We Heart Seattle Staff Members Verbally Assault Volunteer Park Employee

December 27, 2022

This email exchange was found in a batch of email communication logs returned by the city following a FOIA request for records pertaining to We Heart Seattle. The thread is between the Mayor’s office and the Parks department regarding a report filed by a Parks department employee after being verbally assaulted by two We Heart Seattle staff for requesting that they move their vehicle off the grass and onto the street at Volunteer Park. The individuals in question are identified as Charles Woodward and Tim Emerson.

This wouldn’t be the first time

We’ve received multiple other reports describing confrontations with Tim Emerson, and we have even received a couple of unsavory messages from him directly ourselves. If we’re having a glass half full kind of day, at least he appears to be an equal opportunist about who he yells at?

The Incident Report

We had a citizen raise concern over a vehicle Park on the turff by a tent on the lower loop road of Volunteer park. I walked down from the crew quarters to see what the concern was. I got to the location, and a group of three men were in the process of cleaning up the site where the tent was, (which is great I guess. Too often the tents are abandoned and not picked up.) I asked if the van was there’s, and they said yes, I then said that they can not park on the turf, and they should be on the road. The response from one was that “they were restoring the park, doing what the city can’t do,” and “why did I care.” I let them know that I work with the parks department, and showed them my badge. And again, could they move the van.

That is when the other individual came in yelling at me, using a lot of profanity. He was very aggressive in his mannerisms, and quickly stepped into my personal space. I backed away, to leave the situation, asking again for them to move the van. Now two of the three men were yelling at me, using a lot of profanity, and being very aggressive. I had my phone to take a picture of the van for reporting, and then took pictures of the individuals to share. When I was a safe distance, i was able to turn around and leave. The yelling continued as I left the park.

I am fine, but wanted this brought to your attention. I don’t know if others have had similar run ins with We Hart Seattle. This was a first for me. I ran into two other staff last Friday at the same site, and it was a benign interaction. They just informed me of some human waste in the area.

Screenshot