Anyone familiar with Seattle is aware that the Chinatown area on the southern end of downtown is an open-air drug market, where junkies and dealers clog the sidewalks, along with numerous homeless tents and other temporary structures. Thousands of low-income elderly live in the many local apartment buildings, and they have been complaining for years that the City government is unresponsive to their pleas for better protection from the crime and drugs. For the FIFA World Cup soccer games, the area was “swept” but that didn’t last more than a couple of days after the end of the tournament, and the area is even worse now that it was before.

It is also well-known that, as a group, the Seattle City Council is not well-disposed toward police and other law-enforcement agencies, and they are positively hostile to the federal government’s immigration enforcement (who has been rounding up and deporting their illegal voters for a while). So to have a sitting Councilman complain to the local radio station KIRO about conditions in his area, and noting the need for more police presence, has to be the biggest joke on earth! THEY determine the law-enforcement budget, as well as services for helping the homeless and addicted in Seattle. Any potential Seattle Police officer knows full well that the City Council does NOT have his back, and that there is a powerful Citizen Review Board sitting on their shoulder at all times, second-guessing every action, and ready to pounce every time he even thinks of using his firearm. The department is severely under-staffed, and recruitment is VERY difficult, for obvious reasons.

Things have gotten much worse since the voters of Seattle elected Socialist Mayor Katie Wilson, who had never in all her 43-year life held any productive job! Yes, that’s right, Wilson and her husband and child have been literally supported by her rich New York parents for over a decade. Do you think she would really understand anything at all about running an entire city of 800,000 people? Nothing has gone right in Seattle for over a year, and no improvements are in sight, with the hapless mayor and far-Left City Council at odds. I am going to quote the entire interview here, for your great interest (not pleasure, since it’s awful).

‘It is shameful’: Councilmember Saka criticizes Seattle’s response to drug activity, stolen goods markets in CID

Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka called for more police patrols and social worker outreach at 12th Ave. S and S Jackson Street in the Chinatown International District while on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

“It is shameful that we, as a city, continue to let all the drug activity, the stolen goods markets, the public safety and public health issues continue to fester and grow and expand, and especially on a critical transit corridor like 12th and Jackson,” Saka said.

Seattle City Councilmember Rob Saka called for more police patrols and social worker outreach at 12th Ave. S and S Jackson Street in the Chinatown International District while on “The Gee and Ursula Show” on KIRO Newsradio.

“It is shameful that we, as a city, continue to let all the drug activity, the stolen goods markets, the public safety and public health issues continue to fester and grow and expand, and especially on a critical transit corridor like 12th and Jackson,” Saka said.

Public safety tops Saka’s business priorities

The interview also covered taxes, permitting and vacant storefronts. Saka described his message to businesses after taking office.

“I will not take you or your operations for granted, and will not do that through excessive taxes,” Saka said. “I like jobs personally, and it’s concerning to me when we have major employers, employers of all sizes, in Seattle thinking about reevaluating their footprint in the city and the broader region.”

Saka was asked about financial assistance for businesses, and he discussed permitting work and business and occupation tax relief.

“We’ve helped a number of small businesses in West Seattle get them unstuck from the permitting process,” he said. “There’s more to do. And again, number one, the number one thing that I think we can do is improve public safety.”

Saka addresses staffing and differences with the mayor

During the budget discussion, Saka outlined his priorities for police and emergency services.

“I’m personally looking at restoring, and I think I see a few opportunities to restore some of the cuts to the fire department,” he said. “We need better and improved officer staffing ratios and also 911 call takers. People are waiting too long, especially on the non-emergency line, to get appropriate responses.”

Regarding disagreements between the council and mayor, Saka pointed to areas where they have worked together.

“I’m on the same page with the executive on any number of things, on adding more housing, adding more shelter space,” he said. “I think we all share an interest in collaborating across our differences and finding solutions, because that’s ultimately what people of the city of Seattle want, the taxpayer wants.”

Daughter’s report of gunfire brings concerns home

Saka, who lives with his family in Delridge, described his seventh-grade daughter telling him she had awakened to gunfire.

“Certain neighborhoods, like in my district, for example, like Delridge, up and down the Delridge corridor in High Point, it’s happening even in places like Alki now,” Saka said. “Some neighborhoods continue to bear the brunt more than others.

“Everybody deserves to feel safe in their own neighborhoods and communities,” he continued.

Saka called for more officers to handle patrols beyond responding to calls.

“We need to restore a police force so they can be more proactive and get more bike patrols and foot patrols,” he said. “That takes time. It takes focus, and it takes hard, coordinated, sustained effort over many years.

“We’re making a lot of initial progress, but plenty more work to do,” he added. “We can’t let our foot off the gas pedal. That’s the takeaway.”

Can you really believe this is a sitting government official in Seattle? All the problems he notes, every single one, are due to the City’s FAR LEFT POLICIES, including its refusal to get vagrants off the streets and into jail or drug treatment, refusal to prosecute repeat offenders of all types (shoplifting, to assault), and the entire “social worker” mentality where the perpetrators are treated as victims, high taxes squeeze even wealthier residents, and crime is rampant everywhere in the city. This sitting City Councilman just makes me shake my head in disbelief. Clueless, totally clueless, with no end in sight.

Oh, and I almost forgot to mention… Seattle Mayor Wilson fired her police chief after the infamous Bite of Seattle shooting, and so far Seattle still has no Chief of Police. Knowing Wilson, she is looking for a new DEI hire. I feel bad for the people of Seattle.