Clallam County Watchdog

Jeff Tozzer
  • 3.1 (7)
  • Politics
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Holding County Leaders Accountable www.ccwatchdog.com

  1. 9h ago

    Mike French’s Emails Show Who Gets a Seat at the Table

    Public-records emails from Commissioner Mike French reveal detailed, ongoing collaboration with arts advocates to advance a cultural-access sales tax, including advice on packing meetings and preparing presentations. The correspondence fits a broader record in which French has made time for special-interest campaigns on Towne Road and a proposed courthouse renaming, while general public input faces tighter limits and slower responses. The Culture-Tax Correspondence A public-records release of emails involving Commissioner Mike French and David Herbelin, the late executive director of Olympic Theatre Arts, shows the commissioner engaging directly and repeatedly from spring 2024 onward. Herbelin first contacted French in mid-April seeking help placing the 0.1 percent cultural-access sales tax on the ballot or securing councilmanic approval (without a public vote) under House Bill 1575. French replied the next day that he would “love to discuss this,” offered multiple open windows the following week, and later confirmed a group meeting in the commissioners’ offices. By late July, French was coordinating school-superintendent outreach and proposing that Herbelin bring “as large or small of a group” as he wished. In early September, French forwarded draft PowerPoint slides he had prepared for the September 16 work session, asked for comments, and outlined the formal process he expected: a motion to call a public hearing, followed by the hearing itself a few weeks later. He closed that email with a practical note on turnout: “We would still want a full room on the 16th to show support.” Later messages show French sharing ArtsWA materials, looping Herbelin into scheduling with state arts-commission staff, and asking what additional information to present to the board. In late October 2024, David Herbelin emailed a call to action urging supporters to speak during the November 12 commissioners meeting. He assessed the board as follows: French supported councilmanic approval; Ozias preferred to wait a few years or put it to a public vote; and Johnson, facing reelection, was reluctant to act before the election and favored a vote of the people. After the November 12 public-comment session, French replied to Herbelin’s follow-up on next steps. The exchange continued into 2025, with French still responding to Herbelin on related arts-funding events. These are not one-off replies. They document months of shared drafting, timing advice, and explicit interest in visible supporter presence at official meetings. When later asked whether he had been the commissioner encouraging Herbelin to organize public comments, French said he did not recall. The emails themselves remain part of the public record. The Same Door for Other Organized Groups The culture-tax emails sit alongside other examples of French making himself available to organized campaigns. In early 2024, during the fight over reopening Towne Road, French attended a Dungeness Levee Trail Advocates rally at Nash’s barn. He told those present that bringing roughly 50 people to a commissioners’ meeting would be the scale needed for him to reconsider the board’s prior commitment to complete the road as promised. French’s statement treated headcount from one group of activists as a potential basis for revisiting a resolution the board had already adopted. A parallel pattern appeared in early 2026 with the proposal to rename the historic Clallam County Courthouse after the late Justice Susan Owens. At a work session, Commissioner Mark Ozias said renaming the building would be “wholly appropriate.” French immediately agreed that it would be “the way to spread the message the furthest” and suggested also naming a Forks courtroom. He then invited audience “stakeholders” to the staff table; a representative of Washington Women Lawyers spoke. Public records later showed that District Court II staff in Forks had already indicated a local memorial was in progress and that Owens herself would not have wanted the Port Angeles courthouse renamed. After substantial public opposition at a subsequent hearing, French reversed course and said he now understood the local preference in Forks. It’s another example of French’s quick, open-door responses to special interests, in contrast to the slower replies and limited public-comment slots ordinary residents typically receive on everyday issues. “They could care less about the public. The public comes in third. Number one is keeping their power. Number two are the special interests, the people footing the bill. Finally, the public good might be third — if they can profit from it.” — Jesse Ventura What the Public Gets County commission meetings allot three minutes of public comment at the end of the agenda. Emails from residents on budget, roads, or services frequently receive delayed or no substantive replies. The culture-tax record, the Towne Road rally comment, and the courthouse-renaming exchange show a different tempo when the requester is an organized group with a clear policy ask. The commissioners’ own mission-statement language prioritizes translating “the desires of our residents.” French’s emails illustrate whose desires have reliably produced meetings, PowerPoint presentations, and advice on how to organize. The cultural-access tax has been covered before. The new emails reveal how thoroughly Commissioner French worked on behalf of one organized interest to raise taxes outside public knowledge and without a vote of the people. Those records exist because a resident filed a public-records request. Every other resident has been waiting for the same access—do you want to wait another four years? This reporting was made possible by a public-records request from CC Watchdog subscriber Denise Lapio. Irony on Your Radar Today, October 22, 2026, the “Let Our Salmon Come Home” campaign is staging a day of action in Sequim aimed at the Pacific Salmon Commission, which is meeting at the Jamestown Tribe’s 7 Cedars Casino. The group wants policymakers to reform the U.S.–Canada Pacific Salmon Treaty, sharply reduce mixed-stock ocean fisheries (especially commercial trolling that intercepts threatened Chinook far from their home rivers), and shift harvest closer to terminal areas so more fish return to spawn. Speakers include representatives from the campaign itself, the Wild Fish Conservancy, the Wild Steelhead Coalition, and both recreational and commercial fishers. The schedule runs from an 11:30 a.m. rally and 1 p.m. press conference at the Gardiner Community Center to a 2 p.m. procession and sign-carrying march to a site next to 7 Cedars, followed by public comment inside the casino from 3:30–5:00 p.m. The campaign plans a post-event gathering at a Sequim’s Barhop Brewery. The campaign is a coastwide NGO-led effort (California to Alaska) that frames industrial ocean harvest as the primary reason too few salmon return, despite habitat and dam-removal spending. It argues that indiscriminate ocean fisheries undermine recovery for salmon and Southern Resident killer whales. The choice of venue is notable. The Jamestown Tribe is a major treaty-rights harvester of salmon and has actively pursued commercial net-pen aquaculture (through the Salish Fish joint venture with Cooke Aquaculture) to raise steelhead, arguing it supports tribal self-reliance and takes pressure off wild stocks. That position has put the tribe at odds with other tribes and with environmental groups that successfully pushed a state ban on commercial finfish net pens. Hosting an event that targets ocean commercial harvest at a tribal casino whose owners have fought to expand commercial fish production adds an obvious layer of irony—especially when one straightforward way to increase salmon returns would be for major harvesters, tribal and non-tribal alike, to take fewer of them. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.ccwatchdog.com

  2. 1d ago

    $800K Shortfalls, $350K-Per-Unit Housing, Tribal-Only Cash, and a Bunny Break for County Leaders

