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Ok. The Fight for the Soul of Seattle has begun.
Brian Nordwall, owner of Seattle E-Bikes says Seattle is letting it go. That the core of Seattle is a hellhole. 32 times in a year they tried to break into his business, Johnson narrates.
Listen closely, Johnson says. "They remember what Seattle was and they've watched it devolve in a fundamental and chilling way."
In January, a little less than a year before "Seattle is Dying" statistics showed that property crime rates here were low.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/third-world-hellhole-new-data-shows-seattle-had-lowest-property-crime-rate-in-decades/#:~:text=Seattle's%20violent%20crime%20rate%20of,since%20at%20least%20the%201970s.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/third-world-hellhole-new-data-shows-seattle-had-lowest-property-crime-rate-in-decades/#:~:text=Seattle's%20violent%20crime%20rate%20of,since%20at%20least%20the%201970s.
Johnson is pointing out DESC and the Morrison. He says few people are there but "even so" there are people outside. As if it is DESC's fault, even though they are not operating there.
Wut.
Wut.
It is not unlikely this woman has been up for several days... he is describing a description of a person who is captured by long distance shots. There is no evidence he spoke to her or anyone that was near her.
Scott Lindsay is being interviewed, unlike the people who were targeted with long distance shots on 3rd.
"To offer up options but to not forcefully intervene ... it is causing havoc in our city. I don't know what to say, we have to focus on the drug problem in our city" Lindsay says.
Johnson acknowledges that not all homeless people are causing crime, but there is a subset that is creating a problem.
Johnson interviews a woman named Jenny who has truly been through a lot. She struggled with addiction and "the only thing that could stop her, stopped her."
She had been to prison multiple times, but this interview asserts that it was the last prison sentence that changed it.
She had been to prison multiple times, but this interview asserts that it was the last prison sentence that changed it.
We have now moved to the Tenderloin in San Francisco.
The interview with Tom Wolf in San Francisco is meant to show us what Seattle will be.
It is hard to show Seattle as the den of hell and then say "it'll become like SF." Pick your narrative.
It is hard to show Seattle as the den of hell and then say "it'll become like SF." Pick your narrative.
Now we're moving between protests against police brutality and people experiencing mental illness.
The City Council threw gasoline on the fire, Johnson says, showing video of CM Lorena Gonzalez and CM Teresa Mosqueda.
This is over 10 years, Johnson says.
So far, Johnson has noted CMs Tammy Morales, Kshama Sawant, Teresa Mosqueda and Lorena Gonzalez
We are on the CHOP now.
"City Hall sanctioned lord of the flies scenario," is how CHOP is described.
Lorenzo Anderson's mother is on screen. He died of a gunshot in Capitol Hill. She is angry.
"You've been playing the hero. Play the hero for him."
Lorenzo Anderson's mother is on screen. He died of a gunshot in Capitol Hill. She is angry.
"You've been playing the hero. Play the hero for him."
She says she hasn't heard from the city of Seattle.
"there have to be rules and boundaries and laws or else people die"
I can see the same words coming out of the mouths of those protesting the deaths of unarmed people whose passing sparked the uprising.
I can see the same words coming out of the mouths of those protesting the deaths of unarmed people whose passing sparked the uprising.
I'm a bit behind but they are talking about the downtown courthouse.
There was an assault against a Elena Booker. They caught a man and he said there were "voices in his head." His last known residence was at the Morrison. "It turns out he always does this sort of thing" ...
There was an assault against a Elena Booker. They caught a man and he said there were "voices in his head." His last known residence was at the Morrison. "It turns out he always does this sort of thing" ...
The impacts of a lack of investment in social services plays out in extremely negative ways. That doesn't help victims -- they are still victimized and their experiences are real.
But the question remains how society prevents victimization in the future?
But the question remains how society prevents victimization in the future?
Johnson is weighing into the legal system now.
He suggests that affidavits are preventing judges like McKenna from dispensing justice and are used to find other judges who are more lenient.
"That population of 2-3000 can't overtake or subsume" the 700,000 who live here, Scott Lindsay says.
Mckenna: I enjoyed serving the city of Seattle. "It breaks my heart seeing what has happened to Seattle." He attributes that to electeds... he now lives in Arizona.
Mckenna: I enjoyed serving the city of Seattle. "It breaks my heart seeing what has happened to Seattle." He attributes that to electeds... he now lives in Arizona.
McKenna says he thinks the overriding goal is to implement social justice rather than criminal justice.
....
....
It's a nice concept, Johnson says.
Does it work? who knows, he says.
What does your gut tell you?
Ashley: Guts are bad at making policy.
Does it work? who knows, he says.
What does your gut tell you?
Ashley: Guts are bad at making policy.
We are onto the Oct 20 Herbold legislation re: duress against misdemeanor prosecution.
Scott Lindsay just listed "cyberstalking" as a crime that would be covered under Herbold's legislation.
I'm open to hearing how he feels that is a crime of poverty.
Scott Lindsay just listed "cyberstalking" as a crime that would be covered under Herbold's legislation.
I'm open to hearing how he feels that is a crime of poverty.
