Issues | Change Washington

Harrell, city councilmembers must side with Chinatown against homeless megacomplex

Recently the residents of Seattle’s Chinatown-International District held several protest rallies in opposition to a homeless megaplex proposed by King County Executive Dow Constantine that would house hundreds of people. Unfortunately, Constantine seems determined to ram the project through regardless of public feedback. While protesters have put appropriate pressure on the Seattle City Council, it’s...

The future of public safety is at stake

One of the cornerstones of public safety in the Seattle metro area is the King County Prosecutor’s Office. While city attorneys such as Ann Davison pursue misdemeanor crime, the county prosecutor handles felony cases such as violent assault, murder, rape, and serious drug offenses. At least that’s what they’re supposed to do. We’ve reported previously...

Help Chinatown stop King County’s hush-hush plans for a homeless megaplex

A lack of accountability for public officials is one of the many problems contributing to the homelessness crisis in the region. For that to change, residents and voters must hold officials’ feet to the fire and make their own voice heard. That is what the people of Seattle’s Chinatown did last week when they protested...

Spending more on homelessness isn’t an outcome

We’ve often remarked that if you can’t identify the source of a problem then you can’t solve it. When it comes to the ongoing homelessness crisis in Seattle, among the causes are dysfunctional or counterproductive organizations that undermine efforts to fix it. Thankfully, it seems Mayor Bruce Harrell has identified one of them. In June...

King County’s shadow juvenile crime system needs reform

Earlier this week we introduced you to the King County’s Restorative Community Pathways (RCP) program and how it evades the judiciary section of the criminal justice system. Now, we look at how it’s actually run – and our recommendations on how to change it. The current program includes: Criminal youth dictating how the program is...

King County’s secretive youth crime program lets potential school shooters off the hook

An effective criminal justice system balances the goal of keeping crime down with protecting victims and reducing the likelihood a criminal once released will violate the law again. A lot of factors come into play, but for the system to be effective it must acknowledge reality and human nature. It also must transparent and accountable...

Here are the people fixing, or opposing, public safety reform in Seattle

Like any significant problem in life, public safety in Seattle isn’t going to get fixed overnight. It’s going to take time, effort, and patience. But another aspect of that is having people in charge willing to address what caused the problem and change things that aren’t working. Seattle City Hall and King County right now...

Special report: open drug markets in Seattle

Pretending the drug trade is not flourishing in Seattle will cost lives. Jonathan Choe with the Discovery Institute makes it impossible to not know what’s going on with this well researched installment.

King County prosecutor’s office criminal problem

The King County Prosecutor’s Office is in trouble. In theory, it goes after felony crimes and seeks harsh sentences for particularly severe offenses. Its focus is on protecting the public and filing charges that match the crime in an effort to reduce the number of incidents. But is that what actually happens? Unfortunately, no. Recently...

Seattle’s police force is gutted and demoralized – here’s how to restore it

Last week we announced a multi-series investigation into the King County criminal justice system. To kick it off, we’re looking at one of the cornerstones of public safety: a competent, adequately-staffed police force with high morale and a good relationship with the community it’s expected to protect. Currently, the Seattle Police Department is severely lacking...

New series kicking off on how to fix King County’s criminal justice system

It should be self-evident to anyone who lives in King County that the criminal justice system is profoundly broken and needs to be fixed. In the coming weeks we’ll be highlighting the major reasons for why crime is out of control in King County, and what you can do to take action and help fix...

Hotel California/Love Shack is not the way to shelter the homeless

We’ve long argued that the type of homelessness that we are now seeing in Seattle and King County is not the result of unaffordable housing, but a combination of mental illness, substance abuse, drug addiction, and unwillingness by those in need to accept help, combined with a lack of accountability by those who receive taxpayer...

Violent rapist gets barebone jail sentence, fatally assaults Bellevue man hours after release

In the early hours of July 10, a 63-year-old wheelchair-bound homeless man was fatally assaulted, allegedly by a 25-year-old man at the Bellevue Transit Center, for no apparent reason. The suspect fled but was later arrested by police thanks to information provided by a witness. The homeless man eventually succumbed to his injuries this week....

City wants to provide RV park services for homeless – on your dime

Over the past few weeks we’ve taken aim at arguments made by sources quoted in a Seattle Times article claiming that removing drug camps is contributing to homeless deaths and drug abuse combined with permissive public policy are a significant cause of those deaths. With King County already on track to hit a record number...