WILL KING COUNTY KEEP BURNING THROUGH TAXPAYER MONEY ON WASTEFUL HOMELESSNESS BUREAUCRACY?
DEBATE ON TO DETERMINE IF/WHEN LOCAL GOVERNMENTS PULL PLUG ON FAILING REGIONAL AGENCY
It’s been a rough few weeks for Seattle’s homelessness industrial complex, as Shift has covered, what with its key regional leader bailing out on the King County Regional Homeless Authority (KCRHA) he designed. Now there finally seems to be a debate about whether it’s time to stop throwing good taxpayer money after bad, to focus more on the needs the actual homeless are facing and less on the bureaucrats. Leading one side is King County Councilman Reagan Dunn’s op-ed in today’s Seattle Times which notes that “(E)lected leaders who established the authority need to recognize that these errors and embarrassments are not merely growing pains, but the result of an unworkable structure and a focus on failed policies. As experience has now demonstrated, there are foundational issues that make the KCRHA doomed to fail and unfit to be trusted with the major responsibility of improving the state of the homelessness crisis in our region.”
Standing in stark contrast to Councilman Dunn’s concern about the public treasury is Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell, who KOMO reported lauding the agency for lowering the absurdly high initial budget proposal it made and earning approval to waste $1 billion-plus over the next five years, and said “We have the good road map to put this together, and I’m excited about the possibilities.” You can compare reasons for enthusiasm, and consider the history behind the initial $12 Billion homeless plan covered by Shift, by reading more here… Shift, Seattle Times, KOMO.
This week's Newsmaker Interview
Brandi Kruse, the creator and host of the local political podcast “[un]Divided,” joins us for this week’s Newsmaker Interview. A journalist who has distinguished herself for holding powerful political figures accountable, Kruse shares her thoughts on the creation of her podcast and the growing trend of independent journalism. She also describes the negative impact of “one-party” control of government and gives her views on various controversial new events. Read more.
ANOTHER HOMELESS BATTLE GROUND – ACLU TAKING ON YAKIMA COUNTY
The homelessness problem which has raged as an “emergency” in King County since politicians declared it so in 2015, as Shift has highlighted, has been exported around the state over the last decade, generally accompanied by activists seeking more government money for the “emergency”. Yakima County is the latest community, as the Yakima Herald writes, to face loud demands to accommodate those breaking the law, instead of those taxpayers who may want to enjoy public facilities, since the “American Civil Liberties Union has taken issue with Yakima County’s proposed policy that aims to uproot homeless encampments along the Yakima and Naches rivers.”
You can see more of the legal threat that “this policy likely infringes on the constitutional rights of unhoused individuals and could result in litigation” here… Shift, Yakima Herald.
NOT RUNNING FOR RE-ELECTION, NOW INSLEE TELLS TRIBES THEY HAVE TO PAY HIS TAXES LIKE EVERYONE ELSE
Not having to beg for re-election money anymore has seemingly changed Governor Jay Inslee, allowing the truth to seep out about deals that had been cut to pass his costly environmental policies. Leaders from Washington’s tribes are among the first big Democrat donors to learn the new reality, with the Seattle Times noting that “Inslee doesn’t think Washington should exempt tribal gas stations from climate laws that have driven up fuel prices across the state since taking effect at the start of this year.”
That was not the answer the tribal leaders were looking for, after the millions they have invested in keeping Inslee in office over the years, with Future 42 reporting one saying that “we don’t want to be forced to comply with state regulations that we don’t agree with.” The Times reports another complaining of their ignorance when “tribal leaders ‘expended our political capital’ to help pass (cap and trade) in 2021, ‘we didn’t realize, no one realized,’ what the impact was going to be.” You can read about how stunned they are at the rising gas prices that every other rational observer (and/or Shift reader) knew Inslee’s policies would cause here … Seattle Times, Future42.
MORE ON MULLET: TAXES ARE NOT ALWAYS THE ANSWER
News that a third Democrat elected official was jumping into next year’s governor’s race has brought out the attack knives from “exploring” Attorney General Bob Ferguson and more media interest into whether a candidate not firmly from the far-Left of the Democrat Party can succeed on a statewide scale. That led the new Washington State Standard to feature State Senator Mark Mullet’s unique (for a Democrat) view that “I just don’t think the solution to every problem facing our state can be creating a new tax.” You can read more that the senator “appears ready to test voters’ appetite for a more moderate brand of Democratic politics, one centered on a progressive social agenda but also skepticism toward higher taxes” here… Washington State Standard.
FRIDAY FUNNY: WA STATE DEMANDS YOU TAKE THIS STUFF SERIOUSLY
Some items sent to Shift must be shared, and this is one, as we picked up from Center Square on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion training going on in Washington State government. We pass along with minimal commentary the belief being advanced as required thinking by the State of Washington that “Convicted and or incarcerated individuals” constitute a “Marginalized group” facing the “Oppression” of “Legalized Discrimination”. That unique definition some of us know as “going to jail for breaking the law” is just part of the funny stuff you can find on this state-provided Privilege Matrix and also here… Center Square.
OVERHEARD ON THE INTERWEBS...
WILL SEATTLE COUNCIL ALLOW PROSECUTING DRUG CRIMES AGAIN?
WEEKEND REMINDER: JAY INSLEE AND THE DEMOCRATS MAKE YOU PAY MORE FOR GAS, JUST BECAUSE THEY CAN
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