I’ve been in the medical field for a number of years and one thing I know these drug and boofing kits help no one and Narcan being handed out like candy.I feel for these people who are in this spiral of drug use, I lost a nephew to a fentanyl overdose so I know of what I speak but when do we say this is enough? It’s becoming an epidemic and local citizens are not safe. These people either need to get help to get clean or they need to go elsewhere. We have a Matt clinic here in Sequim. Why aren’t they taking these people there to get clean? It’s called look the other way by the commissioners until it’s so out of control there’s nothing that we can do about it. Also, all of the repeat offenders who get the idea to come here because they know they’re just gonna get let go.
The commissioners talk about they want to increase tourism, who in the heck would want come here and see all of this and not feel safe!
Also kudos toto Stephen Pelayo for taking a stand!
Exactly right. You can’t have rampant drug abuse and mental illness on the streets and a flourishing tourist economy at the same time. I know which one I would pick.
'The people' are more 'pliable' and more easily manipulated when under duress. 'We' will tolerate despotism and tyranny when things are out of balance...'We' want 'strong leadership' and the leadership these commies are providing is strongly communistic and people will put up with it...to a point.
They are playing with fire but their narcissism and arrogance means they believe they are doing 'god's work'...Klaus Schwab and others are their small 'g' gods...their mentors on high.
These 'young global leader' types know this...they aren't stupid in the usual way and they are arrogant beyond belief in their programming.
None of this is by accident...it's part of a plan.
They are not incompetent...they are doing exactly what they have been programmed to do.
Thanks for the shout out. I have not "taken a stand" on the drug issues facing our community. I simply have not done enough homework yet. I have, however, done a deep dive into our local economy. All I want is for us to prioritize economic growth. The strategies of the last 20 years have not worked. We need balance. Our community needs both million-dollar homes and affordable apartments or ADUs. We need private-sector jobs alongside public-sector employment. We need for-profit businesses working hand-in-hand with non-profits. We need to support both families and retirees. Growth should come from new greenfield construction as well as renovation of existing sites. And we need the right mix of incentives, carrots and sticks, to guide that growth. Right now, too much of our effort leans to one side of each of these, leaving us off balance. My strategy (if you can even call it that) is "educate to elevate". Just like OMC, I am putting together a City of PA performance dashboard. I want to see Council/Staff care as much about measurable results as they do about shaping policy or getting the next grant. In the end, we all want measurable improvement in our our lives, be it jobs/wages/housing/healthcare/educational outcomes/etc. Watch my presentation here: https://youtu.be/lRHz9qEJmuQ
Steve, I Love You. Trust is earned. You have earned mine. So far, not many of our Clallam County "leaders" have earned any trust. The hard one is earning trust back once it is lost. You have a whole village behind you : )
Steven, your YouTube is extremely professional! The Commissioners would have had to pay a pretty penny for this analysis, unfortunately it doesn’t go along with their program. My jaw is open, you came out of the gates from nowhere with both guns blazing!!!
Wonderful presentation! We have a micro business, and I’m all for jobs but I want more business growth, even if it’s the micro size, which I think there are benefits to not having employees due to all the regulations/taxation with hiring people, and then dealing with people who don’t have the work ethic we want. It’s all about growth though, especially for the economy; without a good economy and growth, everything dies around it, including the people. Thanks for so much data and putting it all together!
What I appreciate when you speak and provide perspective is the balance in your messages.
The growth at least one Commissioner wants is for another virus outbreak so that Congress appropriates more "free" money to be spent on pet projects. Yes, I'm being cynical, but that's how our BOCCC operates.
As for tourism, unless the homeless are forced to either get clean or get out, they can go up into the mountains, lighting a camp fire for warmth. Even a candle in a makeshift tent, and the woods could catch fire. If a candle could cause a fire, building a bonfire at one’s camp for warmth could be disastrous.
Robert, Harm Reduction is on its way out. There will be no more enabling. Funding will go back to building places to commit those that cannot take care of themselves. Funds will stop for MAT type clinics. Those that want help get the help offered and follow the programs. Yes, the rest will either take what is offered or go it on their own...We can't save everyone, but the ones that want to, will have to work for it.
Question.... when the City or County allow derelict structures on public property and campfire cause a fire that destroys private property, is the City or County responsible or does the property owner bear the burden?
This is what I read. The burden typically falls on the property owner if their actions—such as improperly maintaining property or failing to comply with fire safety regulations—result in a fire that damages private property, even if the fire began on public land. The City or County is generally not liable unless there is evidence of their direct negligence in managing public property or enforcing fire safety laws.
Allowing what I have seen is definitely direct negligence. If my property looked like some of the Homeless encampment, the city would be issuing fines.
