Clallam County taxpayers are footing the bill for luxury housing, drug kits, and legal services—not for working families, but for transient sex offenders and repeat criminals from across the state. As crime rises and local systems collapse, is this still compassion—or just self-destruction?
The prevailing narrative in Clallam County is that the homeless, addicted, and those receiving services are simply neighbors down on their luck. We’re told their Social Security checks don’t stretch to the end of the month. That they lost their jobs and were one paycheck away from a tent. That they’re fleeing domestic abuse. We're urged to give generously—and to never question where taxpayer dollars are going—because to do otherwise would lack empathy.
But this narrative is starting to collapse under the weight of hard facts.
Last week, the Clallam County Jail was busy.
Joshua Michael Mirka, a transient frequently heard on the Port Angeles police scanner, was booked Monday for criminal trespass. He was released Friday.
Mirka, 48, is a registered sex offender with convictions for third-degree rape and indecent liberties dating back to 1997 and 1998.
Also last week, Avonte Abram was booked for failing to register as a sex offender. He, too, was released just three days later.
Abram was convicted in 2018 of molesting a 12-year-old girl.
That conviction alone should give any community pause—but Abram isn’t even from here. He’s listed as living in Spokane’s 99207 zip code.
In late 2024, he was again convicted—this time for failure to register—and ordered to forfeit firearms in a Spokane County court case. Yet somehow, he landed in Clallam County, failed to register here, and was swiftly released.
Shortly after his release, one concerned citizen sent the following email to the Sheriff:
“Hello,
Can you please tell me why sex offender Avonte Abram is not registered in Clallam County? He was recently booked in Clallam Jail for 'failure to register' as a sex offender. A quick search showed him listed in Kitsap County, but now he appears on neither the Kitsap nor Clallam registry.
Abram was just in court in Spokane for another failure to register and was ordered to forfeit firearms. According to public records, he molested a 12-year-old when he was 21. Since he was released by the prosecutor here and is likely receiving services, shouldn’t he be required to register—and shouldn’t the public be informed?
Abram is currently listed as a transient living in Silverdale.”
This is the reality of “services” in Clallam County. We’re not just helping “neighbors.” We’re attracting—and enabling—dangerous individuals from across the state.
Here’s what they’re being given:
Free hot meals at various parks and shelters.
Needle distribution in public spaces by private citizens.
Fentanyl test strips, crack pipe cleaning kits, meth pipes, and “boofing kits” (used to administer drugs rectally for a faster, more intense high)—all provided by the Clallam County Health Department and paid for by you.
Narcan stocked not just in shelters, but in transit centers and little free pantries.
And soon, 36 units of permanent supportive housing—with all the perks—will be open in Port Angeles. The Northview Apartments, developed by Peninsula Behavioral Health, will prioritize housing those who are frequently incarcerated. This taxpayer-subsidized complex will cost nearly $13 million—or about $350,000 per unit—and feature panoramic views, air conditioning, a rooftop terrace, and even a dog-washing station.
This is not transitional housing. This is permanent, luxury-style housing with no requirement that residents stay clean or sober.
Meanwhile, our local systems are cracking:
The emergency room at Olympic Medical Center is overwhelmed. Assaults on hospital staff and patients in crisis are becoming routine.
Local businesses face daily theft, with stolen items resold for pennies on the dollar to feed drug habits.
Public safety resources are being drained. Our firefighters and paramedics are responding to overdoses, mental health breakdowns, and street-level emergencies.
The public defender system is overloaded, as indigent defendants receive court-appointed counsel paid for by local taxpayers.
Law enforcement, already short-staffed, is playing a constant game of catch-and-release.
All of this is being funded in a county that qualifies for federal retraining assistance because of its depressed economy. Our largest employer, Olympic Medical Center, is on the brink of collapse. Our second-largest employer, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe, openly practices racially preferential hiring. And the vast majority of our residents are retirees or working-class families earning less than the state average.
We can barely afford to care for our own.
Yet, we’re rolling out the welcome mat to transients and felons from across Washington. Services that are supposedly meant to help locals have created a regional magnet for crime, drug use, and exploitation of our already-fragile systems.
This isn’t compassion. It’s a slow-motion collapse, driven by policy, and paid for by people who had no say in it.
OMC public meeting Wednesday
August 6th, 12:30 pm, public comment allowed
Linkletter Hall, 939 Caroline Street, Port Angeles
Virtual and in-person attendance instructions here.
Share this post