KUOW: Do they ever have "anti-homeless" pundits on?

[LordAntler]

So, as I've mentioned in other threads, I came here after working for Clear Channel/I Heart in Tampa and Orlando, and one thing I've noticed listening to KUOW's local affairs shows (and also the horrid "Get In The Game" on KJR) is that whenever Seattle's "homeless crisis" is discussed, they ALWAYS have guests on who are sympthetic to the homeless and believe that we should spend tons of taxpayer dollars on helping them out.

KUOW NEVER has people who believe that the city council and the Seattle PD/King County Sheriff should enforce the existing anti-panhandling laws or have on home owners who have been terrorized by the local mentally ill homeless/drug addict homeless.

Last weekend, a local woman saw a RV parked in her neighborhood for weeks and when she started breaking windows in the RV to try to get the homeless people to leave, she was beaten up by the owner of the RV. I did not hear one mention of this on KUOW in their news updates all week, even though a story like this is a pretty big deal.

I live in the U District right now and I can say that there have already been a lot of problems between the new homeless camp at University Congregation Church and the various students/residents/shop owners in the U. None of this has been reported by KUOW.

Now, I should explain that in Tampa and Orlando, both cities have very powerful anti-panhandling laws in place. In St. Petersburg, Florida, the law states that it is illegal under any circumstances to sleep on "the street." All homeless MUST sleep at a shelter (there are plenty of beds, btw) if they have no residence. If the police find you sleeping on the street, you are arrested and forced to register with local aid agencies who, in theory, will get you enrolled in a job training program and other aid programs to help you get back on your feet.

And if you're wondering about the local media and their views on this "crackdown" on the homeless, both of the newspapers: The Tampa Tribune and The Tampa Bay Times, routinely feature interviews with local homeless that amount to the homeless people saying "I guess I could go to the shelter and learn a job, but I just wanna stay here in the park and get high and drunk all day."

So, back to my original question: As far as I can tell, why has KUOW never had a 'pundit' on who's attitude towards the homeless is "I'm sorry you lost your job and your house, but instead of sleeping on the street and harassing the patrons of the Northgate McDonald's every day for spare change, you need to get into a job traning program, get a job, and get back to being a contributing member of society."

Why?

 

[Radio-X]

Amen, LordAntler! I'm still registered to vote in north Seattle...I say run for city council next election! Ya got one vote already...

If you hear what some of the folks the Seattle Times or my favorite spare roll of T.P., The Stranger (who also refuses to recognize a problem) interview, they basically say that exact thing...they want to stay out and get drunk/high all day!

Fact is, you combine sky-high rents, a joke of a city council constantly loaded up with pipe dreams, a police force that is disrespected by anybody not middle-upper class white, the milk-toast 'alternative' local media, who makes our beloved city leaders sound like they have all the solutions, and a city populace who pretends to care about homeless "issue" but actually cares about what fancy outdoor gizmo they can pull outta their condo and attach to the roof rack of their Subaru this week, you will get this every time. It is well deserved, Seattle! San Francisco used to be a decent city to live in as well (admittedly, with a centuries-old homeless issue) until the above issues came into play.

I'd really love to see someone in city council fight the media's poster child over there, Sawant. You hear even the more moderate media sources out here make her out to seem like she is the cure-all for high rent, homelessness, and rampant drug usage by throwing money at the problem. Hell, I'd just love to see someone in the local media actually criticize anybody or anything in Seattle politics!

There is a good reason once I've made some cash and have a bit more work experience I'm moving out to the coast. With the way Seattle is going, the common man/woman will never be able to afford to own or even rent quality housing here, while footing the majority of the bill for the city's grand plan to end homelessness or whatever their issue-of-the-year is.

Thanks for bringing up that not just KUOW, but most of Seattle media, has a "homeless advocate" attitude. For those of us who are forced to encounter these folks daily and work for hours in downtown just to rent a filing cabinet, what media outlet is our "advocate"?

Radio-X

...soon moving back to the jungle that is downtown...

 

[Rob Piotrowski]

So, back to my original question: As far as I can tell, why has KUOW never had a 'pundit' on who's attitude towards the homeless is "I'm sorry you lost your job and your house, but instead of sleeping on the street and harassing the patrons of the Northgate McDonald's every day for spare change, you need to get into a job traning program, get a job, and get back to being a contributing member of society."

Why?

Is this a rhetorical question? Obviously you've not considered what part of the country you're in. Expecting KUOW (or any local radio FTM) to be fair and balanced is like expecting the rain not to fall in January.

 

[Radio-X]

Is this a rhetorical question? Obviously you've not considered what part of the country you're in. Expecting KUOW (or any local radio FTM) to be fair and balanced is like expecting the rain not to fall in January.

