Two things in the past couple of weeks have really underscored my frustration with our current political climate.
The first one that really gets me is all the outrage hurled at the Governor from local residents over his emergency proclamation pertaining to the 13th Street overpass.
The 13th Street overpass in Chehalis was most recently struck again on October 5. And, that’s certainly not the first time it’s been hit — it was hit at least once before that in 2014 and, if my memory serves correctly, I believe it was struck again once or twice between 2014 and Oct. 5. Every time it happens, it generally shuts down at least some part of the freeway and creates a pretty significant traffic nightmare — both on Interstate 5 itself and through the downtown cores.
I live south of Chehalis and when my husband and I drive under the overpass, we’re always amazed that you can see daylight through parts of the support pieces underneath. I mean, it seems fairly serious in that regard.
Just like when it floods, unless the governor declares an “emergency,” local areas can’t access certain pools of funding. With the $30 car tab initiative passing in the recent election, part of me wonders if this was an effort to make sure 13th Street was slated for repairs and funds before transportation budgets get tighter. Regardless, the declaration paves the way for funding.
When Gov. Jay Inslee was here a few weeks ago, I attended the event at the fairgrounds. He spoke with many local officials regarding a whole spectrum of issues while he was here. I found myself wondering if the county commissioners or other elected officials had specifically requested help with the 13th Street overpass.
Now, I’m no Jay Inslee fan. I’ve written critically about him on these very pages previously. I sat through his editorial board interview at The Chronicle office, running the video camera, during his initial run for governor. If he would have said “focus like a laser beam on jobs” one more time, I might have purposely rolled my eyes directly at him from behind the camera.
And, I’ve heard numerous reasons from people regarding other things they’re not happy about when it comes to our state leadership.
But even I found myself wondering, “Wow. What can the governor do that would actually make anyone happy?” In today’s hyperpartisan political climate, it feels like we’re just always looking for a reason to take our collective rage out on someone. Even when it benefits us.
At any rate, Tamara Greenwell with the Washington State Department of Transportation told news outlets this week that only half of the 13th Street overpass will need to be replaced right now. While it will increase the height of the new side of the overpass by 14 to 15 inches, her plan mentions no timeline for the second half of the overpass.
So, to me, even after the “emergency” repairs, we are still — for all intents and purposes — in the same place we were. I find myself more frustrated by that part of the plan than I do with the emergency declaration. If we’re gonna get an emergency declaration, it’d be nice to see the entire problem addressed rather than just partially.
I just hope we don’t have to wait on an emergency declaration to address the other side of the overpass now, too.
The second thing that frustrated me? The news coverage and response to the alleged plan by King County “bus homeless people out of the area.” The headlines on social media weren’t exactly conducive to a productive conversation. I think, in some attempt to harness the collective rage that permeates our political conversations these days, headlines were crafted to make it sound like it was a compulsory program — that all homeless people were being just randomly loaded up and bused to where ever.
I didn’t know a lot about the program, so when I started seeing the outrage from people, I was concerned. Then I read that 1 in 10 homeless people surveyed reported that a bus ticket or other transportation assistance would help them obtain permanent housing. Opportunities through family reunification programs like “Homeward Bound” are opt-in programs. Program staff have to connect personally with the family where any applicant will be relocating to and vetted for stability, etc. The individual applying for the bus ticket has to be checked for warrants and the like before they can formally be accepted. There are parameters in place.
I completely agree it’s not a perfect program — an admitted “stopgap” option as opposed to a program that works to address the root of homelessness. But, in some areas with similar programs, 50 percent of program applicants were in permanent housing after 6 months.
If we can get past the headlines, is there potential that these programs can have a real impact?
I don’t know, but it feels like some of these elements are missing from the current conversation.
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Brittany Voie is a columnist for The Chronicle. She lives south of Chehalis with her husband and two young sons. She welcomes correspondence from the community at voiedevelopment@comcast.net.
