For many Washington voters, support for public transit has never been the issue. Over the last three decades, voters repeatedly approved major Sound Transit ballot measures because they believed investing in transit would reduce congestion, connect communities, and help the region grow responsibly. In 1996, 2008, and again in 2016, voters signed off on tens...
Since the turn of the Millennium, six consecutive Seattle mayors (Paul Schell, Greg Nickles, Mike McGinn, Ed Murray, Jenny Durkan, and Bruce Harrell) have each left office against their wishes. Will current Mayor Katie Wilson meet the same fate as her six predecessors, or will she overcome the perils of office to depart from the...
After a decade of steep increases in overdose deaths, Snohomish County officials are debating a new strategy to help those struggling with their drug addiction. The new methods promote treatment and recovery from drugs and are an alternative to the controversial “Harm Reduction” drug policies that have been in place while drug-related deaths skyrocketed. Snohomish...
On a recent segment on her [un[Divided podcast, Brandi Kruse examined a current court case on how over-regulation by the City of Seattle has turned once profitable rental properties into investment losses. As a result, many property owners (especially smaller ones who can’t absorb the costs) have pulled their units from the market and investment...
On March 16, 2019, KOMO-TV broadcast the documentary Seattle is Dying, produced by reporter Eric Johnson. The 90-minute program presented a different view of Seattle’s growing homelessness and crime problems, which contrasted with statements from local political leaders. Through candid street interviews and survey responses from first responders, Johnson revealed that addiction and mental health...
A Tax Reversal That Raises Process Questions In 2024, the Washington State House of Representatives passed citizen’s initiative 2111 — an income tax ban — by a 76-21 vote. The Senate followed 38-11. Over 400,000 citizens had signed petitions to place the initiatives in front of the legislature. Yet, just two years later, the legislature...
On February 17, Mayor Wilson gave her first major speech since defeating incumbent Bruce Harrell in last November’s elections. From the moment she stepped on the stage at the Langston Hughes Performing Arts Center, it was evident Wilson’s inexperienced team had failed to perform basic advance work as the new mayor had technical issues with...
Washington taxpayers have been told for years that rising taxes and ever-larger budgets are necessary to solve urgent problems like homelessness, housing availability, crime, taxes, education, etc.) But spending has exploded as those problems are all worsening, and serious questions about how money is actually being used have gone unanswered. Instead of immediate, independent investigations...
Government policies and actions (or inactions) are placing burdens on Seattle’s big and small businesses. These struggling employers face: More taxes and regulations which neighboring cities and states do not face Public safety concerns which keep customers from visiting their neighborhoods A continuing retail theft problem with a revolving door justice system which immediately releases...
As 2025 comes to an end, ChangeWA will look back by revisiting some of our most popular articles of the year. ChangeWA has quickly become the leading source of reliable information on the homelessness issue as more of our neighbors continue to suffer in crime- and drug-filled encampments and temporary housing as billions of tax...
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, Attorney General Nick Brown announced that Washington State joined a federal lawsuit against the Trump Administration to allow state and local governments to continue controversial “Housing First” homelessness policies. These ineffective measures, which disregard the role of mental illness and addiction in rising homelessness, have resulted in an 80% more people...
The leniency in Washington’s judicial system was recently displayed by the repeat offender (36 arrests and 20 convictions) who killed a 20-year-old woman as he attempted to flee police in Pierce County. Despite serving numerous short sentences in his life, the suspect clearly has never been “rehabilitated.” It appears he views his many brief lockups...
Spokane provides the latest example of how citizens are forced to correct politicians’ failed policies because stubborn elected officials refuse to admit that their extremist, “Housing First” policies have made problems worse. Housing First is the policy strategy that provides free taxpayer-funded housing for homeless individuals regardless of their addiction, mental health, or criminal status....
Among the regular stream of meaningless partisan statements issued by Governor Bob Ferguson’s communications team was one of last week which has received almost no attention from the local press. It is significant because it reveals the lack of accountability by our political leaders, and it helps explain why the Seattle/King County region and our...