Subject: Request for Coordinated Public Safety, Public Health, and Environmental Response at Tumwater Creek
Dear Clallam County Commissioners, Port Angeles City Councilmembers, Port of Port Angeles Commissioners, and Dr. Berry,
I am writing as a Clallam County resident regarding the May 17, 2026, Clallam County Watchdog article, “Tumwater Tragedy,” which detailed a May 5 pedestrian collision near the Tumwater Truck Route and raised broader concerns about unmanaged encampments, public safety, environmental health, and lawful order along Tumwater Creek (Seegers, 2026).
While homelessness is complex, complexity cannot become a substitute for coordinated public action. Clallam County’s 2025–2030 Homeless Housing Plan recognizes that local governments may subcontract homelessness services, but still retain ultimate responsibility for oversight and accountability. The plan also states that County leadership recognizes its responsibility for oversight, implementation, and progress tracking of homelessness action plans.
This situation appears to require more than a single-agency response. It involves public safety, pedestrian and traffic risk, environmental health, solid waste, behavioral health, housing pathways, and potentially critical-area and water-quality concerns. Under Washington’s public health statutes, the local board of health has supervision over matters involving preservation of life and health, and the local health officer has authority to enforce public health laws and local health rules, as well as prevent, control, or abate nuisances detrimental to public health.
I respectfully ask the City, County, Port, Board of Health, Health Officer, law enforcement, fire/EMS, and relevant service providers to publicly present a coordinated response plan that includes:
1. Immediate public safety assessment: Evaluate pedestrian safety, lighting, visibility, traffic risk, emergency access, and encampment access points along the Tumwater Truck Route corridor.
2. Environmental health and code review: Assess and remediate human waste, solid waste, drug-use litter, and other hazards on or near Tumwater Creek and surrounding public property. These conditions appear to raise concerns under Clallam County Code Title 41, including solid waste regulations, and may also implicate Title 27 critical areas, stormwater, and environmental protections depending on location, drainage, and impacts to the waterway.
3. Lawful enforcement and due-process pathway: Develop a clear plan for addressing trespass, unlawful dumping, illegal camping, public nuisance, reckless burning, or other applicable violations while ensuring lawful notice, property handling, and connection to shelter or transitional housing options.
4. Housing, treatment, and transportation alternatives: Pair enforcement with real alternatives to unsafe outdoor living, including transitional shelter, behavioral health referral, substance-use treatment referral, case management, and transportation where needed.
5. Transparent funding and outcome reporting: Provide a public review of how homelessness, behavioral health, opioid settlement, environmental health, and public safety funds are being used to address this specific problem, along with a reporting schedule so residents can track measurable outcomes.
This request is not about criminalizing poverty. It is about refusing to accept dangerous encampments as a substitute for shelter, sanitation, treatment access, environmental protection, and lawful public order. Compassion should not mean abandoning people to unsafe conditions beside a truck route and a sensitive waterway. Compassion should mean coordinated action that protects the unhoused, cleanup workers, nearby businesses, first responders, drivers, pedestrians, and the environment.
Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act reminds public agencies that they exist to conduct the people’s business openly and that the people retain the right to remain informed and to inform public servants of their views. MRSC’s County Commissioner Guide also emphasizes that commissioners must listen to residents, develop goals, and work effectively with the board to achieve those goals.
Please place this issue on an upcoming public agenda and provide the community with a clear, coordinated, legally grounded plan for Tumwater Creek.
Respectfully,
Name
Clallam County resident
References
Clallam County. (2025). 2025–2030 Clallam County homeless housing plan.
Municipal Research and Services Center. (2024). The Open Public Meetings Act: How it applies to Washington cities, counties, and special purpose districts.
Municipal Research and Services Center. (2025). County commissioner guide.
Everything you have written is accurate but officious. It’s not necessary to do a dissertation on the laws, the problems and the solutions. Short, attention grabbing comments are what is called for. We aren’t going to trial, which would make this of value. But please encourage citizens to write one or two powerful sentences, not an essay.
