In the decade of the 2010s, Seattle has arguably experienced more change than any metropolitan area in the country. A flood of new residents, higher wages, and a massive building boom have changed the landscape and character of Seattle forever. Many residents view these changes positively while others feel a sense of loss. At the beginning of the 2020s, nearly everyone will agree that we can and must do a better job of addressing the issues of homelessness, mental health, addiction, and public safety.
2010
JANUARY 2010
Seattle starts the decade with a population of 608,660 (seattle.gov)
In a painful beginning to the decade, unemployment spiked to 10.1% in January 2010 and home prices were in a freefall.
DECEMBER 2010
At the halfway point, King County’s ambitious “10 Year Plan to End Homelessness,” was failing. Read the mid-plan review here.
DECEMBER 2010
A decade-long police accountability effort begins when
35 community organizations write U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. Attorney to request investigation of excessive use of force, particularly against people of color by Seattle Police Department (ACLU)
2011
NOVEMBER 2011
Voters kick the State of Washington out of liquor business (Seattle Times)
2012
NOVEMBER 2012
Washingtonians vote to legalize marijuana (Seattle Times)
2013
MAY 2013
As Amazon kicks hiring and building into high gear, the company announces plans to build The Spheres and 3.3 million square feet of office space. “As part of the battle to recruit and retain top talent, tech companies are seeking cutting-edge work environments. In this case, Amazon appears to be taking the competition to a new level.” (Puget Sound Business Journal)
2014
SEPTEMBER 2014
The Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) is born in Seattle. (seattle.gov)
In September 2014, the Mayor’s Office and the City Council gathered leaders to develop a bold agenda for increasing the affordability and availability of housing in Seattle. The impacts are widespread on the Seattle landscape over the following years. See the full list and status of HALA initiatives on Seattle’s HALA Dashboard. Or read: The Top HALA Recommendations for Seattle’s Affordable Housing Future (The Urbanist)
2015
APRIL 2015
Seattle’s new Minimum Wage Ordinance takes effect in April 2015 (seattle.gov)
NOVEMBER 2015
Seattle and King County declare an emergency and announce new investments to respond to homelessness (seattle.gov)
2016
JANUARY 2016
Seattle-area count finds ‘huge spike’ in homelessness. (Seattle Times) In spite of increases in spending to address homelessness, the number of individuals sleeping outdoors and in vehicles is 63% higher than the counts at the beginning of the decade.
MAY 2016
King County’s “Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness” ends with homelessness continuing to grow out of control. (King 5 News) and (KUOW)
Mark Putnam, the Director of All Home King County blamed inadequate funding and rising rents for the 10 Year Plan’s failure. “In states where the funding isn’t there for safety nets like mental health treatment and chemical dependency treatment, you see more homelessness,” Putnam added. “And Washington state has historically ranked behind in mental health expenditures. The last study that was done put us at 47th out of 50 states.”
SEPTEMBER 2016
Barbara Poppe and Associates delivers the Pathways Home (pdf) report to Seattle City Hall, providing the city with a critical view of the manner in which Seattle had been managing its budget for homelessness and a roadmap for successfully addressing the crisis.
The current crisis is a result of complex social and economic factors at a federal, regional and local level, but is also due to process and system inefficiencies. Rather than investing in a comprehensive continuum of services, investments have been made very haphazardly, without true strategic direction. HSD has not routinely engaged in a competitive funding process for homeless investments in more than a decade. During that time, homeless investments have been made based upon legacy funding, program advocacy, and designated budget adds. Pilot projects are not evaluated and often result in ongoing funding regardless of their efficacy. While individual providers may be highly successful, the lack of systemic cohesion has resulted in a system that is not designed to work efficiently to exit people out of homelessness.
Pathways Home Report (emphaisis ours)
OCTOBER 2016
Seattle Councilmember Mike O’Brien proposes the legalization of camping in parks and public spaces. (King 5 News)
Councilmember Tim Burgess said the feedback to the proposal is unlike anything he’s seen or heard in his City Hall career. “It’s just not in the public interest in my view,” said Burgess on Thursday. “The legislation, as it’s written today, would essentially create a right to camp in the city, and as long as you keep moving you can camp in the city forever.”
