Can we be honest about Seattle right now? Mary Lou Sanelli was painfully honest in a piece special to the Seattle Times that is heartbreaking to read. Heartbreaking because it resonates deeply in each person that cares about this city.

“My question always becomes: Other than fentanyl dealers, who is profiting from all of this misery? Is it best to continue to hope for a turnaround of leadership, or cross downtown off my list as simply ‘too depressing’ like so many others have done.”

“And I did have a neighborhood I once loved. Neighbors I loved. Business owners I loved. They are mostly gone now, moved out of the city because of this same fear we can’t outrun, and it’s not of COVID-19, and it’s not because we are no longer 21. It’s of a city council that says it is compassionate, but it seems just the opposite is true. Where is their compassion for all the people who no longer feel safe in the neighborhoods they helped create?”

How many more hearts will Seattle break with its broken policy toward people in desperate need? How many more lives will be ruined because city leaders believe it is OK to live in squalid camps and persist in declining behavioral health?

Compassion is not permission. Let’s hope city leaders realize that. Something has to change.