Mitigating public engagement
Updated county plan caters to "most important partner"
County sidesteps community engagement. Climate change may cause earthquakes. Ozias reveals who is important. More levees slated for removal. Germany’s vision for Clallam County. Community leaders aren’t even hiding who their favorite is anymore.
Clallam County has released a draft of the updated Hazard Mitigation Plan. It’s 2,057 pages long (including the “annexes” that address cities), and the public has been invited to provide comments from December 4th until December 31st.
The plan, updated every five years, identifies hazards such as earthquakes, tsunamis, wildfires, flooding, and landslides and highlights ways to prepare for them. County leaders said that community engagement, which began in February, would include informing, consulting, involving, collaborating, and empowering the public.
Robust public disengagement
The Hazard Mitigation Plan was developed by Cascadia Consulting Group (not to be confused with Cascadia Water, featured in Water Woes). In February, the commissioners interviewed Cascadia and asked about public engagement, which has been challenging for the commissioners this year.
In October, the commissioners invited the public to a presentation of the 2025 proposed budget. Although it was advertised as a “public meeting,” those unwilling to pay a $30 fee were turned away at the door.
Commissioner French has reminded attendees that meetings “are not meetings of the public; they are meetings of the board conducted in public.”
Recently, the commissioners have limited public comment to only 10 minutes regarding agenda items.
After initially supporting a monthly forum where the public could ask questions and receive answers, the commissioners now indicate this will not happen again. October’s first (and apparently, last) Q&A revealed that the commissioners are astonishingly unaware of county matters and unable to answer questions without a script.
The message from county leaders seems to be, “We need you to fund government, but we don’t want you to engage.”
“I will prioritize robust public engagement, respect for my colleagues, and intentional outreach to our business community…” — PA City Councilman Mike French, campaigning for County Commissioner, 2022 Voter’s Guide
“For public engagement,” explained Mary Ann Rozance of Cascadia Consulting Group, “We are recommending in-person and hybrid… engagement for public meetings, as well as other types of engagement touchpoints, including having a robust website for this project.” Rozance was answering questions from the commissioners who, in February, were considering hiring Cascadia to update the County’s Hazard Mitigation Plan.
Cascadia’s Mike Chang, who also attended February’s meeting, said intentional engagement would be a focus in addition to websites, surveys, press releases, and public notices “just so there is that public touchpoint in terms of communication strategy.”
County employee Diane Harvey assured the commissioners, “We will go out to the public, and we will do a survey, and we will also do events in which we interact with the public to get their views on what they would like to see.”
“Any entity that is going to have their plan approved by FEMA, we’re going to have to have a public outreach moment.” — Diane Harvey, Clallam County Special Projects Manager
Commissioners Ozias and French emphasized that the updated Hazard Mitigation Plan should focus on climate change. Harvey explained that some hazards, traditionally considered natural, were now linked to climate change. “There is some scientific data that they’re thinking about that maybe climate change is impacting the probability of earthquakes.”
At the end of February’s presentation, commissioners French and Ozias agreed to hire Cascadia for $369,000 (Commissioner Johnson was absent). However, eight months later, the entire Board of Commissioners, the county’s CFO, and the administrator denied having ties with the consultant.
A year of public outreach
Earlier this year, the County outlined its plan for public engagement regarding the Hazardous Mitigation Plan update:
The County had a booth at the Home Show in Port Angeles in March. An article in the Peninsula Daily News also invited residents to take a survey to be completed by May 10th.
In April, Clallam County participated in a KONP radio show.
In August, outreach occurred at the Joyce Festival and the Clallam County Fair. A “Jamestown S’Klallam Workshop” was also held.
In October, the County attended Sequim’s Public Safety Fair. However, an article advertising the event did not mention the County’s participation.
In late October, the County performed a “community engagement” event at a closed-door private meeting hosted by the North Olympic Development Council (NODC) at the 7 Cedars Casino. The public paid for the event but was not allowed to attend.
“We’ll work closely to identify the specific meeting locations that make the most sense for public participation for public meetings, and thinking about how the hybrid option is really important as well.” — Mary Ann Rozance, senior associate at Cascadia Consulting Group
Lackluster survey participation, which garnered only 619 responses, suggests that community engagement reached less than 1% of the County.
The most important partner
“I believe that the Jamestown S'Klallam Tribe is our most important partner in local governance,” Commissioner Ozias announced during a commissioner meeting in April.
Surprisingly, Ozias indicated that Jamestown tribal members were more important than the Elwha, Quileute, or Makah tribal members living in the County. Meeting attendees in the gallery that day were unaware of a hierarchy that put 217 local Jamestown tribal members ahead of the 77,620 Clallam County residents and taxpayers who fund county government.
