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Yearly Archives: 2016
The Hidden Persuaders
Dedicated to Larry Kaminsky December 27, 2016 Even as Seattle voters enact a flurry of laws designed to “get money out of politics,” the insinuation of paid political advocates into local government continues apace. This article looks at how that works … Continue reading
Seattle Burnin’ Down
December 11, 2016 Last month I began collaborating with Harley Lever on his Safe Seattle Facebook page. The Blog Quixotic and Safe Seattle share many concerns about public safety, but Safe Seattle has a much wider audience and is more of … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Homelessness, Humor
Tagged Ballard, Facebook, Harley Lever, homelessness, Mike O'Brien, radicalism, Safe Seattle, Seattle City Council, social justice
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Audit This! ~ Bringing Seattle’s Human Services Department to heel
December 7, 2016 The Seattle Human Services Department (HSD) dispenses city, state, and federal money to a hundred-odd contractors that provide various services to Seattle’s poor and homeless. HSD has regulations requiring the contractors to track and submit financial tracking … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, SHARE
Tagged Seattle Human Services, SHARE, state auditor, Troy Kelley
1 Comment
Kshama Town
November 25, 2016 Photos of anti-Trump protests in Chicago and Seattle tell two very different stories about political culture. The Chicago crowd (above) is large, varied, and rowdy. The placards there are hand-made, and each one bears a different message, … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Politics
Tagged civil disobedience, civil unrest, Donald Trump, Kshama Sawant, Occupy, protest, rioting, Stalinism
3 Comments
Sex, Lies, and the Seattle City Council
November 21, 2016 The presence of transient sex offenders in Seattle points up why the city’s current approach to illegal encampments is so dangerous. In 1998, the man pictured below was convicted of sexual assault on a child. (Reference RCW … Continue reading
Anatomy of a Failure: Why Seattle isn’t solving its homeless crisis
November 18, 2016 Seattle’s disastrous homeless policy has resulted from a combination of three things: -Ideology -Paid advocacy -Lack of accountability
Posted in Homelessness, Politics
Tagged failure of government, government accountability, homelessness, paid advocates
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Homeless Policy Questions for the WA Gubernatorial Candidates
November 3, 2016 Below is a list of ten questions that I and my friend Harley Lever of Safe Seattle devised for Washington gubernatorial race candidates Bill Bryant and Jay Inslee. The document format is QUESTION followed by ANSWER from … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, Homelessness, Politics, Tent City
Tagged Bryant, homeless policy, Inslee, Washington State governor
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Tunnel? What Tunnel?
October 28, 2016 A friend whom I’ll call Sally is into good government. Like me, Sally is bafffled by the unending Tragedy of Errors that is Seattle’s Deep Bore Tunnel (aka the Alaskan Way Replacement Project). Sally recently sent a … Continue reading
Posted in Complaints, General, Media
Tagged cost overruns, Deep Bore Tunnel, large infrastructure projects, Washington State DOT
3 Comments
What’s the matter with Kshama Sawant?
October 21, 2016 Meet Kshama Sawant: Seattle councilmember. Socialist firebrand. Enfant terrible. For as big a hit as she’s been in Seattle, I’ve never felt that she really got this town. Oh she gets a part of it, all right. … Continue reading
Posted in General
Tagged Bernie Sanders, homeless encampments ordinance, Kshama Sawant, socialism
25 Comments
Seattle Shelter Contracts
October 18, 2016 – The document below is a summary report of Seattle’s homeless shelter and outreach contract payments for 2015. It was sent to me by one of my readers (Thanks, Deena!) who got it from Seattle’s Human Services Department (HSD) … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness
Tagged city budget, City Contracts, graft, homelessness, HSD, Human Services Department
3 Comments
If you see something, trash something.
October 10, 2016 IRONY ALERT! This ad on a Seattle bus tells people to call in if they see trash dumped on the street or sidewalk. I’ve called the number myself, many times; however, the trash I called in about wasn’t taken … Continue reading
Posted in Complaints, Crime, Homelessness, Photos (Stuff), Squatters, Tent City
Tagged encampments legislation, homelessness, Lisa Herbold, quality of life, trash pick-up
1 Comment
Risky Business: Is Seattle’s Encampment Bill un-Constitutional?
