Dear Spokane Community,
Day 10 of our 5 AM walk through downtown Spokane was, once again, a mix of beauty and sadness. Walking through the park, you see the promise and vibrancy of our city—but just blocks away, the reality of our homelessness, public health, and safety crisis is crushing. Deep and visible suffering exists all along our streets, despite the well-intentioned efforts of regional leadership and our many support organizations.
Mayor Brown and her team have put forward a number of positive initiatives, including the scattered shelter model and other safety measures. But what becomes clear when walking through downtown is that processes alone do not solve problems—outcomes do. Until we define a specific, measurable goal with a completion date—such as ensuring that no one is left to live, suffer, and die on our sidewalks by year-end—we will not get the results Spokane needs.
The Necessity of Clear Goals, Deadlines and Reverse Engineering
A wise friend reminded me this morning of an excellent analogy about constructing a large and complex apartment project. A good project manager is essential, and they don’t simply outline the various trades—framers, electricians, plumbers, etc.—and hope that, eventually, a finished building emerges. Instead, with a clear completion date, a defined budget, and an orchestrated plan to get there, the project manager ensures that every contractor works collaboratively toward those end goals. Without that kind of leadership and coordination, the project would drag on far past the needed completion date—just as our crisis has.
Right now, Spokane’s response to homelessness lacks that clear, overarching objective. We have fragmented processes—often good ones, like the scattered shelter model—but no defined finish line. Worse, many of the key players—regional jurisdictions, service providers, civic agencies, businesses, law enforcement, and physical and mental health professionals—are not being brought together or coordinated as part of a unified strategy to achieve a clearly defined outcome.
Consider this: If someone walked through downtown this time last year and did the same walk we did today, they wouldn’t see meaningful improvement—perhaps the opposite. Yet behind the scenes, real successes have been achieved—beds have been added, services expanded, and more people helped. But without a clear and measurable goal with a specific deadline that brings all efforts together, those successes remain isolated, and the visible crisis persists.
Conclusion
Spokane doesn’t need more well-intentioned processes; it needs a defined outcome. A goal that says: By this date, no one will be left on our streets to suffer. A plan that ensures all key players play a role in achieving that goal. Because at the end of the day, no one cares if a construction manager is a Democrat or a Republican—they care that the building gets built. Spokane’s leadership must treat this crisis the same way: not as a political issue, but as a project that must be completed with urgency. It’s time to reverse engineer our way to real solutions.
Retraction / Correction
An astute reader brought to my attention an error in my prior reports regarding overdose deaths in Harris County (Houston). I previously reported 93 deaths, which was a significant error. After confirming sources and using CDC provisional data reporting for Harris County (CDC Data) the 12-month total through June 30, 2024, should have been 991. I regret that error and will be more diligent in verifying data before reporting in the future. (Note: The 93 was a six-month figure for opioid-only deaths.)
Additionally, while acknowledging nominal variances in population and timeframe, Harris County’s 991 overdose deaths appear to be, on a per capita basis, approximately 66% lower than Spokane’s rate (based on preliminary figures from the Washington State Department of Health, as reported by The Spokesman-Review on January 26, 2025 (Spokesman Review Overdose Deaths).