Listening Tour
Election Day is still months away, but Republican gubernatorial candidate Dave Reichert (@reichert4gov) is already planning to tackle the state’s homeless, mental health, and drug crisis with a radically different approach. That’s because the current plan based off of “housing first” and “harm reduction” is not working. Reichert is listening to key outreach workers like Kristine Moreland (@kmmoreland) who leads The More We Love. Her perspective continues to be respected by various leaders in this space.
They recently visited some notorious encampments and drug hot spots in Seattle to see the ongoing humanitarian crisis for themselves. By the way, the WSDOT property in the University District is an absolute train wreck. I have never seen it this bad and I’ve been on this beat for nearly four years. The homeless/addicts say they know the state won’t sweep, so they are telling more of their friends to move in. It’s still upside down.
Ferguson’s Camp
I also reached out to AG Bob Ferguson’s (@BobFergusonAG) camp, but they don’t have any encampment visits planned at the moment. They have yet to release a comprehensive plan to address homelessness, drug addiction, and mental illness. Ferguson is currently the Democratic front-runner in the WA Governor’s race.