The importance of the Jamestown Tribe is reflected in the updated plan; “Jamestown” is mentioned 389 times. “Elwha” is mentioned 382 times, “Makah” 95 times, and “Quileute” 57 times. The Plan occasionally departs from discussing hazards and instead documents the historic territory and treaty rights of the S’Klallam Tribe:
“The Klallam or S’Klallam (‘the strong people’) occupied the largest portion of Clallam County, and it is from these native people that the County derived its name. The Klallam people’s territory stretched along the Strait of Juan de Fuca from the Hoko River to the east beyond Discovery Bay... In 1855, S’Klallam leaders signed the Treaty of Point No Point with the U.S. Federal Government, trading vast amounts of land and resources in exchange for the right to continue to hunt, fish, and gather in their “usual and accustomed ground… [After World War II] Clallam County tribes reclaimed traditions and reasserted tribal fishing rights. The Jamestown S’Klallam tribe won federal recognition in 1981, and received trust land at Blyn on Sequim Bay, which now houses the tribal center and casino.
All four tribes are recognized regarding the dangers of climate change. The updated plan outlines how some special interest groups are more at risk than others during hazard events.
Each of these tribes may face unique challenges during hazard events and are considered socially vulnerable due to their close dependence on and connection with the natural environment for their culture, health, and livelihoods. Most tribes have reservations and treaty rights that are connected to specific places and resources, challenging tribes’ mobility, and flexibility to go elsewhere in response to disasters or other changing conditions. Additionally, many tribal communities face social and economic conditions that are likely to be exacerbated by climate change.
As climate change alters land, ecosystems, and species distributions, tribes with resource-based livelihoods may lose access to natural resources within traditional homelands, Usual and Accustomed areas, and ceded or ancestral territories. Climate change also negatively impacts tribal community health and well-being—which involves the interconnection of social, cultural, spiritual, environmental, and psychological health—through reductions in the quality and quantity of or access to culturally important species, subsistence foods, and traditional nutrition sources.
Considerations for tribes have been incorporated into the mitigation strategy to reduce risks for these populations in Section 5.0.
The document describes land use and economic development assets that have become vulnerable: “Jamestown S’Klallam moved some commercial fishing operations to Kona, HI due to increasing PH levels for geoduck and oysters.”
The Plan says responses to climate impacts should include “Weatherization of homes (Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe owns 50+).”
The Jamestown Tribe is in a difficult position. For cultural reasons, the Tribe has “a unique relationship with the shoreline” and continues to build near the water. However, tribal leaders say they “are relocating some of our facilities to higher ground, away from the shoreline.”
Highlights
One section regarding “Lower Dungeness River Floodplain Restoration, including 3 Crabs Rd” states, “…removal of dikes and levees continues — more completed and more to come.” The document gives a timeframe of 5 years but does not detail what remaining dikes and levees will be removed.
By the numbers, one might suspect that the updated plan has imbalances:
“Tribe” is mentioned 835 times.
“Resident” is mentioned 12 times.
“Tribal” is mentioned 505 times.
“Residential” is mentioned 353 times.
“Reservoir” is mentioned 186 times.
“Drought” is mentioned 433 times.
“Climate” is mentioned 2,964 times.
Preferential treatment
The NODC (North Olympic Development Council) is mentioned 271 times and was hugely influential in drafting the Hazard Mitigation Plan. The non-governmental organization is led by its president, Clallam County Commissioner Mark Ozias, whose last campaign was funded 53% by the Jamestown Tribe.
The NODC has worked closely with Cascadia Consulting Group on other projects, and so has the Jamestown Tribe. Cascadia uses software programs developed by ICLEI, a German non-governmental organization that seeks to “build and serve a worldwide movement” through “institutional reorganization.” The NODC and the Jamestown Tribe are ICLEI members and subscribe to its ideology that divides people into groups labeled “colonizer” and “colonized” and promotes reparations for former colonized communities.
By working with the Jamestown Tribe and the NODC, Cascadia can draft the Hazard Mitigation Plan away from public view. Laws promoting transparency do not apply to private corporations, sovereign nations, and non-governmental organizations.
“Many have expressed belief that this work has taken place in private, without informing the public. One core belief I have as an elected official is that local government only works when citizens participate. It troubles me greatly to think that so many feel they have been left out of the process.” — Commissioner Mark Ozias, Facebook, August 2019.
Clallam County Commissioner Mark Ozias is president of a non-governmental organization that appears to be drafting county policy favoring his top campaign donor, the Jamestown Tribe. The commissioner will be positioned to approve the updated plans when they are finalized and submitted to the County. Local policy is being influenced by a German non-governmental organization that seeks to “create new relationships of power for the future through reparations.”
Clallam County has entered a new era.