The commissioners did not answer yesterday’s questions regarding whether recent overdose reductions should be attributed to the Port Angeles Fire Department’s Operation Shielding Hope program rather than the county’s Harm Reduction Health Center. Here is today's email sent to the commissioners:
Dear Commissioners,
According to the police report, the individual struck by a vehicle on the Tumwater Truck Route had methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in his possession.
Did the paraphernalia originate from the county’s Harm Reduction Health Center? If so, the public deserves transparency and a serious discussion about whether current harm reduction policies are truly reducing harm.
In this case, a 16-year-old driver now has to live with the trauma of hitting another human being, while the pedestrian himself was clearly struggling with addiction and instability.
What message would each of you have for:
the 16-year-old driver,
the transient pedestrian,
and the community being told these policies are working?
What measurable evidence can you point to that shows harm reduction in Clallam County is reducing harm for both individuals and the broader community?
Jeff, weaponizing a tragedy only stokes division instead of building public safety. Demanding the county produce highly localized tracking data ignores the massive resources that requires. If you genuinely want the facts, I suggest doing your own research by searching "efficacy of harm reduction mortality outcomes." Extensive national data from the NIH and Commonwealth Fund consistently proves these strategies lower fatal overdoses, ease the burden on EMS, and significantly increase long-term treatment engagement.
I already asked commissioner Ozias for a study. He produced one that measured inputs, not outcomes, and it was being promoted by the NGO in which he has a leadership position (NaCO). Basically, "It's working because I say it's working."
@PorcineWonder, I appreciate the reminder not to weaponize tragedy or lose sight of anyone’s humanity. I agree with that. I also agree that harm reduction, as a broad public health strategy, has evidence behind it and should not be dismissed out of hand.
Where I still think there is a fair local question is this: national evidence can show that harm reduction can work, but local data is needed to show whether Clallam County’s approach is working as implemented here.
If public funds are being used, I think residents can reasonably ask what outcomes are being tracked: overdose reversals, treatment referrals, treatment engagement, repeat overdoses, EMS calls, discarded syringe complaints, cleanup costs, encampment-related hazards, and impacts on both the individual and the broader community.
I do not want this conversation to dehumanize anyone. But I also do not want “harm reduction works nationally” to become a reason we stop asking whether our local system is reducing harm locally.
What local measures would you consider fair to evaluate whether Clallam County’s harm reduction model is working well?
References
Broz, D., Carnes, N., Chapin-Bardales, J., Des Jarlais, D. C., Handanagic, S., Jones, C. M., McClung, R. P., & Asher, A. K. (2021). Syringe services programs’ role in ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S.: Why we cannot do it without them. Public Health Reports, 136(5), 640–645. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11334402/
Porcine Wonder. All the "science" on harm reduction is analogous to the finding proving that wearing a mask prevents COVID. All...except the ones disproving that they work are observational studies....not randomized clinical trials (RCT's). Huge difference in the quality of the evidence. What is even a step down from this is "expert" advice. A further step down is a "modelling" study....think climate change proof.
The prevailing view is that observational studies are in many ways flawed, and thus inferior; and their main utility is to generate hypotheses which can then be tested in RCTs, the crown jewels of investigative science. It comes down to bias and association vs. causation issues inherent in observational studies. Observational studies can be biased in many ways; be it selection bias including survivor bias, information bias including from use of missing data or inappropriate categories, confounding bias, or any residual sources of bias, not to mention new sources or errors and bias upon analyses such as those due to over-adjustment, inappropriate modeling and assumption-violations (Adv Chronic Kidney Dis. 2012;19:11–18). Observational studies are, by their nature, open to dispute.
Thank you for this explanation on the difference. There is no control group in this large scale social experiment. Nobody from HRHC is tracking data on users who don't partake of their services. They only track data that justifies their funding. Most studies Berry references when required to present studies are secondary research and the majority of what she references is PRE fentanyl epdemic, and defintely pre "tranq" and "rhino dope".
Another one that makes me shake my head is when she references studies that say MAT is gold standard for opiate addiction. But the measure of success in that study is how LONG someone stays engaged with the treatment industry. (hint MAT is addictive too and one can get high AF on MAT drugs) What if the measure of success was moving through and beyond living life within the treatment/recovery industry? What if the measure of success was living life beyond the recovery system and maximizing human potential?
