It has been nearly six months since then King County Executive Dow Constantine was handed $6 million by his cronies on the Sound Transit Board of Directors to lead its financially troubled organization. Yet his desire to recklessly and carelessly spend taxpayers’ money (while constantly demanding more) at the county still lives on. Remember at...
Local communities, frustrated by the failed progressive homeless policies of their urban neighbors, are taking proactive steps to safeguard their public places, while encouraging those suffering in encampments to accept much-needed mental health and addiction treatment. The City of Camas became the latest Washington State community to enact a camping ban when its city council...
Is a new big budget ad campaign from the State of Washington the latest proof that our government is not interested in reducing lethal drug use? [un]Divided podcast host Brandi Kruse asserts that a recently released television ad from the Washington State Department of Health is more evidence that “our government does not want to...
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...
On May 10, Sound Transit went all out in its promotion for the opening of its new light rail train stations in Redmond. The many expensive public relations firms which Sound Transit retains, lined up politicians and media celebrities to speak, music acts to entertain, food trucks to feed the crowd, activities to entertain...
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...
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....
A new survey of Seattle residents reveals the public is becoming more optimistic about Seattle’s future after voters in 2023 replaced extremist city councilmembers with practical moderates, who thus far are keeping their campaign promises on public safety and not raising taxes. The numbers have improved enough for one to wonder whether the public would...
Seattle has claimed the top spot in the nation as the city with the highest sales tax. Even with this incredible revenue stream, Seattle is now less safe. It has been misguided politicians and policies, not the lack of funds, that have made it a city where criminals feel comfortable while charities flee. Earlier this...
King County Executive Dow Constantine recent battle with Seattle City Attorney Ann Davison over incarceration of criminals is the latest proof that the 15-year incumbent is stubbornly holding onto failed progressive public safety and homelessness policies, which many now blame for making conditions worse. Constantine appears stuck in 2020 as he continues to advocate combatting...
Two very troublesome facts were revealed last week which provide more evidence that the progressives’ “Housing First” homeless policy and “Harm Reduction” drug policy are failing to end the suffering that is taking place on our streets. These numbers are similar to those in other progressive West Coast cities and states. These facts require us...
Clearly Seattle is at a very important crossroad and the nine members of the city council will decide which road the city takes.
Together we brought historic change to the Seattle City Council. This is a remarkable accomplishment considering the depths from which the city has come in just a couple of years. The results of the 2023 elections mean there will soon be seven new members on the council since the dark days of 2020 and 2021.