Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson is admittedly not a sports fan, yet the world’s largest soccer tournament will be her first major test. Specifically, the mayor’s evolving strategies on homelessness will be tested as 750,000 international visitors are expected in the region for the 2026 World Cup. Seattle will host six matches as the 2026 World...
New revelations regarding Seattle’s tiny home villages have raised concerns on how effective this program is in helping homeless individuals battle their addictions in order to return to a productive life. These questions arise as new Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson has made tiny homes the centerpiece of her homelessness strategy. Last week We Heart Seattle’s...
On March 16, 2019, KOMO-TV broadcast the documentary Seattle is Dying, produced by reporter Eric Johnson. The 90-minute program presented a different view of Seattle’s growing homelessness and crime problems, which contrasted with statements from local political leaders. Through candid street interviews and survey responses from first responders, Johnson revealed that addiction and mental health...
A Tax Reversal That Raises Process Questions In 2024, the Washington State House of Representatives passed citizen’s initiative 2111 — an income tax ban — by a 76-21 vote. The Senate followed 38-11. Over 400,000 citizens had signed petitions to place the initiatives in front of the legislature. Yet, just two years later, the legislature...
Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson said of the city’s current homelessness strategy, “I don’t think that anyone can really argue that our overall approach to homelessness has been successful,” during her first State of the City speech in mid-February. Given this acknowledgement that the region’s Housing First homelessness strategy has failed, it is surprising that last...
For the past few years, Washington State has been ranked the worst state in the country for hiring police officers — and now things have become even worse. The Washington Association of Police Chiefs and Sheriffs (WAPCS) released its annual report on police staffing levels in mid‑February, and once again, Washington State ranks at the...
On February 17, Mayor Wilson gave her first major speech since defeating incumbent Bruce Harrell in last November’s elections. From the moment she stepped on the stage at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, it was evident Wilson’s inexperienced team had failed to perform basic advance work as the new mayor had technical issues with...
Seattle investor Charles Fitzgerald believes his hometown is on the verge of becoming a modern Cleveland, the city symbolic of the post-industrial Rust Belt era during the 1970s and 1980s. A similar urban decay could happen in the Puget Sound region if a new income tax is passed by the Washington Legislature. That bill (SB...
A leading homeless advocate is encouraging Seattle’s political leadership to abandon failed homelessness and drug policies and instead increase access to treatment-based methods to help those suffering on our streets. Let’s hope that new Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and new King County Executive Girmay Zahilay are paying attention to what is and what is not...
Washington taxpayers have been told for years that rising taxes and ever-larger budgets are necessary to solve urgent problems like homelessness, housing availability, crime, taxes, education, etc.) But spending has exploded as those problems are all worsening, and serious questions about how money is actually being used have gone unanswered. Instead of immediate, independent investigations...
New legislation authored by seven-term State Representative Mia Gregerson (D – Sea-Tac), would prohibit local governments from enforcing their anti-camping and loitering laws unless they navigate a series of nearly impossible state requirements. It would effectively return cities to the frustrating period before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Grants Pass v Johnson in June...
Government policies and actions (or inactions) are placing burdens on Seattle’s big and small businesses. These struggling employers face: More taxes and regulations which neighboring cities and states do not face Public safety concerns which keep customers from visiting their neighborhoods A continuing retail theft problem with a revolving door justice system which immediately releases...
Ginny Burton has earned a spot in the debate on how we should respond to our region’s worsening homelessness and drug emergencies. She has overcome many tough life experiences and is now seeking to help others who are currently suffering due to failed policies. She first witnessed the problems as a drug addicted teenager who...
Within hours of being sworn into office, new Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson instantly stumbled into a major controversary over her administration imposing a significant change to how Seattle police officers handle incidents involving the possession and public use of lethal drugs. Seattle Police Chief Shon F. Barnes notified his officers of these changes in a...