SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: 2016 levy didn’t solve homelessness

May 8, 2018, 3:30 PM | Updated: 4:56 pm

housing levy, Pierce County Sheriff's Office...

(Kuan Gebaroff)

(Kuan Gebaroff)

Two years ago, the people of Seattle voted to double the housing levy to “fix” the homelessness crisis. The levy went from $145 million to $290 million over seven years, and took homelessness funding from $20 million a year to $40 million a year.

RELATED: Seattle is the drug capital of the United States

The people of Seattle, because of their endless gullibility — I mean generosity — decided to double their housing levy. The city told us that we would finally deal with the problem if we paid this money.

There’s just one problem — two years ago when the people of Seattle were voting on that housing levy, there were 3,000 people on the streets of Seattle. Now, in 2018, has the problem gotten better? No — now there are 5,000 people on the street. While most major cities are seeing a reduction in homelessness, while we are in an economy that is, economically speaking, regarded as full employment, Seattle’s homeless numbers are growing.

Where did the money go? Why do we have, not just the same number, but even more homeless people on the streets? We did what Ed Murray asked us to do. We spend so much money on homelessness every year. And the problem has just gotten worse.

Could it be because a lot of that money has just gone to the homelessness industrial complex? To all of the people making well into the six figures running the Low Income Housing Institute and the Seattle Housing and Resource Effort, one of the most non-transparent agencies you will find? They won’t open their books or tell us anything.

The problem is not a lack of money. The problem is who is spending the money. You could give the Seattle City Council a billion dollars and they wouldn’t be able to fix the problem, because they’re incompetent. Growing the government and rewarding their cronies are all they care about. Councilmember Kshama Sawant doesn’t what crimes happen in these homeless encampments. She wants to make sure we still have the encampments, even after the businesses pay the $75 million head tax.

Encampments have led to tremendous crime, home break-ins, car prowls, bikes being stolen, children being raped. The more drugs we have, the more crime we have, because the users want to continue to feed their habit. The left-wing position, according to Kshama Sawant, is that you are in favor of home invasions, car prowls, your bicycles being stolen, and heroin needles on your kids’ soccer fields.

Amanda Bickerstaff, CEO of AI for Education, speaks at Academic Magnet High School during the Charl...

Associated Press

Schools are starting to teach AI literacy. For many, that means helping kids see chatbots’ flaws

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — Artificial intelligence chatbots have become the bane of teachers everywhere, but to prepare for the new school year, a group of educators in Charleston, South Carolina, packed into a high school auditorium and talked about inviting AI into the classroom. The teachers and principals watched as an instructor prompted an […]

34 minutes ago

U.S. Sen. Darline Graham, R-S.C., speaks with reporters after a debate with U.S. Rep. Ralph Norman,...

Associated Press

President Trump to stump for Sen. Darline Graham days ahead of South Carolina’s GOP Senate runoff

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) — President Donald Trump is scheduled to travel to South Carolina on Friday to make a last-minute appeal for Sen. Darline Graham, his chosen candidate to replace her brother, the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, ahead of a Republican runoff next week. Voters will decide Tuesday whether Graham or Rep. Ralph Norman […]

37 minutes ago

Vice President JD Vance smiles during a roundtable event in the Eisenhower Executive Office Buildin...

Associated Press

Vance will campaign at the Ohio steel plant where his grandfather once worked

MIDDLETOWN, OHIO (AP) — Vice President JD Vance will return to his hometown Friday to campaign for Republican candidates at the same steel plant where his grandfather used to work. Vance is set to speak at the Cleveland-Cliffs Middletown Works facility, which was known as Armco Steel when his grandfather James Vance worked there for […]

38 minutes ago

Children watch a movie on a mobile device at a shelter for families displaced by gang violence in P...

Associated Press

First group of deportees arrives in troubled Haiti after US ends TPS program

CAP-HAITIEN, Haiti (AP) — The U.S. deported more than 160 people to Haiti on Thursday for the first time since the Trump administration won a legal battle to end Temporary Protected Status for some 350,000 Haitians. The plane landed in the northern Haitian city of Cap-Haitien because the main international airport in Port-au-Prince is considered […]

1 hour ago

FILE - The National Transportation Safety Board logo and signage are seen at a news conference at N...

Associated Press

Charter plane carrying 8 crashes near remote radar site in western Alaska, NTSB says

JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — A charter plane carrying eight people crashed Thursday near a remote radar site in western Alaska, a federal official said. Clint Johnson, the National Transportation Safety Board’s Alaska region chief, said two pilots and six passengers were on board. He did not immediately have details on their status. The plane took […]

2 hours ago

Associated Press

Storms and possible tornadoes pummel the Northeast US, flooding roads and damaging beaches

NEW YORK (AP) — Heavy rain and winds pounded the Northeast U.S. on Thursday as storms tore through a beach on Long Island, flooded a major New York freeway and knocked out power in parts of Delaware’s capital city. Photos and video shared on social media show debris thrown in the air and pummeling rain […]

2 hours ago

Dori: 2016 levy didn’t solve homelessness