1. Yeah, I almost fell out of my chair when I read that one.

She must have had to pay for her car tabs this week. That will put people that need to eat in a bad mood.

But, not to worry. There will be plenty of true-believers at Patty Murrays secret "Community Meeting" tomorrow at 1:15 in Bellevue City Hall.

More details on Murray's secret meeting here.

Posted by: BananaLand(aka Iguana) on August 2, 2005 10:03 AM

2. If Ron Sims thinks that building this housing for people will fix the problem, he is wrong. I would support it if he was going to use the money to pay for new housing for homeless poeple like insane asylums and jails for them. If we start arresting homeless people and either locking them up for a few nights or put them in an insane asylum if they are not mentally sound, where they can get professional help then we might actually help the homelessness problem.

The rest of the people who are recreational homeless people will shortly move on if this crackdown would occur. Hence homelessness fixed... But maybe I'm wrong...

Posted by: JustSumGuy on August 2, 2005 10:08 AM

3. Numbers--who needs stinking numbers? Yes--just the kind of philosophy that holds no one to performance NUMBERS--no school grades--no responsibility for one's actions--etc etc

how does Ron Sims get evaluated on the job? concrete goals? attained numbers? numbers (big ones) only apply when it comes to discussing his salary?

Faces, hopes and aspirations do not feed people, solve their practical housing problems nor clean up our urine-soaked parks. Cut the fuzzy and get things done. It won't be pretty, but it will be worthwhile. Come out of the vapours and back to Earth. Classic Seattle thinking. Wish upon a star. Rub your genie lamp. Poof.

Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on August 2, 2005 10:37 AM

4. Want numbers? How about this one? This $300 mil for 9000 homeless would come to $33K+ per person. With that kind of money, can these people be educated at an vocational institute including room and board for a full year with money to spare? If these people aren't off the street after 1 year of free education plus room and board, then they don't deserve anything further. How's that for a thought?

Posted by: C. Oh on August 2, 2005 10:56 AM

5. I'm still trying to figure out why it took Sims eight years to come up with a plan to combat homeslessness. Like this is something new in King County?

Posted by: jimg on August 2, 2005 11:04 AM

6. C.Oh is correct--
the best part is that we can educate many MORE ILLEGAL ALIENS who currently get in-state tuition rates and other educational assistnace in WA; move over, homeless guy--bumped out of the benefits line in favor of a non-citizen; gotta love this state; maybe the homeless groups can now sue the illegals for a place in line, all on the taxpayer's dime; what a great scam--the body's T-cells (taxpayers) get wiped out by the fighting between the viruses;

Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on August 2, 2005 11:09 AM

7. That IS amazing.

Posted by: Michele on August 2, 2005 11:10 AM

8. If you build it, they will come. Sims appears to be devising a program which can be advertised country-wide: FREE HOUSING IN SEATTLE! It will provide a magnet for new Democratic voters, and will also provide scores of new 'residence' addresses for ghost and duplicate voters. What's not to like?

Posted by: Hank Bradley on August 2, 2005 11:27 AM

9. Nicole B. against a big $$$ project for the homeless? "It's the BIG ONE!" (insert Fred Sanford impression).

Certainly, if implemented this will increase the #'s of homeless, ala San Francisco, where the city upped spending to $25,000/person/year. Result? Yep. More vagrants. Go figure.

Posted by: Shaun on August 2, 2005 12:01 PM

10. Homelessness will never end if you keep throwing money at it. Try this experiment at home: leave out a plate of food scraps and water just outside your backdoor one night. Keep doing this for a month. Yeah, one little hungry animal saved is nice but wait until you meet his horde of friends who want to get in on the 'free' goodies. You'll have your own Woodland Park Zoo in short order. This principle is easily observed in San Francisco where there's an entier class of people living on city & state welfare while on the streets, etc. They haven't solved homelessness; they increased it and are now subsidizing it. By the way, why hasn't anyone talked about the faux Tenc City camps which Sims built to manufacture a homelessness crisis onthe Eastside?

Posted by: Kevin Leo on August 2, 2005 12:06 PM

11. These units will be totally self supporting plus pay for the monorail system. How you ask? Just consider all the meth labs and the prostitution that will go on inside those units. Sims isn't so stupid after all.
Mel

Posted by: mel on August 2, 2005 01:34 PM

12. I wish I were wrong, but the more Sims spends to end homelessness (as though it were a material problem exclusively), the more homeless SEattle will have. They estimate they have about 8300 currently. The number could double with this plan.

Posted by: Michele on August 2, 2005 01:34 PM

13. HEY LOOK AT IT THIS WAY ALL THOSE VOTES AND IN ONE PLACE

Posted by: AB on August 2, 2005 01:54 PM

14. Ron seems to have again neglected his good "home training". second what "10 Year PLAN' is he talking about!? seems he hasnt learned much from his exec. years. so I see a pattern of stupidity. (money money money!!!)

Posted by: Laurie on August 2, 2005 02:43 PM

15. Kevin Leo--I agree--but only 99.98%. "I gotta BELIEVE" and work on the balance...(eyes looking up and arms aloft in prayer waiting for a revelation)

Posted by: Jimmie-howya-doin on August 2, 2005 07:47 PM

16. "We are not going to make it a numbers game," he said. "We are going to make it faces and hopes and aspirations. You've got to believe."

Translated:
"Don't ask me to explain the numbers and how I intend to pay for this foolishness! I'm going to hit you with another big tax increase because it's for the...childr..umm..oops...homeless!..."I want to try to play on your emotions with the line about *faces and hope and aspirations*..so you wont think rationally and realize how utterly stupid and pointless my 10 year plan for the homeless is!"
"You've got to believe...otherwise I'm going to have to find another way to separate you from your money!"

Ron Sims is on crack.

Posted by: Deborah on August 2, 2005 08:12 PM

17. The 10 Year Plan will cost up to $1 Billion over ten years, or so it's proponents say. I say can you smell Monorail, Sound Transit, and Gas Tax?

Recently I attended a Redmond City Council sponsored Community Conversation on Homelessness, and one of the panelists was Jeff Natter, Program Director, Committee to End Homelessness.

Also in attendence were the usual SHARE/WHEEL and Tent City 4 crowd, and Natter gushed all over them, and the thing ended up being a 10 Year Plan and TC4 lovefest.

I've been deep in this issue for a long time, and I wrote a report on the Redmond event to some folks I work with, and here's what I said about Natter and his view of the 10 Year Plan:

"Without going into excruciating detail, Jeff Natter disturbed me the most. $1 Billion for a total of 9.500 housing units into which he wants moved people with all kinds of personal issues but it's inappropriate and wrong to ask or require them to change their lives, seek treatment, get jobs, or anything. After all, he argued, if you and I can get drunk, do drugs (without being caught), or have mental health episodes in the homes we pay for, why can't the homeless do the same thing in homes we pay for. Or words to that effect...

I asked about the Safe Harbors MIS program, and he was willing to carve so many exceptions out of mandatory requirement that the whole thing will essentially end up being meaningless. The S/W gang in the front row couldn't have heard better news....There was a lot of "bureaucrateese" that, when boiled down to its essence, says, "Give us $1 Billion without any questions, and let us have 10 years to do what we like." Uh,....does anyone smell "Gas Tax" here?

Add to this the fact that Mr. Natter was all over himself gushing about Ron Sims and how he's so "on board" about the plan. My mother always said, "You're judged by the company you keep," and Mr. Natter keeps pretty poor company, if you ask me."

Posted by: Scott, The Mad Piper on August 3, 2005 12:06 AM

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