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Resident urges commissioners to back safe overnight parking for women and children
Summary
At the May 27 Lewis County commissioners meeting, a Centralia resident read a letter urging county leaders to support faith-based plans for safe overnight parking for women and children experiencing homelessness and criticized Commissioner Sean Swope’s response to a local meeting.
At the Lewis County Board of County Commissioners business meeting on Tuesday, May 27, Ray Chapman Wilson of Centralia used the public-comment period to read a letter urging county leaders to support a church-led plan to offer safe overnight parking for women and children experiencing homelessness.
The letter, which Chapman Wilson read aloud and identified as written by Kevin Gallon, criticized the response of Commissioner Sean Swope and others who attended a courtesy meeting at Saint Timothy’s Episcopal Church in Chehalis about the church’s plan. Chapman's reading said Swope and associates “appeared to attend not in good faith, but seemingly to disrupt and discredit the effort,” and that the newspaper covered the interaction.
Why it matters: The comments addressed community responses to homelessness and highlighted local faith groups stepping in where organizers say public systems have not provided options for people sleeping in vehicles. Speakers used the meeting’s public-comment slot to ask elected officials to propose constructive solutions rather than public criticism.
Chapman Wilson read sections of the letter directly to commissioners: “If you believe it is unacceptable for women and children to sleep in their cars, then do something about it. Offer solutions, not platitudes. Support those who are trying to help.” He also quoted the letter asserting that volunteers and faith communities were acting to “provide a measure of safety, dignity, and hope for these children where the system that you play a leadership role in has failed.”
Chapman Wilson closed his remarks by accusing the commissioner of “silence and inaction” and urging officials to “help those that are already helping, or please get out of the way.” The speaker identified the letter’s author by name during his remarks.
There was no accompanying agenda item and the commissioners did not take formal action on the subject during the meeting. The public comment was recorded during the allotted public-comment period; no staff or commissioner response or vote on the church proposal was entered in the meeting minutes provided.
