Dori: Bellevue stabbing is the fault of local politicians

There’s no question that politicians love the homelessness crisis because it gives them a lever with which to pry money out of your bank account. Government is completely unable to deal with this, so who can? The story of the Bellevue stabbing on Saturday illustrates the dangers of normal homeowners trying to personally intervene in the life of someone who is so volatile.

An elderly couple in Bellevue, Glenn and Carolyn Hall, 83 and 76, respectively, had taken in an unidentified 40-year-old woman who had been living on the streets out of the goodness of their hearts. Neighbors said they had done this on at least one previous occasion. They seem to have quite a social conscience — they are active in the Spirit of Peace United Church of Christ in Sammamish, and Glenn is a recent president of the Issaquah Kiwanis Club.

According to the police, sometime Saturday afternoon, this 40-year-old woman they took in just went crazy on them. She stabbed both of them and then tried to burn the house down. The couple is now in the hospital and I pray for their recovery.

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The importation of so many homeless people to our region has led to an elderly couple being brutally attacked. And I do put this on our politicians. They have failed to in any way deal with this crisis. In so many ways, they have created this crisis. These attacks are the fault of our politicians. They have created an incredibly dangerous scene on our streets.

Whether it’s in Bellevue, Seattle, Everett, Olympia, Bremerton, we’re seeing it everywhere around here. And it is a pathetic tragedy that we continue to have the most lenient laws for drug use. We have a de-facto legalization of drugs in King and Snohomish Counties. And so of course this is the place where the worst of the worst addicts from around the country will go.

You have good-hearted people like the couple wounded in the Bellevue stabbing, who I’m sure just believed they were following their Christian faith and values taking this woman off the street, and the consequences are that they are now both recovering from stab wounds. I have admiration for people like this couple who walk the walk, but you never know what you’re getting into when you take in homeless people.

A couple of things have to happen. We need programs that will effectively deal with this. The model is the Union Gospel Mission model — you must get clean. We will give you a roof over your head, job training, and counseling, but you have to get clean. Instead, we have the madness around here of tiny house villages where we allow them to drink and use drugs. And we’re just bringing in the worst of the worst because of it.

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