Ginny Burton | Change Washington

Breaking the Cycle: Why Self-Sufficiency Must Replace Perpetual Care

This article is the second in ChangeWA’s three-part series on the increasing costs of our region’s homeless strategy. We asked treatment advocate and founder of the O-UT Program Ginny Burton to examine the long-term costs associated with current policies addressing homelessness. ChangeWA supports a treatment-based approach to homelessness. Data shows that the expensive “Housing First” method has...

Lack of political courage on Antifa is making police recruitment more difficult

Once again, the domestic terror group Antifa has embarked on acts of political violence in Seattle and liberal politicians are again too afraid to stand up and condemn the Leftist activists’ aggression. This lack of political courage has police department leaders concerned that this will encourage more political violence and lead more officers to leave...

Candidate filings indicate that 2025 will have many important contests

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...

Seattle residents support the city’s practical approach to public safety

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...

Clark County Matters is holding politicians accountable for failed homeless policies

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...

A Housing-First Approach Won’t End Homelessness

By Ginny Burton In 2015 I secured my first position with one of Washington state’s largest nonprofits in Seattle. During my interview I was asked if I could explain harm reduction. My answer, which I called a friend ahead of time to inquire, was “meeting the person where they are at.” I didn’t really understand...