Jon Scholes

KOMO News hosted a Town Hall on Western Washington’s homelessness crisis on July 13. The Town Hall panel included Daniel Malone, Executive Director of the Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC); Andrea Suarez, Founder and Executive Director of We Heart Seattle; Jon Scholes, President and CEO of the Downtown Seattle Association; and Dominique Alex, CEO of Mary’s Place. Among the topics discussed were the root causes of chronic homelessness, whether current policies hurt or help the problem, Housing First and harm reduction, untreated mental illness and substance use disorder, and family homelessness. While Malone of DESC repeatedly emphasized the importance of housing and the role of affordability in homelessness, Suarez strongly advocated for a “treatment first” approach in order to tackle Read More ›

Jon Scholes Speaks Out Downtown Seattle Association President & CEO Jon Scholes is feeling emboldened. He called out all the defund the police activists and politicians for allowing the urban decay and crime to flourish in parts of the city. All the reasonable people of Seattle agree.