Seattle Mayor Announces Big Business Partnerships to Fund Same Failed Homelessness Policies

Starbucks: From Foe to Friend

Last year Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson blasted Starbucks while standing in solidarity with workers on strike.

This week, she announced the local coffee giant would help fund the first phase of the city’s homelessness response.

So is the mayor now pandering to Starbucks or is Starbucks pandering to the mayor?

Either way, we all know how the last public-private partnership to end homelessness turned out for local donors and the government.

Past Failed Attempts

Remember We Are In? The King County Regional Homelessness Authority under former CEO Marc Dones got corporations like the Gates Foundation to pony up millions of dollars to solve homelessness. Amazon, Microsoft, Ballmer Group, and the Raikes Foundation were also involved. It failed.

Investing in Same Failed Policies

Yet “smart money” is working with the city once again to combat homelessness with the same Housing First and “harm reduction” strategies that have failed for years.

So why do they think it will be any different this time around? Make it make sense?