Kent candidate: ‘We don’t have millions to throw at ineffective solutions’
Oct 29, 2019, 5:56 AM | Updated: 6:53 am
A homeless encampment on public and private property near Northwest 46th Street in Seattle. (City of Seattle)
(City of Seattle)
Kent City Council candidate Zandria Michaud grew up in Kent and has seen the community change over the years in ways that have prompted her to run. Her campaign is focusing on issues that have repeatedly been brought up to her as she knocked on doors throughout the area, the foremost of which is safety and homelessness.
“I grew up here in Kent and graduated from Kentwood High School and was in the military for five years after high school. And then my husband and I chose to live and raise our son here in Kent, and we bought a house across the street from the park,” she told the Saul Spady Show on KTTH. “That was about 10 years ago, and from that time forward, I’ve really been focused on improving things in my community.”
But over time she’s seen the streets change, and believes that an approach that incorporates responsibility and an offer of help needs to be taken.
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“We know that homelessness is super complicated, and it’s a regional issue, and Kent cannot solve it alone. So what we’re doing in Kent right now is that police go out and offer people resources, sometimes with a social worker,” she said. “After they give them a few chances to take those resources, that’s when they say, ‘Okay, you have the required amount of time to leave and go somewhere else. Take all your stuff with you.”
“I know that from talking with nonprofits that there are places for people to go. It’s just that they have to follow those rules. And one of the challenges is that people are not ready to have that addiction treatment.”
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She also hopes to improve community policing while ensuring that the King County prosecutor properly prosecutes criminals for their crimes, and advocating for equity in the allocation of county and state tax spending.
“Kent does not have millions of dollars to throw at ineffective solutions,” she added.
To learn more about her campaign, head to www.zandriaforkent.com
