Call it a sign of the times that a disabled veteran put up a billboard along Seattle's Aurora Avenue calling out the corridor's ongoing problems with shootings,
Call it a sign of the times that a disabled veteran put up a billboard along Seattle's Aurora Avenue calling out the corridor's ongoing problems with shootings, drugs and prostitution.
Victor Fleming said he resorted to the roadside advertisement after unsuccessfully trying to get city leaders to address not just these problems, but what he characterized as a system that facilitates bad behavior.
“I'm talking about the whole city. I think we have become a city of enablers,” Fleming said. “They are just throwing good money after bad, good money after bad. They are not solving the problem."
The billboard cost him $2,750.
AURORA AVENUE CORRIDOR | PREVIOUS COVERAGE
The sign reads “Would the last taxpayer to leave the Emerald City change the name to The Blue Tarp City of Thieves, Druggies, and Shooters? Paid for by V.A. Fleming,” followed by his personal phone number.
Fleming said he has repeatedly called the mayor's office, but nothing ever comes of it.
He said health concerns keep him from showing up at City Hall to give public comment at council chambers.
Fleming has lung cancer and prostate cancer.
Victor Fleming says too many of the policies embraced by city leaders end up enabling bad behavior, from his perspective. (Photo: KOMO News)Once the sign went up, heads started to turn and Fleming said the issues he put in bold type started getting more attention among the public. He estimated he has gotten about 150 calls, and all but two have been supportive.
The billboard captures a sentiment held by many that city leaders routinely ignore the problems that plague not just Aurora Avenue but Seattle as a whole.
Sex trafficking activity takes place out in the open, including what appear to be underage girls being exploited in plain sight.
The sound of gunfire is also commonplace, especially at night.
Problems along Aurora Avenue have led to some unusual measures by other neighbors and business owners.
Mike Dunn of Dunn Lumber put up a banner shaming sex buyers who keep the prostitution trade thriving in the area.
Nearby, planter boxes were turned into barricades as people hauled them into several side streets to keep gun-toting traffickers from driving through while firing weapons at each other, hitting homes and parked cars in the process.
Fleming put up a billboard once before in the 1970s to get the attention of a love interest. They ended up getting married.
Fleming said he was also inspired by the famous 1971 billboard that read, “Will the last person leaving Seattle turn out the lights?” which referenced ongoing layoffs by the Boeing company.
City officials have taken a number of recent measures to address public safety concerns.
Earlier this summer, FBI agents joined Seattle police officers to conduct outreach to women and girls working along the corridor.
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson replaced the planter boxes on Aurora’s side streets with concrete barriers that will remain through the summer.
The Seattle Police Department deployed additional nightly patrols and assigned bike officers to focus on sex trafficking activity along Aurora.
Seattle City Attorney Erika Evans also announced plans to use the city's chronic nuisance property law against businesses that repeatedly support or facilitate sex trafficking activity.
The prosecutor also announced plans to pursue Extreme Risk Protection Orders, commonly known as ERPOs, against individuals who are committing violence along Aurora.
The court orders, often used in domestic violence and mental health cases, allow judges to temporarily prohibit individuals from possessing firearms even when criminal charges have not been filed. Violating an order can result in felony charges.
Fleming said the measure he sees on the streets don’t seem to match the crisis and hopes his billboard can make a difference.
“So I think I'm beating up a windmill right now. I feel like Don Quixote, but I had to try,” he said.