    Serenity House is covering nearly $800,000 in shortfalls while chasing roughly $12 million for a 36-unit low-barrier permanent supportive housing project in Sequim. Meanwhile, state tax dollars fund tribal-only homeownership, Peninsula Behavioral Health’s North View mirrors Seattle’s housing-first model, and commissioners budget association dues that include a sponsored “Bunny Break.” Tonight’s public meeting is the place to ask why working families wait while the system expands. Serenity House’s Timing Problem Serenity House is covering nearly $800,000 in shelter and supportive-housing shortfalls while seeking $12 million to replace Sequim’s 17-unit Sunbelt Apartments with a 36-unit low-barrier complex, according to myclallamcounty.com. Supportive housing ran about $382,000 short last year, and shelter operations need roughly $395,000 more annually—costs driven largely by staffing for about 130 people a night, which the agency says it cannot safely cut. Is this the time to expand? The organization is growing even as funding falls short, a pattern that mirrors Clallam County’s own habit of adding projects while running deficits. Tax Dollars, Tribal Households Only The Washington Department of Commerce has extended the 2026 Capital Programs Tribal Homeownership Funding Cycle; applications are due by 3 p.m. November 16. Eligible applicants are federally recognized tribes, community-based tribal organizations, and tribal housing authorities. The money supports new construction, purchase and rehabilitation, affordability subsidies, and down-payment assistance specifically for low-income tribal households. These are your state tax dollars restricted by race. Imagine the political reaction if an identical program were limited to white households. Housing First, Treatment Later (If Ever) Peninsula Behavioral Health’s North View complex in Port Angeles follows the Seattle model: permanent supportive housing first, treatment sometime later—if ever. Independent journalist Jonathan Choe spent time with a resident of a comparable Downtown Emergency Service Center facility in Seattle. The roughly 5-minute video shows the man stopping at the front desk for free drug paraphernalia, heading out to meet a dealer, scoring, and returning to a decent studio to get high. The account shows no job requirement, no treatment mandate, and minimal case-management contact. North View itself is a 36-unit, roughly $12.75 million project (more than $350,000 per unit) with county contributions, rooftop terraces, harbor views, quartz counters, dishwashers, a dog-washing sink, and EV charging. It is described as low-barrier and not exclusively dry. The pattern is familiar: convenience for ongoing use, permanence for the placement, and limited pressure toward recovery. Why Advertise When the Lists Are Long? If subsidized housing has waiting lists, why does the Peninsula Housing Authority advertise openings? Public housing and Section 8 lists have historically been long. Advertising capacity while thousands of local households remain on waitlists for assistance raises the obvious question of priorities and messaging. Canada’s “Compassion” Lesson Read the October 12 New York Post piece on “compassionate” drug policy and Canada. Federal prisons are distributing paper straws for “safer snorting,” foil for smoking, and test kits. British Columbia’s decriminalization pilot ended with high unregulated drug death rates; judges have stayed trafficking convictions on “compassion” grounds; and safe-supply programs continue. The parallels to Clallam County’s low-barrier housing, harm-reduction distribution, and tolerance of ongoing use are straightforward. Compassion that enables use while streets and families pay the cost is not compassion. The full article is worth the time. Dues, Leadership Roles, and the Bunny Break Clallam County is cash-strapped, yet commissioners are budgeting $40,000 for Washington State Association of Counties dues for 2027. Commissioner Mark Ozias is WSAC president; Mike French sits on the legislative steering committee. At the upcoming County Leaders Conference, organizers are promoting a “Bunny Break”: a sponsored bunny area where county leaders can step away from sessions for fluffy, de-stressing interaction. The contrast between local fiscal pressure and association perks is hard to miss. Pet Costumes vs. Luxury Homeless Units The Peninsula Daily News recently ran a cartoon noting that Americans spend roughly $950 million on pet Halloween costumes while people remain homeless. Locally, taxpayers are funding permanent supportive housing at $350,000-plus per unit, with costs climbing toward $500,000 in some projects. One public example is Ashley Gregory (formerly Scott Warren Gregory), a North View resident with a documented criminal history including assault and domestic-abuse complaints. Public posts show a “wake and bake” beach routine, free bus rides, art-therapy classes, Harm Reduction Center supplies, and Medicaid-supported facial feminization surgery—all while living in a new harbor-view unit. The homelessness industrial complex absorbs more money without ending the problem. Residents can dress their dogs without guilt; the system will never have enough of your money. Casino Cash and Political Reach A 2003 Seattle Times article documented Washington tribes becoming political players through casino revenue—raising campaign contributions, lobbying, and influence on gaming and other issues. Ron Allen of the Tribe (operator of 7 Cedars Casino) was quoted on learning to play the political game. "Campaign contributions is only a part of it," said Ron Allen, chairman of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe and a former president of the National Congress of American Indians. "Over time, we have become more astute at playing the political game." The pattern has continued: 7 Cedars and Jamestown entities have made substantial contributions to political committees and candidates, including local races. The archive piece is worth reading for the early trajectory; the local parallel is the ongoing combination of sovereign economic activity and political spending that shapes county and state outcomes. Repeat Offender, Local Bill Micah Lacunza was booked and released in Clallam County after the February 15, 2026, head-on collision east of Sequim on Highway 101. Driving a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado westbound, he crossed the centerline and struck a Toyota FJ Cruiser; Skylor Richford died at the scene, and Mathilde Richford was airlifted. Investigators believed impairment by drugs and/or alcohol was involved. Lacunza was later placed on the Washington State Patrol Most Wanted list with a $500,000 bail warrant for vehicular homicide, evaded capture in Tacoma, and was arrested in Seattle on October 5 after a citizen tip. He faces extradition and additional charges. Twelve years earlier, a Sheridan Press report showed the same pattern: Lacunza (then 27) was arrested in Sheridan, Wyoming, for stealing a vehicle and attempting to evade officers in a chase-and-crash incident. Washington State Patrol says Lacunza will be returned to Clallam County to face the vehicular homicide charge, plus several other unrelated charges. Another case for local taxpayers to fund from start to finish. “Some of the people on death row today might not be there if the courts had not been so lenient on them when they were first offenders.” — Thomas Sowell Tonight’s Meeting The Clallam County Board of Commissioners holds a special Budget Town Hall and Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) meeting tonight, Wednesday, October 21, 2026, at 5 p.m. at the Guy Cole Event Center, 202 N. Blake Avenue, Sequim. Topics include the Administrator Recommended Budget, the six-year TIP, and a question-and-answer session. Virtual options are available here. Award for “Most Creative Campaign Sign Placement” Goes to… This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.ccwatchdog.com

  3. 2d ago

    Forks Didn’t Get the Welding Classes. Jamestown Got the Hydroseeder. French Still Calls It 900 Jobs.