A new era
Community leaders are no longer hiding who gets preferential treatment: The Jamestown Tribe is Clallam County’s most important partner, and there are signs of that everywhere.
Without soliciting competitive bids from other contractors, Jamestown Excavating, Jamestown Land Survey, and Jamestown Concrete were selected to complete an estimated $2.6 million project for Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County.
The Jamestown Corporation avoids paying many taxes and thus has an advantage over its competitors. Those small businesses not only provide jobs and economic growth, but they also pay taxes that fund local government. When asked if other small businesses had been invited to bid on the project, Habitat CEO Colleen Robinson said, “We have an emergent availability of labor and resources from JKT” and “We are not required to do a formal bid process.”
Two days before Christmas, Commissioner Mark Ozias turned the first shovelful of dirt for Habitat for Humanity’s planned 48-home development in Carlsborg. His top campaign donor, Jamestown Tribe CEO Ron Allen, was beside him, doing the same with his shovel. A row of Jamestown Excavating trucks gleamed in the sunlight behind them.
Public comments about the drafted Hazard Mitigation Plan update can be sent to diane.harvey@clallamcountywa.gov by December 31st.
The commissioners will consider a resolution granting $800,000 to Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County for the housing development in Carlsborg during a public hearing on Tuesday, December 31st, at 10:30 am. Public comment is allowed in person at the courthouse in Port Angeles or virtually by clicking here.
Correction
Last week’s article incorrectly said that Clallam County approved an additional $4 million for Peninsula Behavioral Health’s permanent housing facility for the homeless. The $4 million that was secured in September was approved this month, and the commissioners have approved a total of $4 million for the housing project (not $8 million, as the article said). The article has been updated.
Poll
Last week, 155 subscribers voted in the poll asking if this was their first time hearing about 4PA. 67% said it was the first time, and 33% already knew about the organization.
public input is a must.these closed door meetings with the tribe need to be stopped.the decisions made effect literally all of clallam county
Both the city of PA AND the County have gone to this restricted public comment for "only what is on the agenda" which makes zero sense at all. What public comment was FOR, was to speak with, and engage with those who make decisions for us.
Restricting comments is the exact opposite of what should be happening.
Public comment for a government body used to only be limited by "disruptive conduct" and often time limited (not always the case), but government is not supposed to exclude particular speakers because of their views. However, now unless you can tie it to an "agenda" (and the public has zero input on agenda) then you cannot speak, until (in the case of PA) the end comment period. In WA state, as of 2022, the laws have changed to restrict to the agenda. Unlike, anytime, previously. In fact, this was a bill slipped in... with 87 yeas, 11 nays. No real notice to the public house bill 1329, creates more barriers to open public comment. (Likewise, the full meeting packet USED to include letters written to the council. No more.) The changes are "minor" but in reality MAJOR. It is not int he spirit of the Open Public Meetings Act of 1971. And, it was fast tracked. Bills usually take much longer, and have more public input.
https://lawfilesext.leg.wa.gov/biennium/2021-22/Pdf/Bills/Session%20Laws/House/1329-S.SL.pdf?cite=2022%20c%20115%20s%2013
By comparison: Look at how popular, and effective the Mayor of Honolulu is. Rick Blangiardi does a DAILY podcast (One O'ahu Podcast) to update the residents of what is going on, then he takes CALLS, and answer them, or will get back to them (usually within days). He doesn't restrict to any agenda, it's whatever the public wants to talk about. He also has an "Ask the Mayor!" website, where you can submit your questions, and ... OMG ... the Mayor will get back to you!!
People speak favorably of their Mayor and the changes they have seen. He actually takes calls about potholes, and missing trash cans -- and fixes them (among other things). He has asked that soup-kitchens and other things for the homeless services, relocate out of tourist areas, and spread out in the community -- which has decreased the glut in Waikiki, and 17 other neighborhoods (where the majority of homeless service providers had congregated). A current TB test is required to stay at a shelter (as TB was becoming a major health issue). He has made a point of supporting small businesses -- which includes a business connector within the city.
Now, on O'ahu, in Honolulu, there is a strong mayor system (elected mayor, not weak mayor like Port Angeles and Sequim, where the City Manager makes the real decisions). But imagine if all three county commissioners did a daily podcast and took real-time calls from constituents? What if they had a website and solicited comments, every day, 365 days a year? What if the city mangers of Port Angeles and Sequim did the same? What if they were responsive to comments, and not merely pay lip-service to us?
Washington government is very unfriendly, and has really made bad choices, and who do they point at "our consultants".
Our form of government is guided by paid consultants. They have a greater say than the people who the government is supposed to be service, and have shut down as many lines of communication as possible. They have taken power FROM the people, in order to expand governments reach.
WE MUST influence the Charter Review, to ask for a more responsive government.