Well, Ms. Pig, you and yours are doing the same and more - weaponizing and PROFITTING from the tragedy of massive drug use, death, and dispair! As is usual, the Projection and Hypocrisy is astounding to see.
Many of us see the human costs on a regular basis just walking, riding or driving through PA. We trust our own eyes and hearts in spite of endless gaslighting from public officials. The gaslighting itself is cruelty.
I'm wondering how long we've equated stating facts as "weaponizing a tragedy". It appears to have become a big selling point for those that simply want to deflect from the reality of what is staring you in the face. I also wonder if anyone ever really takes the time to understand what a "study" and "tracking data" actually consists of. Sometimes, though I know it's hard to see from a distance, those studies are paid for by the very people who stand to gain the most money from a funding perspective. Those studies often have implicit biases and outcomes that often come to fruition.
“ consistently proves”?….Hypotheses at best, not “proof”. Is providing instructions and the tools to take dangerous drugs encouraging self destruction? It obviously is assisting drug dealers.
Jeff writes, "In an economically depressed county with scarce resources and a strained tax base, local housing resources should prioritize local needs." The truth is, in a county controlled by left-leaning politicians, they do not view the tax base as "strained." They view it is a bottomless piggybank to use as fuel for their misguided policies. You truly do get what you vote for.
Spencer Pratt (running for Mayor of L.A.) said it best. "Get help or get out" and " People get rich by increasing homelessness. It’s as simple as that. That’s what’s happening in California. That’s what’s happening in Los Angeles.”
Anyone with common sense sees the GRIFT the homeless "business". Seeing lots of signage for Jake which is a morale booster.
Grok states 86% of the voter age population gets its news from multiple platforms. (Could it be that high now? Is Grok hallucinating?) I've felt a big shift since Covid. But I don't have real data. I think this election cycle might be where the vessel has reached negative bouyancy and the wokester attitude is running on fumes. Lets hope.
What a way to start a Sunday. My heart goes out to the teenage driver. It truly is hard to recover from. It happened to my father in his 60's foggy night heading home and a drunk pedestrian walked into the highway. No chance of seeing him in time. My dad had to live with the grief til the end. You could see it in his eyes. I hope she gets some help to deal with hers...
We must get Jake in place and get all the grifters out of here. Those who make a buck on the enablement of others wasted addictive lifestyles are monsters. Those who get them into the light, thank you!
Maybe we should dump one weeks of removal in Frenchies driveway and see if he picks up what he has allowed to happen. Thanks Jake for your hard work. They worry about signs yet they allow this behavior to exist. Vote Jake
Jeff, this needs to be widespread, so that the WORLD knows how inept, corrupt, self-serving, and misguided our commissioners are. They need WIDESPREAD embarrassment that will follow their political careers wherever they go. Your preaching to the choir does not go far enough. These pictures need to be on billboards, in newspapers, on television, so that EVERYONE knows what Mark Ozias, Mike French, and Randy Johnson are spending your tax dollars on, and what they're NOT spending your tax dollars on.
I am not sure how to do this-- I spread the word on social media but only have a small following. Perhaps other readers would know. FWIW, if it takes money, I can provide $100 toward that effort. But this needs to be spread far and wide, far beyond our niche of like-minded people who read CCWD.
You can link this article when commenting on social media. There are activists (including former addicts) who have large followings advoacting for change from San Diego to Bellingham. Linking relevant CCWD articles when commenting on related topics can help boost visibilty. No more hiding the crisis in the woods, roadside RV/car squats, stream beds and sidewalk tents. Go to your preferred platform and look for accounts covering the reality. Some of my favorites are: Ginny Burton/V Ginny Burton youtube, WeHeart Seattle/Andrea Suarez, Tom Wolf, bettersoma, jjsmith, Bombardened podcast, Dr. Philip Lindholm Informed Citizen youtube
Thank you, Jake, for another real article. Between the the young girl experiencing a trauma at a young age and the disgusting messes that 4PA cleans up, I am becoming so concerned for our younger generation. They are living in a community promoting filth and crises. You, Jeff, and many other concerned citizens are stepping up to help them have a safer, brighter, more giving future. Your positive attitudes are greatly appreciated.
