Commissioner Ozias clarifies comments on Towne Road closure
"Upswell of support" is fewer than 100 signatures
I received an email from Commissioner Mark Ozias. I had heard he provided data about the Towne Road closure at a meeting 6 months ago, but my research wasn’t coming close to matching his claim. On February 27th he halted the completion of Towne Road due to “over 200 signatures” requesting that it remain closed to traffic. On March 30th he provided data to Sequim’s Sunrise Rotary as a guest speaker (see email below). When I reviewed the petitions obtained from a public records request, the signatures showed 98 supported closing Towne Road to through traffic while 140 supported the reopening.
Dear Commissioner Ozias,
I’ve been researching the public’s sentiment on who is advocating for the Towne Road closure, and who supports the reopening. I heard from a Rotarian that you said, “50% of the community wants to keep Towne Road closed” — I was told this was at a Sequim Sunrise Rotary meeting held on March 30th where you were a guest speaker. I’m having trouble reaching that conclusion with my own research. Did you say that? If so, could you tell me how you reached that conclusion? I’m looking for the data that supports that claim because my research isn’t finding it.
Thank you,
Jeff Tozzer
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The point I was trying to make was that there has been an upswell of interest in keeping the road closed. There has also been a whole lot of interest in re-opening as a road in some form. I have not counted the exact number of names on a given petition, or kept a log of "for" and "against" emails as it is not a popularity contest. I have however read each one carefully in an attempt to ensure that I am weighing all of the considerations that the people who live and use the area the most are expressing.
The county team is balancing a variety of factors when considering and sequencing next steps, and updated input from the community is a very important factor.
Sincerely,
Mark O
Oy