OCTOBER 2016
Speak Out Seattle founding member, Elisabeth James starts a petition to oppose Mike O’Brien’s urban camping ordinance. Within days the petition has over 20,000 supporters. (Kiro7.com)
The petition effort ultimately succeeds when the proposed ordinance is tabled.
DECEMBER 2016
Developers continue to respond to Seattle’s housing shortage with thousands of new market-rate apartments. (Seattle Times)
2017
Seattle-area rents surge higher again. “In all, rents in the city of Seattle are up 57 percent in the last six years. The average renter is now paying $1,749 a month, or an extra $635 compared with 2011.” (Seattle Times)
The Seattle Times launches Project Homelessness
The project will focus on the regional response to homelessness and explore solutions in a long-term effort to shift public discourse on this complex problem. The first coverage ran on Oct. 26, and its in-depth reporting, data and analysis demonstrates the “solutions journalism” approach the series will take to help the region understand and address homelessness. (Seattle Foundation)
NOVEMBER 2017
A Seattle Times investigation reveals that over $195 million per year is spent on homelessness in King County (Seattle Times)
NOVEMBER 2017
Including public and private spending, a Puget Sound Business Journal investigation reveals that over $1 billion is spent on homelessness in King County every year (Puget Sound Business Journal)
Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes wins a third term in election vs. Scott Lindsay (Seattle Times)
Seattle Councilmember Mike O’Brien proposes, clarifies, and later tables a controversial ordinance aimed at accommodating car-camping in Seattle (Seattle Times)
2018
Deaths of unsheltered homeless individuals continued to climb in King County (King County Medical Examiner)
MAY 2018
Audit: King County’s Homeless Response is a Mess (The Stranger)
A King County audit released this week portrays a lagging regional homelessness response system with scattered oversight and no overarching authority. The audit… highlights the way the region is failing to adequately respond to one of the nation’s most acute homelessness crises.
Included in the audit is a response from King County, in which its Department of Community and Human Services pledges to implement changes over the next few years. King County Executive Dow Constantine and Mayor Jenny Durkan also announced Thursday they plan to sign a legal agreement between the city and county to centralize authority over the regional response to homelessness. During a 2017 count, 11,643 people were experiencing homelessness in King County, about 5,500 of them unsheltered. Those numbers meant King County had the third largest homeless population.
MAY 2018
114,000 more people: Seattle now decade’s fastest-growing big city in all of U.S. (Seattle Times)
JUNE 2018
Washington lawmakers approved an ambitious plan to fix the mental-health system (Seattle Times)
Overall, the new operating budget sets aside roughly $280 million for mental health, including increases to improve Western State. It also provides money to contract with private hospitals and other operators to provide psychiatric beds and supported-housing.
JUNE 2018
Seattle City Council passes then repeals the “head tax” (Seattle Times) The media reported that Amazon killed the tax but it was everyday people like the ironworkers and members of Speak Out Seattle who gathered signatures and protested the ill-conceived tax. This was the second time in less than ten years that a head tax was passed and repealed in Seattle (the first head tax was repealed during the Nickels administration in 2009).
OCTOBER 2018
Attacks on staff surge at Western State Hospital (Seattle Times) The hospital is stripped of its certification and $53 million in federal funding as employees say the hospital is “Like going to hell” (CBS News)
2019
FEBRUARY 2019
Scott Linsay publishes the System Failure Report that documents the failure of a ‘revolving door’ criminal justice system to effectively protect the public from 100 prolific offenders who have committed a combined 3562 crimes in Seattle. (downtownseattle.org (pdf))
A substantial portion of the criminal activity that has the greatest impact on Seattle’s busiest neighborhoods is committed by prolific offenders who are well known to Seattle police officers and have a large number of criminal cases in Seattle and King County courts.
