The International District Rotary, Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) and former Seattle City Councilmember Tanya Woo held a press conference at Hoa Mai Park Tuesday to unveil their ideas for addressing the entrenched problems of drugs, crime, disorder and unsheltered homelessness around 12th Avenue and Jackson Street in Little Saigon.
The organizers are proposing more police patrols, increased outreach and services, new housing and shelter and the closure of spaces where people gather to buy and sell drugs. They are calling on local, county and state officials to devote the money and political will to make it happen.
“Little Saigon is in crisis. We see open-air drug markets, overdoses and struggling immigrant businesses. We need partnership,” said Woo, who was appointed in 2024 to fill a Council vacancy.
The blocks around 12th and Jackson have been a hotspot for illegal drug sales and fencing stolen goods for more than a decade. The problem has gotten worse in recent years amid the rise of fentanyl. Many dozens of people fill the sidewalks day and night, every day, buying, selling and using drugs.
“We want Little Saigon to be a safe place to live, work, eat and shop,” said LIHI executive director Sharon Lee. LIHI manages an affordable-housing building and has offices near 12th and Jackson.
Lee continued, “The 15-point plan is a blueprint to help save Little Saigon. When you read it, it’s sort of ambitious. I think it should be ambitious. … The plan is urgently needed now. Little Saigon cannot suffer another year like this.”
The full plan includes calls for:
- Setting up a “Community Safety” office at 12th and Jackson to serve as a base for outreach workers from REACH, the city’s CARE Department, CID-Business Improvement Association Safety Ambassadors and more.
- Closing Hoa Mai Park for six months for cleaning, repairs and improvements. The park is half a block east of 12th and spans Jackson and King Streets. Organizers say it’s the site of drug sales, drug use, assaults and “uncivil behavior” that deter neighbors from using the park. In addition, they want to fence off sections of sidewalks along 12th Avenue, King Street and Jackson Street, and temporarily close Metro bus stops near the intersection to deter drug activity and the sale of stolen goods.
- Cracking down on EBT fraud. Organizers want the Washington Department of Social and Health Services and King County to investigate and prosecute businesses and individuals buying and selling food stamp cards for cash to buy drugs.
- Stopping the sale of stolen goods by cracking down on sellers who operate without a vendor permit and business license, and doing outreach with the buyers of stolen goods, especially those who live in the Chinatown-International District.
- Building six to eight new tiny-house villages to provide shelter for the roughly 80 people living on the street in the CID whom outreach workers have documented on a “by-name” list, along with other unhoused residents in Seattle. Organizers estimate this would cost about $20 million over two years.
- Passing the Legislature’s HB1408 and funding it with $20 million in the state budget. The bill would direct 30% of sales tax revenue from large venues and sports events to community preservation and development, which could be used for encampment clearance and resolution in the CID and Pioneer Square and Central District.
- Having police officers patrol and Seattle Public Utilities clean alleys and side streets, rather than just the main arterials.
- Increasing police patrols and presence around 12th and Jackson and increasing the number of arrests for drug dealing and weapons sales.
- Providing financial support for businesses in Little Saigon that are struggling to stay afloat.
- Asking landlords to evict known drug dealers from apartments in the neighborhood.
- Investing at least $40 million from the Office of Housing to build affordable housing and commercial space in the neighborhood.
- Redeveloping the vacant Viet Wah Market site on Jackson that burned down last year, or at least finding a temporary use for it such as a P-Patch Garden or market with vendors and food trucks. Organizers want $3 million in the Seattle budget for these efforts.
Of course, a community plan needs buy-in from elected officials. With proposals that would require support from multiple agencies and legislative bodies at the local, county and state levels, it will likely take some time to put the plans into action. International District Rotary President David Della, a former Seattle Councilmember, called Tuesday’s event “just the beginning of what we’re trying to do here.”
The press conference drew a significant crowd of city and county officials and politicians, many of whom are running for reelection this fall. Speakers included King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci, Seattle City Council President Sara Nelson, Mayor’s Office Chief Public Safety Officer Natalie Walton-Anderson, City Attorney Ann Davison, CARE Department Chief Amy Barden and Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins. Seattle City Attorney candidate Erika Evans and City Council candidates Rachael Savage and Adonis Ducksworth also spoke.
“As a person representing one of the governments that is being called upon to act, I want to say that I stand here with you today because you are right to demand change. The status quo in this neighborhood is unacceptable,” said Balducci, who’s running for King County Executive. “We need to focus funding on behavioral health and substance-use treatment, because open-air drug markets are not just a public safety crisis … they are also a public health crisis.”
Nelson, who’s running for reelection, said she wants to find money in the 2026 city budget to pay for the things in the Little Saigon plan that require Seattle funding. Doing so could be challenging as the city grapples with a $150 million projected budget deficit.
“It really does tell you something when it’s the community that comes up with the plan,” said Nelson. “It’s now time for the government to implement it, and as the person that’s speaking today who holds the power of the purse, I’m going to do everything I possibly can to make sure that not only are these items implemented, they’re also paid for.”
This isn’t the first time community leaders have put forward a plan to address the problems in Little Saigon.
Earlier this year, Friends of Little Saigon put together a plan called Phố Đẹp (Beautiful Neighborhood). The initiative calls for changes to the neighborhood environment to discourage illegal and antisocial behavior, including more street and sidewalk lighting and regular sidewalk cleanings.
The plan also calls for many of the same things unveiled Tuesday, including more police patrols, homelessness and substance-use disorder outreach, crackdowns on EBT fraud and vacant property abatement.
Shortly after taking office, Mayor Bruce Harrell ordered a temporary police crackdown on crime in Little Saigon.
