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...
For the past few years, Washington State has been ranked the worst state in the country for hiring police officers — and now things have become even worse. The Washington Association of Police Chiefs and Sheriffs (WAPCS) released its annual report on police staffing levels in mid‑February, and once again, Washington State ranks at the...
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...
Within hours of being sworn into office, new Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson instantly stumbled into a major controversary over her administration imposing a significant change to how Seattle police officers handle incidents involving the possession and public use of lethal drugs. Seattle Police Chief Shon F. Barnes notified his officers of these changes in a...
When is the last time you visited downtown Seattle? Or Portland? Or San Francisco? Are these places the towns you once vacationed to and felt safe site seeing? Nearly thirteen years ago, I prayed for death as I wandered the streets of Tacoma in the middle of the night—no place to go, no belongings, everything...
On September 23, the Bellevue City Council passed a preliminary public safety measure that will benefit small businesses, protect retail employees, save taxpayers money, and ensure activists judges won’t immediately release repeat criminals. Final passage of the bill is expected to take place on October 7. By a 6 to 1 vote, the council passed...
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...
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...
ChangeWA has teamed with filmmaker V Ginny Burton to produce "Behind Closed Doors," a shocking 30-minute documentary which exposes the unsafe and drug-filled conditions within King County's low-barrier housing.
A recently released midyear crime report from the Council on Criminal Justice revealed that while murder is down across the U.S. when compared to 2019, Seattle’s homicide rate is 50% higher than it was five years ago. Frustrated Seattle voters, fed up with the mass exodus of police officers (Seattle currently has fewer police officers...
Nearly all restrictions imposed on police pursuits by previous state lawmakers were removed as Initiative 2113 finally became state law on June 6. The legislature passed the citizen Initiative (along with parental notification initiative and a ban on future state income tax) after Let’s Go Washington collected more than 400,000 signatures (around 325K were needed)....
As Washington State lawmakers in the State Capitol Building debate Governor Jay Inslee’s latest expensive proposal to fix the state’s never-ending homeless problem, just a mile or two away there is a clear example of one approach which helps lift people out of homelessness and another example which has kept people living in the cruel...
Eina Kwon, a pregnant 34-year old woman, was murdered in the Belltown area of Seattle Tuesday in what appears to be a random attack. The child, which was almost full term, lived briefly but did not survive.
While current state law unbelievably still does not allow police to vehicularly pursue most criminal suspects, we’re pursuing a fix to it this legislative session – and we need your help to make it happen.