Because “Matt” is a business. They profit as a NGO and because our tribe has zero tax liability, they are making millions of dollars off of the “epidemic”
Let’s take a look at the Association of Diabetes established in 1940. How have they done at curing diabetes? Or what about the cancer association? Will we ever get an actual cure, or are these organizations just raking in profit from donation?
It all comes down to industrialization of the epidemic for PROFIT! They don’t care about making people well, because it doesn’t produce a paycheck.
Tabitha, the Tribe runs a casino but get funding for gambling addiction. The Tribe runs a lucrative pot shop, but gets funding for drug addiction. The Tribe supplies alcohol in their casino but gets funding for alcohol addiction. The Tribe runs a MATT clinic which gets funded a HUGE amount to keep addicts addicted. Each business make money coming and going. That is the definition of insanity.
Yup, and they also get gas tax even though they don’t pay the states retail gas taxes. They get all of that money returned annually. It’s really disgusting how much this guilt play has been left to flourish, and how many actual TRUE indigenous people back these business endeavors? I haven’t seen any. I know a tribal elder who’s Jamestown, and he is still working for the tribe but he’s not making buku bucks like these other infiltrators do. The Allens I’ve heard will ONLY fly first class when they travel. They travel quite regularly on our dime. Just knowing that alone should really grind your gears because they make a mockery out of the common people regularly. Wearing passive aggressive shirts that demand their “homelands back” etc. hostility towards people that are perceived as “privileged” or YT.
I don’t know that we will ever see a solution to this drug crisis with how our Gov is trying to approach it. They have 4 “pilot” models presented currently they are going to try to review and have passed through. Which are basically stating “you will get injected with the drug you’re addicted to in a doctors office” or “we will buy black market drugs for you, test them, and then redistribute them back to you” look them up! It would be one thing if they wanted to replicate Portugal’s model, because it’s the most successful in the world currently speaking. But if you read these models you’ll notice the treatment terminology does not include treatment of the underlying illness that is fueling the addiction. So they’ll literally never get anywhere with it, they say it will “reduce crime!” Meanwhile they’re going to just continue to throw more money at the problem without the problem actually being solved. It’s a giant money laundering scandal. At least that’s what it feels like to me, and the facts to back it aren’t that far removed.
Thanks for pointing this out! That could be called the Hero Syndrome, but on a mass scale, making $$$. Or Crisis Validation. Based on "Hegelian dialectic—a psychological tool used to manipulate the masses. In this case, you create a problem, wait for the reaction, and then offer the solution. What people historically fail to realize, though, is that those offering the solution are the same people who caused the problem in the first place."
My aunt, my step-sistet, and my best friend died from cancer. Before each passed, each said that cancer would never be cured because it's too profitable. Very sad.
Drug kits, boofing kits and Narcan are the antithesis of compassion. It is aiding and abetting death by a thousand cuts. The sad truth about the drug addicted is that they have chosen it. When we take the results of one's choices away, we take their learning experience, their right to choose and their opportunity to hit their own bottom and hopefully recover. Nature's way of treating a deer with a broken leg is harsh, but the woods are not packed with deer with broken legs. When you feed pigeons you get more pigeons. Tough love may be harsh, but the addicted and society both ultimately benefit.
More and more, it’s apparent that “concerned citizens” are marching forward to be part of the solution and not the problem. Just read, not only this article but the latest CCWD articles to verify. It’s very encouraging to know something important is happening in Clallam County...
I was delighted to read yesterdays article (MyClallamCounty) about another citizen, Steven Pelayo, who has stepped forward to keep our money where it was meant to be used, and not absconded by “city officials” to cover cost for poor financial management. My hat is off to not only him, but to all of us Watchdogs!
Lodging Tax Committee Denies City’s Request For More Administrative Funds
Port Angeles – The Port Angeles Lodging Tax Committee voted down a proposed massive hike in the administrative costs City staff were seeking from the Lodging Tax (LTAC) fund.
According to STEVEN PELAYO, the CITIZEN WHO LED THE EFFORT to reject the City’s ask, from at least 2018 through 2024, the LTAC fund was automatically charged $38,000 per year as fixed administrative costs for City staff to administer the funds to local non-profits to be used for attracting tourism...the City asked for over $134,000, roughly 10% of the City’s annual lodging-tax revenue.
After they’re dropped off at OMC the ER nurses get to babysit the slumpers. They hydrate and feed them. And then they’re discharged before the withdrawals set in and they get aggressive. But they’ll be back soon. This is how communities are destroyed and one of the reasons why rural hospitals struggle to staff ERs. And then OMC had the ER doctor raping patients debacle. And then the previous C levels ran the hospital into the ground financially and have already skipped town. Oh and there’s no housing for rent, So that really helps with staffing too.
Yes, and lets increase the permitting costs, taxes, and regulations favoring tenants so that no one wants to build a rental unit, except NGO's that get funds from commissioners eager to spend other peoples money. (grants) This is what the elite are going for, total government control. Marxist idealism that has never been achieved.
