Is homelessness a power drawback that merely can’t be solved in an prosperous metropolis like Seattle the place family incomes, in addition to housing costs, rank among the many high three amongst American cities?
Take into account some latest numbers:
• In April, the King County Regional Homelessness Authority very quietly introduced that 16,868 of us are homeless within the county, a 26% improve from 2023.
• Reports of unauthorized homeless encampments to the city’s Find It, Fix It app have rocketed from 27,711 throughout an eight month interval in 2023 to 50,270 throughout the same interval this 12 months.
• Mayor Bruce Harrell has tripled the variety of encampment removals, scattering folks dwelling exterior to extra areas (which can assist account for the spike within the variety of experiences).
• In line with a snapshot depend in 2024, there have been 4,300 folks dwelling exterior in Seattle and Vashon Island.
• When supplied shelter, a mere 11% of encampment dwellers had been recorded as accepting the supply.
• Since 2021, the variety of shelter areas funded by the town has elevated by simply 13 items, from 2,837 to 2,850.
• A tough whole of all the cash at the moment being spent yearly on homelessness packages by native, state and federal authorities is available in at $2 billion, or round $120,000 for every unhoused particular person.
If homelessness continues to get worse in King County, one is inclined to ask an apparent query: What are all these billions of tax {dollars} shopping for us? Definitely not a decision to the disaster. As a Seattle resident with no specific experience aside from pointing my finger at issues, I definitely shouldn’t have a solution for methods to repair this, however, apparently, neither do the politicians and housing bureaucrats who’re paid to search out options to this intractable predicament.
See extra of David Horsey’s cartoons at: st.news/davidhorsey
View different syndicated cartoonists at: st.news/cartoons
Editor’s word: Seattle Instances Opinion not appends remark threads on David Horsey’s cartoons. Too many feedback violated our community policies and reviewing the handfuls that had been flagged as inappropriate required an excessive amount of of our restricted workers time. You may remark by way of a Letter to the Editor. Please e mail us at letters@seattletimes.com and embrace your full title, handle and phone quantity for verification solely. Letters are restricted to 200 phrases.
