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...
Since Washington’s homelessness problem reached crisis status in the early 2010’s, nearly every housing and homeless measure that has received government support (and our tax dollars) has resulted in higher homeless numbers and/or lowered our state’s housing supply. Currently, Washington has one of the worst homeless problems in the country (with thousands remaining untreated for...
In the latest condemnation of “Housing First” homeless policies, an overwhelming 80% of Washington State voters believe current homeless strategies have failed and that the region’s political leadership has made the crisis even worse. This is one of many public opinions learned in a new 800-voter survey conducted by Napolitan News Services . The wide-ranging...
How will history view Governor Jay Inslee’s 12 years in office and his leadership on the homeless crisis? If historians look at the facts, they will not be kind to the career politician when it comes to one of the major issues of the day. Besides being an obedient follower of the controversial Housing First...
This is the concluding article of ChangeWA’s two-part review of 2024. Last week, we discussed successful citizen efforts to correct the mistakes made by politicians on crime and drug issues. This article examines why our region continues to lose the battle against homelessness despite billions spent annually on government programs. We also take a quick...
This is the first of a two-part review of 2024. This article looks at citizen efforts to correct the mistakes made by politicians on crime and drug issues. Next week we will post our thoughts on why our region continues to lose the battle on the homeless crisis. As we look back on 2024, Washington...
ChangeWA received a strong response to our exclusive interview on homelessness with King County Executive Dow Constantine – the single most responsible public official for the current strategy to combat the crisis in the county and Seattle. After 15 years in office, Constantine announced in mid-November that he will not be seeking a fifth term...
It is safe to say that no other elected official has had more impact on the homelessness issue in King County/Seattle than King County Executive Dow Constantine. In 2015 Constantine joined then Seattle Mayor Ed Murray to declare homelessness an emergency, he led the effort to form the much-maligned King County Regional Housing Authority (KCRHA),...
It is common to reflect on what makes us thankful as the holidays approach. After last week’s budget vote, ChangeWA is grateful for the 2023 Seattle voters who rejected the reckless policies of the previous city council and replaced six of the nine council seats with more responsible members. In the end, this council kept...
Seattle voters must remind councilmembers to keep their campaign promises and not cave into the demands of greedy special interest groups which benefit from higher taxes. Moreover, councilmembers should listen to 68% of Seattle voters who support budget cuts over imposing more taxes which increase the cost of living and doing business in the city....