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King County residents are done waiting for Democrats to grow a spine. If the council won’t fix the homelessness problem, the people will—and they’ve got clipboards ready.
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King County’s Adult Supervision Has Arrived
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After years of inaction, excuses, and enabling from King County’s progressive leaders, a new bipartisan citizens group is stepping up to clean up the mess. The Quality of Life Coalition just launched the Compassionate Public Safety Act, an ordinance to finally ban public camping and direct people to shelter—because apparently someone has to act like the grown-up around here.
Led by Saul Spady and backed by actual community members—business owners, artists, independents, and even former Democratic lawmakers—this grassroots effort is what you get when voters are tired of stepping over syringes on their way to work. Internal polling shows a staggering 77% of King County voters support the idea. You’d think the council would’ve acted already… but nope. That would require courage.
Of course, Seattle’s clown show continues: Mayor Bruce Harrell is still doing his best impression of a lawn ornament while the homelessness crisis gets worse just in time for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Nothing says “Welcome to Seattle” like tents, graffiti, and a public fentanyl demo on every corner.
The ordinance is actually common sense (which is why it’s so rare in King County): no camping in parks, sidewalks, or streets unless shelter isn’t available. Refuse a bed, face a citation. Dangerous camps? Immediate removal. It’s modeled on successful policies in places like San Diego and Burien—cities where officials actually want public spaces to be usable.
And this is only step one. The Coalition is already eyeing a 2026 initiative for mandatory rehab after three strikes—because letting people overdose in bus shelters isn’t compassion, it’s cowardice. Read more at KTTH.
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Everett Votes for a Raise—and a Reality Check
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As of July 1, Everett’s new minimum wage is in effect—$20.24 an hour for large employers, $18.24 for mid-sized ones—thanks to a union-funded initiative voters passed last fall. Small businesses still follow the state’s $16.66 rate, but only if they have fewer than 15 employees or under $2 million in revenue. In other words: good luck, family-run coffee shops.
While this may sound great in a campaign ad, businesses in retail and hospitality are now staring down tough choices: cut hours, lay people off, or hike prices even more. And in a brilliant move straight from the progressive playbook, the initiative bans tips from counting toward wages—because why not make restaurant owners juggle flaming chainsaws?
Everett now joins Seattle, Renton, Tukwila, and a few other cities in the “we didn’t learn from Seattle” club. A University of Washington study already showed Seattle’s wage hike didn’t reduce income inequality and actually led to fewer hours worked for low-wage employees. But hey, who needs data when you have union dollars and feel-good slogans?
The Washington Policy Center is warning that Everett’s leadership should consider tax relief or regulatory flexibility to avoid strangling local business. But let’s be honest: when has common sense ever stopped the Left from pricing out the very jobs they claim to protect? Read more at the Washington Policy Center.
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Beetles, Blight, and Blame: Dems Let WA Forests Rot
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Washington’s forests are falling apart—literally. A new report shows over 545,000 acres of trees were sick, dying, or already dead last year, thanks to a toxic mix of drought, pests, and disease. But here’s the real pest problem: decades of Democrat-led mismanagement.
Instead of investing in real forest health—like thinning overgrown stands, cleaning up dead wood, or responsibly logging to prevent infestations—Democrats have treated Washington’s forests like museum exhibits: look, but don’t touch. Now bark beetles, budworms, and beetle invasions from California are doing the “management” instead.
The Department of Natural Resources wants to blame climate change, as usual. But the state’s been warned for years that neglecting forest maintenance would lead to exactly this: stressed trees, invasive pests, and massive die-offs. Yet lawmakers have prioritized woke environmental policies, red tape, and climate talking points over basic stewardship.
Even as 2024 brought another warm, dry year, the state’s response? More reports, more commissions, and zero urgency. No surprise—this is the same leadership that scaled back aerial surveys during COVID and now points to “trendlines” to mask their lack of action.
It’s not just nature being destroyed—it’s a preview of worse wildfire seasons, lost habitat, and millions in future taxpayer costs. But until Democrats stop treating forests like political props and start managing them like living ecosystems, Washington will keep watching its woods waste away. Read more at the Washington Policy Center.
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Outsourcing Our Ferry Fiasco: Dems Sink Local Jobs to Chase Green Dreams
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For the first time in over 50 years, Washington State will not build its own ferries. Why? Because Democratic Gov. Bob Ferguson just handed a $714.5 million contract—plus hundreds of millions in extra costs—to a Florida shipyard instead of keeping those jobs right here in Washington.
Whidbey Island-based Nichols Brothers, backed by local leaders desperate to revive our in-state shipbuilding industry, lost out. Their crime? Daring to be local, union-compliant, and weighed down by the very regulations, DEI mandates, wage floors, and environmental red tape imposed by the same Democrats now crying crocodile tears over “budget constraints.”
