The real reason for Seattle’s crime drop? Undoing dangerous policy
The real reason for Seattle’s crime drop? Undoing dangerous policy
Over the years, ChangeWA has occasionally sided with the long-time Times columnist, Danny Westneat, especially when extremists like Kshama Sawant, Lisa Herbold, and Pete Holmes controlled Seattle City Hall. But on his recent column explaining why Seattle crime rates have dropped, Westneat appeared to have forgotten several important occurrences which have had far more impact...
Former Democrats explain why we need new homelessness policies
Former Democrats explain why we need new homelessness policies
Since the Obama Administration adopted the Housing First model in 2014, homelessness has increased: The Trump Administration’s July 24 Executive Order (EO) has shaken up how our country will confront its homelessness crisis, especially in how we attempt to help the overwhelming majority of destitute individuals suffering with mental illness and drug addiction. Essentially the...
Fresh Federal Direction Could Turn the Tide on Homelessness in Washington
Fresh Federal Direction Could Turn the Tide on Homelessness in Washington
Last week’s executive order from the Trump Administration firmly declared that the federal government is changing its homeless strategy after more than a decade of disappointing results from Housing First policies. These orders have brought encouragement to those who support more resources for addiction and mental health treatment and angered those who financially benefit from...
Breaking: Trump orders roll back of disastrous Housing First strategy on homelessness
Breaking: Trump orders roll back of disastrous Housing First strategy on homelessness
Today, the Trump Administration began to dismantle the ineffective and costly Housing First homelessness policies, which have caused the country’s homeless problem to become even worse. The Obama-era policy resulted in a record-breaking 770,000 people to suffer on our streets during the last year of the Biden Administration. In Washington state, homelessness rose 78% since...
“Safer Supply” policy is another failed harm reduction drug strategy
“Safer Supply” policy is another failed harm reduction drug strategy
A recent state drug proposal could further enable struggling addicts to keep using illegal substances while providing financial benefits to drug companies, bureaucrats, and disingenuous treatment centers, according to treatment advocate Ginny Burton in an op-ed for Center Square. She raises concerns over the effectiveness of the “Safer Supply” drug policy being discussed by Washington...
Homeless strategy is increasing the number who suffer in Washington
Homeless strategy is increasing the number who suffer in Washington
This is the third article of three on the various costs associated with homelessness. In this article we examine the costs associated with government-funded services and the lack of accountability of taxpayer funds. We also look at whether these services are attracting homeless individuals from other states. King County politicians boast that they work with...
Breaking the Cycle: Why Self-Sufficiency Must Replace Perpetual Care
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...
Washington: The destination state for America’s homeless population
Washington: The destination state for America’s homeless population
This is the first in a three-part series, “The Cost of Homelessness.” Failed “Housing First” homeless policies have resulted in more people suffering on our streets. In turn, this puts more stress on local taxpayers to fund the public services the growing homeless population requires. We will examine these startling costs and explore if focusing...
King County homelessness increases as politicians become wealthy
King County homelessness increases as politicians become wealthy
The number of homeless individuals in King County has risen again. The suffering grows in encampments, vacant buildings, and in urban green spaces, despite billions of taxpayer dollars being spent on building large housing bureaucracies at multiple levels of government. While those in charge of our region’s failed homeless strategy have become very wealthy, more...
New KCRHA CEO refuses to be accountable to taxpayers
New KCRHA CEO refuses to be accountable to taxpayers
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...
Dow Constantine interview raises questions on region’s homeless strategy
Dow Constantine interview raises questions on region’s homeless strategy
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...
Exclusive Interview: King County Executive Dow Constantine defends his homelessness strategy
Exclusive Interview: King County Executive Dow Constantine defends his homelessness strategy
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),...
Demand Seattle City Councilmembers keep promises against new taxes
Demand Seattle City Councilmembers keep promises against new taxes
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....
More work needed to inform voters from making bad choices
More work needed to inform voters from making bad choices
County election offices across Washington are busy counting ballots and a few races won’t be determined until next week. Yet, with roughly 80% of the statewide vote counted, there is enough election data to make a couple of general observations. SEATTLE Seattle voters took a step back to the failed progressive policies of its recent...