Greenlake Motel Attempted eviction - Seattle
May 21 2008 01:52
On Friday May 16, tenants at twelve apartments behind the Green Lake Motel on Aurora Ave got a surprise visit from their landlords - who also own the motel and a few others - saying they had two days to move out, or they'd be arrested. The motel's license was being suspended due to unsafe conditions, and the apartments had been operating (possibly wrongly) under the same license. Some residents cleared out right away, and a favored few received temporary lodging in one of the owners' nicer motels. The rest received nothing, except repeated threats that they'd go to jail if they weren't out on Sunday.
They had nowhere to go, not much money, and no time to find a new place. They weren't helpless though: some had experience fighting back, and some had already been involved with the Seattle Solidarity Network. They immediately started to organize. Sunday morning, while some neighbors were finishing their packing, eight tenants sat down together beside the building and waited. Throughout the day they were joined by friends, relatives, and 16 others from the Solidarity Network.
more at:
http://www.komotv.com/news/local/19074539.html
MODS - Please can you post this in the news section.