When power gets personal
Commissioner's wife clashes with citizen in hallway showdown
A heated altercation between a private citizen and the wife of an elected official exposed a culture of hostility, favoritism, and contempt for public accountability. What happened in that hallway, and what it reveals about those in power, should concern every resident of Clallam County.
Last week was marked by two rare events. One occurred in the dead of night when the moon slipped into the Earth's shadow, darkening the sky. The other unfolded in broad daylight, casting a figurative shadow over our local government and exposing a troubling dynamic within its highest offices.
The incident
Tuesday’s County Commissioner meeting initially seemed routine. That changed when a resident in the second row, Lisa Boulware, began harumphing and chastising four individuals in the front row for clapping after a public comment critical of the commissioners’ budget decisions. She then glared at a resident in the back row for handing a business card to someone in the front row.
Sequim resident John Worthington took to the podium and, as he has done in previous virtual meetings, used visual aids to support his statements. In the past, he challenged Commissioner Mark Ozias’ claim that his nonprofit, the North Olympic Development Council (NODC), had no involvement with the proposed Dungeness River Off-Channel Reservoir. Through visual aids, Worthington presented evidence showing that NODC had supported the reservoir for years. Since the commissioners recently banned virtual attendees from screen-sharing, Worthington chose to attend this meeting in person and relied on a clipboard to present his case.
After speaking, Worthington exited the boardroom—only to be followed by Boulware. What ensued was a heated exchange in the hallway.
Accounts from both parties, shared extensively in the comments of Tuesday’s CC Watchdog article, offer differing perspectives.
Boulware objected to Worthington addressing the audience rather than the commissioners and confronted him about it in the hallway. She later wrote, “The public comment period is a time for the public to address the Board of Commissioners in person. It is not a time to lecture the audience with your personal grievances. If you wish to address the public, consider getting a soap box and setting it up in the parking lot.”
Worthington, however, described the encounter as an "attack from behind," claiming Boulware verbally accosted him in the hallway before retreating into the commissioners' office. Thinking a county employee had accosted him, Worthington followed her into the Commissioner’s offices to ask for her name and department.
Contrary to Worthington’s initial assumption, Boulware is not a county employee. However, she is Commissioner Ozias's wife, which explains her access to the commissioners' offices.
Boulware recalled the encounter differently: “You burst into the Commissioners' office, demanding to know who I was. By this time, I was in my husband's office waiting to go and get a cup of coffee. You were belligerent toward the staff, and it may have seemed a bit frightening, but I know better - your bark is worse than your bite.” She added, “You were incredibly worked up and it was hard to get a word in.”
She also noted, “I believe he [Ozias] was unsure whether or not to out me as his wife, for I am fiercely independent.”
Worthington, on the other hand, sees the confrontation as a premeditated act of retaliation for his past criticisms of her husband. He was unsettled enough to consider filing a report with the sheriff’s office.
Boulware insists she neither chased nor harassed Worthington but merely took the opportunity to address what she saw as inappropriate conduct—directing his comments at the audience instead of the commissioners. She asserts that after she entered the commissioners’ office, Worthington followed, demanding to know her identity. She describes him as agitated, which prompted her husband to step in and clarify that she was a private citizen.
An eyewitness later corroborated that Boulware had been aggressive in the hallway before entering her husband’s office. The video below captures the incident, though the audio is unavailable. The first visible individuals are John Worthington and another meeting attendee. Lisa Boulware, dressed in a blue shirt, enters the frame 26 seconds into the video.
A culture of contempt
Three months into the Towne Road debacle, I still held respect for our Board of Commissioners despite my disagreements with them. That changed on January 30 of last year.
That day, the boardroom was packed as the commissioners faced another major decision regarding Towne Road. A woman raised her hand, accepted Commissioner Mike French’s invitation to speak, and approached the podium.
“My name is Lisa Boulware, I live in Sequim, and I want to say thank you. Thank you to all of the commissioners up here, because I understand how hard it is to come here every single Tuesday and listen to public comment from people who are disrespectful, who say horrible untrue things based on rumors, based on conspiracy theories, based on way too much time on social media. So, thank you because I understand that it’s really difficult to listen to people refer to you as a dictator or as somebody who doesn’t care about the environment, or somebody that doesn’t care about their county or the people that live in it because I happen to know for a fact that that is not true. I know for a fact that every single one of you cares about our community. I know that every single one of you cares about our environment. I know that every single one of you works his ass off to do everything they can to do right by our county.”