I'm sure he has. We all know Seattle is a bit to the left. Big whoop. Unfortunately, what many of us "not from 'round here" never understood is the treatment anybody without democratic socialism tendencies receives out here. Mention that the homeless are making a quality of life issue in several areas in the city, you're considered a heartless freak. Mention that even if you can afford to buy a shack in city limits, you'll have to pay over 1% of its value yearly to the city in taxes, that makes you a whiny elitist 1% conservative. Mention that it took two hours for your nut burger to be made at a Wallingford restaurant, even the local cops harass you!

I think a lot of folks out here (media included) stick their fingers in their ears and hum when a major social problem falls at their feet. Homeless problem is no exception anymore. Lip service gets paid, money gets hemhorraged out for various temporary "programs", people wear buttons and get vocal, nothing additional occurs, the problem worsens, it gets buried not to be uncovered for 5-10 years until it reaches critical mass. That is, by and large, the way our media and our elected folks deal with "the problems" around here. Reminds me of that 20 years in SF in between the hippies and the tech geeks...now its a fully unlivable city for all (unless you're homeless, on drugs, or make over a quarter million bucks a year)

I'd like to also point out that many on here (and elsewhere in our fair city and its local media) assume that if you gripe about the homeless out here, you've never truly experienced it.

Hogwash.

This particular poster (who is also certifiably mentally ill without meds, mind you!) spent a month and a half living in the back of his Volvo wagon in Greenwood and another three months camping in Carkeek Park. No help from any charities, lip service paid by friends, it was just me, my tent, two jobs, and an AM/FM walkman. Trust me, I have little to no respect for those folks setting up shop along I-5 throwing their trash around the on ramps while panhandling. Call me an evil sadistic right-wing whatever, I'll take the title and wear it with pride!

Radio-X

 

[Kelly A]

So, as I've mentioned in other threads, I came here after working for Clear Channel/I Heart in Tampa and Orlando,

I find it ironic that you have a background in radio, yet can't align the call letters and frequency of the radio station you're complaining about. (see your most recent post)

KUOW NEVER has people who believe that the city council and the Seattle PD/King County Sheriff should enforce the existing anti-panhandling laws or have on home owners who have been terrorized by the local mentally ill homeless/drug addict homeless.

So you're lumping panhandling with homeless, drug addicts and mentally ill people? I believe part of your confusion begins with your lack of knowledge in the subjects, as they are all separate. Panhandler's are not necessarily homeless, nor are all homeless people panhandler's. People who struggle with mental illness are not necessarily panhandler's nor homeless. There are people quite high on the socioeconomic scale who struggle with mental illness or drug addition. Rush Limbaugh is an example of past opioid drug addiction. He's was, and have never been neither a panhandler nor homeless. Ignorance paints with that broad of a brush.

Last weekend, a local woman saw a RV parked in her neighborhood for weeks and when she started breaking windows in the RV to try to get the homeless people to leave, she was beaten up by the owner of the RV. I did not hear one mention of this on KUOW in their news updates all week, even though a story like this is a pretty big deal.

Unfortunately someone vandalizing another person's private property isn't news. It happens all the time. Does one person have the right to vandalize someone's personal property parked legally? No, that's committing a crime and that woman should be prosecuted accordingly. I don't blame KUOW, or any local radio station from giving that woman any sympathy via their airtime with her deranged cause. If accurate as you stated it, she committed a crime.

I live in the U District right now and I can say that there have already been a lot of problems between the new homeless camp at University Congregation Church and the various students/residents/shop owners in the U. None of this has been reported by KUOW.

Then I suggest rather than spending time looking for a congregation to preach to on some discussion board, how about writing an E-mail or letter to the editorial folks at KUOW? You could point out the issues with a local homeless camp at the church. If you present a reasonable and educated argument, not sounding like a FOX News-parroting curmudgeon, I suspect they would be open to your input.

And if you're wondering about the local media and their views on this "crackdown" on the homeless, both of the newspapers: The Tampa Tribune and The Tampa Bay Times, routinely feature interviews with local homeless that amount to the homeless people saying "I guess I could go to the shelter and learn a job, but I just wanna stay here in the park and get high and drunk all day."

And that's their right, whether you like it or not. That being said, my bet is this soundbite you're referencing, if it actually exists, is a very isolated case being used to make a point that doesn't exist in a majority situation.

So, back to my original question: As far as I can tell, why has KUOW never had a 'pundit' on who's attitude towards the homeless is "I'm sorry you lost your job and your house, but instead of sleeping on the street and harassing the patrons of the Northgate McDonald's every day for spare change, you need to get into a job traning program, get a job, and get back to being a contributing member of society."

Why?