And, lets support the DRUG SUPPLIERS coming into this country/county! It's all legal, it's all OK! And if you don't support it, then you are against Individual Freedoms!
Eric, in a conversation with someone in the business they related that some builders were building rentals because the cost of building permit were being reduced or eliminated. Whereas their building permits cost $16,000 for a residence in PA. I have no other verification of this.
Thanks JJW, I don't know the exact costs right now. I understand the laws designed to protect tenants have caused investors to shy from away rentals and that the ROI is not worth it. Government intervention in everything is not the answer. I still think we need a Legislative Holiday, where elected are servants and not a career. Marxism has not fulfilled the ideal anywhere. Greed and elitism will always prevent the utopia from being realized. A republic form of government by the people has proven to be the best form so far, in my humble opinion. I pray we don't lose it.
I’m not sure what will work anymore. Every time we explain to people that we are supplying junkies with the means of their destruction, some inbred local stands up on social media and says that we have to help them because they’re “from here,” which is nonsense. They always have a brother or sister or cousin or parent who is a (former, current) junkie or homeless tweaker … and the locals all raise their hands in affirmation. Or they work/volunteer for one of those harm reduction agencies.
SomeSome seems nobody has the statistics on long term recovery....could it be they aren't favorable? This is harm reduction is a fad like weight loss diets. Exciting to think it works, until it doesn't.
Don’t forget that before COVID, Serenity House (another player) was in reorganization, pretty much bankrupt due to mismanagement. COVID was the best thing that ever happened to SH and the harm reduction business in PA! I can just imagine their board meetings in 2019/2020: Bad news is that millions will die from a horrible virus. Good news is that millions of dollars will come to Clallam County that we can put toward social welfare — and we’ll blame Trump for the whole thing.
The libtards read Jeff and I would hate for them to get a screenshot of your comment so they can say that we all want to go after the “poor junkies” with pitchforks and torches. I know you don’t mean it literally (!) but it’s not a good scene.
oh they will twist and alter anything that we say. Because they don't really have a sense of HUMOR - dark humor, that is...or logic! Or real freedom of speech!
I would imagine the cost of emergency response and hospital care for overdose cases is substantial, with expenses quickly totaling thousands of dollars even for a single event.
Ambulance rides for overdose emergencies generally cost between $940 and $1,300 for basic to advanced life support, but charges can be as high as $3,500 or more depending on the complexity and provider, especially without insurance.
Overdose patients treated and released from the emergency department incur an average hospital cost of about $504.
More than $632 million is spent annually in the U.S. for emergency department care alone related to overdoses, with total hospital expenditures linked to opioid overdoses exceeding $11 billion each year.
Most of these costs are distributed among Medicare, Medicaid (public insurance), and uninsured patients, pushing a significant portion of the financial burden onto taxpayers and health systems.
Hospital readmission rates following overdose treatment are high, further compounding overall costs, with about 24% of emergency-department-released overdose patients returning for care within 30 days.
There must be a better way to treat addiction whether it is alcoholism or drugs, the costs are high and not only in the monetary sense.
Katinka, WOW your figures really hit home...meaning Clallam County home! How can it possibly be absorbed? An ambulance from OMC to Silverdale is $4,000, many patients are shipped out. Scary.
Some very brave people have spoken during the 3 minute public comment period at BoCC meetings. They have opened up about past addictions and how to become sober and stay sober. These fearless souls brought humility to the podium and a truthful explanation on what needs to be done in CC. And it isn't "harm reduction." The Commissioners must bring these people, and people like Chelsea, to the table and really listen, and not just 3 minutes, but for the whole 2 hours. Thank you, everyone, for stepping forward and bringing wisdom to such an onerwhelming problem. You are role models to your community.
There’s a lot more $$ to be made in perpetuating addiction with this harm reduction stuff than in attempting to cure an addiction with the tough love required. Truth is, unless one has hit bottom and chooses to get clean, they will not. Is it harsh to say that, in a county with a looming budget crisis, I would choose spending rare tax dollars on something other than enabling addicts, their “feelings” be damned?
Even if the commissioner's "hearts" were in the right place, by now they should realize their harm reduction is not working. Quite the opposite, it seems to me.
Our Commissioners take their queues from the Board of Health for all "health related matters." Dr. Sarah referenced this meeting not long ago in one of her comments and I took the time to listen to the meeting. The BOH meeting starts at 44:51, but discussion on opioids starts at 1:09:13.
I'd highly encourage everyone to listen so that you understand the mindset that our current Commissioners have decided will influence their decisions. Of Interesting note prior to the opioid part was Dr. Berry informing the committee that the state board of health has invited her to speak to them about the inclusion of tribes on local health boards because they'd like to learn how Clallam County does it.
