded to a request for comment.
Sometimes I feel like Zimmerman is the only councilor who listens and is willing to do more than just listen. Whoever filmed this - THANK YOU. I recently wrote a letter to the mayor begging him to have a real police presence here, as this has without question worsened since the shelter opened and is completely contrary to his promise the neighborhood would improve. The video says it all, and I would hope stops the NIMBY accusations.
I keep hearing that the police are too tied up with their assignments at the ICE building - be that as it may, it should not amount to what few officers we have being pulled at the expense of our neighborhood.
When Morillo was trying to defund cleanups District 4 residents came out in droves to support the mayor’s plan, despite the hesitation of his promise the overnight shelter would be an asset to our neighborhood. I hope Councilor Zimmerman is able to get the mayor to understand that we want to work with him but he has to step up the resources to help us in turn. THIS IS NOT OK.
Glad to see a high level City official finally noticing what has been the norm at this site for nearly a decade. Many days, the scene on the sidewalk in front of Safeway looks the same way. When I was installing the cigarette butt receptacles around the Pearl in 2018, walking along 13th on either side of street adjacent to Safeway was always a scene right out of San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. To Don’s point, the City and County seem content to flush hundreds of millions in taxpayer dollars down the toilet on programs that fail year after year after year.