View of Hing Hay Park
View of Hing Hay Park with pavilion built in Seattle Chinatown
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Chinatown Pushes Back Against Homeless Megaplex

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The Vote

@KCCouncil budget committee dealt potential DEATH BLOW to #Chinatown International Dist. May 3 when they approved @kcexec‘s HOMELESS MEGAPLEX a BLOCK away in SODO. What’s STUNNING is only 1 person shared public comment. Activists say very few knew about vote.

Listen to the Process

Sponsor @JoeMcDermottWA is running point on this project @KCCouncil. #Chinatown activists say he FAILED to advocate on behalf of his Asian American constituents. No mention of CID. He says aspects of this will be ready by “end of the year.” Specs here.

Dow’s Homelessness Czar

Leo Flor runs Dept of Community+Human services for @kcexec. He’s behind recent surge of homeless hotels and this SODO MEGAPLEX. What’s disappointing for activists is lack of outreach to #Chinatown-ID before vote. Now they want to do it after the fact?

Oh So Close

@RDembowski literally acknowledges lack of trust between #Chinatown-ID+elected officials. He even mentions importance of outreach in Asian American community. Yet activists point out he also FAILS to put a pause on project in interest of “not slowing this down.”

Jonathan Choe

Journalist and Senior Fellow, Center on Wealth and Poverty
Jonathan Choe is a journalist and Senior Fellow with Discovery Institute's Center on Wealth and Poverty, covering homelessness issues for its Fix Homelessness initiative. Prior to joining Discovery, Choe spent several years as one of the lead reporters at KOMO-TV, consistently the top rated television station in Seattle. His in depth stories on crime and deep dive investigations into the homeless crisis led to measurable results in the community, including changes in public policy. Choe has more than two decades of experience in television news behind the scenes and in front of the camera for ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, and Tribune. He has also been nominated and honored with multiple industry awards including an Emmy. Choe spent several years teaching classes on emerging media and entrepreneurship to under privileged youth in inner city Chicago. As an independent journalist, Choe also contributes regularly to the Mill Creek View and Lynnwood Times and has reported on exclusive stories in the past year for Daily Wire and The Postmillennial.