When I listened to the opioid portion and heard the JST representative speak about the MAT clinic it dawned on me that there's a financial conflict of interest having a tribal for-profit corporation on a board that has a financial stake in how dollars are spent that support their enterprise.
The Clallam County Commissioners have a systemic problem on their hands.
Average harm reduction 'clients' last year 508, this year 974. Wound kits handed out last year 2,695, this year 4,124. They attribute the increase to more outreach. I attribute it to more drug use because everything they need (except the drugs) is free and delivered to their doorstep.
Some additional context missing from all these slump events is how often they decline medics and DRIVE away. If they are conscious enough after being woke to give some lame story, it's not like EMTs are doing field sobriety checks before they leave.
Horrifying. Not only do you have to contend with those who are mentally ill or driving while drunk, now you have to guess which addict is going to play bumper cars with you in the parking lot as they nod off?
There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know.
Hey, when even Sara Nelson, Seattle Council President, raises questions about “Harm Reduction’s” effectiveness, maybe, just maybe, something could be wrong with it:
In a stunning moment of honesty, Seattle’s own Council President called out the city’s drug-use enabling policies for what they really are:
“It feels like it’s giving a loaded gun to somebody who’s suicidal.”
"I fail to see, however, the harm that's being reduced by distributing supplies such as pipes and foil that are used to consume deadly drugs like meth and fentanyl. There were 570 overdose deaths in Seattle last year and 1,047 in King County overdose deaths. And for perspective, a total of 153 people died on our roads in the county in 2024. So I, you know, it's absolutely shocking to me that, that, and I think it would probably be shocking to our constituents if we knew, if they knew that we are using public resources to, to help people get high by distributing pipes, foil with instructions on how to make it round and kind of make it a pipe. This is like, to me, it feels like it's giving a loaded gun to somebody who's suicidal. And if, and it sends the, I think a confusing signal to our constituents because we are also spending a lot of money on overdose prevention and substance use disorder treatment, which I fully support, of course. And I, and I think that I've, I've led on, but just distributing, distributing these supplies is, runs counter to those efforts and is also, I think, cruel in and of itself. It is argued, I will say that the professionals argue that distributing these kinds of, of so-called safe supplies, which I, anyway, won't comment, is a strategy to, to forge a sense of rapport with people and then maybe get them into treatment or something like that. That is always said. But the, the, the times that I have asked our public health colleagues, how many people, do you have any data on how many people have actually gotten into treatment that you've been interacting with or who come and access these supplies? There, there's never an answer to that."
Scott, it's the beginning of the end of Harm Reduction. The first voice to (meekly) talk about it and has the power to be heard. Soon there will be many more. Thank you for this, I read it with much joy ; )
I guess we should just call their little kits slumping kits. Or to be more accurate, slumming kits. Because in the big picture. They are turning Clallam County in to a slum. Complete with with its own transportation department. Clallam County Transient.
I’ve been in the medical field for a number of years and one thing I know these drug and boofing kits help no one and Narcan being handed out like candy.I feel for these people who are in this spiral of drug use, I lost a nephew to a fentanyl overdose so I know of what I speak but when do we say this is enough? It’s becoming an epidemic and local citizens are not safe. These people either need to get help to get clean or they need to go elsewhere. We have a Matt clinic here in Sequim. Why aren’t they taking these people there to get clean? It’s called look the other way by the commissioners until it’s so out of control there’s nothing that we can do about it. Also, all of the repeat offenders who get the idea to come here because they know they’re just gonna get let go.
The commissioners talk about they want to increase tourism, who in the heck would want come here and see all of this and not feel safe!
Also kudos toto Stephen Pelayo for taking a stand!
Exactly right. You can’t have rampant drug abuse and mental illness on the streets and a flourishing tourist economy at the same time. I know which one I would pick.
'The people' are more 'pliable' and more easily manipulated when under duress. 'We' will tolerate despotism and tyranny when things are out of balance...'We' want 'strong leadership' and the leadership these commies are providing is strongly communistic and people will put up with it...to a point.
They are playing with fire but their narcissism and arrogance means they believe they are doing 'god's work'...Klaus Schwab and others are their small 'g' gods...their mentors on high.
These 'young global leader' types know this...they aren't stupid in the usual way and they are arrogant beyond belief in their programming.
None of this is by accident...it's part of a plan.
They are not incompetent...they are doing exactly what they have been programmed to do.
