TanDL
Here’s an idea… and I can’t take credit for it. I heard it from a friend who is upset at the state of things here. First – Create a tax exempt centralized charity to deal with the homeless issue and put qualified people in charge of running it. Second – Gather large and small businesses together and talk them into donating yearly for which they will get a tax exemption and some free advertising for being good guys (you know… that catching more flies with honey incentive thing our mothers taught us). Third – create a huge city-wide campaign so everyone can get involved in helping out – not just businesses. Fourth – determine EXACTLY where the money will be spent, get buy-in from communities and make each and every expenditure public knowledge so we know what’s happening. Also quarterly progress reports should be published! This City has been completely irresponsible with how money is spent and all you have to do is read the last few Seattle Times to see what messes have been made with cost overruns and bad planning on all sorts of projects. Finally – quit thinking of only how to “tax” people! Think of something different for a change! Try doing win-win for a change instead of us vs. them. We’re all in this city together and we need to come together and get these huge problems solved. Quit dividing us with your vitriol. We need leadership that will unite us… not divide us.
P.S. Does it gall anyone at all that Tacoma is smarter than we are in offering incentives for businesses to “come on down” and get a nice tax break for bringing jobs to their citizens?