Street Report

Dashed Hopes The support Mayor Katie Wilson once had among the homeless is fading faster than many expected. On the street, a different narrative is emerging, one that doesn’t match the optimism that followed her election. No Solutions Several people I spoke with say sweeps have actually increased since she took office, with little meaningful progress toward permanent solutions. For many, it feels like more movement without direction being pushed from block to block, but never off the street. What makes this shift more striking is who’s saying it. Broken Promises Many of the homeless individuals I interviewed identify as far left and were genuinely excited when Wilson was elected. They believed they were finally getting an ally in City Read More ›

Drugs Fuel Street Crisis Listen to Seattle’s homeless fentanyl addicts. They’re now admitting illegal drugs are fueling the street crisis. But Mayor Katie Wilson and other Democrats think they can build their way out of this problem. Meanwhile, nothing will change in this city until elected officials focus on making treatment mandatory before giving away free taxpayer funded apartments and studios. That will only benefit Homeless INC and all the builders. We’ve already witnessed the failure of Housing First for more than a decade.

“Everywhere else you get kind of shuttered down.” Holy crap! The latest drug encampment at 10th Ave S. & S. Weller St in Chinatown-ID is massive. There are at least 25 people living here. Once again, Mayor Katie Wilson is allowing this Asian American community to turn into a human dumping ground. She sweeps the rest of the city and it all ends up here. Meanwhile, I spoke to a young man named Rolland who says he moved from Whatcom County to King County because this region enables street life. “So stay out here and live how we want to live. You know everywhere else you get kind of shuttered down.” Even the homeless from other parts of WA know Read More ›

Tiny Homes Won’t Solve This Problem Sunday evening, the drug den at the corner of 12th Ave & Jackson St in Seattle’s Chinatown-ID is spiraling out of control. A hoard of addicts are flipping stolen items on the sidewalk which is just a blocks away from Summit Sierra High School. Who needs a bassinet or brand new Nikes? This has nothing to do with homelessness. The vast majority of people out here have housing and are using the streets as a hang out. Constructing tiny houses will not solve this problem. There is no way Mayor Katie Wilson will be able to contain this disaster by building more wooden shacks. Too bad City Attorney Erika Evans refuses to prosecute open-air Read More ›

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. Read More ›

Mega Sweep Thursday morning, Seattle city crews went on a MEGA SWEEP and cleared out multiple drug encampments at Daejeon Park, Sturgus Park, Lewis Park, and even removed tents at Dr. Jose Rizal Park. This is all happening in the Beacon Hill hood. With the impending sweep, I visited some of the homies last night to find out what they were up to. One guy said he already had a tiny house and was just chilling at the encampment. Another fella said he wouldn’t take a tiny house since illegal drug use is allegedly banned. But we all know that’s not the case.

Out of Control Seattle Councilmember Eddie Lin says he might call for the temporary closure of Lewis Park in the Beacon Hill neighborhood. He admits the illegal camping and open-air-drug use is out of control. I went there late Wednesday evening and saw it for myself. Lin overwhelmingly won the District 2 election. But he inherited a hot mess which also includes the crime and chaos of Rainier Valley along with the black market of stolen goods on 12th Ave & Jackson St in Chinatown-ID.

No Plan for Drug Treatment and Recovery Options Wednesday evening, Mayor Katie Wilson shared more details about her plan to address the homeless drug crisis destroying the city. As expected, Wilson put an emphasis on how her office was taking the initiative to build more tiny houses and pallet shelters before the FIFA World Cup in June. But Wilson shared virtually ZERO details on drug treatment and recovery options for addicts suffering on the streets. Wilson just said “wrap around services” would be offered to residents at these shelters. In other words, no requirement to use the treatment and recovery options. It’s the same talking point parroted for more than a decade by every King County Democrat that’s presided over Read More ›

A City in Urgency Seattle is moving rapidly to expand shelter for homeless drug addicts before the FIFA World Cup comes to the city. Faster than the public has been given time to fully understand. Mayor Katie Wilson set a goal of adding hundreds of new units in a matter of months. The strategy relies heavily on taxpayer dollars to expand tiny house villages. No one questions the urgency. But speed should not replace accountability and transparency. Lack of Transparency Right now, Seattle is making high-impact decisions about land, funding, and service delivery through a relatively tight network of policymakers, advisors, and providers. And the public has not been given a clear, transparent picture of how those decisions are being made. Read More ›

Nothing to Hide I’m investigating several criminal incidents related to the notorious Plymouth Housing/PorchLight homeless drug campus in Bellevue. More serious problems are now spilling onto the nearby Polaris at Eastgate apartments. On Tuesday, I visited PorchLight to get a better sense of what’s going on. As you can see in this video, I thought the interaction was cordial. But as soon as I left, they called the police on me. Btw, Bellevue cops are watching everything on street cameras. I’ve got nothing to hide.