Thanks for the shout out. I have not "taken a stand" on the drug issues facing our community. I simply have not done enough homework yet. I have, however, done a deep dive into our local economy. All I want is for us to prioritize economic growth. The strategies of the last 20 years have not worked. We need balance. Our community needs both million-dollar homes and affordable apartments or ADUs. We need private-sector jobs alongside public-sector employment. We need for-profit businesses working hand-in-hand with non-profits. We need to support both families and retirees. Growth should come from new greenfield construction as well as renovation of existing sites. And we need the right mix of incentives, carrots and sticks, to guide that growth. Right now, too much of our effort leans to one side of each of these, leaving us off balance. My strategy (if you can even call it that) is "educate to elevate". Just like OMC, I am putting together a City of PA performance dashboard. I want to see Council/Staff care as much about measurable results as they do about shaping policy or getting the next grant. In the end, we all want measurable improvement in our our lives, be it jobs/wages/housing/healthcare/educational outcomes/etc. Watch my presentation here: https://youtu.be/lRHz9qEJmuQ
Steve, I Love You. Trust is earned. You have earned mine. So far, not many of our Clallam County "leaders" have earned any trust. The hard one is earning trust back once it is lost. You have a whole village behind you : )
Steven, your YouTube is extremely professional! The Commissioners would have had to pay a pretty penny for this analysis, unfortunately it doesn’t go along with their program. My jaw is open, you came out of the gates from nowhere with both guns blazing!!!
Thank you Steven !
Wonderful presentation! We have a micro business, and I’m all for jobs but I want more business growth, even if it’s the micro size, which I think there are benefits to not having employees due to all the regulations/taxation with hiring people, and then dealing with people who don’t have the work ethic we want. It’s all about growth though, especially for the economy; without a good economy and growth, everything dies around it, including the people. Thanks for so much data and putting it all together!
Great presentation Steven. Liked and subscribed and commented. Watched it 3 months ago and just reviewed it again.
What I appreciate when you speak and provide perspective is the balance in your messages.
The growth at least one Commissioner wants is for another virus outbreak so that Congress appropriates more "free" money to be spent on pet projects. Yes, I'm being cynical, but that's how our BOCCC operates.
As for tourism, unless the homeless are forced to either get clean or get out, they can go up into the mountains, lighting a camp fire for warmth. Even a candle in a makeshift tent, and the woods could catch fire. If a candle could cause a fire, building a bonfire at one’s camp for warmth could be disastrous.
It's why Clallam Transit is free, to have an additional mechanism to hide the addiction policies.
MK, it's a Ken Kesey bus tour.
Too much Magic Bus
Get on board
Get on the Bus
Get on the bus
You got to get on that Bus
If you want to get to that gig..........
You got to get on that bus
Just learned about the 'death bowl'...a blend of cannabis, meth, fentanyl and other drugs...a one hit wonder! These people want OUT...let them OUT!🤪
Robert, Harm Reduction is on its way out. There will be no more enabling. Funding will go back to building places to commit those that cannot take care of themselves. Funds will stop for MAT type clinics. Those that want help get the help offered and follow the programs. Yes, the rest will either take what is offered or go it on their own...We can't save everyone, but the ones that want to, will have to work for it.
Question.... when the City or County allow derelict structures on public property and campfire cause a fire that destroys private property, is the City or County responsible or does the property owner bear the burden?
This is what I read. The burden typically falls on the property owner if their actions—such as improperly maintaining property or failing to comply with fire safety regulations—result in a fire that damages private property, even if the fire began on public land. The City or County is generally not liable unless there is evidence of their direct negligence in managing public property or enforcing fire safety laws.
Allowing what I have seen is definitely direct negligence. If my property looked like some of the Homeless encampment, the city would be issuing fines.
Because “Matt” is a business. They profit as a NGO and because our tribe has zero tax liability, they are making millions of dollars off of the “epidemic”
Let’s take a look at the Association of Diabetes established in 1940. How have they done at curing diabetes? Or what about the cancer association? Will we ever get an actual cure, or are these organizations just raking in profit from donation?
It all comes down to industrialization of the epidemic for PROFIT! They don’t care about making people well, because it doesn’t produce a paycheck.
Tabitha, the Tribe runs a casino but get funding for gambling addiction. The Tribe runs a lucrative pot shop, but gets funding for drug addiction. The Tribe supplies alcohol in their casino but gets funding for alcohol addiction. The Tribe runs a MATT clinic which gets funded a HUGE amount to keep addicts addicted. Each business make money coming and going. That is the definition of insanity.
Yup, and they also get gas tax even though they don’t pay the states retail gas taxes. They get all of that money returned annually. It’s really disgusting how much this guilt play has been left to flourish, and how many actual TRUE indigenous people back these business endeavors? I haven’t seen any. I know a tribal elder who’s Jamestown, and he is still working for the tribe but he’s not making buku bucks like these other infiltrators do. The Allens I’ve heard will ONLY fly first class when they travel. They travel quite regularly on our dime. Just knowing that alone should really grind your gears because they make a mockery out of the common people regularly. Wearing passive aggressive shirts that demand their “homelands back” etc. hostility towards people that are perceived as “privileged” or YT.
