‘We are the place to come if you’re homeless’: Curley, KIRO producer spar over Seattle’s safety after viral Aurora billboard

A disabled Air Force veteran’s $3,000 billboard near Aurora Avenue calling Seattle “The Blue Tarp City of Thieves, Druggies, and Shooters” has gone viral, and John Curley, host of “The John Curley Show” on KIRO Newsradio, said that the 86-year-old’s frustration reflects a deeper problem the city refuses to confront.

Victor Fleming, the veteran behind the sign, was asked what he hopes the billboard accomplishes.

“Flip the city a finger,” Fleming said. “I’m 86 years old. I got to make some sort of splash on this earth.”

Curley said Fleming’s message lands because the numbers back it up. He pointed to former City Attorney Ann Davison’s Stay Out of Areas of Prostitution and Stay Out of Drug Areas programs, which targeted 118 repeat offenders responsible for more than 2,400 police contacts over five years. Under Davison, contacts per offender dropped from 6.3 per year to 0.5, a 92% reduction.

“Then the voters of Seattle determined, ‘No, we don’t like her. We want Erika Evans in there,'” Curley said. “Well then you’re going to get what you get.”

Curley said Evans redirected limited resources toward hiring two prosecutors for bias and hate crime misdemeanors at roughly $340,000, while West Seattle and downtown Seattle saw violent crime rise 14%, robbery jump 26%, shots fired climb 46%, and overall crime increase 1.8%.

“These are professional criminals that take advantage of Seattle because Seattle tends to slap you on the wrist because they feel sorry for you,” Curley said.

Curley, Wallace clash on whether Seattle is truly in crisis

SPD has recorded 69 officer separations through Aug. 11, and at its current attrition rate the department projects 113 departures by year’s end, more than triple last year’s total and the worst since 2023.

Curley said officers are leaving because the system makes their work pointless.

“You arrest the guy, and then like a couple hours later, there he is,” Curley said. “You’re like, ‘Oh my god.'”

KIRO producer Joe Wallace pushed back, arguing the problems are concentrated in a few blocks and that the broader city is safe.

“The narrative that Seattle’s some dangerous hellhole where you’re going to get stabbed if you walk downtown, that’s just nonsense,” Wallace said. “I feel really bad for guys like Victor, who put up the billboard, who lives in an area where there just seems to be no solution, and the problems are just ongoing. Those particular areas are bad, and they don’t have solutions for them. 12th and Jackson is really, really embarrassing if you drive by there, but it is also a very small area.”

Curley asked whether Wallace would go to 12th and Jackson.

“Why would I? No,” Wallace said.

“No. Why not?” Curley responded.

Wallace conceded the point for residents and businesses in trouble spots but held firm on the big picture.

“These are just big city problems,” Wallace said. “This is what happens in a city. I don’t care what city in America you pick; if it’s a large city with nearly a million people, you’re going to have these kinds of problems.”

Curley counters with homelessness ranking, NYC turnaround

Curley countered with Seattle’s per-capita homelessness ranking, noting the city of 800,000 competes with New York City’s 8 million for the top spots.

“We are the place to come if you’re homeless,” Curley said.

He pointed to New York City’s turnaround, from 2,262 murders in 1990 to 309 in 2025, as proof that concentrated policing works, then circled back to Council member Bob Kettle, who said he lacks confidence in the city’s follow-through on North Aurora.

“We have the tools, we have the abilities, but so often, as we see in Seattle, we don’t take that next step, we don’t follow through,” Kettle said.

Curley said every politician criticizing Wilson is playing chess, not solving problems.

“Nobody wants to be on the council. You want to have the power,” Curley said. “They’re all political animals, and that’s not a bad thing. That’s what you want. But whenever anybody is going to come on the radio or talk, it’s all about the next step.”

Listen to John Curley weekday afternoons from 3 – 7 p.m. on KIRO Newsradio, 97.3 FM. Subscribe to the podcast here.

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