“There were some major problems with security in terms of people blowing up dropboxes that happened. We’ve had some cybersecurity threats where counties got hit … So we saw more of it and nation-state actors are a lot more open about it. The director of national intelligence said, declared, look the Russians are going to do this. China, Russia, Iran, and violent extremist groups. They don’t hide the fact that they do stuff like this.”
That’s newly re-elected Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs, talking about election security threats – threats, he believes, that won’t go away now that nation-states are openly involved. He also says election officials need to talk more about elections to the public.
“Like in the past we’ve been really good about saying, hey, don’t forget to vote, don’t forget to put your ballot in the dropbox. But we were really bad about telling people, hey, did you know that every signature is checked? Did you know you can go to your elections center and actually view the process?”
Plus, the impact of AI on election security, how new technology might be used in voting, critics who say the state should drop all-mail voting, and more.
Under outgoing Secretary Jilma Meneses, Washington’s Department of Social and Health Services (DSHS) – the state’s largest agency, serving some 2 million Washingtonians – bought and stood up a behavioral health facility in record time.
“When we learned that a facility was being vacated in Tukwila by its owner, we jumped at the chance, we purchased that facility … we were able to renovate it, we were able to populate it with the equipment, in operations equipment that we needed, and staff it, which is over a hundred people, in two months. And then we brought patients, civil patients over in October of ‘23, and we had started this project in August of ‘23.”
DSHS also worked with Seattle Children’s Hospital, the State Department of Children, Youth and Families, and MultiCare to open the Lake Burien behavioral health facility to serve children.
“It’s a small facility at the moment. But it hopefully will grow as funding is available. Because the need, again, the need for the youth, just like the for the adults, is critical. And the sooner we start treating an individual in their youth, the better off they will be in their adult years.”
Meneses discusses coming into compliance with the so-called “Trueblood” lawsuit, construction of a new forensic psychiatric hospital at Western State Hospital in Steilacoom, and more.
