The line about “insanity” being defined as doing the same things over and over, and expecting a different result, is sometimes attributed to Albert Einstein.
An online search indicates the saying more likely originated in a Narcotics Anonymous publication many years ago about the difficulty of overcoming a drug addiction.
If so, insanity is an appropriate word for how Seattle and King County are responding to their part of the homelessness crisis in our state, seeing how they have downplayed the role of drug addiction and behavioral health in creating this situation.
Here’s an example: It’s insanity that 10 years ago this month King County and Seattle both declared a state of emergency regarding homelessness — and although those declarations are still in place, the homeless populations have grown significantly.
King County’s has increased 68% over the past decade, with 56% of that population counted within the city limits of Seattle.
Don’t expect the new King County executive, once that election is settled, to bring a new, commonsense approach. One of the two finalists for the position claims the problem is a delay in moving people into stable housing. The other echoes that, plus a call for more “permanent supportive housing.”
In Seattle, the incumbent mayor is quick to point out that more than two-thirds of the homeless in his city came from elsewhere. Homelessness is a regional problem Seattle can’t solve alone, he says — while insisting his city will lead the charge to end the crisis through a combination of collaboration and robust data that is, of course, “rooted in equity.”
If his try for re-election falls short once all the ballots are counted, then Seattle will have a mayor who at least acknowledges drug addiction is a factor in putting people on the street but still clings to the housing argument.
Each of these candidates has been present in Seattle and King County to witness the growth of homelessness during the 10 years of the “emergency.” It’s insanity that none, having seen the failure of the Obama-driven housing-first policies, is willing to trade those for an approach that emphasizes treatment.
Legislators need to pay attention to what happens in Seattle and King County because of all the taxpayer dollars that continue to flow, in the name of homelessness, to counties and service providers from the state Department of Commerce.
The director of that agency, a former Democratic state senator, also sees homelessness as an emergency — and he too is in the housing-first camp. During the 2025-27 budget cycle his agency will push out a whopping $1.8 billion out to counties and service providers for housing and homelessness.
That’s a 4,400% increase over what Seattle spent toward homelessness 10 years ago, and 4,900% more than what King County budgeted for homelessness-related efforts the year it declared an emergency.
The fact that the sharp increase in spending has been accompanied by a significant increase in the homeless population should raise questions. Democrats don’t seem to be asking them.
Instead, we have to look to the self-styled “friendly neighborhood homeless industrial complex worker” writing in a Tacoma-based online publication. His experience has convinced him the homeless-service system is in truth a homeless industrial complex that “exists to continue existing” and is therefore more interested in perpetuating homelessness instead of eliminating it.
The idea that homelessness has become an industry in which there’s money to be made, or at least diverted, isn’t as far-fetched as it may sound.
Thanks to an independent journalist in Seattle and a whistleblowing real-estate broker, there is reason to suspect housing-related financial corruption also is present in a “community reinvestment” program run by Commerce which has received $250 million in budget appropriations in the past three years.
In comparison, untold billions have been poured into housing-first homelessness efforts at various levels of government in the past decade. I say “untold” because no one can or will say exactly how much money, and that lack of transparency means no one can assure taxpayers those dollars have been protected against waste, fraud and abuse.
A different money-related angle could also end up pulling the curtain back on the city’s homelessness policies. An attorney recently filed a $30 million lawsuit against Seattle, alleging the city pushed homelessness into the Little Saigon area of the Chinatown International District downtown. That caused him, the suit says, to lose business tenants and constituting what amounts to a “taking” of his property.
A reporter covering the 2015 declarations of the Seattle and King County states of emergency asked several people, who were homeless at the time, for their reaction. One said it was “about time” but also questioned whether spending a lot of money would accomplish anything.
Ten years later, the answer is obvious. The housing-first approach is a failure. Taxpayers aren’t getting the transparency they deserve. Getting people the drug and mental-health assistance they need should be the priority, rather than pouring taxpayer money into an ever-expanding homeless industrial complex. There needs to be accountability from both the agencies and homeless population they serve.
The insanity needs to end. We must do better.
Sen. John Braun (R-Centralia)
Senator John Braun was first elected to the Washington State Senate in 2012 to represent Southwest Washington’s 20th Legislative District, which includes most of Cowlitz and Lewis counties along with parts of Clark and Thurston.
John is leader of the Senate Republican Caucus and a member of the Senate Ways & Means Committee, the Labor & Commerce Committee, and the Housing Committee.
Prior to his business career, John served on active duty in the U.S. Navy. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Washington and master’s degrees in business administration and manufacturing engineering from the University of Michigan.
He and his family reside on a small farm in rural Lewis County, outside Centralia.
COMMENTARY DISCLAIMER: The views and comments expressed are those of the writer and not necessarily those of the Lynnwood Times nor any of its affiliate
Author: Lynnwood Times Contributor
One Response
Calling Seattle’s homelessness response “insanity” gets one thing right: doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result is indeed madness. But the real insanity isn’t “housing first”, it’s the continued refusal to confront the economic and political systems that keep producing homelessness in the first place.
It’s easy to sneer at “housing first” when you ignore that homelessness is driven by skyrocketing rents, stagnant wages, and the decades-long dismantling of public housing and mental health care. The evidence is clear: when people are given stable housing and support, they stabilize, heal, and rebuild their lives. What fails people is the lack of housing, not the presence of it.
The claim that Seattle’s homelessness spending has “failed” confuses correlation with causation. More people are homeless not because of more spending, but because the region’s housing costs have doubled while the safety net has withered. The growing crisis reflects worsening poverty and displacement, not the supposed moral weakness of those suffering through it.
And let’s be honest about the “homeless industrial complex” trope: it’s a tired conspiracy theory meant to distract taxpayers from holding powerful developers, landlords, and policymakers accountable. Nonprofit workers aren’t profiting from poverty! They’re trying to keep people alive in a system that treats housing as a commodity instead of a human right.
Housing first isn’t a failure. What’s failed is the political will to make housing affordable, to fund behavioral health care at scale, and to stop criminalizing people for being poor. If we’re going to talk about insanity, let’s start with the idea that punishing or abandoning people will somehow make homelessness disappear.