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Taking Matters into Their Own Hands Seattle leaders have failed Belltown business owners, allowing drug addicts to take over sidewalks for years. Councilmember Bob Kettle is MIA, Mayor Katie Wilson has no immediate solutions, and City Attorney Erika Evans says she won’t prosecute open-air drug use. So now the owner of Club Dogfish on 3rd Ave is taking matters into his own hands, setting up plants and trees in his vestibule to keep out the fentanyl users. But this move could be a violation of a city ordinance to keep public spaces clear. So now the showdown begins. Will the city give small business owners a break or will they selectively enforce the law? I wonder if this will be Read More ›

Out of Control As Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson prepares to deliver her first State of the City address, parts of downtown remain a drug infested disaster. Especially the Belltown neighborhood near 2nd Ave and Blanchard St. Sunday evening, I watched dozens of addicts come and go, selling fentanyl in front of children with no cops in sight. Ironically they are using the vestibule of REACH, one of the largest homeless outreach providers funded with taxpayer dollars from the city. Yet REACH leaders can’t even get the situation under control in front of their own HQ. It’s time the Wilson administration do a full audit of these failing organizations. REACH REACH is a division of Evergreen Treatment Services. A couple years Read More ›

The Seahawks Super Bowl parade drew hundreds of thousands of people into Seattle. You would think Mayor Katie Wilson would sweep tents near the Space Needle, one of the crown jewels in the city. Instead, a massive drug tent stood out like a sore thumb. Cops walked by without batting an eye. Another embarrassing moment for the Wilson administration that clearly isn’t ready for the big time.

In a recent ruling that defies both logic and compassion, a federal judge has blocked the Trump administration’s effort to reform the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Continuum of Care program — the federal government’s primary funding mechanism for homelessness assistance.

The lawsuit — filed by a coalition of 20 mostly Democratic-led states, local governments, and nonprofit organizations and spearheaded by groups such as Democracy Forward — warns of “funding gaps,” winter instability, and the potential displacement of people currently housed. These alarms are sounded even though HUD includes a nearly 12% increase over last year’s funding allocation.

At the core of the complaint is a revealing claim: that reform would “upend longstanding projects that have been thoughtfully developed to comport with evidence-based, best-practices services delivery.”

But HUD’s own data make clear that the evidence on which they have long relied is catastrophically wrong.

Even after a Super Bowl win, Seattle leaders failed to clear out the downtown drug dens and black market of stolen goods. Watch as Seahawks fans try to celebrate in the streets while avoiding zombies and fentanyl addicts.

City Plays Whack-A-Mole Homeless outreach workers say encampment sweeps are rapidly picking up across Seattle under Mayor Katie Wilson. The latest one happened Wednesday morning near 6th Ave & Yesler Way in downtown. It’s unclear how many people chose to take services or shelter options. But by all accounts, it’s turning into another game of Whack-A-Mole as Wilson remains under enormous pressure to clear everyone out before the FIFA World Cup later this year. Meanwhile, notice how far-left activist group Stop The Sweeps Seattle is nowhere to be found. They were a constant thorn in the side of former Mayor Bruce Harrell and criticized him for using the same encampment removal methods as Wilson. But when it comes to comrade Read More ›

Even as many volunteers are taking to the cold streets to try to find and quantify the number of homeless Americans living there now, two lawsuits filed late last year in a federal District Court are blocking millions of dollars from reaching the neediest people. The first lawsuit was filed by the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), and the second by a coalition led by Washington State’s Attorney General Nick Brown. The lawsuits seek to stop the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) from redirecting a larger share of public dollars to treatment-based homeless programs. Both suits seek to force the continued pretense that permanent subsidized housing projects will end homelessness. These efforts fail the smell test. Read More ›

A homeless man has burrowed himself beneath thousands of pieces of driftwood and built what can only be described as an apartment. I went inside and looked around. There are two bedrooms, one still under construction, framed by uneven piles of driftwood and debris. Two small windows let in slivers of natural light through the gaps, barely illuminating the space. Shadows crawl across the walls and floor, giving the room a claustrophobic, almost surreal quality. The living area is chaotic, more workshop than home. Boards, nails, and hand tools are scattered across the dirt floor, evidence of ongoing construction and repair. Among the clutter, hundreds of used needles glint dangerously in the dim light. The smell of damp wood and Read More ›

I interviewed Portland Mayor Keith Wilson on the streets of Portland about the state of the city and its response to homelessness. I asked whether his administration requires measurable outcomes from the homeless service providers it funds. In response, Mayor Wilson pointed to his new policy of ending the distribution of tents, arguing that tents do not help people exit homelessness and are not life-saving care. He cited the heightened danger faced by vulnerable women living outside, noting that women experiencing homelessness face roughly a 40% chance of being assaulted. I followed up by asking whether there are consequences for providers who fail to meet expectations or move people off the streets. Mayor Wilson said the providers are aligned with Read More ›

Marsha Michaelis appeared on The Earthvox Podcast with Ryan Keogan. After discussing Michaelis’ journey from the Evergreen Freedom Foundation to homeschooling to her current position at Discovery Institute’s Fix Homelessness initiative, they then discuss her recent article exploring the kinds of solutions society could offer a family in acute distress, homelessness, and drug addiction. The conversation continues with problems with the Housing First approach to homelessness, how the Trump administration is addressing homelessness, the nature of compassion, and more.