It's time to rally behind Seattle and address the city's 'street scene'

This post originally appeared in the Puget Sound Business Journal’s “Wright on Center” column on April 8, 2019.

It was reported last month that 25,400 unique households received help from city-funded services in 2018 to help address the homeless crisis. That number represented an increase over 2017 levels, and it captures, in part, the scope of the challenge confronting our city.

In the weeks since KOMO TV aired their segment on homelessness, drugs, and crime in Seattle, the segment called Seattle is Dying has become a cultural touchpoint in the city.

While I question the objectivity of this as “news,” the piece has created a shared moment for us to rally behind Seattle, which has the ability, the heart, and the expertise to lead the world in solving this important issue. We’ve made good progress, and more work must be done — driven by facts, not conjecture.

Construction starts for permanent supportive housing are rising. We’ve had success in helping vulnerable communities. In 2018, the city increased the number of 24-hour shelter beds that come with supportive services, which are five times more likely than basic shelters to help get homeless individuals back on their feet. From 2017 to 2018, homelessness among youth was down 22 percent, veteran homelessness dropped by 31 percent, and more than 4,000 people received intervention support that prevented them from becoming homeless.

What these numbers don’t capture are the gaps in mental health and addiction treatment opportunities. This year, the governor and legislature have both introduced plans to increase the number of beds to treat patients with mental health diagnoses. This is on top of the money allocated to the mental-health system in recent years, some $900 million worth.

It's increasingly clear the human, economic, and long-term impact on our city’s businesses and broader economy has not been accounted for.

Business owners in high-impact areas such as the downtown business core, as well as Belltown, Ballard, Capitol Hill, and Pioneer Square are feeling the consequences that come from repeated shoplifting and vagrancy. Many of these businesses are participating in the Retail Theft Program, which is meant to create an efficient and effective way of recording and deterring repeat incidents. Attorney and local public safety specialist Scott Lindsay, demonstrated last month how the system is filled with delays that hold back meaningful actions against even the worst offenders. We must look for ways to reform this program to protect local businesses.

Visit Seattle (Seattle’s tourism and visitors bureau) reports that tourism to our region continues to grow, but this trajectory could be in peril, as we are at the center of a broader reputational crisis that will negatively impact people’s decision to bring themselves and their business to Seattle. Crisis incidents and open-air drug dealing and using are common in many of our city’s streets.

Convention officials have heard from national planners that Seattle’s “street scene” issues are on visitors’ list of concerns as they consider our region for future business. How many families and vacationers are having similar conversations privately?

Business owners and workers have a unique and valuable perspective on this crisis. They are who remain behind cleaning up shops and parking lots once emergency responders and service providers leave. They’re afraid of what the future holds for them.

The nation's oldest family-owned drug store chain, Bartell Drugs, announced they would not open more stores in downtown Seattle after recent, violent “in store” assaults on employees.

Our elected leaders often come to the business community in search of support for their own causes and initiatives. It is not too much to ask that they listen more and address concerns that are causing real-world impacts.

Working together, we can continue to address the root causes of our homeless crisis while finding solutions that will also help local business. Reforming our regressive Business and Occupation tax to account for business contributions to support homeless relief service or a reprioritizing of enforcement of “street scene” issues in and around businesses would go a long way to help owners who worry about their place and future in Seattle.

Seattle is Dying was light on data and facts. It painted a dark and frightening picture and missed the opportunity to highlight good programs, such as Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD), and organizations such as Plymouth Housing which has helped thousands of people transition into stable, permanent housing.

It gave no mention of the thousands who live on the brink of homelessness, the children, or the veterans who are neither nuisances or criminals. The KOMO segment leaned heavily on the extreme minority of abusers and addicts, who aren’t representative of the scale of the crisis, but who are causing real pain to residents and workers.

Each year, tens of thousands of residents receive the help they need, many in the form of permanent supportive housing. We can and will continue to support them. Individuals who refuse support and are left untreated pose a risk to themselves and others.

Seattle is no stranger to adversity. We endure and come out stronger in the face of it. Now is the time to come together and show the country, and beyond, that we think about things a little differently in the Emerald City.