Thank you so much to TAFY and the Clallam County Department of Health for supporting this mess -- and many social justice warrior volunteers (and paid employees), inspired by the work of "community change agent" PA Councilwoman Amy Miller. You've made PA into the sh$thole it is today!
And I'll ask again: Why don't we hear outrage from the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe about this? Their silence underlines the hypocrisy of being stewards of their ancestral lands.
This is so sad. It was all so unnecessary to turn what was once such a beautiful and thriving port into a picture of growing desolation. You've seen, over and over and over again, what happens when you cater to a populace that simply has one goal in mind. You've made that goal achievable...live off the land, live off the kindness and compassion of others, refuse to acknowledge the devastation you create, and have the ability to escape all measures of accountability. Congratulations, Clallam County and, in particular, Dr. Allison Berry, you've created a Shangri-La of death for the addicted. After what she pushed with COVID-19 that threw all of this into overdrive, I'm astounded you still listen to her at all.
CC spends millions on being 'concerned' with our natural resources... Yet, human sewage and garbage ends up in our streams and the Straits. Look very 'concerned' for the optics, then do nothing when our forests and waters are infested...
It's not always a direct route but yes. Seattle only need send them away on a ferry to Bremerton or Bainbridge and from there they use the busses which are mostly free. Every Saturday I see new faces at the transit center with folding wagons or piles of trash bag "belongings". The influx of collapsible wagons makes sense when you realize they can take them on public transit. https://x.com/i/status/2055776511878467758
Below is a modeled constituent letter based on this article. Please copy and paste if helpful.
Suggested recipients:
Clallam County Commissioners via Loni Gores: loni.gores@clallamcountywa.gov
Port Angeles City Council: council@cityofpa.us
Port of Port Angeles contact listed in the article: paul@portofpa.com
Clallam County Health Officer Dr. Allison Berry: allison.berry@clallamcountywa.gov
Subject: Request for Coordinated Public Safety, Public Health, and Environmental Response at Tumwater Creek
Dear Clallam County Commissioners, Port Angeles City Councilmembers, Port of Port Angeles Commissioners, and Dr. Berry,
I am writing as a Clallam County resident regarding the May 17, 2026, Clallam County Watchdog article, “Tumwater Tragedy,” which detailed a May 5 pedestrian collision near the Tumwater Truck Route and raised broader concerns about unmanaged encampments, public safety, environmental health, and lawful order along Tumwater Creek (Seegers, 2026).
While homelessness is complex, complexity cannot become a substitute for coordinated public action. Clallam County’s 2025–2030 Homeless Housing Plan recognizes that local governments may subcontract homelessness services, but still retain ultimate responsibility for oversight and accountability. The plan also states that County leadership recognizes its responsibility for oversight, implementation, and progress tracking of homelessness action plans.
This situation appears to require more than a single-agency response. It involves public safety, pedestrian and traffic risk, environmental health, solid waste, behavioral health, housing pathways, and potentially critical-area and water-quality concerns. Under Washington’s public health statutes, the local board of health has supervision over matters involving preservation of life and health, and the local health officer has authority to enforce public health laws and local health rules, as well as prevent, control, or abate nuisances detrimental to public health.
I respectfully ask the City, County, Port, Board of Health, Health Officer, law enforcement, fire/EMS, and relevant service providers to publicly present a coordinated response plan that includes:
1. Immediate public safety assessment: Evaluate pedestrian safety, lighting, visibility, traffic risk, emergency access, and encampment access points along the Tumwater Truck Route corridor.
2. Environmental health and code review: Assess and remediate human waste, solid waste, drug-use litter, and other hazards on or near Tumwater Creek and surrounding public property. These conditions appear to raise concerns under Clallam County Code Title 41, including solid waste regulations, and may also implicate Title 27 critical areas, stormwater, and environmental protections depending on location, drainage, and impacts to the waterway.
3. Lawful enforcement and due-process pathway: Develop a clear plan for addressing trespass, unlawful dumping, illegal camping, public nuisance, reckless burning, or other applicable violations while ensuring lawful notice, property handling, and connection to shelter or transitional housing options.
