This winter, Ballard resident Hovie Hawk was becoming overwhelmed by what he saw as mounting threats to the safety of the neighborhood.

There were fights outside of his business and people camping in a nearby parking lot, he said.

A probation officer he knows said there was a dangerous element congregating near the Ballard Library that most people aren't trained to see, and he should keep a careful watch on his children.

"Since the New Year, I started getting depressed about what I was seeing here," Hawk said. "I started thinking, 'Maybe it's time to move my business out of Ballard.'"

Hawk said a group of friends convinced him to do something to fight the problem before abandoning ship. On March 16, he and five other residents unveiled the Keep Ballard Friendly campaign.

The Keep Ballard Friendly Web site includes phone numbers to call for graffiti, vehicle camping, trash carts and more. But, the emphasis is on the nonemergency helpline for the Seattle Police Department.

Hawk said he hopes to build a record of dangerous or unlawful incidents in Ballard through residents calling the nonemergency number. He said he doesn't want to tie up 911 but wants to get incidents on record.

The city won't do anything to fix the problems in Ballard if the neighborhood doesn't say anything, he said. The city needs to have pressure put on it, he said.

"If we don't say anything, it's our own fault if nothing gets done," Hawk said.

Before starting the campaign, Hawk talked to the assistant city attorney and the Seattle Police Department to learn what the city and police can and can't do in certain situations.

Off. Devlin Haag of the North Precinct Community Police Team said people often complain that the police don't do anything to help with safety problems in the neighborhood, Hawk said. He said Haag stressed that the police wish they could do more but have restrictions they have to follow.

Hawk said the responses he has gotten personally and through emails have been surprisingly positive, but there has been a firestorm over the campaign online.

Online commenters have been saying the campaign is anti-homeless and that it is seeking to roundup homeless people and ship them out of Ballard, he said.

Hawk said that is untrue. He said he is only seeking to document individuals who are loud or violent and wants to find ways to get help for individuals who are aren't causing trouble.

Hawk said he chose the name "Keep Ballard Friendly" to keep the message positive and to avoid an anti-homeless connotation.

There have also been complaints online that the campaign is advocating Big Brother-style observation of neighbors.

Hawk said he wants the campaign to be neutral, simply a tool for people to find the right number to call if they see something wrong or dangerous.

"Why is wanting your neighborhood to be nicer and friendlier a bad thing," he said.

There is a core group of six Ballard residents, including Hawk, behind Keep Ballard Friendly.

The other business owners involved in the campaign are weary of having their names made public because they are afraid they will be blacklisted by people who disagree with or may be affected by the campaign, Hawk said.

He said he doesn't have a storefront and his business, Design Hovie Studios, does most of its work outside of Ballard, so he is less afraid to have his name out there.

In addition to the core group, eight other people helped with the campaign and Keep Ballard Friendly consulted with the Ballard Chamber of Commerce and the In Ballard Merchants Association, though neither of those groups are officially involved in the campaign.

Hawk said he hopes more people will start speaking out about safety issues in the neighborhood.

"If enough of us actually said something, it wouldn't be this big stigma," he said.

Hawk said Ballard used to have a reputation for being friendly, and he wants to get back to that.