SEATTLE NEWS ARCHIVES & FEATURES

Dori: Why didn’t Inslee try to ‘fix’ homelessness in the last 7 years?

Jan 15, 2020, 4:12 PM

homelessness, woodland park, homeless, prolific offenders...

A homeless camp near a ball field at Seattle's Woodland Park. (Courtesy photo)

(Courtesy photo)

It’s pretty remarkable to hear someone who has been a complete failure on one of the issues people seem to care about most in this state — homelessness and all of the filth, drugs, vagrancy and crime that comes with it — now say that he is going to solve that very issue.

Jay Inslee, in his State of the State speech, said that he wants to take money from the state’s Rainy Day Fund and use it to “fix” homelessness.

Translation: he wants to give that money to the homeless-industrial complex, the so-called effort to fix homelessness that actually just creates high-paying jobs for connected bureaucrats, “nonprofit” executives, and developers whose jobs would disappear if homelessness were truly solved.

How long has Jay Inslee been governor? It has been almost eight years. What happened in those eight years? Homelessness has gotten dramatically worse under his watch. Property crime has skyrocketed. We seem to have more shootings than ever.

Dori: Inslee’s homelessness plan will expand bureaucracy, not help people

Now Jay Inslee says that if he can just get his hands on more money, he’ll fix homelessness starting this year. Why didn’t you start fixing homelessness last year, Jay Inslee? Was it because you were so busy running for president? You’ve been governor for eight years, and you’ve done absolutely nothing productive on this issue. How can you stand up there and say that this year will be the year we get it done?

As the saying goes, fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. He’s been fooling us for seven years now. Are you going to take this nonsense for an eighth year from the governor?

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

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Dori: Why didn’t Inslee try to ‘fix’ homelessness in the last 7 years?