4. Housing, treatment, and transportation alternatives: Pair enforcement with real alternatives to unsafe outdoor living, including transitional shelter, behavioral health referral, substance-use treatment referral, case management, and transportation where needed.
5. Transparent funding and outcome reporting: Provide a public review of how homelessness, behavioral health, opioid settlement, environmental health, and public safety funds are being used to address this specific problem, along with a reporting schedule so residents can track measurable outcomes.
This request is not about criminalizing poverty. It is about refusing to accept dangerous encampments as a substitute for shelter, sanitation, treatment access, environmental protection, and lawful public order. Compassion should not mean abandoning people to unsafe conditions beside a truck route and a sensitive waterway. Compassion should mean coordinated action that protects the unhoused, cleanup workers, nearby businesses, first responders, drivers, pedestrians, and the environment.
Washington’s Open Public Meetings Act reminds public agencies that they exist to conduct the people’s business openly and that the people retain the right to remain informed and to inform public servants of their views. MRSC’s County Commissioner Guide also emphasizes that commissioners must listen to residents, develop goals, and work effectively with the board to achieve those goals.
Please place this issue on an upcoming public agenda and provide the community with a clear, coordinated, legally grounded plan for Tumwater Creek.
Respectfully,
Name
Clallam County resident
References
Clallam County. (2025). 2025–2030 Clallam County homeless housing plan.
Clallam County Code ch. 27.12, Critical areas. (2026). Clallam County, Washington. https://clallam.county.codes/CCC/27.12
Clallam County Code ch. 27.14, Stormwater management. (2026). Clallam County, Washington. https://clallam.county.codes/CCC/27.14
Clallam County Code ch. 41.11, Solid waste regulations. (2026). Clallam County, Washington. https://clallam.county.codes/CCC/41.11
Municipal Research and Services Center. (2024). The Open Public Meetings Act: How it applies to Washington cities, counties, and special purpose districts.
Municipal Research and Services Center. (2025). County commissioner guide.
Seegers, J. (2026, May 17). Tumwater tragedy. Clallam County Watchdog. https://www.ccwatchdog.com/p/tumwater-tragedy
Washington State Legislature. (2026). RCW 36.70A.020: Planning goals. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=36.70A.020
Washington State Legislature. (2026). RCW 36.70A.100: Comprehensive plans—Must be coordinated. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=36.70A.100
Washington State Legislature. (2026). RCW 42.30.010: Legislative declaration. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=42.30.010
Washington State Legislature. (2026). RCW 70.05.060: Powers and duties of local board of health. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=70.05.060
Washington State Legislature. (2026). RCW 70.05.070: Local health officer—Powers and duties. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=70.05.070
Thank you Dr.Sarah!
No offense but really?
Have you seen TLDR?
Too long, didn’t read !
Everything you have written is accurate but officious. It’s not necessary to do a dissertation on the laws, the problems and the solutions. Short, attention grabbing comments are what is called for. We aren’t going to trial, which would make this of value. But please encourage citizens to write one or two powerful sentences, not an essay.
The commissioners did not answer yesterday’s questions regarding whether recent overdose reductions should be attributed to the Port Angeles Fire Department’s Operation Shielding Hope program rather than the county’s Harm Reduction Health Center. Here is today's email sent to the commissioners:
Dear Commissioners,
According to the police report, the individual struck by a vehicle on the Tumwater Truck Route had methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia in his possession.
Did the paraphernalia originate from the county’s Harm Reduction Health Center? If so, the public deserves transparency and a serious discussion about whether current harm reduction policies are truly reducing harm.
In this case, a 16-year-old driver now has to live with the trauma of hitting another human being, while the pedestrian himself was clearly struggling with addiction and instability.
What message would each of you have for:
the 16-year-old driver,
the transient pedestrian,
and the community being told these policies are working?
What measurable evidence can you point to that shows harm reduction in Clallam County is reducing harm for both individuals and the broader community?
