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Author Archives: DBP
The tarnished halo of Rob Ferguson
March 12, 2017 Washington Attorney General Bob Ferguson is exulting in his successful court challenge to President Trump’s immigration ban. Ferguson obviously cares about immigrant rights, but has he been as diligent in protecting people who already live here? What … Continue reading
Posted in General
Tagged Attorney General, Dwight Pelz, Immigration ban, Rob Ferguson, Scott Morrow
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Beyond the Pale: A neighbor’s view of the Ballard Locks homeless camp
March 10, 2017 The Ballard Locks (also known as Hiram M. Chittenden Locks) are a system of mechanically controlled channels that allow watercraft to travel between the inland waterways of Seattle (Lake Washington, Lake Union, the Ship Canal) and Puget … Continue reading
Hello this is my daughter…
March 6, 2017 Seen in a Portland shop window in August 2017. It may have been there for some time, given the reference to winter clothes: HOMELESS IN DWNTWN PORTLAND Please help my ill daughter Hello this is my daughter … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, General, Homelessness
Tagged bipolar disorder, involuntary committment, mental illness, runaways, street people
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Anything helps. Or does it?
February 20, 2017 This snapshot of a Seattle panhandler was sent to me by a reader who inferred that because the woman was sitting in a comfortable chair sipping a pricey coffee, with a dog and a cushion, she’s not … Continue reading
Brandie Bright and Dark
February 13, 2017 Oh the irony! Seems that one of the ACLU’s two homeless plaintiffs – a woman who is crying foul over City crews removing her stuff from public land without due notice – is apparently quite the little thief … Continue reading
Posted in General
Tagged ACLU, Brandie Osborne, fraud, social justice warriors, Tent City 4
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ACLU vs. the People
*** TBQ Readers, your help is needed. Please read to the end to find out how you can help make us all safer. *** We were cautiously optimistic when we learned that the Mayor was moving ahead to clear dangerous … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, General, Homelessness, Politics, Squatters
Tagged ACLU, Brandie Osborne, Lisa Hooper, public safety, Scott Lindsay, Squatters rights, tent camps
3 Comments
Tent Cities: Not a way out but a way to HANG out
February 8, 2017 Except for the misleading headline, this article from Pacific Standard Magazine is a more or less honest view of a SHARE-run tent city. Based on my own experiences, I can say that the interview subjects are a … Continue reading
Posted in Homelessness, SHARE, Tent City
Tagged LIHI, malingering, Pacific Standard Magazine, SHARE, Tent City 3
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Politics and privilege in the Emerald City
January 20, 2017 What do Sally Bagshaw and Donald Trump have in common? More than you might think. I’m not talking money here; I’m talking attitude. See, when you’re rich, you can’t help having one. An attitude, that is. A … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged income disparity, Sally Bagshaw, Seattle City Council, wealth gap
1 Comment
The Great Enablers
January 12, 2017 Quick: What do you call a Detox Center, without the “De-” part? You’d call it a Tox Center, of course. And that’s just what it would be: a place where addicts could keep poisoning their bodies, free … Continue reading
Posted in Essays, General
Tagged addiction, harm reduction, newspeak, opioids, social engineering
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Ballard Bridge Status: 1/10/2017
The Ballard Bridge spans Salmon Bay to connect Seattle’s historic Ballard neighborhood with points south. The bridge and surrounding environs have been a long-term site of homeless camps at both ends. These camps, particularly the one on the north end, … Continue reading
Posted in Crime, General, Homelessness, Squatters
Tagged Ballard, Ballard Bridge, homelessness, Mike O'Brien
2 Comments
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
58 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