    Commissioner Mike French sold Clallam County voters a five-year plan to put 900 people into family-wage jobs. The number has already been cut to 603. The coordinator calls even that target extremely ambitious, and the public scoreboard shows roughly 21 people who finished training and later reported a job or higher pay. Meanwhile, a $733,000 mobile welding trailer sits delayed by safety problems, Jamestown gets equipment for a new enterprise, and the fine print shows real growth in government and NGO payrolls. The Campaign Promise That Shrank The pillar of Mike French’s campaign for reelection as county commissioner is the federal $35.6 million Recompete grant. He launched with a goal to bring roughly 900 jobs to the North Olympic Peninsula over five years. Danny Steiger’s June 2025 write-up of the program mentioned the 900-job goal eight times. That number was recently reduced to 603. The Recompete coordinator has called the new target “extremely ambitious.” Through March, the reported figure for people who completed training and then landed a job or raised their income was 21. Jobs That Were Never Jobs Clallamity Jen dug into the reporting in her article “Recompete Rebranded” and found the original framing never matched the fine print. The program's measurable goal was never “jobs” in the ordinary sense. It was “enrolled individuals.” That is a massive difference from the language French, as chair of the Recompete coalition, used when he told voters the grant would transition 900 North Olympic Peninsula residents into full-time family-wage jobs. The gap is not a mystery. Year-one county figures showed strong enrollment (208 people) and far weaker placement numbers. Some of the “jobs created” numbers include positions funded by the grant itself to run the program. The money did not shrink when the target did. The Welding Trailer That Didn’t Arrive The latest local example is the mobile welding program. Peninsula College used Recompete dollars to buy a custom 53-foot trailer with eight welding booths (reported cost about $733,000) plus a companion classroom. It was supposed to bring training to the West End this fall so students in Forks and surrounding areas would not have to drive to Port Angeles. The Forks Forum reported that testing turned up problems and safety concerns. President Suzy Ames said the college is putting safety first and hopes to offer the course in winter quarter instead. The trailer is delayed, not canceled. Residents are left asking the obvious questions: who designed and built a welding unit with flammable fuel on board that then failed safety checks, and who pays for the repairs? A recent job posting for a welding instructor at the college fits the pattern. Recompete money creates or sustains government and institutional positions. That is not the same as private-sector job growth for the people the grant was sold to help. The Jefferson EDC’s Fantasy Numbers The attached scope of work for EDC Team Jefferson under the Recompete Pilot Program shows how ambitious—and how detached from ordinary local reality—the targets are. Over five years, the plan calls for training 25 business advisors (five per year). Those advisors are then supposed to advise 952 start-up businesses, help form 286 of them that will pay the founder a living wage, and advise another 1,768 microenterprise and growth-stage businesses. The document projects $41.55 million in profit increases and 329 living-wage jobs created through reinvestment of those profits. Living wage is defined as $26 per hour plus benefits, or roughly $63,000 a year. These numbers are wildly unrealistic for a rural two-county area. The plan expects a handful of newly trained advisors to work with thousands of businesses, dig into their financials, and somehow generate tens of millions in extra profits that then create hundreds of living-wage jobs. It already assumes some of those advisors will quit or stop reporting. On top of that, it calls for hundreds more business meetings, a list of new training programs, and a pile of referrals. When they can’t get real wage data, the document says they’ll just estimate it. The plan treats job creation in Jefferson County through this advising model as a primary path. Earlier reporting noted that one tribal component involved hiring two people to produce one job outcome. Now Recompete language is being written into the 20-year comprehensive plan. When the federal money ends in a few years, local taxpayers will bear the ongoing costs. What remains is largely a jobs program for government employees, special interests, and NGO personnel. Who Actually Got Something At least Jamestown received a tangible asset. Its subaward explicitly funds the purchase of a hydroseeder and mini excavator so a tribally owned enterprise can expand into hydro-seeding as a new line of business, then hire and train a handful of workers. Jamestown gets its hydroseeder. Local private hydroseeding businesses pay for their own equipment. And the college has a delayed trailer that still isn’t delivering the advertised West End classes. The Words on French’s Website French’s campaign materials claim he “chaired a regional coalition of Counties, Cities, Tribes, economic development organizations and educational institutions that successfully acquired $35.6 million in federal funding.” Acquired is the wrong word. The federal Economic Development Administration granted the money after a competitive application process. “ Acquired" and "granted" are not synonyms; one implies earning or obtaining through effort that creates ownership, while the other is a gift of public funds under conditions. French has described himself as an advocate of conservative budgeting. The practical test is whether the county pays down debt before giving itself another raise. Recompete is not conservative budgeting. It is a large infusion of federal money that primarily expands institutional capacity, funds wraparound services and administration, buys equipment for selected partners, and counts enrollment and process activity while the original job numbers shrink. “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in five years there’d be a shortage of sand.” — Milton Friedman The Record Voters Can Examine The grant was never going to be a pure private-sector job machine. The documents show capacity-building for tribes and partners, barrier-removal hubs, and institutional training. That is what the money is doing. French made the 900-job promise the centerpiece of his record and his reelection argument. So far, the results—reduced targets, low placement numbers, delayed equipment, and continued expansion of government and NGO roles—are the record voters can examine. Stay Engaged Today 10:00 a.m. Weekly Board of Commissioners meeting featuring the monthly Q&A “Citizens’ Forum.” Details here. 1:30 p.m. Board of Health meeting. Will they admit the current harm “expansion” approach is failing? Will the Board hold Health Officer Allison Berry accountable for her violent and extreme political statements? Details here. 6:00 p.m. City of Port Angeles regular meeting featuring a presentation on Candelaria (potential buyer of the old McKinley Mill) and the reintroduction of “net ecological gain,” which divided the council last December. Details here. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.ccwatchdog.com

