Grasping at straws

Towne Road opponents follow Custer's lead

Commissioner Ozias sat alone at today's weekly commissioner meeting.  Commissioner French was absent, and Commissioner Johnson attended remotely using the controversial Zoom video feature.

Regarding the recent restriction that prohibited the public from using the video feature during comment periods, the ban only lasted one week.  "We will allow you to come on camera when you are making public comment," explained Ozias.  "However, we will continue to not allow screen sharing during the public comment period."  

Commissioner Ozias had this to say when he outlined expectations for public comment: “I would like to remind everybody that the public comment period at public meetings is not intended to be a dialogue between the public and the commissioners. It’s not intended to be a platform for individuals to speak to or about each other.”

An interesting procedure happened during an otherwise mundane commissioners' meeting.  The county engineer and right-of-way agent held a public hearing about the vacation of a county road.

A segment of county right-of-way exists on private property near Palo Alto Road and has had an easement across it since before the construction of Highway 101.  The landowner would like to build a home on the property that is bisected by the easement (which the county road system no longer has use for) and the owner has requested that the easement be vacated.  As practical as this seems, the county still must follow an 11-step process to vacate the easement, and today's public hearing was one of those steps.

Any county right of way, easement, or county road, can be vacated by due process.  This is accomplished by following a legal playbook that involves notifications and hearings.  County roads are not vacated solely by petition, or by feeling that a road should be vacated.  If county residents would like to pursue the vacation of a public road, there is a fair and legal process to accomplish that.

Despite not knowing who is backing and funding the Dungeness Levee Trail Advocates (DLTA) movement, several leaders have emerged.  Today they utilized public comment in hopes that the taxpayers who paid for Towne Road will be banned from using it.

"Commissioner French challenged us to bring 50 people into this boardroom," commented a vocal opponent of Towne Road who currently has exclusive use of the public roadway to reach his property.  He requested over the television, "If everyone in the room could just raise their hand who's here to support the trail."  A majority of the room raised their hands and, as one road supporter commented later, she raised her hand because she openly supports the trail since it will be beside the road that she also supports.

Downtown Sequim resident Rebecca Horst stated, "Years ago, I heard the Sequim Fire Chief state 'Building in remote mountain areas is at your peril.’  People have anyway.  Now there is an emergency, and EMS goes.  Are we to honestly believe that a wildland fire tender that traverses narrow, remote, forest dirt roads and that a ladder truck that can squeeze into a little garage door backwards on fifth avenue and can travel clear up on Doe Run [Road] on Bell Hill isn't capable of traversing the current levee surface?"

Nola Leyde, who lives south of the closure, told the gallery she has worked for 30 years on hydro projects and that she was tasked with communicating facts to people.  "A fireman should not be talking for the emergency management; it should come down from there.  He can have a personal opinion about it, but there is an agency position.  The sponsors are in control of it."  Leyde also raised concerns about the weight of cars on top of the levee.

"We were asked to bring 50 people today," explained Dave Kelm who lives south of the closure.  "And the one who asked that is not here.  Go figure, isn't that convenient?"

Agnew resident Rae Hasselbach told of a family whose children used to wait for the school bus at the top of Towne Road.  "The kids were terrified because traffic was so heavy, and people sped so quickly.  The kids didn't want to wait for the bus to go to school in the morning.  And that's a horrible way to start your day.  Like, as a teacher, the first thing we want is for kids to start the day off in a positive manner."

Karen Huber, who lives north of the closure but has also been granted exclusive access to the public road, asked to pause the Towne Road project.  "We are one farm that also used to run a retail business.  That's not important to us to continue having a retail business along Towne Road.  What's important is keeping and preserving this area for the future generations."

The wife of a landowner on Towne Road who also has exclusive access to the public roadway (but requested not to be named) categorized Jeff Tozzer's CC Watchdog website as promoting "conspiracy theories."  She also raised concerns that not following the wishes of the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe could result in the Tribe not paying for future projects.  She remarked of an upcoming forum open to the public, "That must be why you commissioners, and Jeff Tozzer, are engaging and billed as presenting in next week's QAnon-hosted Town Hall."

Speaking of the upcoming People’s Forum on April 11th, Commissioner Randy Johnson will be joined by Commissioner Mike French who has recently agreed to participate.  This event is free, open to the public, and not hosted by QAnon.