KENT, Wash. — Thirteen King County mayors used a packed community meeting in Kent on Thursday to call for a new approach to addiction and homelessness, with several urging state lawmakers to revisit drug-possession penalties and treatment policy ahead of the 2027 legislative session. The two-hour event, called “Hey Bob, We Need Your Help,” was organized by Battlefield Addiction, a South King County nonprofit. Organizer Art Dahlen said the name was intended as a call for help from state leaders, not as a criticism of Gov. Bob Ferguson. Families, community members, state lawmakers and political candidates attended the gathering at Kent-Meridian High School. Many people in the auditorium raised their hands when asked whether addiction had affected someone close to them. Several mayors argued that Washington’s 2023 decision to make drug possession a gross misdemeanor, rather than a felony, weakened the incentive for people to enter treatment. Kent Mayor Dana Ralph said she was not seeing as many people choose treatment as officials hoped. She also spoke about losing her brother-in-law to addiction and said court involvement can sometimes create a choice between jail and treatment. Issaquah Mayor Mark Mullet, a former state senator who served during the 2023 debate, said lawmakers could consider whether fentanyl possession should be treated differently under state law. He described the question of felony charges as worthy of public discussion, not as an adopted proposal. Other speakers criticized harm-reduction approaches and housing-first policies. Pacific Mayor Vic Kave argued that policy should pair consequences with treatment. Normandy Park Mayor Eric Zimmerman cited figures he said showed chronic homelessness in Washington rose about 410% from 2014 to 2024, and said the increase in King County and Seattle was about 850%. Those figures were presented by Zimmerman at the meeting. The mayors’ calls for a tougher approach came as King County data cited at the gathering showed overdose deaths falling from a peak of 1,340 to 914 in 2025. Through September 2026, the county had recorded more than 170 fewer overdose deaths than during the same period in 2025, putting the year on track for another decline. The meeting highlighted a policy debate with direct consequences for people living with addiction: how to expand access to treatment and reduce overdose deaths while deciding what role criminal penalties should play. Mayors urged action in Olympia, but the event did not produce a specific legislative plan.