  4. 3d ago

    Berry and French’s Harm Reduction Leaves a Body Count on Highway 101

    This summer, a Clallam County Sheriff’s deputy followed a frantic man into the dark along the south side of Highway 101 in the “Baker Dip” in east Port Angeles. “Come here and look,” the man said. “Right here.” Two people were down. Neither was breathing. Paramedics arrived, confirmed no pulses, and began CPR while more sirens closed in. One of the men, John Michael Adkins, 54, was later taken to Harborview Medical Center and died. The other, Jamie C. Trudeau, 61, was transported with a weak pulse after Narcan. Both had been found next to bicycles on a walkway protected by concrete barriers, amid a construction site. Drug paraphernalia—plastic “tooter” straws and burnt tin foil used to smoke controlled substances—was recovered at the scene and booked into safekeeping. The Scene on Highway 101 This is the actual cost of the harm-reduction expansion Dr. Allison Berry has championed and that Board of Health Chair Commissioner Mike French has defended. French recently told a Rotary group that the county expanded harm reduction a few years ago largely in response to the Jamestown MAT Clinic opening, framing the free supplies as a way “to create a connection with active drug users so that you can leverage that connection to get them to go to treatment.” He said the desire was treatment. The result on a stretch of highway many residents drive every day was two men who had collapsed together, unresponsive, one of them dead, with the tools of their addiction nearby. What the County’s Own Numbers Show The county’s own numbers undermine the claim that drug users are being “connected” to services. In a recent Kiwanis debate with Jake Seegers, French acknowledged that many people see “syringe exchange programs” as enabling. Seegers answered with the board of health’s own data: of roughly 12,000 encounters last year, only 27 were referred to services. That is a referral rate, not confirmed entry into treatment. Seegers noted that it isn’t a syringe “exchange” program at all — people can obtain hundreds of syringes at a time along with boofing kits, pipes, lighters, and foil for fentanyl — all taxpayer-funded and unrestricted. “We don’t have a syringe exchange program anymore,” Seegers said. No Pathway to Treatment John Adkins and Jamie Trudeau never found the pathway French described. The Lieutenant’s supplemental report concluded both men had overdosed on an unknown controlled substance, likely an opiate, and collapsed at roughly the same time, with no obvious signs of foul play. Responders identified Adkins from items in his belongings; Trudeau had a red backpack and a bicycle on him. Their clothes were cut for CPR. Perishable goods were field-destroyed. First responders performed CPR in the dark, requested additional fire resources, and later collected the paraphernalia. Those same responders then went home after watching two lives flirt with death on the sidewalk. It’s just another day on the job in a county that gives addicts the tools that trap them in their addiction. Silence from Local Media and Officials Local media has not treated this as news residents should know. The Peninsula Daily News has not been contacted by the county to report two overdoses—one fatal—on a high-traffic stretch of Highway 101. How many of these overdoses are being covered up and ignored? Here’s what the front page featured the day after the incident: Getting the public ready for another EMS levy. The Resources and the Trauma As voters consider EMS levies and commissioners discuss a criminal-justice tax to hire more law enforcement, the video of this response is worth watching. It shows the resources—deputies, medics, fire—devoted to people the county first equipped with drug use supplies and then abandoned to the consequences of using street drugs. Warning: the body-worn camera footage is hard to watch because you are watching a life end. The officer arrives, finds both men unresponsive, calls it in, and the paramedics begin compressions while bystanders describe discovering them. Blood is visible near one man’s face from the fall onto the curb. There is no heartbeat. More units arrive. Watch it, and you’ll witness a life ending. The Choice Before the County Clallam County cannot claim to be a first-world community or a compassionate society while it supplies the tools of self-destruction and then measures success by the number of free kits distributed rather than the number of people who stop using them. French’s defense of the expansion as a treatment bridge has not produced the promised results. Berry’s tenure has expanded the program. Seegers has offered the alternative: stop funding unlimited paraphernalia with taxpayer money, stop pretending 27 referrals out of 12,000 encounters is a success, and focus on recovery rather than managing an open-air decline that ends on the side of a highway. At least one man is dead. The policy that enabled the conditions of his final night remains in place. Residents can decide whether that is the outcome they want their tax dollars and their Board of Health to keep producing. “You cannot be truly compassionate while you are helping someone destroy themselves.” — Common formulation in addiction-recovery circles Tell Them This Death Was Preventable Tomorrow is the monthly Board of Health meeting. Come and tell the BOH—which includes the three commissioners and Dr. Allison Berry—that harm reduction isn’t working. Tell them about this death. It could have been prevented, but instead this county enabled it. The October 20, 2026 Board of Health meeting is your chance to force the question into the open. It runs 1:30–3:30 p.m. in the Clallam County Courthouse Board of Commissioners Meeting Room 160, 223 E. 4th Street, Port Angeles. You can attend in person or join virtually and comment online. Show up. Speak. Demand better. Thank you to CCWD reader Leia for the tip that made this story possible. Stay Engaged This Week Tuesday Note: Darren Littell is unable to attend. Viet Nguyen, President of 5G Americas, will advocate for repealing the Millionaire’s Tax. Tuesday The weekly commissioners’ meeting that begins at 10:00 a.m. will feature the monthly “Citizens’ Forum,” your only chance to engage with the commissioners in a two-way dialogue. You can attend in person or virtually. Tuesday The monthly Board of Health meeting, with all three commissioners and Health Officer Allison Berry, will begin at 1:30 p.m. in the commissioners’ boardroom. Public comment is allowed in person or virtually. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.ccwatchdog.com

