Local politics, public health debates, and online chatter collided this week across Clallam County. One candidate courted voters amid pointed questions about partisanship and election oversight, while officials pushed contested policies and special interests offered surprising perks. Here’s an unfiltered Social Media Saturday of what people are talking about.
Unity of Effort Event
See Jake Seegers today at Unity of Effort in Sequim. Come meet the county commissioner candidate and stay for an excellent music lineup plus the chance to honor our military, law enforcement, first responders, and security personnel.
Indivisible, French, and the Canvassing Board
We know that Commissioner Mike French has harnessed the power of Indivisible to doorbell for him, and he’s gone onto the Indivisible Facebook page to praise its members for making stickers that denigrate his opponent Jake Seegers. Knowingly or not, he has also harnessed the energy of some of the county’s most vocal protesters.
Yesterday, during a sunny afternoon in Sequim’s downtown business district, Indivisible occupied the intersection to beat on buckets, wave signs, and wear hats calling the president a pedophile. Several of the signs declared, “A vote for Seegers is a vote for Trump.”
Indivisible is promoted, supported, and amplified by the League of Women Voters, a self-described “nonpartisan” activist group that participates in Indivisible rallies. The LWV is also observing ballots being processed at the courthouse and is allowed to do so because Clallam County considers it a nonpartisan organization.
Is it appropriate for the LWV to back a partisan group?
Is it appropriate for Mike French, who chairs the canvassing board that will certify and maintain the integrity of this election, to collaborate with Indivisible during this campaign?
Is it appropriate for Mike French to chair the canvassing board and oversee an election when he is on the ballot?
Apparently, in Clallam County it is.
Welcome to Port Angeles
“When you see someone on the street who’s shouting at somebody who doesn’t appear to be there, often the solution to that is not jail. It’s a sandwich and a water and a quiet place to be.” — Health Officer Allison Berry
Watch this video and ask yourself: does this man just need a sandwich, a water, and a quiet place to be?
Harm Reduction’s Hard Sell
What happens when Health Officer Allison Berry and Commissioner Mike French restrict public comment, refuse to answer emails about harm reduction, and can’t explain discrepancies in the numbers they provide to the public? They launch a social media campaign to reinforce that handing meth pipes to people trapped in active addiction is an “evidence-based approach to public health that helps reduce the risks associated with substance abuse” and that providing people more ways to use illicit street drugs is “safe, healthy, and connected to care.” Then they limit who can comment on the social media post to silence dissent—much as they do at their Board of Health meetings.
If harm reduction were working after two decades, there wouldn’t be a need to sell it to the public and avoid answering basic questions.
Chaos Coordinator’s Real Focus
Commissioner French’s newest appointee to the Homelessness Task Force—an Indivisible activist named Jamie Porter—has rebranded herself online as “Chaos Coordinator.” Her energy isn’t spent championing Mike French or his seven years of local political accomplishments. Instead, she’s criticizing CC Watchdog for allegedly creating “strife and anger in the community while tearing down non-profits and other organizations doing good work.”
If asking questions and demanding accountability creates strife and anger, then those “good organizations” may have far more to hide than anyone realizes.
Hodgson’s Next Chapter
Mark Hodgson didn’t make it past the primary.
Perhaps he can focus more on his new City of Port Angeles councilmember position, where he is pushing for expensive new public bathrooms, and join Commissioner Mike French in keeping the voucher program that allows homeless drug addicts to shower with families and children at the Shore Pool in Port Angeles—as a board member of the pool. Or in his role as a member of the Homelessness Task Force, which continues to funnel $118,000 into three underused safe parking places.
Commissioner Mike French believed in his values so strongly that he donated $250 to Hodgson’s campaign.
Nextdoor’s Fleeting Clarity
Nextdoor.com had a moment of common sense this week.
It then reverted back to being a heavily censored cesspool controlled by the fringes.