I don’t know that we will ever see a solution to this drug crisis with how our Gov is trying to approach it. They have 4 “pilot” models presented currently they are going to try to review and have passed through. Which are basically stating “you will get injected with the drug you’re addicted to in a doctors office” or “we will buy black market drugs for you, test them, and then redistribute them back to you” look them up! It would be one thing if they wanted to replicate Portugal’s model, because it’s the most successful in the world currently speaking. But if you read these models you’ll notice the treatment terminology does not include treatment of the underlying illness that is fueling the addiction. So they’ll literally never get anywhere with it, they say it will “reduce crime!” Meanwhile they’re going to just continue to throw more money at the problem without the problem actually being solved. It’s a giant money laundering scandal. At least that’s what it feels like to me, and the facts to back it aren’t that far removed.
Thanks for pointing this out! That could be called the Hero Syndrome, but on a mass scale, making $$$. Or Crisis Validation. Based on "Hegelian dialectic—a psychological tool used to manipulate the masses. In this case, you create a problem, wait for the reaction, and then offer the solution. What people historically fail to realize, though, is that those offering the solution are the same people who caused the problem in the first place."
My aunt, my step-sistet, and my best friend died from cancer. Before each passed, each said that cancer would never be cured because it's too profitable. Very sad.
Thank you for commenting and adding this accurate perspective. We can't get out of this mess as long as making a profit is involved.
Drug kits, boofing kits and Narcan are the antithesis of compassion. It is aiding and abetting death by a thousand cuts. The sad truth about the drug addicted is that they have chosen it. When we take the results of one's choices away, we take their learning experience, their right to choose and their opportunity to hit their own bottom and hopefully recover. Nature's way of treating a deer with a broken leg is harsh, but the woods are not packed with deer with broken legs. When you feed pigeons you get more pigeons. Tough love may be harsh, but the addicted and society both ultimately benefit.
More and more, it’s apparent that “concerned citizens” are marching forward to be part of the solution and not the problem. Just read, not only this article but the latest CCWD articles to verify. It’s very encouraging to know something important is happening in Clallam County...
I was delighted to read yesterdays article (MyClallamCounty) about another citizen, Steven Pelayo, who has stepped forward to keep our money where it was meant to be used, and not absconded by “city officials” to cover cost for poor financial management. My hat is off to not only him, but to all of us Watchdogs!
https://www.myclallamcounty.com/2025/11/20/lodging-tax-committee-denies-citys-request-for-more-administrative-funds/
Lodging Tax Committee Denies City’s Request For More Administrative Funds
Port Angeles – The Port Angeles Lodging Tax Committee voted down a proposed massive hike in the administrative costs City staff were seeking from the Lodging Tax (LTAC) fund.
According to STEVEN PELAYO, the CITIZEN WHO LED THE EFFORT to reject the City’s ask, from at least 2018 through 2024, the LTAC fund was automatically charged $38,000 per year as fixed administrative costs for City staff to administer the funds to local non-profits to be used for attracting tourism...the City asked for over $134,000, roughly 10% of the City’s annual lodging-tax revenue.
After they’re dropped off at OMC the ER nurses get to babysit the slumpers. They hydrate and feed them. And then they’re discharged before the withdrawals set in and they get aggressive. But they’ll be back soon. This is how communities are destroyed and one of the reasons why rural hospitals struggle to staff ERs. And then OMC had the ER doctor raping patients debacle. And then the previous C levels ran the hospital into the ground financially and have already skipped town. Oh and there’s no housing for rent, So that really helps with staffing too.
Yes, and lets increase the permitting costs, taxes, and regulations favoring tenants so that no one wants to build a rental unit, except NGO's that get funds from commissioners eager to spend other peoples money. (grants) This is what the elite are going for, total government control. Marxist idealism that has never been achieved.
And, lets support the DRUG SUPPLIERS coming into this country/county! It's all legal, it's all OK! And if you don't support it, then you are against Individual Freedoms!
Eric, in a conversation with someone in the business they related that some builders were building rentals because the cost of building permit were being reduced or eliminated. Whereas their building permits cost $16,000 for a residence in PA. I have no other verification of this.
Thanks JJW, I don't know the exact costs right now. I understand the laws designed to protect tenants have caused investors to shy from away rentals and that the ROI is not worth it. Government intervention in everything is not the answer. I still think we need a Legislative Holiday, where elected are servants and not a career. Marxism has not fulfilled the ideal anywhere. Greed and elitism will always prevent the utopia from being realized. A republic form of government by the people has proven to be the best form so far, in my humble opinion. I pray we don't lose it.
Definitely agree.
We've already lost it. Can we get it back?... is the question.😎
Harm reduction is bad for individuals but great for business at PBH, Rediscovery, NOHN, OMC’s ER, the Clallam County Health office, etc.
