Recently, the Seattle City Council voted to override the mayor’s veto of a budget that drastically cut funds for the Seattle Police Department, and stopped funding the city’s “Navigation Team,” which did outreach to the increasing number of unsheltered people in the city. The Navigation Team’s effectiveness was hampered by its requirement that the homeless who were offered shelter could accept, or reject that shelter. Most rejected.

Today, we see some of the results of the city council’s actions, even before the budget is effective: Seattle’s Denny Park is riddled with crime, drugs, and homelessness.