Jonathan Choe

Journalist and Senior Fellow, Center on Wealth and Poverty

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Neighbors Speak Out About Controversial Burien Church Shelter

Jonathan Choe
December 21, 2023
Amateur Hour Wednesday evening, Highline United Methodist Church Pastor Jenny Partch and moderator Krystal Marx (@bcckrystalmarx) told me I was not allowed to record a PUBLIC MEETING about a controversial day shelter for the homeless at the church. Neighbors say they learned about this city funded project last minute. Anyway, the pastor and Marx called Burien Police and tried to have me removed from the property. They clearly do not understand how PUBLIC MEETINGS work. In the end, common sense prevailed and I was allowed to stay and record. As for the furious neighbors, they went off on church leaders and unloaded their concerns about the potential for crime, open air drug use, and other issues following the clientele and spilling into the hood. Btw, no one had their questions …

Kenmore City Council Blocks Low Barrier Housing Project

Jonathan Choe
December 12, 2023
Breaking Kenmore City Council votes 6-1 to block controversial Plymouth Housing project (@PlymouthHousing) from coming into downtown. Angry residents claimed it was pitched as affordable housing for veterans and senior citizens. But then it got switched to housing for the chronically homeless and drug addicted individuals. Bottom line, Kenmore is saying “housing first” is a failure and the “low barrier” free for all drug culture will not be tolerated. This could set a precedent for other King County cities facing similar proposals from other housing providers. Numerous people said, “We don’t want to become the next Seattle.” FINAL VOTE: Nigel Herbig-No David Baker-No Angela Kugler-No Joe Marshall-No Melanie …