  5. 4d ago

    The Health Officer Who Threatened a President

    Board of Health Chair Mike French has hammered Jake Seegers over a two-year-old church metaphor. Meanwhile, the health officer French oversees once posted that she would shoot a sitting president in his sleep, fantasized about sterilizing her brother, and mocked patients—yet the Board has refused to put her professionalism on the agenda. The double standard is the point that our leaders are missing. French’s Line in the Sand At the August Calico Cat Club candidate conversation in Sequim, Mike French kept circling back to Jake Seegers’ recorded remarks to his congregation. Seegers had used a metaphor involving a skunk and a shotgun while urging people to vote. French, who said he was raised in Port Angeles churches, declared that encouraging people to vote, or even to vote for ideals and moral issues, was fine. But “vote for a specific political party” or “a specific candidate,” he insisted, “does cross the line.” He demanded an apology. That was free speech from two years earlier. French treated it as a scandal. What the Grim Reporter Found Now read the reporting that just dropped from The Grim Reporter: Dr. Berry’s Death Threats. Click the links. Read the archived LiveJournal posts yourself. The contrast is not subtle. Dr. Allison Berry, Public Health Officer for Clallam and Jefferson Counties, has repeatedly described herself as the target of harassment and death threats. Navarra Carr—Mike French’s current campaign manager and former Chair of the Clallam County Board of Public Health—declared: “I want to make it clear that I don’t condone threats or intimidation tactics including against our public servants and government employees. I think it’s unconscionable that our staff have received threats, been called names, and have been subject to intimidation.” Jefferson County’s Board of Health passed Resolution No. 56-21 declaring health misinformation a public health crisis and urging critics of Berry’s mandates to “use civil dialogue and to avoid intimidation and threats of violence.” Berry herself told King 5: “It’s important not to let people who would threaten public officials win.” Those standards evaporate when the subject is Berry’s own words. The Blog Posts In 2006, on a LiveJournal blog under the handle pudlsplashr, Berry wrote: “In rural north dakota, I saw a wild horse running all alone on the prairie, far away from any settlement. George Bush, I will shoot you in your sleep for signing the legislation making it legal to slaughter wild horses for sale as cheap meet.” That single sentence is an apparent violation of three federal felonies: 18 U.S.C. § 871 (threat against the President), § 875(c) (transmitting a threat to injure), and § 115 (threatening a federal official in retaliation for official acts). These carry up to 20 years in prison and $250,000 fines. Even without indictment, the Washington Medical Commission can discipline or revoke a license for moral turpitude under RCW 18.130.180 without a criminal conviction. Loss of license would disqualify her from the health officer role under RCW 70.05.050. The same blog shows a political activist, not a medical professional. She railed against “Christian Evangelicals.” She targeted “Republican pro-lifers with shotguns.” She fantasized about secretly sterilizing her younger brother. She described trespassing on private property for soil samples, then running from the “Crazy” farmer with a shotgun. She welcomed being called a “terrorist” for progressive politics. She planned to leverage a medical career to turn rich people’s houses into halfway houses. She praised Seattle’s politics and Lenin's statue. She wrote that her political passion “couldn’t end, even if I was shot.” Classmates were “B****y little hoes.” She described Africans as rapists who prey on women with long hair. Years later, while she was in medical school at Johns Hopkins, a roommate described how Berry and others routinely mocked patients for their sexual histories and proclivities. This conduct violates WAC 246-919-640 on patient abuse. Berry still practices at the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe’s clinic. Major credit belongs to The Grim Reporter for the archival work that surfaced this material. Read the full piece and the linked posts. The Meme and the Sheriff This is the same official who, in August 2026, contacted the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office over a non-violent Facebook meme by Jesse Farmer. The sheriff’s office documented that Farmer was exercising free speech and there was no crime. The case was inactivated but left open. Berry’s response was to lecture Farmer rather than apologize for using deputies as speech referees. Harm Reduction as Ideology Harm reduction is the ideology that binds this network. Berry, Mike French, the League of Women Voters, Indivisible, and the Democratic Socialist of America regularly appear at Board of Health meetings to defend it. At the Sequim Rotary Club, French explained the expansion of harm reduction plainly: it was a response to the Jamestown Healing Center opening, “a way to create a connection with active drug users so that you can leverage that connection to get them to go to treatment.” The county program feeds clients into a tribal MAT clinic. That is policy, not pure public health. Who was the most vocal champion of opening that MAT clinic for which our county’s harm reduction efforts were expanded? The League of Women Voters who publicly released a resolution. The League of Women Voters features Berry and the bouquet they delivered to her during COVID. Their own materials distributed to elementary students encouraging them to become political activists declare that “silence is betrayal.” Will the “nonpartisan” LWV apply that standard here, or stay quiet because Berry advances the policies they favor? No Agenda Item On October 13, I wrote the Board of Health asking that Berry’s professionalism be added to the October 20 agenda so members could review the reporting, hear from her if she wishes, and decide whether her statements meet the standards the county expects. No agenda item was added. I also wrote Berry directly, seeking comment. No response. Would the Board have responded differently if Berry’s threat had been against Biden or Obama? For months, French and his supporters have treated Seegers’ 2024 church remarks as disqualifying. Moral consistency requires the same scrutiny for the health officer of two counties. The Board of Health has become a political body protecting preferred ideology instead of focusing on the health of Clallam County. “Silence is betrayal.” — Martin Luther King Jr. Show Up This Tuesday The October 20, 2026 Board of Health meeting is your chance to force the question into the open. It runs 1:30–3:30 p.m. in the Clallam County Courthouse Board of Commissioners Meeting Room 160, 223 E. 4th Street, Port Angeles. You can attend in person or join virtually and comment online. Because the letter requesting a review of Dr. Berry’s professionalism is already in the agenda packet, the very first public comment can address it. That means you do not have to wait for the Board to put it on the agenda. You can put it on the record yourself. French and his supporters are good at demanding apologies, calling for accountability, and framing free speech as a moral failing. Now the same Board that oversees the health officer has the documented record of her own violent threats, political extremism, and double standards. They chose not to add it to the agenda. Do not let them bury it. Come. Speak. Ask why a citizen’s meme triggered a sheriff’s investigation while a health officer’s threat to shoot a president does not. Ask whether the Board will apply the same standard to Dr. Berry that it has applied to everyone else. The letter is in the packet. The meeting is public. The first comment is open. Use it. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.ccwatchdog.com