BINGO
I had a dream, I still have a dream. It involves torch lights and pitch forks. Are licensed required?
I’m not sure what will work anymore. Every time we explain to people that we are supplying junkies with the means of their destruction, some inbred local stands up on social media and says that we have to help them because they’re “from here,” which is nonsense. They always have a brother or sister or cousin or parent who is a (former, current) junkie or homeless tweaker … and the locals all raise their hands in affirmation. Or they work/volunteer for one of those harm reduction agencies.
SomeSome seems nobody has the statistics on long term recovery....could it be they aren't favorable? This is harm reduction is a fad like weight loss diets. Exciting to think it works, until it doesn't.
Or line in the sand?
We won’t know until we try it. Ever heard of putting your foot down?
I can't take it anymore!!!
It's called 'GUILT'. 'Compassion' 'Caring' - who doesn't care??
Cynically playing on the emotions of softheaded altruism. Right up there with the PDN begging for donations to support journalism.
Exactly.
Don’t forget that before COVID, Serenity House (another player) was in reorganization, pretty much bankrupt due to mismanagement. COVID was the best thing that ever happened to SH and the harm reduction business in PA! I can just imagine their board meetings in 2019/2020: Bad news is that millions will die from a horrible virus. Good news is that millions of dollars will come to Clallam County that we can put toward social welfare — and we’ll blame Trump for the whole thing.
Yes, pitchfork and torches are controlled devices! But they get the 'point' across.🤣
The libtards read Jeff and I would hate for them to get a screenshot of your comment so they can say that we all want to go after the “poor junkies” with pitchforks and torches. I know you don’t mean it literally (!) but it’s not a good scene.
oh they will twist and alter anything that we say. Because they don't really have a sense of HUMOR - dark humor, that is...or logic! Or real freedom of speech!
AFB, I agree. Humor softens most things and is an outlet for frustration.
yes; I have utilized humor in my most dire hours. And it works for me!
Dark humor for dark times!🤪
You misread it. The aforementioned devices are for the perps not those suffering addiction.
We can no longer afford to contain our cynicism and sarcasm...if they attack us for 'tongue-in-cheek' comments, that's on them.
Tough love means Tough!
They are pushing for civil unrest, not us but we won't be overrun and bullied by psychopaths and not respond.😎
Another very astute observation, Robert!
Don, I'll be part of your torch-wielding mob, whose the Frankenstein? Hell, I don't care, I'll chase anybody at this point : )
I prefer characterizing them as vampires, sucking the life out of the addicted and the taxpayers. SomeOne SomeOne gave us a list start with.
I would imagine the cost of emergency response and hospital care for overdose cases is substantial, with expenses quickly totaling thousands of dollars even for a single event.
Ambulance rides for overdose emergencies generally cost between $940 and $1,300 for basic to advanced life support, but charges can be as high as $3,500 or more depending on the complexity and provider, especially without insurance.
Overdose patients treated and released from the emergency department incur an average hospital cost of about $504.
More than $632 million is spent annually in the U.S. for emergency department care alone related to overdoses, with total hospital expenditures linked to opioid overdoses exceeding $11 billion each year.
Most of these costs are distributed among Medicare, Medicaid (public insurance), and uninsured patients, pushing a significant portion of the financial burden onto taxpayers and health systems.
Hospital readmission rates following overdose treatment are high, further compounding overall costs, with about 24% of emergency-department-released overdose patients returning for care within 30 days.
There must be a better way to treat addiction whether it is alcoholism or drugs, the costs are high and not only in the monetary sense.
Katinka, WOW your figures really hit home...meaning Clallam County home! How can it possibly be absorbed? An ambulance from OMC to Silverdale is $4,000, many patients are shipped out. Scary.
And some people object to the U S Navy blowing up drug running boats heading for the US. Unbelievable.
Follow the protesters, their noise, and their money. Why else would anyone object?
Some very brave people have spoken during the 3 minute public comment period at BoCC meetings. They have opened up about past addictions and how to become sober and stay sober. These fearless souls brought humility to the podium and a truthful explanation on what needs to be done in CC. And it isn't "harm reduction." The Commissioners must bring these people, and people like Chelsea, to the table and really listen, and not just 3 minutes, but for the whole 2 hours. Thank you, everyone, for stepping forward and bringing wisdom to such an onerwhelming problem. You are role models to your community.
There’s a lot more $$ to be made in perpetuating addiction with this harm reduction stuff than in attempting to cure an addiction with the tough love required. Truth is, unless one has hit bottom and chooses to get clean, they will not. Is it harsh to say that, in a county with a looming budget crisis, I would choose spending rare tax dollars on something other than enabling addicts, their “feelings” be damned?
Even if the commissioner's "hearts" were in the right place, by now they should realize their harm reduction is not working. Quite the opposite, it seems to me.