Jeff, weaponizing a tragedy only stokes division instead of building public safety. Demanding the county produce highly localized tracking data ignores the massive resources that requires. If you genuinely want the facts, I suggest doing your own research by searching "efficacy of harm reduction mortality outcomes." Extensive national data from the NIH and Commonwealth Fund consistently proves these strategies lower fatal overdoses, ease the burden on EMS, and significantly increase long-term treatment engagement.
I already asked commissioner Ozias for a study. He produced one that measured inputs, not outcomes, and it was being promoted by the NGO in which he has a leadership position (NaCO). Basically, "It's working because I say it's working."
Please post a study so we can all review it.
@PorcineWonder, I appreciate the reminder not to weaponize tragedy or lose sight of anyone’s humanity. I agree with that. I also agree that harm reduction, as a broad public health strategy, has evidence behind it and should not be dismissed out of hand.
Where I still think there is a fair local question is this: national evidence can show that harm reduction can work, but local data is needed to show whether Clallam County’s approach is working as implemented here.
If public funds are being used, I think residents can reasonably ask what outcomes are being tracked: overdose reversals, treatment referrals, treatment engagement, repeat overdoses, EMS calls, discarded syringe complaints, cleanup costs, encampment-related hazards, and impacts on both the individual and the broader community.
I do not want this conversation to dehumanize anyone. But I also do not want “harm reduction works nationally” to become a reason we stop asking whether our local system is reducing harm locally.
What local measures would you consider fair to evaluate whether Clallam County’s harm reduction model is working well?
References
Broz, D., Carnes, N., Chapin-Bardales, J., Des Jarlais, D. C., Handanagic, S., Jones, C. M., McClung, R. P., & Asher, A. K. (2021). Syringe services programs’ role in ending the HIV epidemic in the U.S.: Why we cannot do it without them. Public Health Reports, 136(5), 640–645. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11334402/
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2024, March 20). Strengthening syringe services programs. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://www.cdc.gov/hepatitis-syringe-services/php/about/index.html
Clallam County. (n.d.). Data and assessment. https://www.clallamcountywa.gov/1865/Data-and-Assessment
Clallam County. (n.d.). Harm Reduction Health Center (HRHC). https://www.clallamcountywa.gov/660/Harm-Reduction-Health-Center-HRHC
Commonwealth Fund. (2024, October 1). Community-driven harm reduction could be key to tackling U.S. overdose deaths. https://www.commonwealthfund.org/blog/2024/community-driven-harm-reduction-could-be-key-tackling-us-overdose-deaths
National Institute on Drug Abuse. (2024, November 4). Syringe services for people who inject drugs are enormously effective, but remain underused. National Institutes of Health. https://nida.nih.gov/about-nida/noras-blog/2024/11/syringe-services-for-people-who-inject-drugs-are-enormously-effective-but-remain-underused
Peninsula Daily News. (2025, May 23). Operation Shielding Hope helping to reduce overdose deaths. https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/news/operation-shielding-hope-helping-to-reduce-overdose-deaths/
Peninsula Daily News. (2026, May 14). How Operation Shielding Hope is changing our community. https://www.peninsuladailynews.com/opinion/how-operation-shielding-hope-is-changing-our-community/
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. (2025). Overdose prevention and response toolkit (Publication No. PEP23-03-00-001). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://library.samhsa.gov/product/overdose-prevention-response-toolkit/pep23-03-00-001
Washington State Department of Health. (n.d.). Peer reviewed research about syringe service programs. https://doh.wa.gov/you-and-your-family/drug-user-health/syringe-service-programs/research
Washington State Department of Health. (n.d.). Opioid and drug overdose data. https://doh.wa.gov/data-and-statistical-reports/washington-tracking-network-wtn/opioids
You always have a reasoned and researched response. I hope should you ever run for office that it's an election where I may vote.
Porcine Wonder. All the "science" on harm reduction is analogous to the finding proving that wearing a mask prevents COVID. All...except the ones disproving that they work are observational studies....not randomized clinical trials (RCT's). Huge difference in the quality of the evidence. What is even a step down from this is "expert" advice. A further step down is a "modelling" study....think climate change proof.