She then turned away from the commissioners to speak directly to the audience.
“I know that because I am Mark Ozias’ wife. And I hear [inaudible due to audience laughter] and all of the horrible accusations that you have made against my husband, and I listen to you laugh and snicker and whisper to each other in the audience. I listen even when I’m not here because I make sure I pay attention to what’s happening. And I’m really tired of listening to this. And I really wish that you guys would find a more productive avenue for your grievances. Your perceived grievances, and stop [inaudible because of Boulware’s yelling into the microphone] for you. Keep that in mind because whether you believe it or not, they do. Thank you.”
Lisa Boulware’s testimony can be viewed here by advancing to timestamp 1:15:25.
When Lisa Boulware finished, Commissioner French thanked her. He did not remind her that public comments are meant to address the commissioners and that chastising the public for their “perceived grievances” was inappropriate and disrespectful. Commissioner Randy Johnson did not point out that elected officials are paid $108,695 a year to listen to public concerns and that cursing is not allowed during public comment. Commissioner Mark Ozias sat silent through his wife’s tirade, smiling and nodding in agreement.
This glaring double standard revealed that the rules only apply to critics of county leadership. If you’re aligned with those in power, you’re free to violate protocols without consequence. That was the moment I realized our county government was in serious trouble. Towne Road was not the problem—it was merely a symptom of a deeper issue: a culture of hostility toward the public.
A system of favoritism
Although commissioners swear to serve “faithfully and impartially,” there is mounting evidence of bias in their governance.
During the Towne Road debate, landowners who supported the county’s floodplain restoration project were allowed to screen-share presentations showing its benefits. Those advocating for the road’s reopening, however, were denied the same opportunity.
“Maybe Jeff Tozzer will go away once Towne Road is open,” one commissioner reportedly told an attendee after a meeting—an offhand remark that underscores the dismissive attitude toward public opposition.
Currently, during public comments, individuals criticizing the commissioners are limited to three minutes, while residents discussing climate change and advocating for the relocation of residents on 3 Crabs Road are permitted to speak for four minutes or until they have finished.
Meanwhile, Commissioner French’s behavior at meetings and work sessions is nothing short of unprofessional. When disinterested, he chews his fingernails, rolls them around in his mouth, examines them, and flicks them onto the floor before moving on to the next finger. Behavior that would get a person thrown out of someone’s home is somehow acceptable in the people’s house.
The disrespect doesn’t end there.
Commissioners’ laptops are taxpayer-funded county property, meant for official use. Yet here’s the cover of the laptop Commissioner French has been loaned.
Here’s Commissioner Ozias’ laptop.
Would you be allowed to place stickers on the commissioners' dais? Would it matter if it were an ACLU sticker? An NRA sticker? In middle school, students can’t put stickers on lockers because they aren’t theirs—they are theirs to use. Even middle schoolers understand respect better than our Board of Commissioners.
Harassment by proxy
The hostility toward public engagement in Clallam County governance is no accident. It is part of a broader culture that dismisses legitimate concerns, mocks public opposition, and shields officials and their allies from accountability.
Commissioner Mark Ozias has repeatedly declined to meet with concerned residents, brushing off constituent concerns while refusing to engage in good-faith discussions. Having his spouse harass a private citizen is a new low, even for Clallam County. No wonder locals have taken to calling it “Clown County.”
There is a far simpler way for the commissioners to defend their policies than having their spouses attack residents for expressing concerns: they could engage with the public in a meaningful, transparent dialogue. That would require accountability and a willingness to listen—qualities our current leadership seems entirely unprepared to embrace.
I'll reiterate what I stated last week: Mike French is a child, not child-like, but childish. He is the very essence of the arrogant politician, so certain of the righteousness of his cause, advocating violence as the means to bring his cause to fruition, holding in contempt others who disagree with him or who attempt to thwart him. He is not a public servant, but rather a public embarrassment. "Clown County" eh? Then French is the Chief Bozo.
The commissioners won't engage in thoughtful dialog, simply because that would be a waste of their time. They have their marching orders from the NGOs and the tribes, they're bought and paid for, and their masters expect results.
It’s amazing to me that elected officials see themselves as owners of taxpayers funds and as owners can use the money as they see fit for the entities that they favor. They resent being questioned by citizens who have concerns about the direction the money is being spent and projects that affect all of us. Almost utter disdain for the little people, until election time when they paste on smiles and pander with promises and lies.