Formerly homeless people share their experiences, say Seattle is making mistakes

A winning acrostic poem

Dori:

Defers

Originality

Representing

Insight

As per request from the man himself.

– Kevin on Vashon

Lack of rape prosecution goes beyond illegal immigration issue

Hi Dori, regarding the Big Lead and letting rapists go — this isn’t just an illegal immigrant issue, this is much bigger than that. One in four women are sexually assaulted in their lifetime … one in four. For every 1,000 sexual assaults, 230 actually get reported; of those 230, 46 reports lead to arrest. Of those 46, nine cases get referred to prosecutors; of those nine cases, five cases lead to felony conviction. So 995 out of 1000 assailants get away with sexual assault. I understand the intent and focus of your rant, but as a survivor and reporter of sexual assault, we need to focus on the bigger issues — lack of reporting, resources, and action. This isn’t just an illegal immigration issue; we have a completely broken system when it comes to sexual assault. Thank you,
– Kelly in Enumclaw

Criminals have more rights than crime victims

Hi Dori, I just wanted to share a story you may find as outrageous as I do. I’m currently staying in a hotel in Renton waiting for my new apartment to be ready. A really sketchy-looking couple checked in about four days ago. Today I noticed that the woman had sores all over her and appeared to be nodding off while they waited for an Uber. They refuse to use ashtrays and they leave their cigarette butts all over. I asked the desk girl, “What’s the deal with those two?” She told me they shouldn’t have been let in, they have no ID, and the room was booked and paid for by the guys mother in Florida by phone. Housekeeping went in to clean the room and found needles, a spoon with burnt residue in it, (even residue on the Bible), credit cards not in any of their names, a bag of brand-new clothing, and some electronics. The police were called, and after checking with “the sarge,” said there was nothing they could do.

A few hours later, the couple came back, and the desk clerk told them they had to leave, because housekeeping found drugs in their room. The man started up with the whole, “Drugs? What drugs, I’m a diabetic” routine. The clerk told him nice try, but they didn’t have any insulin; she said that housekeeping was gathering the rest of their stuff and would bring it down in a minute. He proceeded to cause a scene, accusing the hotel of stealing his stuff before housekeeping even gave it to him, and when he hadn’t even been back in the room. He started yelling that housekeeping stole two new iPhones, gold chains, and a one hundred dollar bill. He then called the police himself. The same officer showed up to respond, and instead of telling the guy to hit the road, he asked the desk clerk for the number for corporate headquarters because “the gentleman would like to file a complaint.” What. The. Actual. Heck.

– Elizabeth in Renton

I watched someone almost make a drug deal right outside the King County Jail when I was waiting for the bus tonight. There was not an SPD officer or KC deputy in sight. The guy put his bag of pills away when he saw me looking at him.

– Anonymous at King County Sheriff’s Office

Could we file a complaint against Judge Alicea-Galván?

I wonder if your listeners could file an official complaint against Judge Veronica Alicea-Galván with the Washington State Bar Association? Where is Gov. Jay Inslee’s responsibility in promoting Galván to the King County Superior Court bench after she has demonstrated no compassion or justice for the victim, Ryan Georg, who served in Iraq in the U.S. Army? Or is Democratic Gov. Jay Inslee only good enough to have around to cut the ribbon to ceremonially open the new veterans home in Walla Walla? Just exactly how supportive is Gov. Jay Inslee of U.S. veteran and victim Ryan Georg?

– S. in Bothell

Dori is a hero

Dear Dori, I cannot thank you enough for standing up for me and for the rest of the citizens of this region. You are a true hero.

– Bob in Duvall

Formerly homeless people share their stories

You can’t throw money at the problem

I really don’t agree with people wanting to throw money at the homeless crisis, thinking it will help. You can only help people so much. They need to want the help as well, and not just want to live off of taxpayers. I was recently homeless while pregnant with my son, and had three daughters and my husband to care for. It took three months for us to get into a HopeLink homeless shelter. It was one of the scariest times in our lives. But it did help so much. There were so many other families there that were abusive or on drugs, people OD’ing in the parking lot with their kids by themselves, or drinking until they couldn’t stand. But there were a few families, including us, that wanted the help up, and not to live off of others, but to get back to a place where we were financially, physically, and emotionally safe. From my experience, most of the people whom I have met over the past couple of years abuse the system rather than use it for what it’s meant for.

I don’t think throwing money at a problem will solve the problem. The program we were in was a good one. I am so grateful for them. They helped us find housing, they helped with clothes for our children, and helped us save money, and were always there to talk to. But we had to work hard as well, or we would have been back to being homeless. No one threw money at us to help us — even at the homeless shelter we had to pay rent. I’m pretty sure the people who volunteered to help train people for interviews and read resumes didn’t get money thrown at them. The person who volunteered to help people figure out their taxes and answer questions that she didn’t have to answer about how to make your credit score go up didn’t get money thrown at her. It really makes me question the state and the people in power who think they know what they’re doing. They should go visit some of the places that we have stayed and take a look at the number of people who do want a hand up, versus the people who want a handout. Thank you for reading and thank you for your lovely opinion-filled show. Have a wonderful day.

– Lorena in Seattle

It wasn’t simply ‘falling on hard times’

God bless you. I am a business owner, recovering alcoholic, ex-homeless firstborn son of a legal immigrant from the Philippines. I was homeless by choice, as I didn’t want to listen to my parents when I was 18 years old. I traveled up and down the West Coast, over to the East Coast, always looking for a better place to live … a better place to party. It was a drug-induced euphoria, as my father would call it when I was young. Flash forward almost 25 years and I’m a somewhat successful business owner of seven years. I have worked hard for the life I live today. I’m a proud father of two, a devoted husband to my lovely wife Lilybell, and a believer in God.

I would love to be on that homeless board. I can’t stand the streets of Seattle because of how bad it is down there. I would definitely clean up the streets instead of inviting more of this outbreak on our services. Yes, there are some who fall on hard times, but living it myself, it wasn’t because of hard times. I use to say that I’d fallen on hard times when I pan-handled, but really it was because I wanted to run away from my childhood and broken family, and I wanted to get high.

I try to listen every day, but this topic ticks me off because I get taxed to pay for illegal drugs and laws that are set in this state. Thank you Dori. Keep up the common sense radio.

– Derek in Bremerton

Crossing the line

You lost a dedicated listener today. Around 1:40 p.m., you were discussing Bernie Sanders’ words regarding abortion and a women’s right to choose. You then said that ‘Bernie Sanders should just kill himself’ if abortion is such a good thing. This is unacceptable and crossed the line.

– Karyn in Kirkland

Swimming in water tower no big deal

I caught the end of your last hour Friday about the boys swimming in the water tower. Dori, you sounded like a fuddy-duddy. I grew up in Lakewood, and in the early ’80s as a teen, three of my friends and I climbed up the ladder (there was no lock or fence) on a large water tower. We climbed on top and pulled open the cover. There was a lock, but the connection was rusted and it broke away. We all swam in the tower on that hot summer day. We eventually left and never thought about it again. I’m sure some maintenance worker found the door broken and just fixed it without saying anything to anybody. There are thousands of gallons in those tanks. I’m sure it hurt no one. In fact, for all I know, I drank some of the water from that tower at my house. Thank God we didn’t have social media back then. The thing we should really worry about is some terrorist pouring poison in the water, since these water towers are so accessible.

– O. in Anacortes

Listen to the Dori Monson Show weekday afternoons from 12-3 p.m. on KIRO Radio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.