It's more than their hearts, they're listening to those who profit from the cycle of misery as I described in my comment above.
I don't believe our commissioners have hearts!
They've been misguided by emotions, easy enough to succumb to it.
MK, emotions? or something more? I vote something more.
Ideologies powered by emotions and brain-washing.😎
Our Commissioners take their queues from the Board of Health for all "health related matters." Dr. Sarah referenced this meeting not long ago in one of her comments and I took the time to listen to the meeting. The BOH meeting starts at 44:51, but discussion on opioids starts at 1:09:13.
I'd highly encourage everyone to listen so that you understand the mindset that our current Commissioners have decided will influence their decisions. Of Interesting note prior to the opioid part was Dr. Berry informing the committee that the state board of health has invited her to speak to them about the inclusion of tribes on local health boards because they'd like to learn how Clallam County does it.
When I listened to the opioid portion and heard the JST representative speak about the MAT clinic it dawned on me that there's a financial conflict of interest having a tribal for-profit corporation on a board that has a financial stake in how dollars are spent that support their enterprise.
The Clallam County Commissioners have a systemic problem on their hands.
https://clallamcowa.portal.civicclerk.com/event/285/media
Average harm reduction 'clients' last year 508, this year 974. Wound kits handed out last year 2,695, this year 4,124. They attribute the increase to more outreach. I attribute it to more drug use because everything they need (except the drugs) is free and delivered to their doorstep.
so many of those wound kits are thrown on the ground and never used. 4 PA picks up many of them. I have picked up bags full behind Safeway
Out of the mouths of babes. Thank you for the clarification Susie.
The Kommissars ARE the systemic problem.😎
They suffer from stale policies brought on by unbalanced thought.
It's the money, sonny. The people that run the NGOs that deal with this don't want to solve the addiction problem; that would put them out of work.
Listen to the last board of health meeting I cited elsewhere in today's comments.
Some additional context missing from all these slump events is how often they decline medics and DRIVE away. If they are conscious enough after being woke to give some lame story, it's not like EMTs are doing field sobriety checks before they leave.
Good point. I have always wondered just how many impaired drivers of cars are out there on our roads.
Horrifying. Not only do you have to contend with those who are mentally ill or driving while drunk, now you have to guess which addict is going to play bumper cars with you in the parking lot as they nod off?
There are none so blind as those who will not see. The most deluded people are those who choose to ignore what they already know.
Hey, when even Sara Nelson, Seattle Council President, raises questions about “Harm Reduction’s” effectiveness, maybe, just maybe, something could be wrong with it:
In a stunning moment of honesty, Seattle’s own Council President called out the city’s drug-use enabling policies for what they really are:
“It feels like it’s giving a loaded gun to somebody who’s suicidal.”
"I fail to see, however, the harm that's being reduced by distributing supplies such as pipes and foil that are used to consume deadly drugs like meth and fentanyl. There were 570 overdose deaths in Seattle last year and 1,047 in King County overdose deaths. And for perspective, a total of 153 people died on our roads in the county in 2024. So I, you know, it's absolutely shocking to me that, that, and I think it would probably be shocking to our constituents if we knew, if they knew that we are using public resources to, to help people get high by distributing pipes, foil with instructions on how to make it round and kind of make it a pipe. This is like, to me, it feels like it's giving a loaded gun to somebody who's suicidal. And if, and it sends the, I think a confusing signal to our constituents because we are also spending a lot of money on overdose prevention and substance use disorder treatment, which I fully support, of course. And I, and I think that I've, I've led on, but just distributing, distributing these supplies is, runs counter to those efforts and is also, I think, cruel in and of itself. It is argued, I will say that the professionals argue that distributing these kinds of, of so-called safe supplies, which I, anyway, won't comment, is a strategy to, to forge a sense of rapport with people and then maybe get them into treatment or something like that. That is always said. But the, the, the times that I have asked our public health colleagues, how many people, do you have any data on how many people have actually gotten into treatment that you've been interacting with or who come and access these supplies? There, there's never an answer to that."
Scott, it's the beginning of the end of Harm Reduction. The first voice to (meekly) talk about it and has the power to be heard. Soon there will be many more. Thank you for this, I read it with much joy ; )
Hey, where's Matthew??
AFB, I'm gonna smack you ; )
HAhaha! I'm calling Matthew Mr. Grinch! hahaha
'You're a rotter, Mr. Grinch.
You're the king of sinful sots!
Your heart's a dead tomato splotched
With moldy purple spots, Mr. Grinch.!'
I guess we should just call their little kits slumping kits. Or to be more accurate, slumming kits. Because in the big picture. They are turning Clallam County in to a slum. Complete with with its own transportation department. Clallam County Transient.
:) yes
This version of "harm reduction" should be called assisted suicide. :(
While causing maximum damage and profit doing it!🤪