JULY 2019
Drug overdose deaths climb to another record high in King County (Seattle Times)
MAY 2019
King County homeless count drops for the first time since 2012 (Seattle Times)
JULY 2019
2019 Population Estimates Have Seattle Pushing 750,000 with Steady Growth (The Urbanist)
OCTOBER 2019
Seattle homeless spending would surpass $100 million under Mayor Durkan’s 2020 budget (Seattle Times)
SEPTEMBER 2019
After years of hostility from the Seattle City Council and years of service without a contract, a demoralized Seattle Police Department loses officers faster than they can be hired. Mayor Durkan rolls out a plan to retain and hire more officers. (SCC Insight)
SEPTEMBER 2019
Amazon tops 53,500 local employees (Seattle Times)
NOVEMBER 2019
Seattle elects a new city council. Against the backdrop of a highly dissatisfied electorate, opposing forces squared off in the high stakes Seattle City Council races. Amazon’s late intervention in the race results in a backlash at the polls. In the end, Seattle elects a new city council that, with one exception, is committed to continuing in the same ideological direction as the prior council.
DECEMBER 2019
The Seattle City Council approves a new homelessness authority partnership with King County. The new authority would combine resources from King County and the city of Seattle to combat homelessness spreading through the county. (King 5 News)
“Today marks a new chapter in how we as a region respond to homelessness by ending our fractured approach and replacing it with a consolidated regional authority that will provide cost efficiencies and cost-effectiveness in responding to our homelessness crisis,” said King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles.
Mayor Durkan Announces $110 Million to Create 1,944 Affordable Homes, the Largest Award in the City’s History (seattle.gov)
DECEMBER 2019
As the decade comes to a close unemployment reaches new lows and housing prices have far surpassed the highs of last decade’s housing boom.
As the decade drew to a close the influence of Speak Out Seattle’s grassroots all-volunteer organization could be seen as our advocacy positions gained support and funding:
- Homelessness
Seattle and King County created an integrated, regional organization to more effectively address homelessness in our region - Mental Health
Washington lawmakers approved an ambitious plan to fix the mental-health system. - Addiction
SOS advocated for improved access to treatment and recovery rather than the funding of drug consumption sites which have a very poor track record of helping people recover from addiction. - Public Safety
Mayor Durkan rolled out a plan to retain and hire more officers. The Mayor also proposed four new pilot programs that would focus on people cycling through the criminal legal system in Seattle and King County. - The Environment: SOS prevented further damage to our parks, green spaces and our waterways by blocking CM O’Brien’s camping and vehicle dwelling ordinances
- Elections
SOS helped inform voters as it held the first candidate forums for all seven of Seattle’s contested district races in 2018 and a published a voters’ guide. - Good Governance
(1) SOS supported accountability measures as recommended in the Pathways Home report that are now being implemented in service provider contracts.
(2) Seattle and King County’s failures to effectively address homelessness were well documented in the Pathways Home report and a 2018 audit of King County’s homeless response. SOS consistently called for accountability for results and audits of spending on homelessness.
(3) SOS generally does not take positions on taxation, however, we opposed and help defeat the ‘Head Tax’ for reasons outlined in this May 2018 post.
Looking Forward
Most of the citizens of Seattle and the region share common values and goals. We all want our unsheltered neighbors to have a warm safe place to stay. We want everyone to be better protected from violence and crime. And we want people who are suffering from addiction and mental illness to have quick access and long-term support for the help they need.
Over the last four years, Speak Out Seattle has been a consistent voice of support for more effective approaches to addressing homelessness, public safety, mental illness, and addiction. We are committed to protecting our fragile environment and parks for the benefit of all Seattlites for generations to come. We have and will continue to support evidence-based programs and policies. We will continue to oppose ill-conceived and counter-productive proposals, especially those that would perpetuate approaches that have clearly failed everyone in Seattle.
How you can engage and be a part of the solution.
- Follow us here at speakoutseattle.com
- Join us on Facebook
- Volunteer. Send an email to speakoutseattle@gmail.com with a note about your skills and interests