Johnson is now observing that some council members said that they would want more police and then changed their minds when a social uprising stemming from the death of George Floyd came to them with demands.
Johnson has not yet given any evidence of who is stealing what from Seattle businesses that is driving them out. No mention has been made of the coronavirus pandemic that has impacted businesses.
Honestly, there has been zero mention of the pandemic at all.
"the carcass of the Elephant Car Wash has been picked clean."
Ok, look, I don't know all of the facts behind the Macys leaving, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't homelessness.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/macys-is-closing-its-landmark-downtown-seattle-store/#:~:text=Macy's%20landmark%20store%20at%20Third,grow%20under%20its%20own%20roof.
https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/macys-is-closing-its-landmark-downtown-seattle-store/#:~:text=Macy's%20landmark%20store%20at%20Third,grow%20under%20its%20own%20roof.
Ok, Johnson is now acknowledging that he is targeting the "visible homeless."
Progress?
Progress?
How do you know the majority of people committing crimes are addicted or homeless, Johnson?
"It's about the drugs. It's all about the drugs."
"It's about the drugs. It's all about the drugs."
"People are going to die, they're going to be shot, they're going to be stabbed, they're going to be raped," Lindsay says. "bc council won't let us" do something else.
What if there was a place? Johnson says,
Oh god, not the island again.
Hope Haven: high security (where people get off drugs) then minimum security (mental health experts and MAT, tools that work against heroin and meth and classes)
Wait... where is Hope Haven. Because last time it was on McNeil Island
Wait... where is Hope Haven. Because last time it was on McNeil Island
Hope Haven wasn't on McNeil Island but "Seattle Is Dying" ended with the suggestion of putting people on McNeil Island, to be clear.
Johnson: "Some people say it's all about housing..."
Jenny Burton "Everything is going to be okay because nobody is going to be able to see everything."
That is not what academics who study this on a mass scale say.
Jenny Burton "Everything is going to be okay because nobody is going to be able to see everything."
That is not what academics who study this on a mass scale say.
Housing First is a hard sell, especially when programs like this use anecdotal evidence and not data to tell stories. Images and interviews are powerful as all get out.
But they represent an unrepresentative silver of society.
But they represent an unrepresentative silver of society.
So if you want to look at mass data, co-signed by the National Institutes of Health, read away
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4679126/
"Since that time, there have been numerous RCTs demonstrating its effectiveness and cost-effectiveness."
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4679126/
"Since that time, there have been numerous RCTs demonstrating its effectiveness and cost-effectiveness."
RCT is Randomized Controlled Trial.
That is the gold standard.
Housing First is a science-led way of dealing with homeless people with mental illness.
That is the gold standard.
Housing First is a science-led way of dealing with homeless people with mental illness.
Oh god, they're going to talk about Travis who appeared in "Seattle is Dying."
We all see where this is going.
We all see where this is going.
Focusing on DESC. "A major provider of psychiatric service in Seattle."
"We handle mental health like we handle drug addiction, we feel bad and we look away"
Hi: I had insurance for my time with @RealChangeNews. Do you know how hard it was to get into therapy?
"We handle mental health like we handle drug addiction, we feel bad and we look away"
Hi: I had insurance for my time with @RealChangeNews. Do you know how hard it was to get into therapy?
I'm a person who grew up in an affluent household and had good insurance through my mother's job when I had a lot of issues in my teens ... this is so exploitative
Jim Vollendroff is on screen. He has been a champion for recovery in this county.
Apparently looking at the beauty of Seattle, we can't see everything that's wrong with it, so we're looking to people like Mark Sidran who put together a plan for a different time.
We can accept that the early 2000s and 2020 are... different times?
Johnson is wrapping up here.
He asks when we look at these images 50 years from now ... "do you think any of them will whisper for themselves what a compassionate and caring" people in Seattle?
No, man. They won't. But not for the reasons you're pushing.
He asks when we look at these images 50 years from now ... "do you think any of them will whisper for themselves what a compassionate and caring" people in Seattle?
No, man. They won't. But not for the reasons you're pushing.
Sorry, my soapbox: This program focuses on a small segment of homeless people (which it eventually acknowledges). In my opinion, it will serve to demonize homeless people in general.
I do not think it targets upstream solutions to homelessness, poverty and property crime.
I do not think it targets upstream solutions to homelessness, poverty and property crime.
I wish it would if only because those solutions are tested and based in research rather than anecdotes. The city of Seattle and the greater region is better off by investing in things that data shows improves homelessness and addiction.
At the same time, I believe that no city can shoulder the totality of that financial burden on its own. Only the federal government can turn on those money printers. And it should. Our nation has disinvested in public housing since the Reagan years. It is unsustainable.
Homelessness is not a new problem. It is the end result of policy decisions that were made decades ago and have compounded over time.
That makes it really hard to deal with.
That makes it really hard to deal with.
No one wants to be on the hook for decisions made before they were responsible. Collective action is both essential and incredibly difficult.
I will climb off my high horse now, but here is Rin imploring people to follow science.
Look at that face.
Look at that face.