  6. Oct 15

    How to Destroy a Tank

    Lincoln warned that a free people die by suicide, not by foreign armies. Shogren applies that to Clallam elections: a tabulation system she says an auditor once called “easily hackable,” a results page that opened with a password during testing, and a canvassing board that said refusing to certify is a crime. If the public cannot watch the count without a vendor password, she writes, the county cannot correct course at the polls. “Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant, to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined … could not by force, take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years. At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” — Abraham Lincoln, Lyceum Address (1838) If the United States is a tank, you do not destroy it from the outside. You disable it from the inside. On the Peninsula, that does not mean a foreign army. It means election software no one here can lawfully inspect. Official channels tell us that ballots are “processed” or “accepted.” They rarely say, in plain language, that each vote was counted as cast. I think that gap in language matters. What I can show from this county is not a courtroom verdict that any race was switched. It is a pattern: vintage certification, early access to a results screen, a canvassing board told that refusal to certify is a crime, and officers who treat “we follow the law” as a reason not to look. That pattern is consistent with a system the public cannot independently verify. If the ballot box cannot be verified, the county cannot course-correct at the polls. What I have documented in Clallam County People reasonably ask what any of this has to do with this county. Below is what I have witnessed and put on the record. Clallam County Auditor: “easily hackable,” and a vendor the auditor is not allowed to identify In 2016, during the Democratic presidential primaries, I sat down with Auditor Shoona Riggs to raise election-integrity concerns. As I have stated publicly since that meeting, Auditor Riggs told me that the electronic system Clallam County uses to tabulate votes is “easily hackable.” She further said that a vendor representative comes to each machine before each election to “work” on it, and that she is not allowed to know that person’s identity. That is my account of the conversation, not a recorded transcript. It is still the conversation I have carried for a decade. The auditor is statutorily charged with certifying the accuracy of our results. She has certified election after election with, on my account, actual knowledge that the machines were described to her as easily hackable and were serviced by people whose names she said she could not have. On January 6, 2017, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security designated election infrastructure — voter-registration systems, voting equipment, tabulation and reporting systems, storage facilities, and polling places — as a critical-infrastructure subsector of Government Facilities. An auditor who has been told of serious vulnerabilities, and who certifies results anyway, is not handling a routine local paperwork issue. She is handling infrastructure the United States has already classified as critical. Clallam County Elections Manager: password access to a results page during testing — now under Secretary of State review On July 8, 2026, I publicly observed the officially noticed Logic and Accuracy (L&A) tests conducted by the Clallam County Elections Division. I was the sole observer at the 1:00 p.m. Accessible Voting Unit test and was joined by a Republican Party observer for the 2:00 p.m. tabulation-system test. L&A is a test deck, not a live canvass of voted ballots. However, it does not answer what staff then demonstrated. During the tabulation-system test, Elections Manager Ian Hillway stated that he needed a password to access the results page. He also stated that, because the election was not yet final, he could bypass a pop-up warning that accessing the results page was “illegal,” but that he would do so for purposes of the testing. Later in the same test, Secretary of State representative Les Bowen stated that there is “no tabulation before election day.” I pointed out that ballot scanning begins well before election day, and that Mr. Hillway had already indicated the results page was reachable with a password and a willingness to click past a warning labeled “illegal.” The public position of the Secretary of State and of Washington counties has been that tabulation of voted ballots, and production of results, does not begin before election day. Password-protected access to a results page during official testing, plus the ability to dismiss a warning marked “illegal,” is hard to reconcile with that message. The question is not only whether the July 8 screen showed a test deck. The question is who else has that password, and when it can be used on a live election. On July 14, 2026, I asked the Secretary of State in writing for a formal review. On September 10, 2026, the Secretary of State agreed to review Clallam County election procedure during the 2026 General Election under RCW 29A.04.570. Because the same office certified the system it will now review, the review is not free of institutional conflict of interest. Time will tell whether a system that permits that kind of access meets the standards the State says it certified. Clallam County Auditor: the SAVE Act — follow it, and lobby Congress not to adopt it On August 25, 2026, at a Port Angeles Business Association forum, I asked Auditor Riggs whether Clallam County would follow the SAVE Act’s proof-of-citizenship and voter-ID provisions for federal elections if Congress adopted the Act. She said she would follow it. That is the correct answer for an election official. The livestream was posted on the Association’s Facebook page; Radio Pacific covered the debate the next day. PABA videos: https://www.facebook.com/PortAngelesBusinessAssociation/videos Radio Pacific, Aug. 26, 2026: https://www.myclallamcounty.com/2026/08/26/election-security-takes-center-stage-in-clallam-auditor-race/ Fourteen days later, on September 8, 2026, Auditor Riggs signed a letter to Senator Patty Murray asking Congress not to include the SAVE America Act in the FY 2027 National Defense Authorization Act or in any reconciliation package. Auditor Riggs will follow the Act if it becomes law, and she has simultaneously asked Congress not to make it law — while she is a named candidate on the 2026 ballot and is therefore barred from sitting on the Canvassing Board this year. Clallam County Elections Manager: “The legal ramification of refusing to certify is a crime” On August 18, 2026, I attended the Canvassing Board meeting to certify the August primary. I submitted written and oral comment: that electronic tabulation can be altered (citing the September 18, 2025 examination under oath of a confidential witness in Case No. 1:25-cv-00425-STV, U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado); that I had watched pre-certification access to a results page at the July 8 L&A tests; that early scanning plus internal results access is its own vulnerability; and that DHS designated this infrastructure as critical in January 2017. I asked the Board to amend its rules to keep electronic systems out of signature verification and vote tabulation and to return to paper processes the public can watch without proprietary software, passwords, or a results screen that can be opened before certification. When the vote on certification came, there was a pause. Ian Hillway — sworn in to sit in Auditor Riggs’s seat — turned to the other designees (Commissioner Mark Ozias in place of Commissioner Mike French, and Dee Boughton in place of Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols) and told them that “the legal ramification of refusing to certify is a crime,” citing RCW 29A.60.200. Failure to certify the returns, if they can be ascertained with reasonable certainty, is a crime under RCW 29A.84.720. That clause is the whole fight. I had just put on the record reasons to doubt that certainty. The response was not to examine those reasons. It was to recite the penalty. Certification followed. Clallam County Commissioner: “We are going to follow the law” The defense of the status quo has been offered from more than one direction. The argument is: we are following the law as written; our hands are tied. That was, in substance, Commissioner French’s response when I spoke with him on September 11, 2026, after a Soroptimist International forum. A commissioner’s duties are not the auditor’s. The county auditor administers elections. The board’s tools are oversight, budget, inquiry, and referral. Once a commissioner is on actual notice of alleged defects in how the county conducts elections, the lawful response is not “we cannot look.” It is to put the allegations in front of the officers who do have statutory power: the auditor, the prosecuting attorney, the Secretary of State, and, where the facts warrant it, the Attorney General. The board can demand records, ask whether existing Title 29A and Secretary of State requirements are being met, and seek a charter or legislative change if the written law is the problem. What it cannot do is treat “following the law” as an answer to a claim that the law itself is not being followed. A county officer who has been told of vulnerabilities in systems the United States has classified as critical infrastructure is on notice that the subject is not optional. The responsible next step under Washington law is to r