DSA Loyalty on Display
Former state representative candidate Bradley “Nemo” Callaway took to Substack to explain the Democratic Socialists of America’s recommendation for Commissioner Mike French. While conceding that French was not the perfect candidate, Callaway noted that “the DSA voting guide does recommend him.” In other words, party before people—he’ll follow what his handlers tell him because he’s a party loyalist and ideologue.
Jamestown’s Gas Discount Irony
The Jamestown Corporation, which prides itself on environmental stewardship, is offering discounts on gas at its station of up to 30 cents per gallon.
Jamestown lobbied heavily for the Climate Commitment Act and has received millions from the CCA for charging stations, solar transitions, energy efficiency for its Airbnbs, and electric vehicles. So the CCA, which has driven up gas prices for everyone in Clallam County, has funneled money to special interests that are now able to offer discounts on gasoline.
Kamloops Claims Revisited
According to the C2C Journal, despite widely publicized claims from 2021, five years have passed with no actual discovery of missing Indigenous children’s graves at the Kamloops residential school or any other site.
This crucial lack of evidence contradicts the initial allegations that fueled widespread public outrage and monument removals. The Canadian public is reportedly “waking up” to these facts, signaling a growing willingness to question emotionally driven narratives and seek historical truth.
These claims have formed much of the basis driving calls for reparations and the Landback movement.
Landback Across the Strait
If you’re curious about the Landback movement, look no further than across the Strait of Juan de Fuca to Victoria. According to recent reports highlighted on Western Standard’s Hannaford politics show, British Columbia’s government is negotiating a treaty with local First Nations that would transfer high-value public land in the heart of Victoria to the Songhees First Nation.
The deal reportedly includes two provincially owned downtown properties—one beside the legislature and another on the waterfront across from Bastion Square—with a combined assessed value of $47 million. These are to be transferred in fee simple as treaty lands, with additional transfers including property valued at $48 million.
Port Angeles Safety Rumors
Rumors are swirling online about a series of rapes allegedly occurring throughout Port Angeles. Could local law enforcement and legacy media please address these concerns and brief the community about the validity of this threat?
From the Scanner
Thanks Jeff for all the information.
What we are seeing on the streets of Clallam County is not compassion. People lying in the roadway, behaving violently or erratically, and requiring repeated overdose reversals are showing clear signs of severe mental illness and long term addiction. Narcan saves lives, but it is not treatment, and relying on it as our primary response has created a revolving door that overwhelms first responders and leaves our community unsafe.
Berry, Ozias, French and company continue to call this “compassion,” yet they never address the repeated use of Narcan or the consequences of constant overdose reversals. The same individuals appear on the scanner day after day. That is not stigma — it is evidence of system failure. Yet they will not pivot to help these people.
Allowing people to remain in crisis and endanger others is not compassionate. Real compassion requires long term recovery programs, mandatory stabilization for those repeatedly incapacitated, and accountability for dangerous behavior. It also requires protecting residents so they can safely walk, work, and live in their own county.
Ozias has stated he has had talks and continues to about recovery centers but they are not profitable. Does he ever discuss this in his public comments at commissioners’ meetings? Nope, it’s never mentioned, he does not care, as the money continues to flow into this county for harm reduction.
Temporary interventions are failing both the individuals in crisis and the community as a whole. Leadership remains locked into a narrow definition of harm reduction that excludes boundaries, structure, and results. That should concern every resident that Berry and company have more concern about the word “compassion” than about the safety of every resident living here. I suggest Berry and company get a picnic basket of sandwiches and go ride along and handout sandwiches and take those folks home if that is all they need.
Berry and company will never ever change their thoughts, so we must make that change for them and change the leadership of this county and it takes a village and it starts with electing Jake.
Compassion must include accountability and outcomes. And public safety must be the number one priority.
Nextdoor's censorship is troubling. Those same moderators (control freaks) call people nazis when they are the ones enforcing nazi rules. French should recuse himself from the Canvassing Board while he is on the ballot. The endorsement from Indivisible and LWV along with his Board position are not very reassuring for election integrity. He needs to be, not just appear, above reproach. Thanks for the updates, Jeff!