October 7, 2016 A hot mess gets hotter In each of the past several years, ever greater numbers of homeless people have been camping out on publicly owned land in Seattle. Conditions around the encampment areas have steadily deteriorated, and … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Nickelsville, Squatters, Tent City
Tagged 14th Amendment, ACLU, due process, encampments ordinance, equal protection, legal jeapordy, Scott Morrow, squatters
2 Comments
Ask the Experts
September 24, 2016 Seattle’s Task Force on Homeless Encampment Clean-up had one of its weekly meeings at City Hall Wednesday. I attended at the invitation of a friend who’s on the task force. It was not encouraging. But it was … Continue reading
Anatomy of a Swindle: How a Rogue Non-profit Captured the Emerald City
September 13, 2016 The Set-up For four years I’ve been investigating a publicly supported non-profit homeless group in Seattle called SHARE. SHARE runs 14 indoor shelters around Seattle, for which it annually gets several hundred thousand dollars from Seattle’s Human … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, General, Homelessness, Media, Nickelsville, SHARE, Tent City
Tagged corruption, David G. Jones, Efren Agmata, HSD, LIHI, Low Income Housing Institute, Mayor Ed Murray, Peggy Hotes, Pete Holmes, Scott Morrow, Seattle City Auditor, Seattle City Council, Seattle Human Services Department, SHARE, Sharon Lee
63 Comments
Tell the whole story please, Mr. B
September 5, 2016 On August 24, the Seattle Times ran a piece by columnist Daniel Beekman about the struggle between Mayor Murray and the city council over homeless folks collecting in hot spots around the city. In this post, I look at one … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Media, Photos (Stuff), Politics, Squatters, Tent City
Tagged Camp Second Chance, car camping, Daniel Beekman, media bias, Polly Trout, seattle times
2 Comments
Why I’m voting ‘no’ on the Housing Levy
July 29, 2016 Seattle Proposition 1 is a tax levy on the August 2016 primary ballot for Seattle voters. The levy would double the total amount currently levied for “affordable housing.” See the King County Voter’s Guide description on this … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, General, Homelessness, Politics, SHARE
Tagged accountability, government waste, LIHI, sanctuary city, Scott Morrow, Seattle Affordable Housing Levy, SHARE, Sharon Lee, taxes
1 Comment
The True Cost of Eco-Babble
Someone chucked an empty FIJI water bottle in my yard this morning. Before recycling it, I took a minute to read the label. The packaging is clearly targeted at the “green” demographic. Can you see how? The wording wraps around … Continue reading
Posted in General
Tagged advertising, capitalism, corporate control, ecology, FIJI water, greenwashing, water
2 Comments
Rest Easy, Devin
At 2 AM on April 7, 2016 an unknown 16-year-old was whizzing downhill on Highland Park Way SW in a stolen car. The cops were on his tail. The odds were not in the kid’s favor, but he may have figured: What have … Continue reading
We are not amused: How politics kills our language and clouds our judgment
June 29, 2016 If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought. –George Orwell, Politics and the English Language A front page Seattle Times story published on June 24, 2016 decries an attack on “transgender” activist Michael Volz that happened in Seattle two days … Continue reading
Posted in General, Media, Politics
Tagged Ed Murray, gay rights, Safe Place, Seattle Police, SPD, transgender
1 Comment
Jungle Boogie, continued (and continued?)
June 29, 2016 Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said today that there might not be enough people left in the Jungle to bother with kicking them out. Which is an understandable (if not exactly courageous) stance, given the amount of crap he’s … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Politics, Tent City
Tagged Dorothea Lange, drug gangs, DTO, Ed Murray, gangs, homeless camps, John Steinbeck, migrant camps, public safety, the jungle
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Can’t Buy Me Likes
Followers of this blog will recall that I have penned a handful of articles on Seattle’s own Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) and its director, Sharon Lee. Ms. Lee runs a $50 million taxpayer-funded operation and hobnobs with the Mayor and … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Humor, Politics, SHARE
Tagged cheating, Facebook, fraud, Home Depot, LIHI, likes, liking service, Low Income Housing Institute, popularity contest, scams, Sharon Lee
4 Comments
No Strings Attached
June 18, 2016 A recent Facebook post from Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is at once a study in courage and a window onto the political nightmare that is homeless policy in Seattle. Murray is currently getting skewered by the church-lady left … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Politics, SHARE, Tent City
Tagged Ed Murray, LIHI, Low Income Housing Institute, Real Change Newspaper, Sally Bagshaw, SHARE, Tim Harris
3 Comments
Another SPD Accountability Fail
Seattle police detective Leslie Smith let several rape cases languish because she was “overworked.” As a result, an accused child rapist was allowed to stay on the streets. Ms. Smith has not been fired for incompetence but was instead promoted. … Continue reading
“Dear Scott . . .” Will SHARE ever fire Boss Morrow? Can they?
June 4, 2016 Today I got a nice surprise in my mailbox. It’s a letter from someone who claims to represent some two dozen Scott Morrow critics: disaffected homeless campers, SHARE insiders, volunteers. The letter is being circulated ahead of … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Nickelsville, SHARE
Tagged democracy, direct action, Power Lunch, Scott Morrow, SHARE
1 Comment
The Doney Clinic
May 29, 2016 Every second and fourth Saturday, the Union Gospel Mission in the Pioneer Square area of Seattle hosts the Doney Memorial Pet Clinic. The clinic provides veterinary care and hands out donated pet food and supplies to homeless and very … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness
Tagged animal rescue, Doney Clinic, homeless pets, pet therapy, service animal, Union Gospel Mission
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Shocked!
May 21, 2106 The Seattle Housing and Resource Effort (SHARE), claims to have fired their “accountant,” Steven A. Isaacson, after TBQ broke a story on Isaacson’s lack of credentials ten days ago. (See The Accountant Who Wasn’t There). On May … Continue reading
