King County Executive candidate Zahilay targets cycle of addiction, crime, homelessness

King County Councilmember Girmay Zahilay is running against King County Councilmember Claudia Balducci in a tight race for county executive.

Zahilay shared that his top priority as King County executive would be breaking the cycle of addiction, crime, and homelessness.

“My number one priority is breaking that cycle that we see on the streets of our cities, where people are facing the overlapping issues of homelessness, addiction, mental health issues, crime, and incarceration,” Zahilay said on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

Zahilay added that a small pool of people is cycling in and out of King County jails. His goal is to make sure no one leaves the jail system without a path to recovery.

“What’s happening now is people are getting pushed back out onto the streets without that plan, and they’re going in and out of that cycle, more emergency rooms, more addiction, more homelessness, and I want to make sure we break that cycle by investing in the emergency housing and the coordinated continuum of care that everyone needs to get on the path to recovery,” Zahilay said.

More specifically, Zahilay is looking to audit each department to ensure funding is leading to results.

Zahilay also emphasized a lack of coordination that needs to be addressed. He plans to bring stakeholders together across various departments, including people who work in permanent supportive housing, those who work in jails, law enforcement, and mental health and addiction providers.

“As the leader of the region, I would be that convener to make sure that we’re connecting everyone across systems and scaling up the resources that we need, like emergency housing, to put more roofs over people’s heads,” Zahilay said.

He added that his personal experiences help him relate to those impacted.

“I’ve experienced homelessness myself. I’ve watched my parents work multiple jobs to only continue falling into more poverty, and that drives the sense of urgency that I have to solve these problems, because they are not abstract to me,” Zahilay shared.

Watch the full discussion in the video above.

Listen to Gee and Ursula on “The Gee and Ursula Show” weekday mornings from 9 am to 12 pm on KIRO Newsradio.