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Category Archives: General
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
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
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
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
Homeless Camps and Warrant Checks: Who’s minding the store?
May 16, 2016 Like hundreds of cities around the country, Sammamish, Washington has developed special regulations for organized homeless camps. And just like other cities, Sammamish has rules saying that if you run a homeless camp, you have to do “background … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, SHARE, Tent City
Tagged Guerrilla Mail, Mary Queen of Peace, meth, Perry Debell, public safey, Sam Roberson, Sammamish, SHARE, Shoreline, tent camps, warrant checks
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The Accountant Who Wasn’t There
May 11, 2016 Back Story: Gimme Shelter The Seattle House and Resource Effort (SHARE) gets around a million dollars in government grants and in-kind donations each year. They ostensibly use this money to shelter homeless people, which they do through a … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Nickelsville, Politics, SHARE
Tagged accounting, fraud, homelessness, Scott Morrow, Seattle HSD, Seattle Human Services, SHARE, Steven A. Isaacson, tent camps, white collar crime
2 Comments
Derelicts: How a huge Seattle non-profit left a tiny homeless camp to rot
May 5, 2016 Back Story If you follow this blog, you’ll already know a lot of the Nickelsville Dearborn story. That’s the camp at 1010 South Dearborn Street near downtown Seattle that sheltered between 35 and 50 homeless people from the … Continue reading
The Not-So-Good Shepherd
RCW 36.01.290 “Authorizing religious organizations to host temporary encampments for homeless persons on property owned or controlled by a religious organization” –This statute was enacted by the Washington State Legislature in 2010. It grants churches the right to set up temporary … Continue reading
The Case of the Missing Homeless Camp
April 13, 2016 Do you see a homeless camp in this picture? –Yeah. Neither do I. So why was the landowner granted a two-year “transitional housing” property tax exemption on this pricey patch of real estate near downtown Seattle? Good question. … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Nickelsville, Politics, SHARE
Tagged Chris Koh, Coho Real Estate, corruption, fraud, homelessness, LIHI, property tax, Scott Morrow, SHARE, Sharon Lee
10 Comments
