With the conclusion of the candidate filing period on May 9, we are fairly confident that 2025 will be another interesting year in local politics – especially in King County where not only are many important county and city positions on the ballot, but voters will also decide eight special state legislature contests. King...
A new survey of Seattle registered voters finds there is more optimism about public safety since extremists no longer control the city government. Residents also believe city hall needs to do more to help struggling employers to return businesses and their workers back downtown. At the end of April, the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce...
New community citizen groups are forming across Washington to hold their local government accountable as politicians fail to adequately address the homelessness crisis. This is especially true where elected leaders adhere to the progressives’ “Housing First” policies which nearly always increases the homeless numbers. (Housing First policies advocate the building of a large housing bureaucracy...
Special interest groups which financially benefit from the homeless crisis, have used Washington State’s liberal court system to prevent local authorities from removing unsafe homeless encampments. A recent state supreme court ruling not only derailed the City of Spokane’s current homeless strategy, but it is also the latest attack by the state’s liberal establishment to...
Last December, the Biden Administration released one of the most disturbing reports in Washington State history. It revealed that the level of homeless suffering continues to grow to an all-time record level of 31,554 experiencing homelessness in our state despite numerous taxpayer funded programs. Yet Democrat legislators have done nothing during the 2025 legislative session...
After the 18-member Sound Transit Board of Directors unanimously approved former King County Executive Dow Constantine at the end of March to become its new CEO (a move which will cost taxpayers more than $6 million), many residents have asked the questions, who is on the board and who are they accountable to? Sound...
Imagine you need to choose a CEO for a large transportation company currently serving over 100,000 people daily. The company is undertaking a 30-year, multi-billion-dollar construction project to increase the number of markets and potentially serve more riders. Yet there are serious financial problems within the company. Cost overruns and time delays have already more...
Reckless policies which resulted in businesses fleeing Seattle, are now forcing residential taxpayers to pay higher taxes. In just four years, King County homeowners have gone from paying 65% of the property taxes collected to now being responsible for over 80%. Ironically, this is primarily due to progressive policies which supporters claimed would make wealthy...
Change Washington is a non-partisan organization dedicated to solving urban problems across the state with a focus on the Seattle/Puget Sound region with proven, data-driven solutions. Unlike the current political leadership, which supports costly ineffective measures, ChangeWA focuses on common-sense answers that have a track record of success. ChangeWA has partnered with many organizations to...
Who is bringing common sense solutions to the region’s homelessness debate? Who is refuting the seemingly ridiculous claim that addiction and mental health issues are not major factors in King County’s worsening homelessness crisis? The answer is three women who have each become authoritative voices in the homelessness discussions. These three non-governmental leaders stand out...
As readers will recall, King County Executive Dow Constantine admitted in a recent ChangeWa interview that he couldn’t provide even a rough estimate as to how much taxpayer money he had spent on the homeless issues. He also refused to provide even one public goal for the much-maligned King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) to...
There is increasing discussion among community leaders for expanding the use of involuntary treatment for individuals with severe substance abuse issues. This strategy would largely benefit those currently living on the streets and classified as “chronically homeless.” However, to effectively assist these individuals, there must be a significant change in local and state government’s spending...
In the decade since homelessness was declared an emergency, almost every progressive measure has led to an increase in homelessness and more suffering on the streets. Going back to the beginning of the millennium, unchecked extreme measures have made the problem worse as these “fixes” fail to address the true culprits – addiction and mental...
Many Seattle voters are unaware that a special election is taking place next week (Tuesday, February 11 deadline to return your ballot if you lived in the city) where the progressives are seeking to increase taxes on Seattle employers to fund the expansion of yet another local housing bureaucracy – this time for the City...