I hope you never fall on hard times, have a debilitating illness or are unable to function due to mental illness. If you do, I hope you'll at least remember the post you wrote. Karma can be a real b*tch sometimes.

 

[KXA]

I find it ironic that you have a background in radio, yet can't align the call letters and frequency of the radio station you're complaining about. (see your most recent post).

So Kelly A, you don't think that the other thread containing misplaced calls and frequencies were not intentional? I think they were, just to stir the pot (and everyone fell for it).

 

[Kelly A]

So Kelly A, you don't think that the other thread containing misplaced calls and frequencies were not intentional? I think they were, just to stir the pot (and everyone fell for it).

Maybe you're right, but I believe that words matter too. I'm not so sure they would have bothered to go through the trouble of creating such a long rant, if they didn't actually believe it. Most Discussion Board Trolls, drop their verbal crap and then fly out in an attempt to create limited chaos. This guy chooses to crap on himself while in the process.

 

[boombox4]

Perhaps the OP should check out some of the guys on KIRO-FM instead of listening to KUOW. A few of the guys on that station seem to agree with his perspective on the subject.

And he should also remember this isn't the South. Here in the NW -- for better or worse (that's up to the individual to decide) -- we do things differently. Not every part of the country is the same.

Just sayin'.

 

[Bongwater]

So, as I've mentioned in other threads, I came here after working for Clear Channel/I Heart in Tampa and Orlando, and one thing I've noticed listening to KUOW's local affairs shows (and also the horrid "Get In The Game" on KJR) is that whenever Seattle's "homeless crisis" is discussed, they ALWAYS have guests on who are sympthetic to the homeless and believe that we should spend tons of taxpayer dollars on helping them out.

KUOW NEVER has people who believe that the city council and the Seattle PD/King County Sheriff should enforce the existing anti-panhandling laws or have on home owners who have been terrorized by the local mentally ill homeless/drug addict homeless.

Last weekend, a local woman saw a RV parked in her neighborhood for weeks and when she started breaking windows in the RV to try to get the homeless people to leave, she was beaten up by the owner of the RV. I did not hear one mention of this on KUOW in their news updates all week, even though a story like this is a pretty big deal.

I live in the U District right now and I can say that there have already been a lot of problems between the new homeless camp at University Congregation Church and the various students/residents/shop owners in the U. None of this has been reported by KUOW.

Now, I should explain that in Tampa and Orlando, both cities have very powerful anti-panhandling laws in place. In St. Petersburg, Florida, the law states that it is illegal under any circumstances to sleep on "the street." All homeless MUST sleep at a shelter (there are plenty of beds, btw) if they have no residence. If the police find you sleeping on the street, you are arrested and forced to register with local aid agencies who, in theory, will get you enrolled in a job training program and other aid programs to help you get back on your feet.

And if you're wondering about the local media and their views on this "crackdown" on the homeless, both of the newspapers: The Tampa Tribune and The Tampa Bay Times, routinely feature interviews with local homeless that amount to the homeless people saying "I guess I could go to the shelter and learn a job, but I just wanna stay here in the park and get high and drunk all day."

So, back to my original question: As far as I can tell, why has KUOW never had a 'pundit' on who's attitude towards the homeless is "I'm sorry you lost your job and your house, but instead of sleeping on the street and harassing the patrons of the Northgate McDonald's every day for spare change, you need to get into a job traning program, get a job, and get back to being a contributing member of society."

Why?

Because KUOW is not iHeartMedia Tampa/Orlando.

Secondly, state, county and city social service agencies are grossly underfunded and probably couldn't help anyway. And third, even at $15 hour, how does a person barely starting out again pay for apartment deposit, rent, utility deposits and food? That first check only gets you so far. And our state's current system, as overburdened as it is, tries to get people off faster than they can bring them on. People who have gone through that hamster wheel enough sooner or later get tired of it. And give up. Hence our problem.

It's a lot more complex than it looks.

 

[Rob Piotrowski]

That's a beautiful dissertation, Larry. Kshama Sawant would be proud. But it doesn't answer the OP's question. And the comparison of a "public" station to big, bad corporate radio doesn't cut it.

 

[TheBigA]

KUOW NEVER has people who believe that the city council and the Seattle PD/King County Sheriff should enforce the existing anti-panhandling laws or have on home owners who have been terrorized by the local mentally ill homeless/drug addict homeless.

There are organizations for homeless people. Name the responsible spokesperson who'd represent the terrorized homeowners.

As far as enforcing panhandling laws, is your solution to put the homeless in jail? You realize that just puts them on the public dole anyway. Or put them in mental institutions? Who pays for that? When you look at the issue in a broader way, it all comes down to taxpayers. Present some realistic solutions. You say you want a revolution? Well we'd all love to see your plan.

