Seattle impressed World Cup visitors with cleaner streets and polished public spaces, but once the final whistle blew, the city’s open-air drug crisis quickly returned to view. According to Charlie Harger, host of Seattle’s ‘Morning News’ on KIRO Newsradio, the city merely moved the problem out of sight rather than solving it.

A Crisis Unaddressed

Harger argued that the city has nothing to show for the ‘billions’ it has spent to address the crisis. He stated that ‘addiction didn’t get better over those few weeks,’ and ‘mental illness didn’t vanish.’ Instead, people were ‘moved’ and ‘pushed away’ from areas where visitors might see them.

Harger emphasized that fixing the crisis has less to do with compassion and more to do with accountability. He noted that the city’s approach to the problem has been ineffective, with the overdose count increasing every year despite significant spending on homelessness services.

In 2024, the city of Seattle spent $153.8 million on homelessness services through its Human Services Department. However, the number of unsheltered people continues to rise, with King County having roughly 16,000 people experiencing homelessness on a given night.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.