The prevailing view is that observational studies are in many ways flawed, and thus inferior; and their main utility is to generate hypotheses which can then be tested in RCTs, the crown jewels of investigative science. It comes down to bias and association vs. causation issues inherent in observational studies. Observational studies can be biased in many ways; be it selection bias including survivor bias, information bias including from use of missing data or inappropriate categories, confounding bias, or any residual sources of bias, not to mention new sources or errors and bias upon analyses such as those due to over-adjustment, inappropriate modeling and assumption-violations (Adv Chronic Kidney Dis. 2012;19:11–18). Observational studies are, by their nature, open to dispute.
I love it when people more smarter than me weigh in! Thanks CW.
Thank you for this explanation on the difference. There is no control group in this large scale social experiment. Nobody from HRHC is tracking data on users who don't partake of their services. They only track data that justifies their funding. Most studies Berry references when required to present studies are secondary research and the majority of what she references is PRE fentanyl epdemic, and defintely pre "tranq" and "rhino dope".
Another one that makes me shake my head is when she references studies that say MAT is gold standard for opiate addiction. But the measure of success in that study is how LONG someone stays engaged with the treatment industry. (hint MAT is addictive too and one can get high AF on MAT drugs) What if the measure of success was moving through and beyond living life within the treatment/recovery industry? What if the measure of success was living life beyond the recovery system and maximizing human potential?
There’s no $$ in recovery, only in “treatment” programs that keep the cash flowing to support government and NGO jobs.
Well, Ms. Pig, you and yours are doing the same and more - weaponizing and PROFITTING from the tragedy of massive drug use, death, and dispair! As is usual, the Projection and Hypocrisy is astounding to see.
Wanting to know the human costs of harm reduction is not weaponizing the issue; it's showing compassion.
Many of us see the human costs on a regular basis just walking, riding or driving through PA. We trust our own eyes and hearts in spite of endless gaslighting from public officials. The gaslighting itself is cruelty.
I'm wondering how long we've equated stating facts as "weaponizing a tragedy". It appears to have become a big selling point for those that simply want to deflect from the reality of what is staring you in the face. I also wonder if anyone ever really takes the time to understand what a "study" and "tracking data" actually consists of. Sometimes, though I know it's hard to see from a distance, those studies are paid for by the very people who stand to gain the most money from a funding perspective. Those studies often have implicit biases and outcomes that often come to fruition.
Exactly said!
“ consistently proves”?….Hypotheses at best, not “proof”. Is providing instructions and the tools to take dangerous drugs encouraging self destruction? It obviously is assisting drug dealers.
Jeff writes, "In an economically depressed county with scarce resources and a strained tax base, local housing resources should prioritize local needs." The truth is, in a county controlled by left-leaning politicians, they do not view the tax base as "strained." They view it is a bottomless piggybank to use as fuel for their misguided policies. You truly do get what you vote for.
Spencer Pratt (running for Mayor of L.A.) said it best. "Get help or get out" and " People get rich by increasing homelessness. It’s as simple as that. That’s what’s happening in California. That’s what’s happening in Los Angeles.”
Anyone with common sense sees the GRIFT the homeless "business". Seeing lots of signage for Jake which is a morale booster.
Grok states 86% of the voter age population gets its news from multiple platforms. (Could it be that high now? Is Grok hallucinating?) I've felt a big shift since Covid. But I don't have real data. I think this election cycle might be where the vessel has reached negative bouyancy and the wokester attitude is running on fumes. Lets hope.
His intense campaign content is a natural response to years of gaslighting from the homeless industrial complex.
Good morning Jeff and Jake,
What a way to start a Sunday. My heart goes out to the teenage driver. It truly is hard to recover from. It happened to my father in his 60's foggy night heading home and a drunk pedestrian walked into the highway. No chance of seeing him in time. My dad had to live with the grief til the end. You could see it in his eyes. I hope she gets some help to deal with hers...
We must get Jake in place and get all the grifters out of here. Those who make a buck on the enablement of others wasted addictive lifestyles are monsters. Those who get them into the light, thank you!
Have a great day all!
Maybe we should dump one weeks of removal in Frenchies driveway and see if he picks up what he has allowed to happen. Thanks Jake for your hard work. They worry about signs yet they allow this behavior to exist. Vote Jake
Jed….good idea but he’d probably get arrested for littering or dumping & put in jail forever.
