City council member Nick Licata---the council member who has by far the most credibility on social justice issues---sent out a strongly worded press release today blasting Mayor Mike McGinn for insisting the council start discussing his proposal to locate a homeless encampment in SODO despite the fact that the council can't legally take up the legislation until after the proposal has gone through environmental review under the State Environmental Policy Act. Licata has spent decades fighting for the rights of homeless and low-income residents of Seattle.

"The insistence that the Council must consider land use legislation that does not need to be immediately passed is a distraction from debating the merits of whether to sanction a self-governed encampment," Licata said. "We need to focus on meeting the survival and safety needs of individuals in our community who have no access to safe shelter."

McGinn has blasted the council for refusing to go through the motions of discussing and holding public meetings on the encampment, although doing so would not technically move McGinn's proposal forward.