Freedom of Speech Amendment disregarded

Commissioner seeks to stop unnecessary confusion

Clallam County's stated goal of robust community engagement hit a roadblock today during public comment at the commissioners' weekly meeting. 

"No video allowed?  Is that what's going on here?" asked a commenter who was attending remotely via Zoom.  He had expected to participate via video, which had been allowed during the previous public comment period, but only his audio could be heard — his video wasn’t coming through.  Participation via Zoom video has been utilized and popular by constituents and commissioners since the pandemic.  

"Go ahead," replied Board Chairman Mike French. 

"I have no video," said the puzzled constituent.  

"Yes, we can hear you," reassured Commissioner French.  

"Why am I being censored?" asked the constituent.  

"So, this is a limited public forum, " explained Commissioner French.  "You're allowed to make comments.  We're not required to give you full access to every feature on Zoom."

While that may be true, the video feature has been standard and accepted up until today. One landowner on Towne Road is routinely allowed to use the video feature:

On multiple occasions, the screen-sharing option also allowed for a student activist group from the University of Washington to advocate that the Towne Road Levee should not be a road:

Using Zoom to participate in local government has become a valuable and relied-upon tool for many of Clallam County’s diverse and remote constituents. The 70-mile drive from Neah Bay to the Clallam County Courthouse takes over an hour and a half but with video, Westenders have been able to show pictures of road conditions or statistical data without making the drive. So why, when the video feature was allowed earlier in the meeting, was someone prohibited from using it today?

The commenter who was forbidden from using video was John Worthington, a concerned resident who has been critical of Commissioner Ozias' assertions that the North Olympic Development Council (NODC) has no involvement with the Dungeness Reservoir.  This was the first time Worthington provided public comment since an article was published linking the NODC to the reservoir.

The gallery was surprised by the unexpected restriction, as was Worthington.  Commissioner French said, "I'll just point out that if you join other virtual meetings of other public agencies in the area, you're not even allowed to unmute."

At the close of the meeting, Commissioner French felt a need to address some of the issues surrounding public comment.  He reminded the gallery that there is no requirement to have open public comment.  "We go over and above what the state requires because we want people to have an opportunity to provide feedback on general county business to us,” he said. “There has been a recognized trend of people weaponizing these platforms to pursue hate speech… I don’t think that we have a problem with hate speech, but I just want to make it clear that many other communities have.”

The question was asked from the gallery, "What's the policy on video?"  

Commissioner French answered, "We're not required to accept video public comments."  

An attendee asked, "Is there a policy though?  No more video going forward?"

"We have policies in both our county code and our county administrative policies.  We discussed in that Monday meeting in January adopting changes to that policy, we decided not to.  We feel like it's not so restrictive and it's not too vague.  We have a policy, I can't tell you off the top of my head what it says exactly."  

Commissioner Ozias said he is in favor of developing more policies around public comment, and he offered an example.  "With regard to the North Olympic Development Council and information that was screenshared that a member of the audience pointed out as being 'helpful.'  That's an example of information that was shared, and that has resulted in confusion that's unnecessary."

The Board of Commissioners who quietly kept the stoppage of Towne Road's completion a secret for six months, the Board of Commissioners who blamed the road’s delay on having to pay for soil remediation after the county was fully reimbursed for that cost, and the Board of Commissioners who withheld from the public that home insurance rates and emergency response times would increase for Dungeness if Towne Road remained closed, has now assumed the role of censoring information that may result in confusion.

Freedom of speech means the free and public expression of opinions without censorship, interference and restraint by the government and is meant to apply equally to all individuals.  No explanation was given today as to why John Worthington is being treated differently.  The Commissioners have a right to limit the video feature of Zoom, but it must be a policy that is applied to everyone equally.  Picking and choosing who can participate violates a commissioner’s oath to serve "faithfully and impartially."  

In Clallam County, some constituents get to drive on public, county roads, while others do not.  Some constituents get a direct line to the Sheriff and Prosecuting Attorney via their commissioner, while others do not.  Some constituents even get a commissioner to attend their "anti-gravel pit" or "save the trail" rally, while others do not.

Some constituents are allowed the video feature at the commissioners' meetings, while others are not.  Nowhere in the Public Meetings Act does it say that the commissioners may treat commenters who criticize their behavior differently than those who support their actions.

As long as the commissioners are pursuing issues that have resulted in “confusion that is unnecessary,” they may want to find who is behind another anonymous DLTA flyer that arrived in Tuesday’s Val-Pac mailer. A special interest group is offering to take a public, county road away from the taxpayers who have funded it and turn it into a trail, and the confusing propaganda is being mailed county-wide.