  7. Oct 14

    CCWD Voters’ Guide

    Ballots are in the mail today. After serving as a Charter Review Commissioner last year and closely following Clallam County politics for the past three years, I’m sharing exactly how I’ll vote—if you’re curious. These choices prioritize spending restraint, parental rights, fairness, accountability, and constitutional governance over ideology or special interests. Please join the discussion in the comments and tell us how you will be voting. Initiatives IP26-645: Yes — Repeal the Income TaxFormer governors Gary Locke and Christine Gregoire put it succinctly: Washington doesn’t have a revenue problem; it has a spending problem. This unconstitutional income tax applies to every earner and currently includes a $1 million exemption that history shows will be lowered over time. Vote “yes” to repeal it and stop the income tax. IL26-001: Yes — Restore Parental Rights in EducationThe Sequim School District shows why we must restore parental rights. It has a long history of scandals and cover-ups, as detailed in this Olympic Herald article: Jim Stoffer remains in a leadership position representing us on the Olympic Educational Service District. Leaders like him make the case for restoring parental rights. IL26-638: Yes — Protect Fairness in Girls’ SportsOur young women are losing scholarships and first-place trophies to biological males. Transgender students should be allowed to participate in the sport that matches their biological sex. It’s that simple. U.S. Representative Teresa FoxThis is a one-issue race for me. Emily Randall wants to transfer two of our national wildlife refuges to a for-profit commercial seafood harvesting corporation. Jamestown tribal members already own these refuges as Americans—we all own them, and they need to stay that way. Once we lose them, the refuges will be gone forever. I’ve seen too many “Tribal members only” signs to believe the wildlife refuges would be treated any differently. Teresa Fox will fight to keep our national wildlife refuges; Emily Randall will fight to give them away. State Representative, Position 1 Eric PrattIncumbent Adam Bernbaum is pushing for more taxation without addressing out-of-control spending in Olympia. Two years ago he was a no-show for debates, and this year appears no different—he has not responded to an invitation to participate in this Thursday’s Calico Cat Club candidate conversation. It’s time for balance and representation. For me, that’s Eric Pratt. State Representative, Position 2 Marcia KelbonI’m impressed by every stance Marcia takes. She’s a moderate driven by data and metrics—exactly what Olympia needs more of right now. Her opponent, Kaylee Kuehn, supports the Climate Commitment Act and calls it “something we need to continue to invest in.” That single act added a hidden gas tax to every gallon of fuel you buy and largely benefits special interests. In a remote portion of Washington, hours from the I-5 corridor, that means virtually everything transported by truck costs more—for negligible climate results. You cannot champion housing affordability and a lower cost of living while supporting the CCA. Marcia acknowledges it is a regressive tax and prefers effective approaches. Supreme Court Justices For all Supreme Court seats, I’m looking for a return to constitutional rulings rather than ideological ones. I’ve met Dave Larson once, heard him speak twice, and I’m impressed. These are my votes: * Scott Edwards * David Stevens * Dave Larson * Todd Bloom * Sean O’Donnell Charter Amendments Amendment 1: ApproveWhen the public uses the charter review process to mandate that commissioners hold town halls on a schedule, it directly reflects our current county commissioners' disengagement from residents. It is sad that engagement isn’t already baked into their character and that we must rewrite our county charter to force it—but these three commissioners clearly show why they should face the public every other month. Jim Stoffer’s opposition is another strong reason to approve it. Amendment 2: ApproveA county with an ethics code but no way to enforce it is like highways with speed limits and no officers writing tickets. Commissioner Mark Ozias used his position to shut down a family-owned gravel pit across from his driveway because it would disrupt his sleep and raise his blood pressure—bypassing the hearing examiner process. It may not have been illegal, but it was unethical. Commissioner Mike French directed $118,000 to the Trinity United Methodist Church in Sequim for a three-space safe parking program, and the church then paid OlyCAP, the NGO on whose board he sits. Again, not illegal, but unethical. This county loses jobs, economic growth, and money because leaders behave unethically. It’s time to have someone writing tickets. Amendment 3: ApproveI wasn’t sure during the Charter Review Process, but Charter Review Commissioner Ron Richards eventually explained it in a way that made sense: it gives Clallam County voters more information and transparency. That’s hard to argue with—though Jim Stoffer found a way to write the “oppose” statement anyway. County Assessor I greatly admire aspects of both Lee Hancock and Antonio Price. I’m conflicted. It comes down to experience in one of the few county departments that brings in revenue, versus a staunch believer in private property rights. Please join the conversation in the comments and tell us who you’re voting for and why. County Auditor Virginia ShogrenTwo things about Virginia’s campaign stand out. First, she wants to create a Public Integrity Officer or department. Yes, there are upfront costs, but someone would start auditing the hundreds of thousands of dollars that flow through the county every week. Look at Health and Human Services: how much is spent weekly on Amazon trinkets and pizza? NGOs are absorbing taxpayer funds faster than we can refill the coffers. An upfront investment could deliver substantial savings immediately. Second, Shoona Riggs treats the League of Women Voters as a nonpartisan group allowed to participate in the election process. They are not nonpartisan; they are highly partisan and ideological, and they cannot be trusted—especially after their involvement in the Conservation District election that a judge threw out. Virginia recognizes the LWV for what they are, and I want them out of the election process until they prove they are what they claim. County Commissioner Jake SeegersThis recommendation comes from more than three years of watching Mike French. One of the many things that has impressed me about Jake Seegers is his ability and eagerness to sit down and engage in civil dialogue with people who may disagree with him—they almost always find substantial common ground. This was illustrated when Jesse Charles, one of Jake’s biggest critics, interviewed him. Who is Mike’s biggest critic? It might be me. He won’t sit down with me. He won’t answer emails. He’ll only shake my hand if I put it right in front of him. I’m tired of paying the salary of someone who only represents special interests. Jake Seegers is a leader, and it’s time for change. District Court 1 Patrick MurphyI heard Patrick speak once. He works in the prosecuting attorney’s office, and I got the sense he was frustrated. He works hard, builds cases, tries to prosecute, and then sees people get off easy. So many “Social Media Saturdays” articles document the revolving door of catch-and-release in District Court. Opponent Alex Schodowski has experience—she serves as judge pro tem when other judges aren’t available, and Patrick often appears before her. I don’t want someone to rule with an iron fist, but I do want more accountability in our court system. I want a risk-taker, not the status quo. I’m very frustrated with the broken cycle. I’ll be voting for Patrick. I’ve spoken with both Patrick and Alex; they are both very nice and approachable, and I’d encourage anyone to reach out to either of them without hesitation. PUD District 1 Rick PaschallAt a recent PABA candidate conversation, Randy Brackett seemed too focused on climate change, removing the Snake River dams, implementing solar, and expanding social programs for low-income residents. That equates to higher and higher costs. “Nobody will ever deprive the American people of the right to vote except the American people themselves—and the only way they could do this is by not voting.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt Stay Engaged Tomorrow Thursday The Calico Cat Club of Clallam County is hosting a Candidate Conversation for the 24th Legislative District (both positions): Thursday, October 15, 20266:30–8:30 p.m.Fairview Grange Hall, 161 Lake Farm Road, Port Angeles Confirmed: Kaylee Kuehn, Marcia Kelbon, and Eric W. Pratt.Incumbent Adam Bernbaum has been invited. Each candidate will give a brief opening statement, followed by audience Q&A. Priority for questions goes to Calico Cat Club members, but the event is open. Questions go to the panel as a whole; discussion among candidates is encouraged. No “gotcha” questions. This is much better than a voters’ pamphlet, show up. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.ccwatchdog.com

    CCWD Voters’ Guide

  8. Oct 13

    Mike French’s Tax Playbook: Separate the Levies, Raise the Bill, Call It Flexibility

