Harm Reduction Double-Down and Other Local Absurdities

A weekly roundup of the posts, claims, and contradictions shaping public debate in Clallam County

Aug 15, 2026

While the Board of Health refuses public questions and email engagement, its leaders are rolling out a social media campaign defending two decades of harm reduction. Meanwhile, Commissioner Mike French’s self-promoted “accomplishments,” a proposed “Dignity Bus,” and other local stories raise the same question: is any of this making Clallam safer or healthier?

Harm Reduction Propaganda vs. Public Accountability

Amid rising scrutiny, missing metrics, and questionable claims about harm reduction from Clallam County’s Board of Health, Board of Health Chair Commissioner Mike French and Health Officer Allison Berry have chosen a revealing strategy. They refuse to address public concerns at meetings and decline email correspondence, yet they are launching a social media campaign partnering with NGOs and sovereign nations that benefit from the harm-reduction and homelessness industry.

The message doubles down on “meeting people where they are”—which, in practice, means trapped in active addiction. It is growing harder to persuade the public that the best way to help an addict and protect the community is to place a meth pipe and foil in that addict’s hand.

Clallam County has pursued this approach for two decades. Are things better?

Commissioner French’s Highlight Reel Needs a Fact-Check

The Clallam County Democrats are urging Facebook readers to celebrate Commissioner Mike French’s work.

The first accomplishment listed is the 36-unit North View affordable housing complex. The article omits that the units are prioritized for people with criminal records and substance-use issues, and that the cost exceeded $350,000 per unit.

Next comes “a new Joint Public Safety Facility to co-locate our regional 911 center and Emergency Management staff.” Design was completed and a contractor selected in 2025; construction is supposedly set to finish in 2026. However, the facility has not yet broken ground. Completing it in roughly four and a half months may make it the fastest public-safety operations building ever constructed.

A third claim centers on “significant investments in its workforce”—negotiating union agreements for higher public-sector pay and benefits, plus filling HR and IT director roles. In short, government salaries and benefits grew; private-sector job creation did not.

The fourth item is the federal Recompete grant, promoted as bringing 900 jobs to the North Olympic Peninsula. In its first year, it produced 31.

It may be time for a clearer accounting of French’s record. Read about Commissioner Mike French’s accomplishments here.

Is Common Sense Making a Comeback?

Two posts on Nextdoor.com stood out this week.

Seattle’s Bathroom Experiment Lasted Two Weeks

Remember Port Angeles Councilmember Mark Hodgson’s push for two new public bathrooms that would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to build, with city staff reporting that half a million dollars has already been spent on cleaning just three bathrooms since 2023? Seattle tried a similar approach. The facilities were vandalized within two weeks of installation.

Even Family Says: Stop Giving Her Cash

Family members of one local homeless woman are publicly pleading with residents not to give her money. “She is going to use the money for drugs,” the post states.

Clark County’s Warning Signal

We do not need a crystal ball to see where Clallam County could be headed. In Clark County (Vancouver area), more than 50 criminal cases were dismissed because of a public defender shortage, reigniting debate over accountability and justice-system capacity.

OlyCAP’s “Dignity Bus” Raises More Questions Than It Answers

OlyCAP—the nonprofit whose board Commissioner Mike French sits on—is exploring a “Dignity Bus”: a mobile homeless shelter with up to 21 comfortable sleeping pods.

Locals are already asking practical questions: Where will it park? What happens to shopping carts? How are pets handled? How is this meaningfully different from people living in their cars? And is it needed when OlyCAP’s $118,000 safe-parking program has been so underutilized?

Sequim Gazette’s Annual River Alarm

The Sequim Gazette, after partnering with the League of Women Voters and now WSU Extension, is once again sounding the alarm that the Dungeness River is flowing at “critically low levels.” Legitimate questions and counterpoints are appearing in the comments section.

Ferguson’s Office Sat on Climate Data Correction for Weeks

Gov. Bob Ferguson’s office delayed releasing a correction to wildly inflated Climate Commitment Act emissions numbers for roughly two weeks after the Department of Ecology begged to come clean. Ecology had claimed projects would cut 8.6 million metric tons of greenhouse gases; the real figure was only 1.2 million. The fix sat in the governor’s office until a conservative analyst publicly exposed the discrepancy—then it suddenly appeared. The episode is the latest example of Ferguson’s unusually tight media-control policy that requires most agency communications to clear his staff first.

The Climate Commitment Act has driven up costs of everything in Clallam County from energy and housing to gas and groceries, while disproportionately awarding funds to special interest groups and sovereign nations. Read the full article here.

Honoring Billy Frank Jr. with a Thirsty Golf Course

The Billy Frank Jr. Classic golf tournament kicked off this weekend. Frank was an environmental leader and advocate of treaty rights.

Right now, as the Dungeness River runs at critically low levels, water is being shut off to irrigators and locals are being asked to conserve so treaty-protected salmon have enough flow to swim upstream and spawn. What better way to honor Frank than a golf tournament on 122 acres of grass kept verdantly green during the driest part of the year—while everyone else is told to cut back?