 

[Kelly A]

I felt the need to revisit this topic after having spent four days back in the Seattle area last week. Now to be clear, I still stand by my comments that tying homelessness and mental health is much more of a complicated topic than one would solve with radio, but I also find myself shocked by what I witnessed during my visit.

Driving along in the HOV lanes South toward downtown, I was shocked, no-maybe more pissed, by the huge piles of trash, shopping carts, tarps, and homeless camps under I-5 and most every on, or off ramp downtown. What makes matters worse, is it looks like the trash has been there unoccupied for weeks. More than whether homeless people are living under the freeway, what is the City doing to clean it up when they leave? Where are is all this supposed newly found revenue from legal pot sales going? The big controversial topic on the radio driving in from the airport? SPD officers that do nothing when answering a violence complaint at a homeless camp, while some vagrant smokes crack in front of them.

I work in the Washington D.C. area, and I can say without question, that Seattle is looking far more dilapidated and dirty than anywhere I've seen in D.C. It's sad to drive on I-5 or 405 and see all the graffiti, trash and beat up highway. Forget anti-homeless pundits, what is the Mayor and City Council doing to clean things up? It would appear, nothing.

 

[bobdavcav]

I think I know where you're talking about, down there at Airport Way? Seattle DOT came to clean out that camp 2-3 weeks ago, and I gathered they weren't successful. Within a few weeks they were supposed to have all that picked up, but I don't have a status update on that.

 

[boombox4]

Homelessness is a bad problem, and I think it's more complex than "they're all drug addicts."

I know several people who are maybe one paycheck from being homeless. The South King County area has absorbed much of the homeless pushed out of Seattle -- their numbers have skyrocketed in the past four years.

The few times I go into Seattle anymore, I understand what Kelly A is talking about. You have your opulence, and your poverty, all within blocks of each other. And I don't see any easy solutions, as rents skyrocket along with everything else.

 

[Kelly A]

I think I know where you're talking about, down there at Airport Way? Seattle DOT came to clean out that camp 2-3 weeks ago, and I gathered they weren't successful. Within a few weeks they were supposed to have all that picked up, but I don't have a status update on that.

Not just there, have you driven downtown on the HOV lanes-lower level from about the Mercer exit to James? Look along side the East side of the road. There literally are piles of trash that during the rain have washed down the hills up to the jersey barriers along I-5. Most overpasses are all tagged with graffiti, as is the tunnel under the Convention Center. Once you merge back on to South I-5, there are crashed car plastic parts along the shoulder, dead tires, a shopping cart. As I mentioned, it looks like these piles just get deeper. Nobody bothering to clean it up.

 

[Bongwater]

It's not just in Seattle. You see it in Lynnwood, Everett, Mount Vernon and Bellingham too. And all the way south to Tacoma. Certainly not at Seattle levels....Yet. But at the rate things are going, it's on it's way.

You can't sweep the homeless problem under the rug anymore, the numbers of homeless are growing faster than social service agencies can keep up. And look at San Francisco and Los Angeles. In any area where rental housing is skyrocketing out of the reach of the poorer classes, you have a massive homeless problem. So it's like not everyone decided to just drop everything and live on the streets. Something much bigger is at work that's going to require a lot more than lip service because whether you like it or not, if it doesn't change and more transitional and permanent low income housing built or allocated, they're coming to YOUR neighbourhood and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

 

[bobdavcav]

Not just there, have you driven downtown on the HOV lanes-lower level from about the Mercer exit to James? Look along side the East side of the road. There literally are piles of trash that during the rain have washed down the hills up to the jersey barriers along I-5. Most overpasses are all tagged with graffiti, as is the tunnel under the Convention Center. Once you merge back on to South I-5, there are crashed car plastic parts along the shoulder, dead tires, a shopping cart. As I mentioned, it looks like these piles just get deeper. Nobody bothering to clean it up.

As I'm totally blind I'll just have to take your word for it.

 

[TheBigA]

In a lot of towns, these kinds of things are done by businesses "adopting" the highways. Do they have "Adopt-A-Highway" program in Washington State?

http://www.adoptahighway.com/

 

[Kelly A]

I believe Tacoma and places South of Tacoma like Olympia have something like adopt-a-highway, but I've not seen anything in Seattle proper.

Given much of this trash is generated by homeless folks along the freeways, I'd be nervous about having volunteers handling this particular trash. My guess is there are probably hazardous chemicals, bio-waste and hypodermic needles in the piles and on the ground around the area. Where I have my home here in Virginia, there is a very active adopt-a-highway program. The difference being, doesn't have the influx of homeless drug addicts that have moved into Seattle.

 

[frankberry]

This thread has wandered far off the original topic.