Ferguson’s excuse? “Taxpayer value.” That’s rich, considering these ferries will end up costing over $1.1 billion once you factor in separate battery systems, government oversight, and “change orders” (translation: surprise bills coming soon).
Let’s not forget: just seven years ago, Washington built a ferry for $122 million. Now? One hybrid-electric ferry costs over $400 million. All this so the Left can brag about “zero-emission” vessels while our ferry fleet crumbles and our shipyards sit idle.
Even Democrat allies in labor and local government blasted the move as a betrayal. Nichols Brothers says Washington missed the chance to hire 1,300 skilled workers. And GOP efforts to offer cheaper diesel-powered alternatives were steamrolled by the climate cult running Olympia. Read more at the Washington State Standard.
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Pramila Jayapal Smears ICE While Propping Up Real Terrorists
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Rep. Pramila Jayapal has officially gone off the rails—again. This time, she’s calling ICE a “terrorist force,” accusing federal agents of kidnapping and “disappearing” people. No, this isn’t a fringe conspiracy theory—it’s just another day in the political theater of Washington’s most unserious congresswoman.
Let’s be clear: ICE agents are federal officers doing their jobs—protecting our borders, intercepting fentanyl, stopping human trafficking, and deporting criminals. Jayapal’s reckless rhetoric does nothing but demoralize law enforcement and embolden the radical fringe that sees cops as enemies and chaos as justice.
And the irony? Jayapal has spent her career defending actual terrorists. From excusing Hamas to demanding the abolition of ICE, she’s shown time and again that she’s more interested in posturing for far-left clicks than actually protecting American lives. If ICE were detaining illegal immigrants from Israel, she’d probably be asking to join their next ride-along.
Her district might be safe blue, but the damage she does isn’t confined to Seattle. Her rhetoric has consequences. When she tells activists to “take to the streets,” it’s not just protest signs and slogans—remember Nicholas Roske? He took her advice seriously and ended up arrested for plotting to kill a Supreme Court Justice.
As KTTH’s Jason Rantz writes, Jayapal isn’t just wrong—she’s dangerous. She’s put more energy into attacking ICE than offering a single serious solution on immigration. No meaningful legislation. No compromise. Just social media grandstanding, weekly fundraising emails, and the usual anti-American talking points from the radical Left’s greatest hits. Read more at KTTH.
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Sanctuary Shenanigans Flop in Spokane
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Despite having the votes, Spokane’s City Council couldn’t quite pull off its latest sanctuary stunt—a proposed ordinance to block federal immigration agents from stepping foot on “nonpublic” property without a warrant. Why? Because Democrats insisted on pushing it as an “emergency” measure—requiring more votes than they had—and then acted surprised when it failed.
Councilmember Lili Navarrete, in her farewell performance before resigning, claimed the proposal was needed to protect immigrants from the long arm of Trump’s “mass deportation agenda.” (Because apparently, every policy she doesn’t like traces back to Trump.) Meanwhile, Councilmember Paul Dillon warned of a “disappearing machine” in Spokane, as if ICE were snatching people from city parks like aliens in a B-movie.
Never mind that Washington already has a sanctuary law on the books, or that the proposal was a legal mess—lacking proper review and clarity, and even drawing opposition from the city’s own Park Board president. Council President Betsy Wilkerson, no right-winger herself, voted no due to the sloppy process. That didn’t stop the city from briefly—and incorrectly—claiming the ordinance passed, before quietly deleting their oopsie from the website.
In true progressive fashion, the measure focused more on political posturing than actual legal substance. But don’t worry: the council promises to try again. Because when something fails on both legal and political grounds, the Left’s instinct is always to double down. Read more at Center Square.
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Budget Hole? Let’s Fund Deportation Defense Instead!
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Faced with a looming $150 million budget shortfall, King County Democrats are laser-focused on… boosting taxpayer-funded services for noncitizens. That’s right—Councilmembers Teresa Mosqueda, Rod Dembowski, and Jorge Barón are pushing a motion to expand funding for deportation defense, citizenship coaching, and legal help in response to—you guessed it—Donald Trump.
Never mind that the motion is nonbinding. According to Mosqueda, it’s an “expression of our values,” which apparently include pretending the county isn’t careening into a budget crisis while playing activist cosplay with other people’s money. She even rushed the motion forward over protests in L.A.—because nothing says local governance like panicking over another state’s National Guard deployment.
Supporters claim ICE has deported 75 people from the area in six months, including 17 workers detained in a Kent warehouse raid. To the Left, that’s not law enforcement—it’s an emergency requiring more funding and fewer consequences.
The cherry on top? They cite how much taxes immigrants already pay, as if that justifies spending even more to shield some from immigration law entirely. All while county residents brace for service cuts, crumbling roads, and a healthcare system on the brink.
Republican Councilmember Reagan Dunn was the lone adult in the room, voting no while the rest of the committee rubber-stamped it forward. Read more at Center Square.
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