    Reminder: Today, October 13, 10:30 a.m. — pack the room. The comprehensive plan public hearing is open for comment in person or virtually; if the next 20 years in Clallam County matter to you, show up and tell the commissioners and DCD Director Bruce Emery that Futurewise gets no veto, that the Climate Vulnerability Assessment was never required (only a climate resilience element under HB 1181), and that locking a 9°F projection into the plan is not the same as the 1.4°F of actual warming since 1895. Email all three commissioners via Clerk Loni Gores at loni.gores@clallamcountywa.gov and Bruce.Emery@clallamcountywa.gov, then be there so they have to face the people who will live with the result. When Clallam County faces a budget shortfall, Commissioner Mike French’s first instinct is never “spend less.” It is “find a new levy, a new sales tax, or a new way to split existing ones so the general fund gets more room.” Voters already rejected one property-tax hike. The response has been one-time accounting finds, councilmanic taxes that skip the ballot, a new state law that lets the county pull veterans and developmental-disability funding out of the general levy—and charge you separately—and the 0.1% housing sales tax he put on the Port Angeles ballot that helped fund Peninsula Behavioral Health’s North View complex. Reelect him, and this pattern continues. The Animal Shelter Question and the Predictable Answer At a recent Clallam County Democratic headquarters Q&A, French was asked whether he would support an operational levy for animal shelters. The question noted that animal health and control affect public safety and that existing buildings could potentially be repurposed instead of bonding for new ones. French said an operational levy “is not the first thing that I would step to.” He walked through the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society’s reduced role, the county’s former funding of that work, and the reconvened Animal Solutions Committee. He mentioned current spay-and-neuter support and deferred: “It would be difficult for me to say yes right now… I would want to take the Animal Solutions Committee’s lead, Commissioner Ozias’s lead, and Sheriff King’s lead… I want to let the experts speak first.” The problem is who sits among those “experts.” The advisory board includes organizations that already receive county funding. When groups that depend on the money recommend a dedicated levy, the outcome is easy to predict. French’s deference is not neutrality. It invites the same solution the county has used before: more dedicated taxes rather than tighter management of existing resources. Separating Veterans and Developmental Disability Levies: A One-Time General-Fund Boost The Washington State Association of Counties actively supported ESHB 2442, the “local government tax resources and fund flexibility” package. WSAC’s 2026 end-of-session report and legislative one-pagers highlighted the “bifurcation of the veterans’ and mental health/developmental disabilities levies from the general fund levy.” The association listed it under fiscal-sustainability priorities and supported it. The bill passed and takes effect in 2026. It lets counties keep funding those services inside the general levy or pull them out as separate independent levies (veterans up to $0.27 per $1,000 assessed value; developmental disabilities/mental health at a required $0.025). Mike French sits on WSAC’s Legislative Steering Committee. The association’s consistent product is more revenue tools for commissioners, not tools that force efficiency. Clallam staff have already told the board that separating the levies is “appropriate.” County CFO Mark Lane said doing so would cost about $19 more per year on a $500,000 home and that, without the separation, the general fund would have to subsidize those services more heavily. In other words, the dedicated pots stay funded (or grow), while the general levy is no longer required to carry them—freeing capacity for other spending. On your property-tax statement, the items that were previously buried inside the county’s regular levy can now appear as their own line items or rates. You still pay; the accounting simply makes the general fund look healthier while the total bill rises. This is a one-time structural shift. Once the levies are separated, the county cannot keep “finding” the same relief next year. It is the same pattern as last year’s deficit theater: a historic shortfall produced a levy lid-lift request that voters rejected. Shortly afterward, millions suddenly appeared from previously un-revisited criminal-justice contracts with Sequim and Port Angeles. That too was one-time. The recurring answer remains higher taxes. The Councilmanic Criminal-Justice Sales Tax French is on record supporting the 0.1 percent criminal-justice sales tax authorized by House Bill 2015 (RCW 82.14.345). Through June 30, 2028, a county legislative body can impose it by ordinance or resolution—no public vote required—for “criminal justice purposes.” Staff have already modeled it as a way to close the general-fund gap and described it as adoptable without voters. An April 2027 start would bring an estimated $1.487 million in the first seven months of that year, according to the finance presentation. Annually, it’s estimated to add $2.1 million in taxes. This is the same authority State Representative Natasha Hill (a progressive Democrat, like French) discussed. She called it a vote she did not want to take, then said Democrats put “guardrails” on it: locals must raise the tax themselves, spending is steered toward public defense, diversion, reentry, domestic-violence services, behavioral health, and crisis response, and jurisdictions must meet Criminal Justice Training Commission policy, training, and reporting rules or the state can withhold money. In a widely circulated “chicken wing” video reported by Brandi Kruse, Hill went further, linking the strings to law-enforcement history, “slave patrols,” and immigration enforcement rhetoric. The tax still stacks on top of Clallam’s existing 1994 0.1 percent criminal-justice sales tax (which is shared with the cities). The 0.1% Housing Sales Tax He Put on the Ballot—and the North View Complex It Helped Build At the same Democratic headquarters Q&A, French took credit for the 0.1% affordable-housing sales tax that began in Port Angeles and spread countywide. He told the audience that local developers “really had very little local match” for state and federal housing grants, so applications “were just scored terribly.” He continued: “We investigated that and brought to bear local funding. We, the voters at the city of Port Angeles, were the first to vote on a one-tenth 1% sales tax that supports affordable housing. I was the person that proposed that we put it on the ballot. I was the person that appeared at a League of Women Voters forum endorsing that ballot measure… And when we as a local community use sales tax, we’re leveraging all of the tourism that happens to support this. Anyway, so this the voters at the city of Port Angeles adopted that local sales tax that led to the county commissioners adopting it countywide. And so now we have… over $2 million or around that amount annually that we can apply to the local match for these housing developments… We’ve been successful almost every year at getting a multi-million dollar award… That started with this building that’s up on the top of the bluff. It’s a 36 unit apartment building that Peninsula Behavioral Health opened last month.” That building is North View, Peninsula Behavioral Health’s new complex. According to Peninsula Behavioral Health, the project prioritizes individuals with criminal records and active substance-use issues—exactly the population the county’s harm-reduction and behavioral-health programs already serve. French’s sales tax supplied the local match that unlocked the larger awards. The same commissioner who now defers to “experts” on animal control and supports new criminal-justice and levy-separation tools was the one who first put a 0.1% sales tax on the Port Angeles ballot so housing for the existing system's priority populations could move forward. The county simply followed. The Cultural Access Tax That Never Really Left French also pushed a 0.1 percent cultural-access sales tax to fund things like art therapy in jails, heritage, and related programs—also by commissioner-only vote rather than a public ballot. After leaked emails surfaced on CCwatchdog.com, the immediate push cooled. With Ozias’s support still on record and French still on the board, the same idea is likely to return next year if he is reelected. The estimated revenue is roughly $1.8–2 million annually. The pattern is consistent: when voters or scrutiny intervene, the proposal is paused, not abandoned. “Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” — Ronald Reagan The Choice Is Clear Every tool French and the WSAC network reach for expands the tax base or rearranges existing levies so the general fund has more room. None of them require the county to live within the revenue voters have already approved. The animal-shelter answer defers to nonprofits that are already funded. Separating veterans and developmental disability raises your property-tax bill while protecting dedicated spending and easing general-fund pressure. The criminal-justice sales tax can be imposed without a vote and is already modeled as gap-closing revenue. The 0.1% housing sales tax he personally put on the Port Angeles ballot supplied the match money that helped build luxury homeless housing. The cultural-access tax remains on the shelf, ready for another attempt. If Mike Frenc

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Holding County Leaders Accountable www.ccwatchdog.com

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  • Creator
    Jeff Tozzer
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    413
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Jeff Tozzer
  • Show Website
    Clallam County Watchdog

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