Whoever dumps it would be charged with theft also.
Jeff, this needs to be widespread, so that the WORLD knows how inept, corrupt, self-serving, and misguided our commissioners are. They need WIDESPREAD embarrassment that will follow their political careers wherever they go. Your preaching to the choir does not go far enough. These pictures need to be on billboards, in newspapers, on television, so that EVERYONE knows what Mark Ozias, Mike French, and Randy Johnson are spending your tax dollars on, and what they're NOT spending your tax dollars on.
I am not sure how to do this-- I spread the word on social media but only have a small following. Perhaps other readers would know. FWIW, if it takes money, I can provide $100 toward that effort. But this needs to be spread far and wide, far beyond our niche of like-minded people who read CCWD.
You can link this article when commenting on social media. There are activists (including former addicts) who have large followings advoacting for change from San Diego to Bellingham. Linking relevant CCWD articles when commenting on related topics can help boost visibilty. No more hiding the crisis in the woods, roadside RV/car squats, stream beds and sidewalk tents. Go to your preferred platform and look for accounts covering the reality. Some of my favorites are: Ginny Burton/V Ginny Burton youtube, WeHeart Seattle/Andrea Suarez, Tom Wolf, bettersoma, jjsmith, Bombardened podcast, Dr. Philip Lindholm Informed Citizen youtube
What about Glen Morgan, We the Govern-YT.
Thank you, Jake, for another real article. Between the the young girl experiencing a trauma at a young age and the disgusting messes that 4PA cleans up, I am becoming so concerned for our younger generation. They are living in a community promoting filth and crises. You, Jeff, and many other concerned citizens are stepping up to help them have a safer, brighter, more giving future. Your positive attitudes are greatly appreciated.
Jake Seegers 2026!
Thank you, Denise. I appreciate your willingness to serve our community(:
Thank you so much to TAFY and the Clallam County Department of Health for supporting this mess -- and many social justice warrior volunteers (and paid employees), inspired by the work of "community change agent" PA Councilwoman Amy Miller. You've made PA into the sh$thole it is today!
And I'll ask again: Why don't we hear outrage from the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe about this? Their silence underlines the hypocrisy of being stewards of their ancestral lands.
Thank you 4PA. Great efforts to show you care about your community.
French, Johnson, Ozias and Berry, “We’re from the government and we’re here to help”. Those nine word to live by.
Or die by.
Excellent. A new commissioner and new approach.
The Wedge! Vote for Jake Seegers.
I 2nd that!!!!
The whole country is one vast insane asylum and they're letting the worst patients run the place.
Robert W. Welch, Jr
Did I miss it or did our "news" papers choose not to publish an article about someone being nearly killed on a local road?
they choose to ignore most local news
This is so sad. It was all so unnecessary to turn what was once such a beautiful and thriving port into a picture of growing desolation. You've seen, over and over and over again, what happens when you cater to a populace that simply has one goal in mind. You've made that goal achievable...live off the land, live off the kindness and compassion of others, refuse to acknowledge the devastation you create, and have the ability to escape all measures of accountability. Congratulations, Clallam County and, in particular, Dr. Allison Berry, you've created a Shangri-La of death for the addicted. After what she pushed with COVID-19 that threw all of this into overdrive, I'm astounded you still listen to her at all.
HRHC= sloppy street hospice
CC spends millions on being 'concerned' with our natural resources... Yet, human sewage and garbage ends up in our streams and the Straits. Look very 'concerned' for the optics, then do nothing when our forests and waters are infested...
as well as some uncommon folk breaking laws and not being punished "DNR".
I read that mayor Katie Wilson is sending more homeless to the peninsula huh..
That is because they have a 178m dollar budget defecit. LOL
CC BOCC budget deficit /new tax discussion incoming.
It's not always a direct route but yes. Seattle only need send them away on a ferry to Bremerton or Bainbridge and from there they use the busses which are mostly free. Every Saturday I see new faces at the transit center with folding wagons or piles of trash bag "belongings". The influx of collapsible wagons makes sense when you realize they can take them on public transit. https://x.com/i/status/2055776511878467758